The Jewish community of Puerto Rico dates back to the days of the Spanish Inquisition when this Caribbean island was discovered during Columbus’ second voyage to the New World in 1493. On board were a number of Anousim (Jews who were forced to convert to...
[caption id="attachment_12726" align="alignleft" width="324"] Jamaican synagogue[/caption] Jews from the Iberian Peninsula, but mainly Portugal, settled in Jamaica beginning about 1530 to avoid the Inquisition. At this time, the island was a Spanish territory. In Jamaica they continued to profess being Catholic, but they were able more...
[caption id="attachment_6637" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Synagogue in Cuba"][/caption] Like many of the Caribbean islands, Cuba also received its first Jews inhabitants when they sailed along with Columbus at the time of the Spanish Inquisition. Ben Frank provides a thorough background in Hadassah magazine. The first Anousim arrived in...
There are some who believe that an ancient Jewish presence may have at one time existed in Cameroon via merchants who arrived from Egypt for trade. According to these accounts, the early communities in Cameroon observed rituals such as separation of dairy and meat products,...
[caption id="attachment_6400" align="alignleft" width="300"] Modern Igbo outside Siyahh Yisrael Synagogue[/caption] The Igbo Jews of Nigeria, who call themselves the “Benei-Yisrael,” are part of the larger Igbo ethnic group. Most of the Igbo Jews live in an area which straddles the River Niger, near the Anambra states. The...
The history of Jewish settlement in Krygyzstan goes back as far as the 6th century CE when, according to the website BukharianJews.com, archeological evidence discovered by the Kyrgyz Academy of Science suggests that Jewish traders from Khazaria started visiting the Kyrgyz territory. In Kyrgyz tradition, the...
[caption id="attachment_6350" align="alignleft" width="289"] Bukharan Jews in 1890[/caption] The term “Bukharan Jews” refers to the Central Asian Jews of the political entity of Bukhara, those of Samarkand, and the Ferghana Valley. Today, the region is divided between the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan...
There are approximately 1,000 people with alleged Jewish roots in Timbuktu, Mali. They arrived in the 14th century fleeing persecution in Spain, and migrated south to the Timbuktu area, at that time part of the Songhai Empire. Among them was the Kehath (Ka'ti) family, descended...
[caption id="attachment_6206" align="alignright" width="270" caption="The Yu Aw synagogue in Afghanistan's Herat quarter"][/caption] In addition to the historic Jewish roots of the Pathans (Pashtuns) described elsewhere on the Shavei Israel site, there is also speculation that the Afghan Royal Family has its roots in the tribe of...
There have been rumors for years that one of the 10 Lost Tribes migrated the land of the rising sun. While this claim is often dismissed as being fanciful, there are nevertheless a number of interesting articles worth reading....
