Jewish Treasures of the Caribbean

Jewish Treasures of the Caribbean
Author:
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2016-12-28
Genre: Photography
ISBN: 9780764350955

This photographic essay highlights the little-known history of the first Jewish communities established in the New World dating to the 1600s. Award-winning photographer Wyatt Gallery documents the oldest synagogues and cemeteries on Barbados, Curacao, Jamaica, St. Thomas, St. Eustatius, and Suriname through his singular style of photos with histories written by Stanley Mirvis. The enclaves, formed by Sephardic Jews who fled the Catholic Inquisition, became so influential that they helped fuel the success of the American Revolution and partially finance the first synagogues in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. Once home to thousands, today these historic communities are rapidly dwindling and could soon disappear. Only five historic synagogues remain in use, and many of the cemeteries have been damaged or lost to natural disasters, vandalism, and pollution. These photographs bear witness to the legacy of New World Judaism and provide a record for future generations.

Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean

Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean
Author: Edward Kritzler
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2009-11-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 0767919521

In this lively debut work of history, Edward Kritzler tells the tale of an unlikely group of swashbuckling Jews who ransacked the high seas in the aftermath of the Spanish Inquisition. At the end of the fifteenth century, many Jews had to flee Spain and Portugal. The most adventurous among them took to the seas as freewheeling outlaws. In ships bearing names such as the Prophet Samuel, Queen Esther, and Shield of Abraham, they attacked and plundered the Spanish fleet while forming alliances with other European powers to ensure the safety of Jews living in hiding. Filled with high-sea adventures–including encounters with Captain Morgan and other legendary pirates–Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean reveals a hidden chapter in Jewish history as well as the cruelty, terror, and greed that flourished during the Age of Discovery.

Jewish Languages from A to Z

Jewish Languages from A to Z
Author: Aaron D. Rubin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2020-09-13
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 1351043439

Jewish Languages from A to Z provides an engaging and enjoyable overview of the rich variety of languages spoken and written by Jews over the past three thousand years. The book covers more than 50 different languages and language varieties. These include not only well-known Jewish languages like Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ladino, but also more exotic languages like Chinese, Esperanto, Malayalam, and Zulu, all of which have a fascinating Jewish story to be told. Each chapter presents the special features of the language variety in question, a discussion of the history of the associated Jewish community, and some examples of literature and other texts produced in it. The book thus takes readers on a stimulating voyage around the Jewish world, from ancient Babylonia to 21st-century New York, via such diverse locations as Tajikistan, South Africa, and the Caribbean. The chapters are accompanied by numerous full-colour photographs of the literary treasures produced by Jewish language-speaking communities, from ancient stone inscriptions to medieval illuminated manuscripts to contemporary novels and newspapers. This comprehensive survey of Jewish languages is designed to be accessible to all readers with an interest in languages or history, regardless of their background—no prior knowledge of linguistics or Jewish history is assumed.

An Island Called Home

An Island Called Home
Author: Ruth Behar
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2007
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0813541891

This is the story of the author's return to learn about and meet the people who are keeping Judaism alive in Cuba today.

The Dutch Overseas Empire, 1600–1800

The Dutch Overseas Empire, 1600–1800
Author: Pieter C. Emmer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 481
Release: 2020-10-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1108428371

This pioneering history of the Dutch Empire provides a new comprehensive overview of Dutch colonial expansion from a comparative and global perspective. It also offers a fascinating window into the early modern societies of Asia, Africa and the Americas through their interactions.

The Jews and the Expansion of Europe to the West, 1450-1800

The Jews and the Expansion of Europe to the West, 1450-1800
Author: Paolo Bernardini
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 600
Release: 2001
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781571814302

Jews and Judaism played a significant role in the history of the expansion of Europe to the west as well as in the history of the economic, social, and religious development of the New World. They played an important role in the discovery, colonization, and eventually exploitation of the resources of the New World. Alone among the European peoples who came to the Americas in the colonial period, Jews were dispersed throughout the hemisphere; indeed, they were the only cohesive European ethnic or religious group that lived under both Catholic and Protestant regimes, which makes their study particularly fruitful from a comparative perspective. As distinguished from other religious or ethnic minorities, the Jewish struggle was not only against an overpowering and fierce nature but also against the political regimes that ruled over the various colonies of the Americas and often looked unfavorably upon the establishment and tleration of Jewish communities in their own territory. Jews managed to survive and occasionally to flourish against all odds, and their history in the Americas is one of the more fascinating chapters in the early modern history of European expansion.

The Dutch in the Caribbean and on the Wild Coast 1580-1680

The Dutch in the Caribbean and on the Wild Coast 1580-1680
Author: Cornelis CH. Goslinga
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Total Pages: 600
Release: 2018-02-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 1947372734

The books in the Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series demonstrate the University Press of Florida’s long history of publishing Latin American and Caribbean studies titles that connect in and through Florida, highlighting the connections between the Sunshine State and its neighboring islands. Books in this series show how early explorers found and settled Florida and the Caribbean. They tell the tales of early pioneers, both foreign and domestic. They examine topics critical to the area such as travel, migration, economic opportunity, and tourism. They look at the growth of Florida and the Caribbean and the attendant pressures on the environment, culture, urban development, and the movement of peoples, both forced and voluntary. The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series gathers the rich data available in these architectural, archaeological, cultural, and historical works, as well as the travelogues and naturalists’ sketches of the area in prior to the twentieth century, making it accessible for scholars and the general public alike. The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, under the Humanities Open Books program.

Tent Life

Tent Life
Author: Edwidge Danticat
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010
Genre: Disaster victims
ISBN: 9781884167478

Taken after the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, the images in Tent Life: Haiti document the makeshift tent communities that Haitians have been forced to live in to survive. Gallery visited Haiti with seven other artists from New York, who all volunteered their time and talents to bring smiles to Haitians while photographing and filming their heartbreaking story. These portraits communicate the resilience, dignity and strength of the Haitian people surviving, living, working and vehemently not waiting for others to determine their fate.

Travel Guide to the Jewish Caribbean and South America, A

Travel Guide to the Jewish Caribbean and South America, A
Author: Frank, Ben G.
Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company, Inc.
Total Pages: 651
Release: 2010-09-23
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1455613304

A Travel Guide to the Jewish Caribbean and South America is a tremendous work encompassing history, culture, and modern travel to some of the most important sites in these places. This is a practical, anecdotal, and adventurous journey including kosher restaurants, cafes, synagogues, and museums, plus cultural and heritage sites. Though many understand American Jewish history as beginning with the East European mass immigration of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Jews in the Americas planted roots as early as 1654, when twenty-three Jews fleeing the Inquisition arrived in New Amsterdam. While the European roots of American Jews are often explored, less discussed are the still-vibrant Jewish communities throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Explored here are the oldest surviving synagogue in the Western Hemisphere, Mikve Israel in Curaçao; the largest Jewish community in the Caribbean, in Puerto Rico; the three synagogues in Havana, Cuba; the Israeli cafe in Cuzco, Peru, near the historic Inca site, Machu Picchu; and other Jewish sites from Buenos Aires to Mexico City. Also included are general travel information and tips.