Amazonian Jews

Infobox Ethnic group
group = Amazonian Jews


caption = The Jews of Tarapoto, Peru
pop = Unknown
region1 = flag|Brazil
pop1 = 250,000
region2 = flag|Peru
pop2 = Unknown
region3 = flag|Israel
pop3 = Unknown
languages = Modern: Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Peru), Hebrew (Israel) Liturgical: Sephardic Hebrew
religions = Judaism
related = •Jews Moroccan Jews, Sephardi Jews, Berber Jews, Other Jewish groups •Brazilians and Peruvians mestizos, caboclos, others

Amazonian Jews (Hebrew: יהודים אמזונאס, "Yehudim Amazonas"; Spanish: "Judíos Amazónicos"; Portuguese: "Judeus Amazônicos") are the communities of mostly Moroccan Jewish descendants found in Amazon basin cities and river villages of Brazil and Peru, including Belém, Santarém, Manaus, Iquitos, Tarapoto and others.

Origins

Their origins trace to Moroccan Jewish traders and tappers who arrived in the Brazilian, and later Peruvian, Amazon basin during the rubber boom of the 1880s. They ventured as far as Iquitos.

Since their Jewish descent was patrilineal - Jewish traders had all been males who coupled up with local (mestizo or Amerindian) females - their Jewishness is not recognised according to halakha, which recognises only matrilineal descent.

Ashkenazi suspicion and discrimination

For the Peruvian communities, an enduring casta system stemming from the colonial period has resulted in virtually no interaction between these Jewish descendants and the small mostly European Ashkenazi population concentrated in Lima (under 3,000) who are integrated into Lima's elite white European minority. Thanks to efforts made by Israeli outreach programmes, some have formally returned to Judaism, made aliyah and now live in Israel.

Amazonian Jewish communities

Iquitos Jews

Tarapoto Jews

Belém and Manaus Jews

The surnames found in Belém and Manaus of jews from morrocan of Spanish origin like: Albaz, Almescany, Assayag, Benesby,Benchimol, Benayon, Bemerguy, Bendayan, Benguigui, Bentes, Benzecry, Elmescany, Foinquinos, Hamú, Israel, Laredo, Levy, Ohana,Ovadia, Sabbá, Salém, Salgado, Safdié, Sefdié, Serruya, Soares, Tobelem, Zagury.We have some great examples of their success like Isaac Benayon Sabbá and Samuel Benchimol. The Saga of the Jews in the Amazon is portrait in the documentary Eretz Amazonia done by David Salgado, based on Samuel Benchimol book Eretz Amazonia the saga of Jews in amazon. They migrated from Morocco to the Amazon during the rubber boom. They used their traditional languages: Ladino, Hebrew and Haketia .

ee also

*Moroccan Jews
*Sephardim
*B'nai Moshe
*Jewish ethnic divisions

External links

* [http://www.elreloj.com/article.php?id=17222 The "Jews of the Jungle" receive a Rabbi (in Spanish)]
* [http://www.sephardicgen.com/amazon.HTM Indiana Jones meets Tangier Moshe - Moroccan Jews in the Amazon]