Thehistory of the Jews in El Salvador goes back to the 1800s.Jews have been present inEl Salvador since the early 19th century, starting withSephardic Jews and continuing with the arrival of refugees from Europe duringWorld War II.[1] El Salvador has a community of around 100 to 300 Jews, the majority established in San Salvador.[2]
There is a record of Jews in Latin America since colonial times. In El Salvador, there is a record of several Jewish immigrations from Portugal. After the independence of El Salvador, it is believed that the first Jewish immigrant was Bernardo Haas, born in Alsace. Subsequently, the first documented German Jew arrived in the country in 1888, according to academic Jessica Alpert. France and Central Europe were the main countries of origin of this contemporary Jewish migration.[3][2]
Business partnership with Catholic conservative landlords during the 1930s hampered Jewish security, but the situation improved after World War II, and many Jews arrived, many thanks to the work of Colonel Castellanos who saved over 40,000 Jews from Central Europe by giving them visas and Salvadoran nationality.[4][5] On Sept. 11, 1948, El Salvador recognized the State of Israel, and in 1956 the Instituto Cultural El Salvador-Israel was founded.
Jerusalén is a municipality in the La Paz department of El Salvador. It was named by the Cordova family, more specifically by Juan Cordova. They were Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain. Other Sephardic Jews are Escalantes, Figueroas, Figueiras, Perla, Galeas, Galeanos, Gomar, López, Perez, Taher and Taheri among others, some of them became members and founders of theSeventh-Day Adventist Church[relevant?] in the area of Morazan.[citation needed]
Right before theSalvadoran Civil War, the Jewish community was actively involved in organizing a Zionist Organization, of whichErnesto Liebes and Carlos Bernhard were its main leaders.[1] Members of the community were also involved. According to American writer Jane Hunter in her bookIsraeli Foreign Policy: South Africa and Central America, in facilitating the sale of arms from Israel in El Salvador, particularly the sale of 18Dassault Ouragan jetfighters aircraft in 1973, Liebes was perceived by guerrilla groups as the primary representative.[citation needed]
Prior to the Civil War, there were about 300 Jews in El Salvador, most of whom lived in the capital.[6] During the Civil War many Jews left the country after the 1979 kidnap and murder of community leader andIsraeli Honorary Consul for cultural relations Ernesto Liebes by theRN-FARN, the armed wing of theRN, one of the groups that formed theFMLN.[7][8]
TheComunidad Israelita de El Salvador was established in 1943 with a Jewish community center opening in 1945 and a synagogue in 1949.[8] The country also has several Orthodox synagogues including Beit Israel, San Salvador and Shmaya V'avtalion in the town ofArmenia.
Some Salvadorans are descended fromCrypto-Jews orAnusim, who were forced to convert to Christianity but maintained some Jewish traditions for generations. In recent years, some Anusim have returned to Judaism and formally converted, with the help of Jewish outreach organizations such asKulanu.[9]
Notable Salvadoran Jews include Benjamin Bloom, who funded the creation of the San Salvador hospital named after him. It serves all socioeconomic classes of the country with no preferential treatment.[1][7]
The signing of peace treaties in 1992 led to the return of several Jewish couples with children who had moved elsewhere during theSalvadoran Civil War. A new community center andsynagogue were inaugurated in the past decade. The Comunidad Israelita de El Salvador holds services on Friday,Shabbat morning, and on holy days. For Pesach, Rosh Hashannah, Sukkot, Channukah, Purim and Yom Ha'atzmaut, the women's committee organizes meals for the community to share and celebrate together.
University students have a Jewish students association, EJES (Estudiantes Judíos de El Salvador), and a Zionist group, FUSLA (Federación de Universitarios Sionistas de Latinoamérica), both of which are active throughout the year. For adults, the community offers different educational classes in Hebrew and other topics of interest. The "Chevra of Women" offers a course in Jewish cooking, and there is a monthly Jewish bulletin called el Kehilatón, which advertises synagogue events. The Noar Shelanu youth movement, to which about 30 children age 8–18 belong, meets weekly. Thekindergarten for young children also meets weekly. Twoemissaries teachHebrew andJudaism.
In 2006, El Salvador announced plans to move the embassy toTel Aviv where the rest of the embassies are located. This met with controversy, with many believing this decision to be under the political influence of the then President,Tony Saca, who is of Christian Arab descent.[citation needed]
More recently,[when?] the current President[who?] has attracted tourists and investors from around the world including Israel through his country's adoption of Bitcoin alongside the USD.[citation needed]
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