Ins & Outs of Barbados 2023

77 Island Adventures Dutch merchants including some Sephardi Jews likely began arriving in Barbados in 1627. They assisted the first English settlers with securing food supplies and with shipping the tobacco, cotton, indigo, etc., they produced to England. Following the Portuguese recapture of Pernambuco from the Dutch in 1654, Sephardi Jews were forced to leave what was then Brazil’s sugar-producing centre. Some returned to Holland; others moved to New Amsterdam (later, New York); and a number came to Barbados where their knowledge of sugar cultivation and processing was welcomed by the island’s early planters. This book describes the community the Sephardim built in Barbados over the following three hundred years despite numerous prohibitions, restrictions, and overt anti-Semitism. It highlights some of their personalities and the challenging issues they faced while trying to maintain observant Jewish lives. Founded in 1654, this is the earliest constructed synagogue still in use in the Americas. The museum artistically communicates the story of the Jewish diaspora and their search for a Promised Land as it relates to the Caribbean region and most specifically Barbados. The Jewish community thrived in Barbados until 1831 but by 1848 the Jewish population had declined to only 70 Jews. In 1925 there was only one Jew left on the island, David Baeza. The Nidhe Israel Syngogue was deconsecrated and sold to private interests. (246) 436-6869 Synagogue Lane, Bridgetown In 1931, Ashkenazi Jews, including the late patron Moses Altman, migrated to Barbados from Poland. He and his son Paul Altman dedicated themselves to rescuing the decaying structure. With assistance and generous donations the entire Synagogue Historical District has been exquisitly restored. It includes the synagogue, a water fed mikvah, shops, a meeting facility, restaurant, a very special gazebo, and an interesting graveyard. Nidhe Israel Synagogue &Museum