Jewish immigration to Puerto Rico - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Jewish immigration to Puerto Rico
Location of the island of Puerto Rico (green)

The Jewish immigration to Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

began in the 15th century with the arrival of the anusim
Anusim
Anusim is a legal category of Jews in halakha who were forced or coerced to abandon Judaism against their will, typically while forcibly converted to another religion...

(variously called converso
Converso
A converso and its feminine form conversa was a Jew or Muslim—or a descendant of Jews or Muslims—who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. Mass conversions once took place under significant government pressure...

s, Crypto-Jews, or Secret Jews and derrogatorily marranos, meaning swine) who accompanied Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...

on his second voyage. A Jewish community did not flourish in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

because Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

was prohibited by the Spanish Inquisition

Spanish Inquisition

The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...

.

It would be hundreds of years before a Jewish community would be established on the island. Very few American Jews

American Jews

American Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens of the Jewish faith or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants...

settled in Puerto Rico after the island was ceded

Cession

The act of Cession, or to cede, is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty...

by Spain to the United States under the terms of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish–American War.

The first large group of Jews to settle in Puerto Rico were European refugee

Refugee

A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...

s fleeing German–occupied Europe

German–occupied Europe

German–occupied Europe or Nazi Empire refers to the countries of Europe which were occupied by the military forces of Nazi Germany at various times between 1938 and 1945....

in the 1930s and 1940s. The second influx of Jews to the island came in the 1950s, when thousands of Cuban Jews fled after Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...

came to power.

Puerto Rican Jews have made many contributions in multiple fields, including business and commerce

Commerce

While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...

, education, and entertainment. Puerto Rico has the largest and richest Jewish community in the Caribbean, with 3,000 Jewish inhabitants. It is also the only Caribbean island in which all three major Jewish denominations—Orthodox

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

, Conservative

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...

, and Reform

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...

—are represented.

First Jews to arrive in Puerto Rico

According to historians, the first Jews to arrive in Puerto Rico were conversos, Jews who were forced to convert to Catholicism

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

and were members of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

' crew during his second voyage on November 19, 1493 to the so-called "New World

New World

The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...

". Historians believe that Luis de Torres

Luis de Torres

Luis de Torres , perhaps born as יוסף בן הלוי העברי, Yosef Ben Ha Levy Haivri, was Christopher Columbus's interpreter on his first voyage and the first person of Jewish origin to settle in America....

, who spoke Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

among other languages and who accompanied Columbus as his interpreter, was the first "converso" Jew to set foot in Puerto Rico. The Jews who arrived and settled in Puerto Rico were referred to as "Crypto-Jews" or "secret Jews".

In 1478, the Catholic Monarchs

Catholic Monarchs

The Catholic Monarchs is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile; they were given a papal dispensation to deal with...

of Spain, Ferdinand II of Aragon

Ferdinand II of Aragon

Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...

and Isabella I of Castile

Isabella I of Castile

Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...

, established an ecclesiastical tribunal known as the Spanish Inquisition

Spanish Inquisition

. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms. Hundreds of Jews were killed, and their synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

s destroyed. One of the consequences of these disturbances was the mass forced conversion

Forced conversion

A forced conversion is the religious conversion or acceptance of a philosophy against the will of the subject, often with the threatened consequence of earthly penalties or harm. These consequences range from job loss and social isolation to incarceration, torture or death...

of Jews.

When the Crypto Jews arrived on the island of Puerto Rico, they were hoping to avoid religious scrutiny, but the Inquisition followed the colonists. The Inquisition maintained no rota or religious court in Puerto Rico. However, heretics were written up and if necessary remanded to regional Inquisitional tribunals in Spain or elsewhere in the western hemisphere. As a result, many secret Jews settled the island's remote mountainous interior far from the concentrated centers of power in San Juan

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

and lived quiet lives. They practiced Crypto-Judaism

Crypto-Judaism

Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews"...

which meant that they secretly practiced Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

while publicly professing to be Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

. Still, since Jews weren't permitted to worship, the Crypto Jews eventually intermarried with Catholics and therefore, Puerto Rico has virtually no Jewish history of which to speak.

19th century

By the 19th century, the Spanish Crown

Spanish monarchy

The Monarchy of Spain, constitutionally referred to as The Crown and commonly referred to as the Spanish monarchy or Hispanic Monarchy, is a constitutional institution and an historic office of Spain...

had lost most of its possessions in the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

. Two of its remaining possessions were Puerto Rico and Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, both of which were demanding more autonomy and had pro-independence movements. The Spanish Crown issued the Royal Decree of Graces

Royal Decree of Graces of 1815

The Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 is a legal order approved by the Spanish Crown in the early half of the 19th century to encourage Spaniards and later Europeans of non-Spanish origin to settle and populate the colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico....

(Real Cédula de Gracias) which was originated August 10, 1815, with the intention of attracting non-Hispanic European settlers to the islands. The Spanish government, believing that the independence movements would lose their popularity, granted land and initially gave settlers "Letters of Domicile". However, those Europeans who were of the Jewish and Protestant faith were excluded from direct acquisition of state land since it was expected of the settlers to swear loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

. The opening of new lands to Catholics resulted in some sales of existing cultivated lands to others. This, however, did not keep people of Jewish descent from settling in Puerto Rico. Among the Puerto Rican Jews who lived in Puerto Rico in the 19th century was Mathias Brugman

Mathias Brugman

Mathias Brugman , a.k.a. Mathias Bruckman, was a leader in Puerto Rico's independence revolution against Spain known as El Grito de Lares .-Early years:...

.

Mathias Brugman (1811–1868) was the son of Pierre Brugman from Curaçao

Curaçao

Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

of Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

-Jewish ancestry and Isabel Duliebre from Puerto Rico. His parents met and married in New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

where Brugman was born, raised and educated. The Brugman family moved to Puerto Rico and settled in the City of Mayagüez

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

Mayagüez is the eighth-largest municipality of Puerto Rico. Originally founded as "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria" it is also known as "La Sultana del Oeste" , "Ciudad de las Aguas Puras" , or "Ciudad del Mangó"...

where Brugman met and married Ana Maria Laborde. He opened a colmado (grocery store) and became rather successful, only to lose a good part of his fortune attempting to grow coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

. Like many other residents of Puerto Rico at the time, he resented the political injustices practiced by Spain on the island. This led him to become a believer in the cause of the Puerto Rican independence movement.

Brugman admired independence advocates Ramón Emeterio Betances

Ramón Emeterio Betances

Ramón Emeterio Betances y Alacán was a Puerto Rican nationalist. He was the primary instigator of the Grito de Lares revolution, and as such, is considered to be the father of the Puerto Rican independence movement...

and Segundo Ruiz Belvis

Segundo Ruiz Belvis

Segundo Ruiz Belvis , was a dedicated abolitionist who also fought for Puerto Rico's right to independence.-Early years:...

. Together with his son, Hector, he joined them in a conspiracy to revolt against Spain and formed a revolutionary committee code named: "Capa Prieto" (Black Cape). On September 23, 1868, Brugman and his son participated in the short-lived revolt against Spanish rule known as El "Grito de Lares

Grito de Lares

El Grito de Lares —also referred as the Lares uprising, the Lares revolt, Lares rebellion or even Lares Revolution—was the first major revolt against Spanish rule and call for independence in Puerto Rico...

". Brugman and his son refused to surrender to the Spanish authorities and eventually were executed. After the failed revolution, the Spanish Courts passed the "Acta de Culto Condicionado" (Conditional Cult Act) in 1870. The law was an attempt to attract more settlers who would be faithful to the Spanish Crown by granting the right of religious freedom to all who wished to worship a religion other than Catholicism

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

. Even so, the first synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

was not established until after Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain to the United States at the end of the Spanish–American War in 1898. In the late 1800s during the Spanish-American War many Jewish American servicemen gathered together with local Puerto Rican Jews at the Old Telegraph building in Ponce to hold religious services.Many of those Puerto Rican Jews were descendants of migrants from France, Netherlands, Saint-Barthélemy and Curaçao with surnames that include Bravo, Beauchamp, Duprey, Morenu, Ledeé, Leduc, and Levy.

1930s

Jewish-American soldiers were assigned to the military bases in Puerto Rico and many choose to stay and live on the island. Large numbers of Jewish immigrants began to arrive in Puerto Rico in the 1930s as refugees from Nazi occupied Europe. The majority settled in the island's capital, San Juan

San Juan, Puerto Rico

, where in 1942 they established the first Jewish Community Center of Puerto Rico.

1940s

The President of the Puerto Rican Senate

Senate of Puerto Rico

The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...

, Luis Muñoz Marín

Luis Muñoz Marín

Don José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician. Regarded as the "father of modern Puerto Rico," he was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Muñoz Marín was the son of Luis Muñoz Rivera, a renowned autonomist leader...

, an advocate of the worker class of Puerto Rico, together with Governor Rexford Tugwell

Rexford Tugwell

Rexford Guy Tugwell was an agricultural economist who became part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's first "Brain Trust," a group of Columbia academics who helped develop policy recommendations leading up to Roosevelt's 1932 election as President...

, the last non-Puerto Rican Governor of Puerto Rico appointed by an American President, helped advance legislation geared towards agricultural reform, economic recovery and industrialization. This program became known as Operation Bootstrap

Operation Bootstrap

For other uses, see Bootstrapping and Bootstrapping .Operation Bootstrap is the name given to the ambitious projects which industrialized Puerto Rico in the mid-20th century.-History:...

. As a result of the program, many Jews migrated to the city of Ponce

Ponce, Puerto Rico

Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...

located in the southern region of the island and worked in the agricultural industry. Operation Bootstrap also attracted clothing manufactures from New York and many of the people in the industry who came to the island were Jews.

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

appointed Aaron Cecil Snyder

A. Cecil Snyder

Aaron Cecil Snyder was an American lawyer who served as a prosecutor and judge in Puerto Rico.Snyder was born in Baltimore, Maryland. After attending Baltimore City College and Johns Hopkins University as an undergraduate, he graduated from Harvard Law School in 1930.Snyder practiced law briefly...

(1907–1959), born in Baltimore, Maryland as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico

Supreme Court of Puerto Rico

The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is the highest court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority within Puerto Rico to interpret and decide questions of Commonwealth law. As the highest body of the judicial branch of the Puerto Rican government, it is analogous to one of the...

. Snyder became the first Jew and the last non-Puerto Rican appointed to that court. In 1953, Governor Luis Muñoz Marín appointed him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico

Supreme Court of Puerto Rico

, the first appointment that a Puerto Rican governor made to the court, addressing the nomination to "A. Cecilio Snyder". Snyder actually used the name "Cecilio" when sworn in as Chief Justice. After his departure from the court, Snyder practiced law in San Juan until his death in 1959.

1950s

In 1952, Puerto Rico achieved U.S. commonwealth status and officially became the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: "Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico"). That same year a handful of American Jews established the island's first synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

in the former residence of William Korber, a wealthy Puerto Rican of German

German immigration to Puerto Rico

German immigration to Puerto Rico increased when German businessmen immigrated to Puerto Rico during the early part of the 19th century. However, it was the economic and political situation in Europe during the early 19th century plus, the fact that the Spanish Crown issued the Royal Decree of...

descent, which was designed and built by Czech

Czech people

Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

architect Antonin Nechodoma

Antonin Nechodoma

Antonin Nechodoma , was a Czech architect who practiced in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic from 1905 to 1928. He is known for the introduction of the Prairie Style to the Caribbean and the integration of Arts and Crafts elements to his architecture...

. The synagogue, called Sha'are Zedeck, hired its first rabbi in 1954. After the success of the Cuban Revolution

Cuban Revolution

The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...

, led by Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

in 1959, almost all of Cuba

Cuba

's 15,000 Jews went into exile. The majority of them fled to Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

; however, Puerto Rico also received a large influx of Jewish emigres from Cuba.

Establishment of a Jewish community

Puerto Rico is home to the largest and wealthiest Jewish community in the Caribbean with almost 3,000 Jewish inhabitants. Some Puerto Ricans have converted to Judaism, not only as individuals but as entire families. Puerto Rico is the only Caribbean island in which the Conservative, Reform and Orthodox Jewish movements are represented. Sha'are Zedeck, established in 1953, represents Conservative Judaism; Beth Shalom, established in 1967, represents Reform Judaism; and Chabad Center, established in 1997, represents Orthodox Judaism. The Reform congregation utilizes the English and Hebrew

Hebrew language

languages in their teachings, while the Conservative congregation uses Hebrew and Spanish. On November 30, 2005, the Puerto Rican Jewish community established their first synagogue outside of the Metropolitan San Juan area. The synagogue, which is located in the City of Mayagüez in the island's west coast, is called "Centro Hasidico Puertorriqueno Toiras Jesed". The Sha'are Zedeck, which has been designated by the Puerto Rican government as a National Historic Monument., and Reform congregations are located in San Juan and the Chabad Center is located in Isla Verde, in the city of Carolina

Carolina, Puerto Rico

Carolina is a city located in the northern part of Puerto Rico, bordering the Atlantic Ocean; it lies north of Gurabo and Juncos; east of Trujillo Alto and San Juan; and west of Canóvanas and Loíza. Carolina is spread over 12 wards plus Carolina Pueblo...

. In the 1950s, the renowned Puerto Rican musician Augusto Rodríguez

Augusto Rodríguez (musician)

Augusto Rodríguez a.k.a. "Tito" , was a music composer and chorus director. Rodríguez was the founder of the Choir of the University of Puerto Rico.-Early years:...

, founder of the Choir of the University of Puerto Rico, founded the Hebrew Festival Chorus of San Juan's Jewish Community.

Jewish influence in Puerto Rican and popular culture

Puerto Rican Jews have made many contributions to the Puerto Rican way of life. Their contributions can be found, but are not limited to, the fields of education, commerce and entertainment. Among the many successful businesses which they have established are Supermercados Pueblo (Pueblo Supermarkets

Pueblo Supermarkets

-History:The brainchild of brothers Harold Toppel and George Toppel, Pueblo began as a single store operation on Roosevelt Avenue in the Puerto Nuevo section of San Juan, Puerto Rico...

) founded by George and Harold Toppel, Almacenes Kress (clothing store), founded by Jorge Artime, Doral Bank, Pitusa and Me Salve, founded by Israel Kopel.

They have also made an impact in Puerto Rico's music industry. In 1970, Raphy Leavitt organized a band with an original sound and style that became one of Puerto Rico's greatest salsa orchestras, "La Selecta". He selected the band's repertoire from songs with a particular, positive social message and philosophy, and arranged his new band's sound to be as raw and powerful as the typical all-trombone

Trombone

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...

salsa sound in vogue at the time. This genre was made popular by Willie Colón

Willie Colón

William Anthony Colón is a Nuyorican salsa musician. Primarily a trombonist, Colón also sings, writes, produces and acts. He is also involved in municipal politics in New York City.-Early years:...

, but La Selecta featured the addition of trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

s to lighten up the sound melodically. Brenda K. Starr

Brenda K. Starr

Brenda K. Starr is an American singer-songwriter. She is well known originally in dance-pop, but now mostly in salsa-based music...

is a salsa singer who in 2002 won two Latin Grammy Awards, one for "Best Salsa Album", for "Temptation" and the other in the category "Best Salsa Single" for "Por Ese Hombre". In 2006, the Billboard Latin Music Awards nominated her for a "Best Salsa Single" award for "Tu Eres".

Puerto Rican literature has also been enriched with the works of Quiara Alegría Hudes

Quiara Alegría Hudes

Quiara Alegría Hudes is an American playwright and author best known for writing the book for the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights.-Personal life:...

who wrote the book for Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

's musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

In the Heights. Her play, Elliot, a Soldier's Fugue, was a Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

finalist in 2007.; author (history based fiction writer) the Ethiopian Yosef Alfredo Antonio Ben-Jochannan

Yosef Ben-Jochannan

Yosef A.A. Ben-Jochannan was born in Gonder, Ethiopia), also known as Dr. Ben, is an Afrocentric historian. He is notable for his writings and teachings about Black Jews and ancient Africans, and how Europeans, notably white Jews, appropriated their culture and legacy...

whose two better known works are "Black Man of the Nile" and "His Family and Africa: Mother of Major Western Religions" ; author and poet Aurora Levins Morales

Aurora Levins Morales

Aurora Levins Morales is a Puerto Rican Jewish writer and poet. She is significant within Latina feminism as well as other social justice movements.-Early life and education:...

with her work "Remedios: Stories of Earth and Iron from the History of Puertorriqueñas" and Micol Ostow

Micol Ostow

Micol Ostow is an American author, editor and educator who has written more than 40 published works. Her first original hardcover novel, "Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa", was named a "New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age"...

, author of "Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa". In July 2003, members and friends of Temple Beth Shalom published "What's Cooking/ Que se Cocina en Puerto Rico", a Spanish/English cookbook which includes Jewish recipes and Jewish holidays.

The American television sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter

Welcome Back, Kotter

Welcome Back, Kotter was an American television sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and featuring a young John Travolta.It originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975 to June 8, 1979.-Premise:...

", which originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975 to June 8, 1979, had a character named Juan Epstein, played by Robert Hegyes

Robert Hegyes

Robert Hegyes is an American actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Epstein in the 1970s television series Welcome Back, Kotter.-Early life:...

. According to script Epstein was a fiercely proud Puerto Rican Jew. In the 2008 film "Nothing Like the Holidays", actor John Leguizamo

John Leguizamo

Jonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...

plays the role of Mauricio Ridriguez, a Puerto Rican whose wife Sarah (played by actress Debra Messing

Debra Messing

Debra Lynn Messing is an American actress, voice artist, and comedienne. She is perhaps best known for her role as Grace Adler in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace and as Molly Kagan in the mini-series The Starter Wife....

) is of the Jewish faith. In one scene of the film, the family discusses the fact that there are many Jewish Puerto Ricans and that in San Juan there is a large Jewish community.

Resolution 1480

On October 31, 2005, the Senate of Puerto Rico approved Senate Resolution 1480, recognizing the contributions which the Jewish community has made to the way of life of Puerto Rico and the friendship which exists between the peoples of Puerto Rico and Israel.

External links

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First Jews to arrive in Puerto Rico

19th century

1930s

1940s

1950s

Establishment of a Jewish community

Jewish influence in Puerto Rican and popular culture

Resolution 1480

See also

External links