 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Indonesian. (March 2023)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
 Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue, the only active synagogue in Indonesia. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 500–1,000[1] 3,000-4,000 (according toYaakov Baruch)[2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| North Sulawesi,Jakarta,Ambon,Jayapura | |
| Languages | |
| Indonesian,Dutch,Ambonese,Portuguese,Spanish,Arabic,Hebrew | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism |
Thehistory of the Jews in Indonesia began with the arrival of early European explorers and settlers, the first recorded Jews arrived in the 17th century.[3] Most Indonesian Jews arrived fromSouthern Europe, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, theMiddle East,North Africa, India, China, andLatin America.Jews inIndonesia presently form a very smallJewish community of about 500–1,000, from a nadir of about 20 in 1997.[1] Judaism is not recognized as one of the country's sixmajor religions, however its practices are allowed under Presidential Regulation No. 1 of 1965 and article 29 paragraph 2 of theConstitution of Indonesia.[4] Therefore, members of the local Jewish community have to choose to register as "Belief in One Almighty God" (Indonesian:Kepercayaan Terhadap Tuhan Yang Maha Esa) or another recognized religions on their official identity cards.[5]
Presently, most Indonesian Jews live inManado on the island ofSulawesi.[6]
Through the writings of the traveler Abû Zayd Hasan al-Sîrafî about theGuangzhou Massacre in theAn Shi Rebellion in the 7th century, it indicates that there was already a Jewish community inChina, at least inGuangzhou, a port connecting China and India, trading ships for that port are thought to have passed through the islands of modern-day Indonesia. With the local climate ofmonsoon winds, ships had to anchor for months at various ports between the two locations, such as in the Malay Peninsula and the waters of Sumatra. A more definite picture comes from the Persian writerBuzurg ibn Shahriyar in hisAja'ib Al-Hind Barrihi wa Bahrihi wa Jaza'irihi ("Wonderful things about the land, seas, and islands of India") written in the 10th century. He wrote an Omanite Jew named Ish'âq bin al-Yahûdî who traveled to China and had stopped inSarîra (Srivijaya). Other evidence can be seen based on the 13th Century notes of Avraham ben ha-Rambam, a Jewish leader fromCairo who issued a t’shuva for a wife who was in a position of bound, because her husband who was a trader fromAden to bilâd al-Hind (the Indies) left her and died on the way back. A thing to note is that he was a camphor trader from Fans'ûr, inSumatra (nowBarus). This indicates that there were Jews involved in trade within the Indonesian region in the past.[7][8][9]
In the 1850s, Jewish travelerJacob Saphir was the first to write about the Jewish community in theDutch East Indies after visitingBatavia, Dutch East Indies. He had spoken with a local Jew who told him of about 20 Jewish families in the city and several more inSurabaya andSemarang. Most of the Jews living in the Dutch East Indies in the 19th century wereDutch Jews who worked as merchants or were affiliated with the colonial regime. Other members of the Jewish community were immigrants fromIraq orAden which were mostly concentrated inSurabaya andSemarang.[10]
According to the notes ofIsrael Cohen. Around 2,000 Jews resides in the colony prior to the second world war, several Jewish civil organizations were founded around this time, the most notable beingAssociation for Jewish Interests in the Dutch East Indies. TheWorld Zionist Organization also had several offices in the colony, such as inBatavia,Bandung,Malang,Medan,Padang,Semarang, danYogyakarta. Both organizations are known to raise funds forZionist movements.[10]
In 1930, a census by the colonial government recorded 1,095 Jews. By the late 1930s, the number had increased to 2,500 inJava,Sumatra, and other areas. But during the events ofWorld War II, the number of Jews in the Dutch East Indies was estimated at 2,000.[5] In general, Indonesian Jews (especially those of Dutch and European descent) suffered greatly under theJapanese Occupation of Indonesia, being exiled andforced to work in detention camps and having their properties confiscated by the Japanese forces.
During theBattle of Surabaya, at least one Jew was recorded fighting alongside the Nationalist forces. Charles Mussry who was of Iraqi Jewish descent fought alongside the people's militias to defend Indonesia's sovereignty.[11] After the war, the Jews who were released faced many problems and changes in the political situation in Indonesia. In the 1950s, the nationalization of several foreign companies bySukarno, in addition to the foreign political situation such as theIsraeli-Palestinian Conflict, caused a lot of Jewish emigration from Indonesia. Only a small number of these Jews returned to theNetherlands, with the majority of the Jews opting to migrate towardsAustralia,United States andIsrael instead. The Majority of the Iraqi Jews who also had Indonesian ancestry remained inSurabaya for a while, although eventually most of them migrated to Israel in 1958. The Jewish community in Israel who came from the Dutch East Indies and Indonesia, founded several association organizations, the most notable beingTempo Dulu by Shoshanna Lehrer.[5]
At some point, during theOld Order period, Judaism was recognized as one of Indonesia's religion under the nameHebrani (lit. 'Hebrew'), although during theNew Order, Jewish descendants were asked to assimilate with the local population and were categorized in the census with Christianity. Since the fall of the New Order and the beginning of theReformation era, some Jewish descendants have begun to identify themselves and practice Judaism again, Most notably the Jewish community inNorth Sulawesi.[8][9]
By the late 1960s, it was estimated[5] that there were 20 Jews living inJakarta, 25 inSurabaya and others living inManado,East Nusa Tenggara,Maluku andPapua.
Since the2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, and Israel's retaliation in the ongoing conflict, As in with most Muslim majority countries, Indonesia has seen a massive rise inantisemitism,[12][13] which was already a significant problem for the majority-Muslim country.[14][15][16] Mass protests, threats of violence and discrimination have pushed the already-marginalized and closeted Jewish population to take further steps to conceal their faith.
Israelitische Gemeente Soerabaia (English: Israelite Congregation in Surabaya) is aJewish association inSurabaya which was founded in 1923. It was founded byIraqi Jews, who have historically made up most of its membership. The congregation had what was for years the onlysynagogue in Indonesia. The congregation was at its largest in the 1930s, when it had around 1000 members; after most of them emigrated by 1960, it has been reduced to a tiny fraction of its former numbers.
During the Dutch colonial period, there were hundreds of Jewish immigrants living in Surabaya, most of whom worked as government employees, soldiers or merchants.[17] Surabaya was an ideal place to live for immigrant Jews at that time because the Dutch colonial government protected and gave them civil rights without discrimination.
TheIsraelitische Gemeente Soerabaia was founded by Izak Ellias Binome Ehrenoreis Rechte Grunfeld and Emma Mizrahie on 31 July 1923, in Surabaya.[18][19] One of the first thing it established was a Jewish cemetery in 1926, one of only a handful in the Indies. By the 1930s the congregation seems to have reached its largest extent with around 1000 members.[20] However, during that time the congregation did not have an official synagogue space and weddings and bar mitzvahs would take place in private homes (especially that of Charles Mussry) or rented rooms in institutional buildings.[17][21] The community was persecuted during theJapanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies.[17]
After renting various rooms to use as a synagogue, the congregation boughtEigendom Verponding, an estate formerly owned by the Kruseman family in 1948 and established it as the newSurabaya Synagogue.[22] The estate was owned by Joseph Ezra Izaak Nassiem and the operation of the synagogue was supported by the Sayers family.[23]
Despite their purchase of a new synagogue, Jewish community in Surabaya never again reached their 1930s numbers and continued to decline in the 1950s. The congregation embracedZionism and the newly independent state of Israel and flew Israeli flags at the opening of the building.[19] At first there was not a local rabbi to take up a position in the synagogue; eventually Ezra Meir, a rabbi of Iraqi descent living in Singapore, was recruited to take up the role.[17]
International and national events negatively affected the IGS and drove waves of emigration to Israel, the United States, Australia and the Netherlands throughout the 1950s. TheSinai War,Israel, theUnited Kingdom andFrance attackedEgypt to seize theSuez Canal, led to increased hostility against the Jewish community in Indonesia. However, the true end of a vibrant Jewish community in Indonesia and the steepest decline in IGS membership came about as a result of the Dutch-Indonesian dispute overWestern New Guinea, which led to measures against "Dutch" people living in Indonesia and the nationalization of the property of many foreign nationals, including Dutch Jews.[17] The membership of IGS dwindled to around 100–150 by 1959, and to only 10 or so by the twenty-first century.[20][22][24] During that period of decline the IGS nonetheless remained the most viable Jewish congregation in the country; the Jakarta congregation essentially merged with it and the Surabaya synagogue remained the only one in operation.[24]
Despite the emigration of many adherents, the IGS is still considered to exist among a small community of descendants of the original group in the twenty-first century. Despite the Buildings status as a "protected heritage building" The synagogue itself was sold and demolished in 2013, causing complaints from the remaining community members.[25][26]
The social and cultural characteristics ofIndonesia contributed toassimilation. Most Indonesian Jews changed their names to Indonesian names.[citation needed] Jews were obliged to change their names and beliefs.[citation needed] LaterChinese Indonesians were forced to change their names as well, but they were still allowed to practiceBuddhism in Indonesia.[27]
Religion in Indonesia is regulated by the government. Indonesian Jews face the challenge of declaring a religion on their governmentID cards called KTP (Kartu Tanda Penduduk). Every citizen over the age of 17 must carry a KTP, which includes the holder's religion. Indonesia only recognizes six religions, none of which are Judaism. Reportedly[citation needed], many Jews who have registered a religion have registered as Christians.
An estimated 20,000 descendants of Jews still live in Indonesia, though many are losing their historical identity. Since most Indonesian Jews are actually Jews from Southern Europe and the Middle East Area, the languages spoken by them include Indonesian, Malay, Arabic, Hebrew, Portuguese and Spanish.[28]
The Indonesian Jewish community is very tiny, with most members living in the capital of Jakarta and the rest in Surabaya. Many Jewish cemeteries still exist around the country such as inKerkhof Cemetery in Aceh,Semarang andSurabaya inJava, inPangkalpinang inBangka Island, inPalembang inSouth Sumatra, and inNorth Sulawesi.
A small congregation led by RabbiTovia Singer, previously the only rabbi in present-day Indonesia. It operates in conjunction with the Eits Chaim Indonesia Foundation, the only Jewish organization in Indonesia to have official sanction, under the auspices of the Directorate General of Christian Community Guidance (Ditjen Bimas Kristen), from theIndonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs.
There was a synagogue inSurabaya, provincial capital ofEast Java inIndonesia. For many years it was the only synagogue in the country. The synagogue became inactive beginning in 2009 and had noTorah scrolls orrabbi. It was located in Jalan Kayun 6 on a 2.000 m2 lot near theKali Mas river in a house built in 1939 during Dutch rule.
The home was bought by the local Jewish community from a Dutch doctor in 1948 and transformed into a synagogue. Only themezuzah and 2Stars of David in the entrance showed the presence of the synagogue. The community in Surabaya is no longer big enough to support aminyan, a gathering of ten men needed in order to conduct public worship. The synagogue was demolished, to its foundation, in 2013. and a hotel was built on its location.[25][29]
A small congregation in Jayapura that built a synagogue in 2014 on a 120-meter plot of land owned by Rabbi Aharon Sharon Melamdim, the leader of the Jewish community inJayapura.[30] The Jews of Jayapura believed that they were the descendants ofLatin American Jews who came to the Island a century prior to escape persecution and self-converted to Judaism.[31]
Since 2003, Shaar Hashamayim synagogue has been serving the local Jewish community of some 30-50 people inTondano city,Minahasa Regency,North Sulawesi. Currently it is the only synagogue in Indonesia that provides services.[32] A tiny local Jewish community remains in the area, composed mostly of those who rediscovered their ancestral roots and converted back to Judaism.
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History of the Jews in Asia | |
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| States with limited recognition | |
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