The Jewish Nation of the Caribbean: The Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Settlements in the Caribbean and the Guianas [Hardcover]

Mordechai Arbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2002

Occasionally one comes across a book, which is unexpected, delights and inspires. Surinam, known as the ‘Jewish Savannah’, where a vibrant Jewish community was granted full and equal rights two hundred years before the Jews of other communities in the region. St Eustatius, where the economically successful Jewish community was plundered during the British occupation in 1781. Curacao, named the ‘Mother of Jewish communities in the New World’, where a prosperous Jewish community comprised nearly half of Curacao’s non-slave population and was the center of Jewish life in the region. For all their economic and local political power, the Jews were little more than pawns in the 200-year struggle for control of the Caribbean by Holland, Great Britain, France and Spain. Eventually growing tired of this chess game, the Jews of the Caribbean drifted into assimilation or immigrated to the United States, where life was more secure. An ideal resource and captivating read for those traveling to the region or people with an interest in Jewish history, this is an exceptional book that brings the Jewish communities of the Caribbean to life, with intensity, and with a heartbeat so strong as to secure their proper and rightful place in recorded Jewish history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...very readable and truly fascinating... For those researching Sephardim, the book is a gold mine of names -- Schelly Talalay Dardashti, City Lights, The Jerusalem Post

An enlightening and soulful book, that reveals previously hidden, fascinating periods Jewish history...High quality wine in a beautiful bottle. -- Yitzhak Navon, 5th President of Israel, October 1, 2002

About the Author

Mordechai Arbell was born in Bulgaria and immigrated to Israel with his family during the Second World War. After studies at Hebrew University, he joined the Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel, including posts as Consul in Bogota and Ambassador to Panama and Haiti. He has devoted much of his life to documenting the story of Jews in the southern part of the New World. He is currently a Research Fellow at the Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East at Hebrew University, and is an advisor to the World Jewish Congress.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Gefen Publishing House (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9652292796
• ISBN-13: 978-9652292797
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,293,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great experience buying from here, October 27, 2011

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RAFENCOH - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Jewish Nation of the Caribbean: The Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Settlements in the Caribbean and the Guianas (Hardcover)

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7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive vision of the Caribbean, February 25, 2006

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Ileana Canetti "Professor" (Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Jewish Nation of the Caribbean: The Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Settlements in the Caribbean and the Guianas (Hardcover)

Impressive title, impressive research (of 35 years) and an impressive and so new approach to the Caribbean so affected by the tourist's vision. The author even looked upon the Jewish old cemeteries, an aspect that adds to this book a so mysterious and human touch! I, who come from the Spanish-speaking islands missed a lot more information on Jewish presence in Puerto Rico and other Hispanic islands, no matter a section on Dominican Republic jews is well presented. An open book in this sense.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Our Past, Present and Future, May 5, 2010

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Elliot B. Halberg "Yeudel" (Chesterfield Twp. Michigan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Jewish Nation of the Caribbean: The Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Settlements in the Caribbean and the Guianas (Hardcover)

Mr. Arbel describes with such meticulous attention to time,terrain and the true characters of the people involved in this migration that I more than understand this part of my heritage as an American Jew. The sense of the importance of the events from the why they happended as also the importance of the men and women who shaped and influenced the course of this for me unknown part of who I am as a human being. This very understandable account of the migration of Jews looking for what had been missing for them truly up to that point and that may have been that part of the world to call ones own.