The Brazilian Jewish Community

1. The Brazilian Jewish Community

2. Jewish history in Brazil dates back to the time of the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Gaspar da Gama, a Jew by birth, but later kidnaped and forcibly baptized, accompanied Portuguese admiral Pedro Alvares Cabral when he landed in what is now Brazil in 1500, beginning a more than 500-year presence in the New World. When the Inquisition in Portugal took hold in 1497, Jews fled to places throughout the world, including Brazil. They arrived in Brazil primarily as New Christians or Conversos (Jews converted to Christianity), but many secretly practiced Judaism and began a colonization drive to settle on the land. Despite continued persecution by the Brazilian Inquisition, the New Christians successfully established sugar plantations and mills. By 1624, approximately 50,000 Europeans lived in Brazil, with New Christians making up a significant percentage. They were businessmen, importers, exporters, teachers, writers poets, even priests. In that same year, Dutch forces arrived in Brazil, taking over portions of northeast Brazil. Dutch tolerance allowed for Jewish migration and the open practice of religion. In 1636, Jews built the KahalZursynagogue in the Dutch capital of Recife. In Dutch Brazil, Jews flourished in the sugar industry, tax farming and slave trade. Jews often purchased slaves and resold them at great profit. Those they kept often preferred to work for Jews because both Shabbat and Sunday were rest days, whereas the Portugese only gave them Sunday off, and the Dutch worked their slaves seven days a week. In 1642, Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, a well-known Amsterdamrabbi and scholar Moses Raphael d'Aguilar came to Brazil as spiritual leaders to assist the congregations of KahalZur in Recife and Magen Abraham in Mauricia. By 1645, the Dutch Jewish population peaked at 1,500, approximately half of the European population there. Synagogue records show a well-organized Jewish community with high participation, including a Talmud Torah (school), a Tzedakah fund and an overseeing executive committee. Other Inquisition-fleeing Jews headed south to Sao Paulo. Little is known what happened to them, some scholars suggest they assimilated quickly, however, recent evidence has revealed Brazilian jungle tribes who light candles on Friday night and refrain from eating pork. In 1647, the Portuguese authorities arrested Isaac de Castro for teaching Jewish rites and customs in Portuguese controlled Brazil and sent him back to Portugal where the Inquisition sentenced him to death and burned him at the stake. The Portuguese also started a nine-year war that successfully drove the Dutch out of Brazil in 1654. Portuguese anti-Jewish persecution led to a mass immigration to places like Curacao and New York, where they laid foundations for new Jewish communities, others returned to Europe. Most who could not escape were killed, but some became Crypto Jews, practicing Judaism in secret. They lived away from the authorities, in the interior of Brazil, many becoming ranch hands or cowboys. The persecutions, arrests, confiscation of property and emigration of the Jews greatly damaged the Brazilian economy by bringing the manufacture and export of sugar to a near standstill and seriously disrupting trade between Portugal and Brazil. In 1655, the Portuguese closed a major symbol of Brazilian Jewry, the KahalZur synagogue. However, thanks to the Safra banking family, the synagogue re-opened in 2002 and now stands as the oldest existing synagogue in the Americas, housing a Jewish cultural center and hosting some religious ceremonies. 1773 to 1916 In 1773, a Portuguese royal decree finally abolished discrimination against Jews. They slowly filtered back into Brazil. Almost 50 years later, in 1822, Brazil gained independence from Portugal, and a stream of Moroccan Jews began arriving, and set up a synagogue in Belem (northern Brazil) called Porta do Ceu (Gate of Heaven) in 1824 and later one in Manaus (on the Amazon river). By World War I, Belem's Sephardi community of 800 people had its own charitable organizations and a social club. In the last decade of the 19th century, European Jews began discussing the idea of establishing agricultural settlements in Brazil as an alternative to the unfavorable conditions in Europe. After the 1891 expulsion of the Jews from Moscow, a close associate of Theodor Herzl, Oswald Boxer went to Brazil and returned with a positive report, but plans were abandoned because of Brazilian political strife. The first agricultural settlement was finally established in 1902 by the Jewish Colonization Association (JCA) in the Santa Maria area (southern Brazil). Despite a 1903 pogrom in Bessarabia, only 37 Bessarabian families were willing to settle in the experimental colony, which covered 13,388 acres. The 1904 farming season failed because of inexperience, insufficient funds and poor planning. Although a cooperative headed by an experienced teacher formed in 1907, the settlement continued to produce a fraction of its capability. In 1926, the JCA reported that of the 122 families that settled in the first colony, 17 remained, cultivating corn and beans on only 326 acres. The unused land was then sold. In 1909, the JCA bought another track of land covering almost 94,000 acres in the QuatroIrmaos area, north of Santa Maria and near a large-scale government development. Despite a more rigorous selection process, the settlers once again failed. Administrative problems, lack of agricultural facilities and the lure of city jobs doomed the settlement. By November 1915, only 72 of the original 232 families remained in the colony. World War I and a civil war, which was partially fought on the colony's land drove out more settlers and by 1926, only 40 people remained. In 1920, the JCA began selling some of the land to non-Jewish settlers. In 1935, after a renewed settlement effort, 104 Jewish families lived in QuaroIrmaos, only to be outnumbered five to one by non-Jewish settlers. The JCA led a third attempt at agricultural settlement in 1935 because of deteriorating conditions in Germany. However, as part of a strict immigration policy against Jews, the Brazilian government refused to issue the settlers entry visas. The land was later sold. The settlers who abandoned the colonies set up rich cultural communities in Brazilian cities. By World War I, approximately 7,000 Jews lived in Brazil. In Porto Alegre, capital of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sol, the community opened a Jewish school in 1910 and established a Yiddish newspaper, Di Menshhayt ("Humanity") in 1915. Sao Paolo was home to several philanthropic and cultural associations. In 1916, the Jewish community of Rio de Janeiro formed an aid committee for World War I victims. 1920's to 1970's Almost 30,000 Western European Jews came to Brazil in the 1920s and, by 1929, there were 27 Jewish schools. Despite a strict immigration policy in the 1930s, more than 17,500 Jews entered Brazil. While immigration enriched Brazilian Jewish culture, the wide array of Jewish customs and beliefs, made it nearly impossible to unify them, despite attempts by Rabbi Isaiah Raffalovitch of JCA. Brazil began an assimilation effort in 1938 and closed the Yiddish newspapers and the Jewish organizations, both secular and religious. A wave of anti-Semitism followed, including several editions of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Only after Brazil adopted a new, more democratic constitution in 1945, did organized Jewish activities resume. In 1947, Brazil voted for the partition of Palestine and for the creation of a Jewish state at the United Nations General Assembly. A Brazilian statesman, OswaldoAranha, played a vital role in the adoption of the resolution. Brazil recognized Israel in February 1949 and opened an embassy there three years later. In 1959, Brazil and Israel signed the first of several agreements to cooperate in a variety of areas, including culture, commerce, agriculture, science and industry. In the late 1950s, another wave of Jewish immigration brought more than 3,500 North African Jews to Brazil. By the 1960s, Brazilian Jewry was thriving. In the 1966 parliamentary elections six Jews, representing various parties, were elected to the federal legislature. In addition, Jews served in state legislatures and municipal councils. In 1967, 33 Jewish schools were attended by more than 10,000 students. By 1969, approximately 140,000 Jews lived in Brazil, mostly in the large cities: Rio de Janeiro (50,000), Sao Paulo (55,000), Porto Alegre (12,000), Belo Horizonte (3,000), Recife (1,600) and Belem (1,200). Jmunal life was uneventful throughout the 1970s, save some minor anti-Semitic activity by the right-wing Catholic organization Tradicao, Familia e Propriedade (Tradition, Family and Property). History of Jews in Brazil • In 1822, Brazil gained independence from Portugal, and a stream of Moroccan Jews began arriving, and set up a synagogue in Belem (northern Brazil) called Porta do Ceu (Gate of Heaven) in 1824 and later one in Manaus (on the Amazon river). • In the last decade of the 19th century, European Jews began discussing the idea of establishing agricultural settlements in Brazil as an alternative to the unfavorable conditions in Europe. • In Porto Alegre, the community opened a Jewish school in 1910 and established a Yiddish newspaper, Di Menshhayt. • By World War I, 17,000 Jews lived in Brazil. • In 1916, the Jewish community of Rio de Janeiro formed an aid committee for World War I victims • The JCA led a third attempt at agricultural settlement in 1935 because of deteriorating conditions in Germany. However, as part of a strict immigration policy against Jews, the Brazilian government refused to issue the settlers entry visas. • There are about 96,500 Jews in Brazil today.

3. Interesting Facts & Culture • The current Jewish community is mostly composed of Ashkenazi Jews of Polish and German descent and also Sephardic Jews of Spanish, Portuguese, and North African descent (mostly Egyptian) • Brazilian Jews play an active role in politics, sports, academia, trade and industry, and are overall well integrated in all spheres of Brazilian life. • Jews lead an open religious life in Brazil and there are rarely any reported cases of anti-Semitism in the country. • In the main urban centers there are schools, associations and synagogues where Brazilian Jews can practice and pass on Jewish culture and traditions. • Some Jewish scholars say that the only threat facing Judaism in Brazil is the relatively high frequency of intermarriage. • There has been a steady stream of aliyah since the foundation of Israel in 1948. Between 1948 and 2010, 11,586 Brazilian Jews emigrated to Israel

4. Where do they live? • Rio de Janeiro25,000-30,000 • Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul: 15,000 • Curitiba, Paraná: 1,774 • Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais: 1,714 • Recife, Pernambuco: 1,173 • Belém, Pará: 900 • The majority of Brazilian Jews live in the State of São Paulo but there are also sizeable communities in the States of Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais, and Paraná.

5. Shuls • The Jews of Sao Paulo have built an extensive and diverse system of services and organizations that operates in many settings. • Some 65 organizations affiliated with the Sao Paulo Jewish Federation focus on such areas as religion, education, welfare, culture, politics, fundraising, youth, media, sports, medical services, an old age home, and a cemetery • Sao Paulo does not have a Chief Rabbinate and there is no recognized Orthodox conversion in Brazil. • Some 21 different synagogues are affiliated with the Jewish Federation, while a number of organizations also have their own synagogues, and yet others are unaffiliated. • BeitChabad has four synagogues, a monthly magazine, book editions in Portuguese, a summer camp, children's club (TsivotHaShem), and youth group. • CongregacaoIsraelitaPaulista (C.I.P.), founded by German Jews, holds Conservative and Reform services and has the largest synagogue membership in Sao Paulo. The congregation has a well-organized library, Sunday School, and facilities

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