ORGANIZATIONS
October 2021
JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SWFL
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www.jhsswf.org / 239.566.1771
The sandy beaches and floors of Jewish history Marina Berkovich JHSSWF President
H
ave you ever been to a sand floor synagogue? There are only five of them in the entire world. Jews began escaping the Spanish Inquisition to the Americas with Columbus’ expeditions. Sha’are Shalom Synagogue is in Kingston, Jamaica. Built in 1885, after the merger of Sephardi and Ashkenazi synagogues and originally consecrated in 1704 and 1796, respectively, it united Jews from (familiar to our ears) cities, such as Port Royal, Spanish Town and Montego Bay. Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas is in Charlotte Amalie. Built in 1833, home to a congregation that dates to 1796, it is the second oldest synagogue in the U.S. after Touro Synagogue in Newport, RI, built 1763. The third Caribbean basin sand floor synagogue, Mikve Israel-in, Emanuel, in Curacao, was built in the 1650s. This island has always been Dutch, so there is a lot of tradition carried forward from there.
The Neveh Shalom Synagogue in Suriname, South America, is also of Dutch origin, although currently home to the Ashkenazi community, and is affiliated with Orthodox Judaism. It was built in 1716-1723 by the Sephardi Jews. The fifth sand floor synagogue is the Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, known as Esnoga. Constructed from 1671 to 1675, it is home for Ladino-speaking Jews. Esnoga means synagogue. In the post-Alhambra Decree of 1492 — choice of conversion to Christianity or exile — many Iberian Peninsula Jews fled to the north. With them came the need to hide the details of their religious practices from their neighbors. Sandy floors did not give away the sounds of the wooden shoes like wood floors. The experience of standing on the sandy floor is, perhaps, also meant to return our minds to the days of wandering through the desert for 40 years. Or, in my humble opinion, to remind us that no matter how high and mighty we may think ourselves at times, we are still nothing but individual grains in the sand, and for some inexplicable reason, always the hunted. There are times when the sand is on dry land and times when the same sand is deep underwater, but in the
end, it is the fate of each grain’s journey and its destination. One may take a handful of sand from the beach in St. Thomas to add to its synagogue’s floor and ponder the meaning of our interconnectivity to Jews of all times. With every year, the more we uncover about the Jewish sand grains of Southwest Florida, the more fascinating the story becomes. I find it quite a coincidental sand story that Collier County has five synagogues now. Although none of them
have a sand floor — at least, not yet. But with the rise of worldwide antisemitism, I, the observer of historical patterns, want to ask how soon we should cover the floors with sand? Luis Farrakhan addressed the Sha’are Shalom Jamaican congregation in 2002, a demonstrative attempt at reconciliation, that did not change history or his behavior. As the leader of the Nation of Islam, he is revered, and his hatred of Jews is contagious.
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