The AMAZON TRAILBLAZER

The Jews of Barbados developed two synagogues on the small island, one in Bridgetown in 1654, the Nidhe Israel Synagogue (the Synagogue of the Scattered of Israel), and a smaller one in the north in Speightstown (no longer in existence) [sounds like an old joke about one Jew on an island and two Temples].

Today, the Synagogue Historic District in Bridgetown is a two-acre UNESCO heritage site. Barbados, settled by the British in 1627, is the eastern most island in the Caribbean, was very important for trade because it was the first port of call for trans-Atlantic ships. By 1679, there were about 300 Jews living in Barbados, reaching 800 people in the 1700s. Jewish communities played a large part in all stages of sugar production by the 1660s, and Barbados was the most profitable of all West Indian colonies. These settlers arrived from Recife, Brazil, where people had developed better knowledge of sugar than anyone else. That expertise encompassed the harvesting of sugar cane (wind power mills they invented while in Recife), the marketing of refined sugar, and the construction of sugar mills. The Jews here were important leaders in trade and the production of sugar (and rum). Eventually responsible for the creation of new Jewish communities in the USA in the 19th Century. For these Jews and their descendants, coconut milk and sugar cane were the milk and honey of the land promised to the people of Abraham. Barbados has been an independent Nation since 1966.

The first Sephardic Jews were in Barbados in 1628, many from Recife, Brazil where they had to leave after Portugal regained control (see my Recife posting from ATW).

With a monopoly in the Barbados sugar industry, Jews incurred the jealousy of non-Jewish plantation owners who discriminated against them with very restrictive laws on selling and later by imposing additional taxes on them. In 1688, legislation forbade Jews from owning large numbers of slaves. Without a labor force, it was impossible to operate sugar plantations. The Jews of Barbados thus shifted focus, to mercantile rather than agricultural activities. In 1831, they were finally treated as equals and given the vote.

Sadly, by the early 20th century after a hurricane, many Jews left, and there were only a few practicing members of the Jewish community in Barbados. In 1929 the synagogue was then sold and used as commercial offices and a law library. A new influx of Jews, the Ashkenazi, arrived in Barbados in 1931 from Europe.

The Government owned the Synagogue from 1983 and eventually, with private and public funding, in 1986, prior to knocking down the Synagogue, a Restoration Project was initiated with an the original design of the early Synagogue recreated using old photographs obtained from the Barbados Museum. Several phases of restoring the Synagogue Historic District occurred from 1986-2017 including: the Nidhe Israel Synagogue, the adjacent cemetery with over 400 graves, the Nidhe Israel Museum, a 17th century Mikvah, a fire station and an artisans workshop. The Synagogue itself was completed in 1989 when the building rededicated and opened for services. There is an active Jewish community of 53 members that still resides in Barbados today. We participated in Friday night Services on January 3 and had a wonderful experience.Read more