The once vital and flourishing Jewish community in Manaus, capital of Amazonas province in northern Brazil, is now virtually dead and no efforts are being made to revive it, according to Eli Tabori, Consul General of Israel in Rio de Janeiro, who just returned from a visit to Amazonas and other northern provinces.
Manaus is a metropolis built in the heart of the jungle, on the banks of the Amazon River, 1,000 miles from the sea. It was once the center of the world rubber trade and a vibrant cultural center that boasted an opera house rivalling the best in Europe.
The Jewish presence there goes back more than 100 years when immigrants, mainly from Spanish Morocco, left the Brazilian coastal provinces of Pernambuco and Para to establish industries and export houses in Manaus.
NO INTEREST IN JEWISH LIFE OR IN ISRAEL
For generations they maintained close contact with Jewish communities elsewhere in Brazil. But today, only 80 Jewish families remain, many of mixed marriages, and they show no interest in Jewish life or in Israel, Tabori told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The Jewish community center is headed by a woman, a convert to Judaism. The last remaining synagogue is open only on the High Holidays. While other Brazilian Jewish communities are struggling to maintain their identity and traditions, this is not the case in Manaus, Tabori said.
His report recalled the fact that Jews have lived in Brazil since it was discovered in 1500. The founder of Rio de Janeiro, Estacio De Sa, is said to have been the grandson of Marranos — Jews forced by the inquisition in Spain to convert to Catholicism but who secretly practiced their faith. The same is said of Joao Ramalho, founder of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s second largest city.
There was a well established Jewish community in Recife in northeastern Brazil early in the 16th century. It was from there that a group of 23 Dutch Jewish refugees sailed for Dutch Nieuw Amsterdam to found the first Jewish community 350 years ago in what became the city of New York.
Brazilian Jews settled mainly in Pernambuco and Para provinces. The capital of Para is Belem, a contraction of Bethlehem, which was founded at the end of the 18th century. The synagogue there, Shaarei Shamaim, opened its doors in 1824.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
