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How many of these facts do you know?
Over 500 Years
The history of the Jews in Latin America began with conversos who joined the Spanish and Portuguese expeditions to the continents. The Alhambra Decree of 1492 led to the mass conversion of Spain's Jews to Catholicism and the expulsion of those who refused to do so. The first Jews came with the first expedition of Christopher Columbus, including Rodrigo de Triana and Luis De Torres.[1]
All Across Latin America
By the late 16th century, you could find fully functioning Jewish communities in Brazil, the Dutch Suriname and Curaçao; Spanish Santo Domingo, and the English colonies of Jamaica and Barbados.
3000 Jews call Puerto Rico home
Puerto Rico is currently home to the largest Jewish community in the Caribbean, with over 3,000 Jews supporting four synagogues; three in the capital city of San Juan
El Judío Maravilloso
Larry Harlow (1939-2021) played an important role in the development of Latin music as bandleader, pianist, and arranger who produced over 260 albums for Fania Records. He was affectionately known in the Latin music world as “El Judío Maravilloso” — the marvelous Jew.
Saint or No Saint
The Festival of Santa Esterica is a holiday that was created as a substitute for Purim by “conversos", Sephardi Jews forced to convert to Catholicism, after their expulsion from Spain in the late 15th century. Still celebrated in Latin America and Southwestern United States, the festival was themed about a fictional “Catholic” saint called "Esterica" who was heavily based upon Queen Esther
It's In The Blood
A recently published study in the scientific journal Nature Communications presents an extensive analysis of the genetic history of Latin Americans and finds that nearly one-quarter have significant genetic roots linking their family to the southern and eastern Mediterranean basin, including to the Jews of Spain.
Hidden In The Mountains
After arriving in Puerto Rico, many secret Jews (marranos) settled far away from the centers of power in San Juan where they secretly practiced Judaism while publicly professing to be Roman Catholic.
Shhhhh.....
Build in1732, Curacao’s Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue (Hebrew: בית הכנסת מקווה ישראל-עמנואל; English: The Hope of Israel-Emanuel Synagogue), in Willemstad, Curaçao, is oldest surviving synagogue is the oldest continuously functioning Jewish house of worship in the Western Hemisphere. A thick layer of sand covers the synagogue's floor, as a symbolic reminder of the exodus of Jews from Egypt and of the Spanish Inquisition when Jews often covered their wooden floors with sand to muffle the sound of prayers.
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