The population of this Dutch island of Curacao is paying tribute to the small number of Jewish families residing here, in connection with the completion of 300 years of Jewish settlement on the island. The Dutch section of the population especially emphasizes the important contributions which these Jewish families and their ancestors have made to the development of the island.
The Jewish congregation of the island–Congregation Mikveh Israel–is considered the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. It was founded here in 1654 by a group of Sephardic Jews whom the Portuguese expelled from Recife, Brazil. The first synagogue on the Island was built by Congregation Mikveh Israel in 1732 and remains in use to this day. The congregation was instrumental in building the first synagogue in New York with a contribution of funds to Shearith Jaacob, now known as Congregation Shearith Israel, the oldest in the United States.
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.
