6th Annual Tea Party

July 25, 2004

Honoring Jamaica's Jewish cultural component Fashion show featuring "Cooyah Rootz Wear", and "Concept International"

Message from the Jamaican Jewish community.

The freedom to worship as one wishes has not been and still is not a universal right of all mankind. This was particularly true with nation states that were based on religious beliefs rather than on secular principle, such as we experience in the middle east and elsewhere today.

Jamaica as a Spanish colony had those restrictions imposed from the first settlement at Sevilla Nueva though as a possession of the Colon family these restrictions seemed to have been less rigorously applied. There are no records of an Auto da Fe or any other activity associated with the Inquisition. No Jews, Coversos or Marranos were allowed in Jamaica at least not officially under the Spanish. England too had expelled the Jews is 1290 only to readmit them is 1655 shortly after the capture of their major acquisition of Spanish American territory, Jamaica. It is from this tacit approval that the Jews were allowed to settle and practice Judaism in Jamaica.

In the coming year 2005/6 therefore Jamaican Jews will celebrate the 350 years of freedom to practice Judaism. Other restrictions prevailed however and were not removed until 1831.

The expulsion from Spain in 1492 created a diaspora of Sephardic Jews, the bulk of whom found refuge in the Muslim countries along the Mediterranean coasts. A main homeland was Turkey. Jews also found their way to Portugal only to be forcibly converted though public baptism five years later. Many of these Conversos had no where else to go until the reformation and the rise of the Dutch Protestants at the end of the 16th century. Amsterdam became known in the early 1600s as the new Jerusalem. It was from there that many Jews began to seek their fortune and contribute to the development of the Americas. Jamaica was no exception.

Over the centuries Jews have excelled in every aspect of Jamaican life, in music, art, pop song, literature, shop keeping, publishing, law, medicine, importing and business generally and last but not least in public service and politics. Jews in Jamaica had no homeland to return to and so became involved in more that just the professions, marrying non Jews and so today many Christian families have Jewish ancestors in their family histories. Such is the level of assimilation. Many of the traditional Jewish names exist those of people who do not practice Judaism and indeed have not done so for generation. Names such as Cohen, Levy and the like no longer identify as practising Jews.

There is still a Jamaican Jewish congregation, KK Shaare Shalom and there is still a synagogue in which full religious observance takes place. There are some 16 cemeteries spread across the Island, though the majority of Jews lived in the towns and today in Kingston. A history "The Portuguese Jews of Jamaica" has recently been published. The 350 celebrations will include the opening of a permanent exhibition on Jamaican Jewish history, a contribution to the rich multi cultural tapestry that is today Jamaica. Thank you Jamaica Cultural Alliance for this opportunity to highlight this occasion, the contribution of the Jewish Jamaicans and the upcoming event of the 350 celebrations.

Ainsley Henriques
Kingston, Jamaica
5675 - 2004/5