Sinagoga Kahal Zur Israel - or - How the Jews of Recife Founded New York City's first Synagogue

A couple of weekends ago, I headed down to the old part of town and visited the Kahal Zur Synagogue, in the heart of Recife Antigo. The history of Recife's Jews dates back to the first days of the colony and is directly linked to the founding of the United States' first Jewish community, Shearith Israel.

Fleeing the onset of the Inquisition in Europe, many "converted" Jews fled Spain and Portugal. A portion of these New Christians ended up in Northeastern Brazil, where they outwardly followed Catholic traditions, while inwardly trying to maintain their Jewish culture, traditions, and rituals. While the Inquisition never had an office directly set up in Brazil, Portugual did send Inquisitional Commissioners to Brazil starting in the 1590s and people suspected of non-Catholic activities were sent to Portugual for trial under the Inquisition.

In 1630, after a short-lived attempt to establish Dutch rule in Salvador, Bahia, the Dutch managed to oust the Portuguese from Recife and established what would be Brazil's only non-Iberian colonial power, a reign which lasted until 1654. One of the results of twenty-four years of Dutch control was a level of religious tolerance otherwise unheard of in either Iberian Europe or the New World. In addition to an influx of Dutch Jews who immigrated to Recife, those already living in Recife and Olinda quickly reverted back to their traditional customs. In 1636, the Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue was founded and by 1654, Recife's European population was fifty percent Jewish [1500 out of a total population of 3000].

In an effort to win back this lost portion of Brazil, the Portuguese mounted a guerrilla war in 1645 and finally managed to oust the Dutch nine years later. The return of Portuguese rule in Recife meant an end to religious tolerance and the Capitulation Protocol signed between the Dutch and the Portuguese gave all Dutch and Jews three months to leave Brazil. Recife's Jewish community essentially disbanded with some members returning to Amsterdam, others fleeing to the interior of Brazil and clandestinely practicing their religion, while others hopped aboard ships and headed to other parts of the New World [including Curaçao which already had a small Dutch-Jewish community]. One of the groups which fled Brazil was an ensemble of twenty-three Recifense Jews who set sail in September 1654 for New Amsterdam -- later to be renamed New York City. Upon arrival in New Amsterdam, this group of twenty-three founded Shearith Israel Synagogue, North America's, and the eventual United States', first Jewish community, which still exists today.

The Portuguese closed Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue in 1655, one year after the Dutch capitulation. It was only excavated and reopened in 2002 after having also spent time as a bank and an electronics store during the recent past. The synagogue was rediscovered during renovations and its restoration was funded by one of Brazil's banking foundations. Recife again has a small Jewish community, although the its origins are more closely linked with 20th Century immigration from Eastern Europe and not with the Recife's original Jewish population.