| Total population | |
|---|---|
| about 25,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Brazil | 24,000[1] |
 Israel | 550[2][3][4] |
 Peru | 50[4] |
| Languages | |
| Modern:Portuguese (Brazil),Spanish (Peru),Hebrew (Israel and liturgical) Traditional:Haketia | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Moroccan Jews,Sephardic Jews,Maghrebi Jews,Berber Jews,Brazilians,Peruvians,caboclos,mestizos | |
Amazonian Jews (Portuguese:judeus da Amazônia;Spanish:judíos de la Amazonia;Hebrew:יהודי האמזונס,romanized: yehudei haAmazonas;Ladino:ג׳ודיוס די אמאזוניה, djudios de Amazonia) are the Jews of theAmazon basin, mainly descendants ofMoroccan Jews who migrated to northernBrazil andPeru in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The migrants were attracted to the growing trade in the Amazon region, especially during therubber boom, as well as to the newly establishedreligious tolerance. They settled in localities along theAmazon River, such asBelém,Cametá,Santarém,Óbidos,Parintins,Itacoatiara andManaus in Brazil, some venturing as far asIquitos in Peru.[5][6]
During the 20th century, the Jews of the region became concentrated in its urban areas, and some moved to other Brazilian cities such asRio de Janeiro andSão Paulo, joining other Jewish communities there.[5][6] In the 21st century, in northern Brazil there were significant Jewish communities in Belém and Manaus, active with various institutions,[7][8] as well as smaller communities inMacapá andPorto Velho.[9][10] Of the approximately 120,000 Jews in the whole country, about 20% were estimated to be of Moroccan origin, mostly descendants of migrants to the Amazon basin.[1]
In parallel to the established Jewish communities, many of the original migrants dispersed and married into the local population. As a result, a significant portion of the general population of the Amazon region has partial Moroccan Jewish ancestry. Despite not being considered Jews underreligious law, which requires Jewish matrilineal descent or conversion toJudaism, many of these descendants cherish their Jewish ancestry and some keep Jewish practices to various degrees.[11] In Iquitos, most of them formally converted toJudaism and moved toIsrael under itsLaw of Return.[4]
In 1808, thePortuguese Empire allowed foreigners to trade and reside in itscolony of Brazil, along with tolerance for the private practice of religions other thanCatholicism, followed by the official termination of thePortuguese Inquisition in 1821 and theindependence of Brazil in 1822.[12] Attracted by the favorable economic and social conditions,Moroccan Jews started migrating to Brazil in 1810. They included two groups:[5][6]
The Megorashim ironically called the Toshavimforasteros (foreigners). The rivalry that existed between the two groups in Morocco continued in Brazil: the Toshavim founded a modest synagogue,Eshel Abraham (Abraham's Tamarisk), in 1824, and the Megorashim founded a richer synagogue,Shaar Hashamaim (Gate of Heaven), in 1826, both inBelém, at the mouth of theAmazon River. They also built a Jewish cemetery in the city in 1842.[5][6][13] Jews of other origins also migrated to the Amazon region in smaller numbers, such asFrench Jews fromAlsace–Lorraine,Ashkenazi Jews fromCentral andEastern Europe, and other Sephardic andMizrahi Jews from theMiddle East.[5][6]
The initial migrants were mostly young men. After achieving a certain prosperity, they often returned to their native land to visit their families, marry Jewish women, and bring them back to Brazil. Their prosperity and their continued contact with the original communities stimulated new migrants, who would have the financial and social support of their acquaintances in Brazil. Later migrants were able to marry those from Jewish families who had previously come with their parents or who were already born in Brazil, thus maintaining their religious traditions with their descendants in the new communities.[6]
The migrants worked mostly as merchants, selling food, beverages, medications, fabrics and ammunition to the local population, from whom they bought items produced from local plants and animals, such as rubber, balsam, fruits, nuts, hides and leather, to export to other countries. Traveling along the Amazon River, many settled in smaller localities beyond the city of Belém, such asCametá,Macapá,Santarém,Óbidos,Parintins,Itacoatiara, and the city ofManaus. Some ventured as far asIquitos inPeru, or throughtributary rivers to localities such asPorto Velho andRio Branco.[5][6]
In 1862, theAlliance Israélite Universelle began to establish Jewish schools in Morocco and throughout theMediterranean and Middle East. These schools were crucial in improving the education of Moroccan Jews and prepared them for their future professions and business activities.[6] Some migrants in Brazil also sent their children to Morocco to study in these schools.[14][15]
Many Moroccan Jews becamenaturalized citizens of Brazil. Some returned to Morocco permanently but retained their Brazilian citizenship, enjoying itsconsular protection there.[16]
Natural rubber is produced fromlatex of therubber tree, which at the time was found exclusively in the Amazon region. Around 1880, rubber became a highly demanded commodity for the production of automobile tires and other industrial processes, causing arubber boom in the region, leading to significant economic prosperity and attracting migrants from many regions.[17]
In 1889, Brazil became arepublic, and in 1890, the country allowed full freedom of religion, not only restricted to private spaces as before.[5] The rubber boom continued under the new regime and led to the rapid development of the cities of Belém, Manaus and Iquitos, including running water and sewers, electricity (a novelty at the time), wealthy residences, luxurious buildings, theaters, and railroads. This period marked the height of Jewish migration to the Amazon basin.[13]
Around 1910, the rubber boom started to decline due to competition with the British colonies ofCeylon andMalaya and theDutch East Indies, which began to grow rubber trees from seeds smuggled from Brazil by British explorerHenry Wickham.[18] The decline later intensified due to the production ofsynthetic rubber.
With the economic decline, Jews left the smaller localities in northern Brazil, concentrating in the cities of Belém and Manaus. They built two synagogues in Manaus:Beit Yaacov (House of Jacob) by the Toshavim in 1928, andRabi Meyr by the Megorashim in 1929. In 1962, reflecting the continuing decline of the community and the obsolete distinction between the two groups, they were merged as theBeit Yaacov/Rabi Meyr Synagogue.[5]
Many Jews also left the Amazon region altogether, moving to other Brazilian cities such asRio de Janeiro andSão Paulo, joining the existing Jewish communities there.[6] Most Jews of Iquitos also moved to larger cities in Brazil or toLima.[13]
In 1908,Chief Rabbi of MoroccoRaphael Ankawa sentRabbi Shalom Emanuel Muyal to provide religious orientation to the Jewish communities in the Amazon basin. Although unknown in Belém, Rabbi Muyal visited the Jewish communities in many smaller localities in the region, as well as Manaus and Iquitos. During his stay, he became gravely ill, probably fromyellow fever based on the reported symptoms, and died in Manaus in 1910. As there was no Jewish cemetery in the city at the time, he was buried in a Catholic cemetery, with a wall around his grave. The local Catholics started to revere the rabbi as asaint, makingpilgrimages to his grave and placingcommemorative plaques giving thanks for miraculous cures. Around 1980, Ely Muyal, a nephew of Rabbi Muyal and a member of the Israeli government, suggested the transfer of his grave to Israel. The Jewish community of Manaus warned against the move, as it refrained from transferring the rabbi's grave even to the city's Jewish cemetery to avoid upsetting the local population. The Jewish community continued to guard the graves of Jews who were buried in the Catholic cemetery before the Jewish one was built, but maintained the rabbi's grave open to visitation, and held an annual ceremony in his honor.[19]
The2010 Brazilian Census counted 1,346 Jews in Belém, 1,183 in Manaus, and 1,896 in the rest of theNorth Region of the country.[20] The Jewish communities of Belém and Manaus maintained synagogues, schools, recreation centers, and social groups for women, children and seniors.[7][8] There were also synagogues in Macapá and Porto Velho.[9][10]
A Sephardic synagogue in Rio de Janeiro was also maintained largely by descendants of Moroccan Jews who left the Amazon region, becoming part of the larger Jewish community of the city.[21] In 2014, it was estimated that 20% of the approximately 120,000 Jews in Brazil were of Moroccan origin, mostly descendants of migrants to the Amazon region.[1] About 300 of them lived in Israel.[2]
Many of the original migrants remained in smaller localities of the Amazon basin and married into the local population, mostly ofAmerindian origin. Very few of their spouses or childrenconverted to Judaism, while the vast majority of theircaboclo ormestizo descendants gradually abandoned the religion or were raised as Catholics, but some kept certain Jewish practices to various degrees. In 1999, it was estimated that about 300,000 people in northern Brazil had a Moroccan Jewish ancestor.[5][11][22]
In the late 20th century, a group of mixed descendants in Iquitos began to explore their Jewish heritage. As they lacked Jewish matrilineal descent, a formal conversion would be required for them to be recognized as Jews underreligious law. After years of study, with the help ofConservative rabbis fromLima, theUnited States,Argentina andChile, 98 of the descendants converted to Judaism in 2003, followed by about 180 in 2005, and 284 in 2011. Theritual immersion took place in nearby Lake Quistococha in all occasions. Most of thememigrated to Israel, between 2010 and 2014, settling inBeersheba andRamla. In 2017, about 50 remained in Iquitos.[3][4]
In 2022, in the northern Brazilian municipality of Cametá, a group of 800 self-declared Jews, mostly descendants of Moroccan Jews, sought to reestablish a synagogue there. An old synagogue of Portuguese colonial architecture had been overtaken by theTocantins River after most of the Jews left in the 20th century. The group received the support of Sephardic congregations in the United States.[23]
Among the original Jewish migrants, the Megorashim spokeSpanish,Portuguese andHaketia, also known as WesternLadino, a language mostly based onOld Spanish withHebrew andArabic influences; the Toshavim spokeArabic andBerber; and smaller groups spokeFrench,German,Yiddish, Eastern Ladino and Arabic.[6]
Over time, their descendants adopted the main languages of their respective countries, namely Portuguese in Brazil and Spanish in Peru. Although Haketia is no longer spoken as a full language, many families still use words or expressions from it when speaking among themselves, to convey emotions such as affection, impatience, humor, irony, or for insults, secrecy, proverbs, religious expressions, and songs. A few community members also devoted time to study and document the language.[6]
Hebrew remained theliturgical language. It is also learned to various degrees by members of the communities in Brazil and Peru, as well as by those who emigrated to Israel.[4]
