THE
FOUNDING
On
the twenty first of March, 1651,
the Directors of the Dutch West India Company wrote to Governor Pieter
Stuyvesant: “Although we have once before written about the island of Curaçao,
‘that, if we should have no revenue whatever from there it might be advisable
to abandon it ...’ the enclosed contract made with a Jew, Jan de Illan
will prove to you the contrary. He intends to bring a considerable number
of people there to settle and cultivate, as he pretends, the land but we
begin to suspect that he and his associates have quite another object in
view, namely to trade from there to the West Indies and the Main. Be that
as it may, we are willing to make the experiment, and you must therefore
charge Director Rodenborch to accommodate him within proper limits, and
in conformity with the conditions of his contract.”
the Directors of the Dutch West India Company wrote to Governor Pieter
Stuyvesant: “Although we have once before written about the island of Curaçao,
‘that, if we should have no revenue whatever from there it might be advisable
to abandon it ...’ the enclosed contract made with a Jew, Jan de Illan
will prove to you the contrary. He intends to bring a considerable number
of people there to settle and cultivate, as he pretends, the land but we
begin to suspect that he and his associates have quite another object in
view, namely to trade from there to the West Indies and the Main. Be that
as it may, we are willing to make the experiment, and you must therefore
charge Director Rodenborch to accommodate him within proper limits, and
in conformity with the conditions of his contract.”
Who
were these Jews on whom the Dutch were pinning their last hopes for the
retention and development of their island possession in the faraway Caribbean?
Both the leader and his group, all came from Amsterdam- at that time a
blossoming center of Jewish life and culture in the newly independent Netherlands.
Their roots, however, were unmistakably in Spain and Portugal. There, their
ancestors had lived for over ten centuries among and alongside the heathen,
then Moslem, and finally Christian civilizations. There they had come to
enjoy peace and security, reaching the heights of learning, of the professions,
and of their contemporary society.
Then
came the Inquisition. By the end of the 15th century, this once vibrant
and flourishing Jewish community of Spain had either gone underground,
as MARRANOS, or into exile. As MARRANOS, “New Christians” or CONVERSOS”-
as they were variously known- they crossed the border into still tolerant
Portugal and lived there for a hundred years. They even changed the spelling
of their names, added on new ones, and adopted Portuguese as their language.
Until, once again, they had to flee as the Inquisitors set up their tribunals
in Portugal as well. As is so tragically common place in history when persecution
sets in, the havens of refuge become rare. Protestant Holland,
just then emerging victorious from its war for religious freedom against
Spain, was one of those few. Settling there at the turn of the 16th century
under the protectorate of the burgomasters of Amsterdam and the freedom-loving
House of Orange Nassau, these Spanish and Portuguese Jews helped make Amsterdam
the commercial and shipping center of Europe. As for Jewish culture and
religion, Amsterdam was to become known as the “NEW JERUSALEM”. The majestic
Portuguese Synagogue on the Jonas Daniel Meyerplein, the “Esnoga”, still
testifies proudly to the greatness that once was theirs. (CGC)
just then emerging victorious from its war for religious freedom against
Spain, was one of those few. Settling there at the turn of the 16th century
under the protectorate of the burgomasters of Amsterdam and the freedom-loving
House of Orange Nassau, these Spanish and Portuguese Jews helped make Amsterdam
the commercial and shipping center of Europe. As for Jewish culture and
religion, Amsterdam was to become known as the “NEW JERUSALEM”. The majestic
Portuguese Synagogue on the Jonas Daniel Meyerplein, the “Esnoga”, still
testifies proudly to the greatness that once was theirs. (CGC)THE
HOPE OF ISRAEL (Mikvé Israel)
It
was from Amsterdam’s well-spring of the Jewish renaissance that one Joao
d’Yllan petitioned the Dutch West India Company to bring a company of settlers
to colonize Curaçao. He was born in Portugal, had been denounced
there for “Judaizing”, was now established in Amsterdam and engaged in
commerce with relatives in Brazil. He was a good and prosperous member
of the Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam and had a brother who was a colonel
in the Dutch colonial army. He promised to bring fifty families, but succeeded
in recruiting no more than twelve. They set sail for Curaçao in
the summer of 1651.
If
the roots of these settlers were Spanish and Portuguese, so were their
names. One historian lists them as being: Aboab, Aboab Cardozo, Chaves,
Henriquez Continho, Jesurun, De León, Marchena, De Meza, Oliveria,
La Parra, Pereira and Touro. They were not the only ones. Several independent
Jewish businessmen from Amsterdam followed and- some claim- even preceded
them. In fact, the very first Jew to set foot and establish himself on
Curaçao was one Samuel Coheno, an interpreter, pilot, and Indian
guide to Johan van Walbeeck, the Dutch naval commander who took Curaçao
from the Spanish in 1634. Samuel Coheno was appointed Chief Steward of
the native Indian population and certainly stayed on Curaçao until
1641. But it is the d’Yllan group who, in the words of our foremost historians
Isaac and Suzanne Emmanuel, surely improvised a Synagogue out of a small
house in 1651 and that first house of worship probably stood in the fields
where the colonists toiled.
If
the exact date of its founding is lost in history, there can be no doubt
about its existence. In a letter in Spanish, Ishack Rodrigues Cunha, while
away from Curaçao, addresses himself “to the illustrious Gentlemen
the MAHAMAD of the Holy Congregation Mikvé Israel, Curaçao’’.
The date of the letter was the 2nd of Heshvan 5415 (Oct. 13, 1654).
The earliest maps of that era show that the JODEN KWARTIER (Jewish Quarter) was comprised of a number of plantations: BLY EN HEIM (later BLEINHEIM), JUDIO (JEW), ROZENTAK (alias GASPARITO) and DE HOOP (The Hope). There is strong support for assuming a connection between the name that the first settlers had given to their congregation, Mikvé Israel (The Hope of Israel) and the name of this last plantation.
In the spring of 1659, a large group of “more than 70 Souls”, comprised mostly of former Jewish colonists from what was once Dutch Brazil, set sail from Amsterdam under the leadership of Ishac da Costa. It was in da Costa’s contract that the Jews were first and formally granted religious liberty in the colonies by the Dutch authorities. Important for the future of the Curaçao Jewish community, is the fact that da Costa brought with
him a SEFER TORAH (Scroll of the Law) with some ornaments, “entrusted to him by the MAHAMAD of the Amsterdam Portuguese Jewish Community for delivery to Curaçao”. This is the first recorded presence of a TORAH Scroll on the Island. (CGC)
| The area of the 1st Jewish settlement on the Island od
Curacao. Depicted lower left, is the Jewish cemetery (Begraafplaats) situated
between the "Blenheim" and "De Hoop" plantations.
INSET: Watercolor reproduction of the manor house on the "De Hoop" plantation. |
 |
 Enlargement of the first column in the
Dutch legend pertaining to the map Willemstad and surroundings - 1754
|
 The arrow center left, points to the area
designated by the letter "D", denoting the location of Neve Shalom synagogue
in modern day Otrobanda. The arrow center right points to the area designated
by the letter "T" refers to Mikvé Israel Synagogue in modern day
Punda.
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