Most of us are familiar, more or less, with the history of North American Jewry. Few of us are aware of the history of the Jews of the Recife colony, the origin of Jewish settlement in the Americas. The Portuguese established a permanent colony in territory which came to be called Brazil beginning in 1532. Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco, became a center for sugar production in the sixteenth century. People of Jewish origin who had converted to Christianity were part of Recife�s population. When Spain and Portugal became one kingdom at the end of the 16th century an emissary of the dreaded Inquisition was not far behind. Some �New Christians� were accused of being �Judaizers� and were handed over to the Inquisitional tribunal.
You can imagine the relief of the Crypto Jews of Recife when the Dutch conquered Pernambuco in 1630. The Dutch rule gave the Jews religious freedom for the next 24 years, until 1654, when the Portuguese reconquered the area. This was an important period in Jewish history in South America, as Brazil under Dutch rule was the only region during colonial times where Jews were allowed to practice their religion openly and establish an organized community. Its members were mainly Jews from Holland and Crypto Jews who had already been in Pernambuco under Portuguese rule.
In 1654, when the Portuguese resumed rule, the Jews of Recife scattered, some to the West Indies and some to New Amsterdam. There is a legend that the boat on which the Jews arrived was actually heading for Holland, but got blown off course. There is also evidence that at least two Jews met the boat: Solomon Pieters or Petersen, who appears briefly in the Dutch records as advocate for the Jews in their first dealings with Stuyvesant; and Jacob Barsimson, an Ashkenazi trader who had just arrived in the colony.
How strange the twists of history that brought us here! How self-centered of us to claim that 2005 is the 350th anniversary of Jewish settlement in America, as if South America is not America! Counting the Jewish community of Recife, this is the 375th anniversary of the establishment of Jewish community life in America. We�ve actually been here longer than the organizations tell us. May we remain in this favored land for a long, long time.
Rabbi Steve Forstein
