Jewish American Heritage Month

Synagogue a spiritual respite on St. Thomas

Posted By richards on April 14, 2014

There's a story behind the sand, as there is for almost every nook of the landmark building nestled into the Caribbean island streetscape known as Synagogue Hill.

When our trio stepped off the cruise ship Norwegian Epic, my sister, brother-in-law, and I had but one site in mind: The St. Thomas synagogue had been a destination for friends and family members before us, and now we were to make the pilgrimage to the second-oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere and the oldest congregation under the American flag.

Charlotte Amalie, the capital and largest city on the island, harbors steep streets, and we had heard the trek was hard on weak knees, so reaching our dock-to-door destination along Krystal Gade (Danish for street) was left to a friendly cabdriver.

After taking pictures beside the National Historic Landmark plaque, designated in 1997, we ascended into the rectangular, high-ceilinged sanctuary, where the holy ark along the eastern wall had been opened to reveal a grouping of six Torahs (scrolls of scripture), much like the ones I'd known from temples in American cities, and one unfamiliar silhouette in the center, a decorated wooden cylinder that turned out to be a Moroccan Torah.

A woman wearing a yarmulke and tallis - traditional skullcap and prayer shawl - paused from talking and taking pictures with a family. She told us to check out the museum in the back and she would be with us shortly.

We wandered through the building, constructed in 1833 by the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas - also known as the Congregation of Blessing, Peace, and Loving Deeds. The congregation was founded in 1796 by Sephardic Jews, many of whom had arrived on island shores after fleeing the Spanish Inquisition.

Nine Jewish families belonged to the congregation in 1801, but by 1803 it had swelled with arrivals from other European countries and island colonies. In 1804, the small synagogue was destroyed by fire and replaced in 1812. The congregation continued to grow, and in 1823 a larger building was erected on the current site. A citywide fire destroyed that synagogue in 1831, and the building we were standing in was completed two years later.

The St. Thomas synagogue is constructed of rubble masonry, 41 feet and three bays wide by 46 feet and four bays deep, according to the National Park Service. The sand hides a ceramic-tile floor. The congregation's ongoing restoration and preservation efforts include moving the museum area to an environmentally controlled space and maintaining the island's two centuries-old Jewish cemeteries. The synagogue's gift shop, a separate structure just outside the entrance, is air-conditioned.

On the November day we visited, the main building's windows and doors were wide open to the tropical air.

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Synagogue a spiritual respite on St. Thomas

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Sephardic Genealogy

Posted By richards on April 14, 2014

This will be the new home of the Sephardic Genealogy website. I am teaching myself the software, so apologies for inconsistencies in layouts etc. To visit the site at its old location please >>> click here<<<

If you are curious about the new citizenship / passport proposals then click for Spain, Portugal or Israel.

Welcome! This website is to help people who, like me, are researching their Spanish and Portuguese Jewish roots. It is a work in progress. I am trying to understand how the jigsaw of Sephardic life fitted together during what historians call the Early Modern period (1492-1750). I am not a professional genealogist I am not even a very good amateur genealogist but hope that sharing what I know may save you a little time.

The challenge faced by the Sephardic genealogist is that everyone went everywhere, had a dozen different names (which were the same as their cousins), were sometimes involved in clandestine trade, and what they told the Inquisition was often a sophisticated ruse. Simply looking a births, marriages and deaths doesnt work. The Sephardic family historian needs to develop an understanding of history, geography, international trade and a smattering of several languages. Difficult? Yes. Rewarding? Absolutely.

My original plan was to focus on those whose ancestors moved from Spain to Portugal in 1492 and were forced to adopt Catholicism in 1497. These Portuguese New Christians later re-established themselves in Spain and more or less everywhere else, becoming the worlds first globalised community. Of course, this group overlapped with those Spanish Jews who settled in the Ottoman Empire, and with pre-existing Mediterranean and mizrahi Jewish communities. Some Sephardim settled in Germany and eastern Europe and evolved Ashkenazi Jewish identities.

Before the 19th Century, Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewish genealogy have little in common. The stereotypical Ashkenazi experience is of someone escaping persecution in eastern Europe for a new life in western Europe or America. Its a classic migrant story of self-improvement through a single journey.

The Sephardic story is more monumental. It is nothing less than the ending of the Medieval world and the creation of the Modern. How our Sephardic ancestors dealt with the new situation they encountered after the Expulsion of 1492 and the new identities and strategies they created helped define how everyone lives today.

The die-hard Jews who tramped across the Portuguese border in 1492 (others left for Italy or Islamic lands, many converted and stayed) were anyway forced to convert three years later, but werent yet monitored by an Inquisition, as in Spain. These New Christians (or conversos, or anusim, or marranos, or the Portuguese Nation, or the Hebrew Nation, or the Nation, or Jews) developed complex identities from fanatic Catholic to fanatic Jew, and everything in between. Others abandoned religion and embraced the European Enlightenment. The Portuguese New Christians quickly re-established links with their converted relatives across the Spanish border, and with unconverted Jews in places like Antwerp, Venice and the Turkish Empire.

Trade routes were established and spurred by persecution in Iberia this small community spread around the world. Their family networks and ability to operate across national, cultural and religious borders gave them an advantage in international trade until the establishment of a more settled and controlled global system in the mid-Eighteenth Century. Unlike the Ashkenazim, the New Christians did not migrate from an Old Country to a New. More like a game of musical chairs, they moved around the world, often as part of a global network. Where they eventually settled depended on where they were when the music stopped. The music was often a war that disrupted the trade route. Those family members who ended up in Spanish or Portuguese territory generally ended up as Catholics, and those in other countries as Jews (although the wealthy would often quickly assimilate into the host population).

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Sephardic Genealogy

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Cuisine of the Sephardic Jews – Wikipedia, the free …

Posted By richards on April 14, 2014

The cuisine of the Sephardi Jews is an assortment of cooking traditions that developed among the Jews of Spain, Portugal, the Mediterranean (Turkey, Greece, Maghreb) and Arab countries.[1] Mizrahi, who are sometimes called Sephardic Jews, are Jews of origins from countries of the Middle-East, respectively. While there is some overlap in populations due to the Sephardic Diaspora, Sephardic Jews settled in many other countries as well, and this article deals only with the populations originating in the Iberian Peninsula.

Jews in the Diaspora, both Ashkenazim and Sephardim, cooked foods that were popular in their countries of residence, adapting them to the requirements of kashrut. Their choice of foods was also determined by economic factors, with many of the dishes based on inexpensive and readily available ingredients. Meat had to be slaughtered in keeping with Jewish dietary laws, and then soaked and salted. Hence it was reserved for holidays and special occasions. Many Sephardi dishes use ground meat. Milk and meat products could not be mixed or served at the same meal. Cooked, stuffed and baked vegetables are central to the cuisine, as are various kinds of beans, chickpeas, lentils and burghul (cracked wheat). Rice takes the place of potatoes.

Sephardi Jews are the Jews of Spain and Portugal who were expelled in 1492, many of whom settled in Tunisia, Turkey and the Balkans. The Spanish and Portuguese Jews and Ladino-speaking Balkan, Moroccan, Tunisian, Greek and Turkish Jews are, by this convention, called "Sephardim", while the remaining Jews of Arab countries in the middle east are called "Mizrahim." In this sense, "Sephardi cuisine" would refer only to the culinary traditions of the first group.

Both the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula and the Jews of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, Egypt and Greece adapted local dishes to the constraints of the kosher kitchen. Since the establishment of a Jewish state and the convergence of Jews from all the globe in Israel, these local cuisines, with all their differences, have come to represent the collection of culinary traditions broadly known as "Sephardi cuisine."

Sephardi cuisine emphasizes salads, stuffed vegetables and vine leaves, olive oil, lentils, fresh and dried fruits, herbs and nuts, and chickpeas. Meat dishes often make use of lamb or ground beef. Fresh lemon juice is added to many soups and sauces. Many meat and rice dishes incorporate dried fruits such as apricots, prunes and raisins. Pine nuts are used as a garnish.

In the early days, Sephardic cuisine was influenced by the local cuisines of Spain and Portugal, both under Catholic and Islamic regimes. A particular affinity to exotic foods from outside of Spain became apparent under Muslim rule, as evidenced even today with ingredients brought in by the Muslims.[2]

Cumin, cilantro, and turmeric are very common in Sephardi cooking. Caraway and capers were brought to Spain by the Muslims and are featured in the cuisine.[2]Cardamom ("hel") is used to flavor coffee. Chopped fresh cilantro and parsley are popular garnishes. Chopped mint is added to salads and cooked dishes, and fresh mint leaves ("nana") are served in tea. Cinnamon is sometimes used as a meat seasoning, especially in dishes made with ground meat. Saffron, which is grown in Spain is used in many varieties of Sephardic cooking, as well as spices found in the areas where they have settled.

Tiny cups of Turkish coffee, sometimes spiced with cardamom, are often served at the end of a festive meal, accompanied by small portions of baklava or other pastries dipped in syrup or honey. Hot sahlab, a liquidy cornstarch pudding originally flavored with orchid powder (today invariably replaced by artificial flavorings), is served in cups as a winter drink, garnished with cinnamon, nuts, coconut and raisins. Arak is the preferred alcoholic beverage. Rosewater is a common ingredient in cakes and desserts. Malabi, a cold cornstarch pudding, is sprinkled with rosewater and red syrup.(all these dishes and ingredients constitute the adopted dishes of the local population where the Jewish population settled)

Olives and pickled vegetables, such as cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, are a standard accompaniment to meals. Amba is a pickled mango sauce. Small pickled lemons are a Tunisian and Moroccan delicacy.

On Shabbat, the Jews of North Africa in Tunisia and Morocco serve chreime, fish in a spicy tomato sauce.

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Drop Kingz Review – Video

Posted By richards on April 14, 2014

Drop Kingz Review
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