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Jews in Curacao: A Remarkable History (PART TWO)
A look inside the exhibit “Longing for Freedom. The World of Anne Frank” opening at the Jewish Museum Curacao. Photo: Anne Frank House
Part One of this article appeared here.
Mother Congregation of the Americas
With strong leaders, the Curacao Jewish community grew both spiritually and financially. By 1750, about 2,000 Jews lived on the island, likely more Jews than in all thirteen American colonies combined.
During the 1700s and 1800s, the rabbis encouraged the community to share their wealth with Jewish communities worldwide, especially in the Americas and the Land of Israel. The community gave generous donations to help build the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, the Shearith Israel Synagogue in New York, and shuls in Kingston, Jamaica, Charleston, and Philadelphia.
Until today, every Yom Kippur, the Touro Synagogue and Shearith Israel in New York say a prayer of thanks to Curacao for the help they gave over 200 years ago. Because of their generosity during this period, Curacao became known as the “Mother Congregation of the Americas.”
Signs of Assimilation
After 200 years of a strong Jewish community, things began to weaken. When Chacham Jacob Da Fonseca died in 1815, the community chose Jacob Hain de Abraham Curiel, a 60-year old merchant who was not knowledgeable of Jewish law, to replace him.
After some time, the community realized that his lack of knowledge was a problem, and they asked the Amsterdam community to send them a chazzan who would also serve as a temporary rabbi. Rabbi Jeosuah Piza, a student of Yeshivas Eitz Chaim, arrived in 1815. However, minor issues regarding things Rabbi Piza did (such as using a different wording to end kiddush) upset some in the community, and in December of 1818, Piza was honorably suspended from his position.
This suspension created a deep divide in the community, and a large group left. The separatists organized their own services and bought land to make their own cemetery. At the behest of the Machamad, which wanted to retain control over the community, the government once again became involved, trying to force the community to reunite, but the peace was very shaky.
The situation kept getting worse.
At the time, the Reform movement was spreading amongst German Jews in America, and the Curacao community, already weakened by strife, began to copy them. In 1864, one-third of the Jewish community broke away because they wanted to use an organ in shul on Shabbat. They built a new building that they called Temple Emanuel, and they established their own cemetery at Berg Altena.
Looking to cut his losses and appeal to the masses, the Chacham of Mikveh Yisroel, Rabbi Aron Mendes Chumaceiro, decided to make changes as well to liberalize the congregation.
Rabbi Isaac Leeser of Philadelphia, a prominent and vocal fighter against Reform, strongly criticized these changes in his periodical “The Occident.” He wrote, “We deeply regret that the rabbi should have found himself compelled to yield to the introduction of instrumental music in the synagogue…and it is futile to have this work done by a non-Jew.”
By 1964, due to assimilation, intermarriage, and emigration, neither Mikveh Israel nor Emmanuel could gather a minyan. They decided to reunite as Mikveh Israel-Emmanuel.
Today, Mikveh Israel-Emanuel still holds 18 Torah Scrolls that are centuries old. They are kept in the beautiful shul, built with great devotion. However, the strong Torah community that once thrived here, rooted in Spanish-Portuguese tradition, is now gone.
The Ashkenazi Community
Ashkenazi Jews started coming to Curaçao in the 1920s and 30s. Many did not plan to settle there, but when their ships stopped in Curacao, some decided to stay. Most were poor and earned a living by selling goods in rural areas, often buying from the Sephardi Jews already on the island. Over time, they opened shops and later larger stores.
As the Ashkenazi Jews became more successful, they formed their own community called Shaarei Tzedek. In 2006, they dedicated a new shul with a stunning glass dome. Today, the shul follows Ashkenazi customs, but Sephardim also pray there. The Chabad of Curacao uses the shul for its services and programs.
No Visa Required: Escaping Lithuania for Curacao (Sort of)
In 1939, two-thirds of Poland had been conquered by Germany, and one-third was under the rule of the Soviet Union. For a brief period at the end of 1939 and in early 1940, Lithuania was a neutral country. Recognizing a window of opportunity, Reb Chaim Ozer Grodzensky, leader of European Jewry, sent urgent telegrams to the yeshivas he could make contact with in Soviet-controlled Poland, urging them to escape to Lithuania en masse, hoping they would be saved in that manner. They followed his directive. However, when the Soviets invaded Lithuania in June of 1940, the haven of Lithuania was no longer safe for Jews.
Nachum Zvi (Nathan) Gutwirth, originally from Holland, was a student at Telshe Yeshiva and he joined the yeshiva as it fled to Lithuania. After the invasion, he too was desperate to escape Soviet rule, yet he could not return to his native Holland, because the Nazis had already taken it over. Nachum Zvi remembered from his school years that the Dutch owned an island called Curacao, 60 miles north of Venezuela. He thought that, as a Dutch citizen, he might be able to travel there and find freedom.
To leave the Soviet Union, a person needed an exit visa from Russia, a transit visa through Japan or another country, and a final destination. Knowing he could only get the first two if he had a destination, Nachum Zvi wrote to the Dutch Ambassador in Riga to ask for a visa to Curacao. The Ambassador replied that he did not need a visa for Curacao, just permission from the island’s governor, and only the governor could give that.
After thinking it over, Nachum Zvi had an idea that would later save thousands, including the students and teachers of the famed Mir Yeshiva. He asked the Ambassador to write on his passport, “No Visa to Curacao required,” hoping this would help him get the Russian exit visa and the Japanese transit visa.
To his great joy, the Ambassador was amenable to that and wrote to Nachum Zvi that he could go to the Dutch honorary consul, Jan Zwartendyk, based in Kovno, to have the words written on his passport.
On July 24, Zwartendyk, who was an acquaintance of Nachum Zvi, wrote “No visa to Curacao required” on Nachum Zvi’s passport. (Interestingly, just two days before, on July 22nd, another Dutch native who was stranded in Lithuania, Peppy Lewin, had the same idea and received “Curacao visas” for herself and her husband.) When two of the teachers of the Mir Yeshiva, Rabbi Leib Malin and Reb Lazer Portnoy, heard about Nachum Zvi’s idea, they approached him and asked if he could get the statement stamped on the passports of the 300 members of the Mir Yeshiva. Assisted by five Mir students, Zwartendyk was more than happy to help.
With the Curacao “visas,” Nachum Zvi, the Mir Yeshiva, and about 2,000 others received transit visas from Chiune-Sempo Sugihara to travel through Japan. After also getting exit visas from Russia, they managed to escape Nazi and Soviet Europe.
The Curacao Connection
In a remarkable turn of history, Curacao, once called “The Mother Congregation of the Americas” and home to about 2,000 Jews at its peak, played a key role in saving Jews who escaped Europe with the 2,000 “Curacao” visas. Among the refugees, the Mir Yeshiva stood out, later rebuilding Jewish life and Torah institutions in America and Israel after the Holocaust.
Perhaps there is a spiritual connection between the Curacao community’s dedication to Jewish community and Jewish education, and the fact that it was the destination that enabled the Mir Yeshiva and hundreds of other Jews to escape the Holocaust and rebuild Jewish communities in America and Israel after the war.
Rabbi Menachem Levine is the CEO of JDBY-YTT, the largest Jewish school in the Midwest. He served as Rabbi of Congregation Am Echad in San Jose, CA, from 2007 to 2020. He is a popular speaker and writes for numerous publications on Torah, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Topics. Rabbi Levine’s personal website is https://thinktorah.org A version of this article was originally published at Aish.
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Russians Retreat as Al Qaeda-Linked Jihadists, Tuareg Separatists Kill Mali’s Defense Minister, Capture Key Town
A Malian soldier stands in position with his weapon during an attack on Mali’s main military base Kati outside the capital Bamako, Mali, April 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
The military junta in Mali came under attack this past weekend in multiple locations across the expansive desert nation, resulting in the death of Defense Minister Sadio Camara and the seizure of Kidal, a key town in the African country’s eastern region.
The strikes resulted from an alliance between Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM,) an Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group fighting to establish a state governed by strict Islamic Shariah law, and the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a Tuareg rebel separatist militia which seeks to form an independent nation in Mali’s northeast.
Local sources told France 24 that the groups had seized control of Kidal, a reported FLA stronghold, on Monday. This victory followed the retreat of Russia’s Africa Corps, the mercenary organization the Malian government had contracted at a monthly rate of $10 million to provide security.
Fox News Digital reported reviewing video of Russian mercenary casualties and Russian vehicles fleeing Kidal. An FLA spokesperson told the Associated Press that Russia’s Africa Corps had withdrawn and that a “white” agreement had been made.
Other locations hit by attacks included Kati, Gao, Sévaré, and Mopti.
JNIM took credit for bombings at Mali’s primary airport in Bamako.’
Meanwhile, JNIM is the suspect of a car bomb planted outside Camara’s home which exploded on Saturday, killing Mali’s top military leader and three other family members.
The attacks tell “every Malian, every regional capital, and every foreign partner that JNIM can operate at will inside the supposedly secure heart of the state,” Justyna Gudzowska, executive director of The Sentry, an investigative and policy group, told Reuters.
Mali’s military junta, which has ruled since August 2020, on Monday announced injuries sustained by two of its other leaders, Gen. Oumar Diarra, who serves as chief of the armed forces’ general staff, and Gen. Modibo Koné, director of the National Security Agency.
Yvan Guichaoua, a Sahel specialist at the German research center BICC, told Reuters that the attacks intended to “decapitate” the government.
A spokesperson for the US State Department said that the United States “strongly condemns” the terrorist attack in Mali.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the victims, their families, and all those affected,” the spokesperson added to Fox News Digital. “We stand with the Malian people and government in the face of this violence. The United States remains committed to supporting efforts to advance peace, stability, and security across Mali and the region.”
A statement from the office of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is “deeply concerned by reports of attacks in several locations across Mali. He strongly condemns these acts of violence, expresses solidarity with the Malian people, and stresses the need to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Germany, told Germany’s DW that the strikes were the biggest he had seen in the country in years.
“Remarkably, there has been a coordination between jihadists and Tuareg rebels, which have nothing in common, but they have a joint enemy,” Laessing said. “They staged together an attack in 2012 and took over northern Mali. Then later they fell out. The jihadists got rid of the Tuaregs. So, it’s remarkable that they made a comeback.”
According to a statement from Russia’s foreign ministry posted to Telegram, 250 militants struck the Bamako Senou International Airport and the military base nearby.
“The Malian Armed Forces repelled the attack and are currently taking further steps to eliminate the militia that may have been, reportedly, trained by Western security agencies,” the foreign ministry said. “Russia is deeply concerned about these developments. This terrorist activity poses a direct threat to the stability of friendly Mali and could have the most serious consequences for the entire region.”
Laessing also spoke to the Associated Press, calling the attack a major blow to Russia.
“The [Russian] mercenaries had no intelligence about the attacks and were unable to protect major cities,” he said. “They have unnecessarily worsened the conflict by not distinguishing between civilians and combatants.”
“The fact that the Malian military intelligence has not been able to detect that these attacks were about to take place is a major failure for them,” Nina Wilen, director for the Africa Program at Egmont Institute for International Relations, told DW, saying the attacks revealed how “strong JNIM has become over the past year.”
She noted that Camara had been a key figure in establishing relations with Russia, making him a symbolic figure to target and send a message opposing the presence of Russian troops.
Islamist activity in the Sahel of Western Africa has risen in recent years, causing analysts to label the region the most lethal place on the planet for terrorist deaths, with JNIM leading the body count.
The trend has caught the attention of Washington, DC.
“Across the Sahel in West Africa and in East Africa, terrorist groups are expanding, embedding, and operating with increasing capability,” US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said during a hearing last week on terrorism in Africa. “ISIS affiliates and al-Qaeda-linked groups are growing, controlling territory, and exploiting weak governance.”
“In region after region, terrorist groups are outpacing the ability of local governments to respond,” Cruz added. “The failures threaten our interest globally and endanger the American homeland. The threat is rapidly growing and demands attention.”
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US soldier charged for threatening to ‘kill every single Jew’ inside of a synagogue
(JTA) — A soldier stationed at Fort Polk in Louisiana was arrested last week after he told users on the popular messaging platform Discord that he planned to conduct a mass shooting at a synagogue.
Jakob Marcoulier, 22, was arrested last Thursday and charged with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce after the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received a tip in February that he had made threats toward synagogues, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the western district of Louisiana.
According to court documents, the FBI obtained audio from Discord in which Marcoulier allegedly said, “After this deployment if the Jews still have reign over our government, I am going to walk into a synagogue with my AK, with a 75-round drum mag, and all of my extra mags, with my level four plates, and my haka helmet that’s three plus, and I am going to kill every single Jew I know inside of that synagogue. And that’s my goal in life.”
During the communications, Marcoulier told the other users, “You guys will never do anything about but I will. I just have to finish this, I have to go back overseas and do what I have to do. And then you’ll see me in the news. I promise you.”
He also allegedly said that he would “kill these motherf—kers in order to make sure the white youth is f—king secured.”
It was not immediately clear when Marcoulier made the comments, but the United States and Israel jointly attacked Iran on Feb. 28 following a buildup of U.S. troops in the Middle East.
The Iran war has put Jewish institutions across the country and the around the world on high alert, with attacks on synagogues including arsons in Europe and a synagogue ramming in suburban Detroit last month.
“Threats against synagogues and Jewish Americans are threats to the religious freedom promised to every single one of us, and this Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to protecting those freedoms,” United States Attorney Zachary A. Keller said in a statement.
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J.D. Salinger asked publishers to remove references to his Jewish heritage, newly surfaced letters reveal
(JTA) — Acclaimed author J.D. Salinger asked his publisher to remove references to his Jewish heritage in the book jacket of “The Catcher in the Rye,” newly surfaced letters from 1951 reveal.
The request came in a letter from Salinger, a notoriously private man, and his editor, John Woodburn at publisher Little, Brown and Co. The correspondence, which took place in early 1951, predates the first publication of “The Catcher in the Rye,” Salinger’s hit coming-of-age novel.
“I don’t know that I’d like to have that Jewish-Irish business slapped on the jacket,” Salinger wrote. “Surely if it’s catchy, that is.”
The letter has come to light because Peter Harrington Rare Books, a bookseller based in London, has listed it as part of a package for sale in the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, which begins on Thursday.
“The Catcher in the Rye,” a contemporary classic following the life of angsty boarding school student Holden Caulfield, is one of the best-selling books of all time.
Caulfield’s character is of Irish heritage, like Salinger’s mother. But Salinger was the son of Sol, a cheese salesman (whose wares might have been kosher) and the grandson of a rabbi on his father’s side. His mother, Marie Jillich, went by Miriam to appease her in-laws who disapproved of the mixed marriage. He learned his mother’s real name only around the time of his bar mitzvah.
To Woodburn, Salinger wrote that he worried about being pigeonholed as a Jewish-Irish writer if the book broadcast that information.
“My Jewish-Irishness isn’t quite so bizarre, as, say, [James] Thurber’s eyesight,” Salinger wrote, referring to the American author and cartoonist, who was legally blind by that time. “But nonetheless, second-rate reviewers would probably find the information just provocative enough to use and misuse over and over again, and I’d end up being expected to wear a Star of David and a Shamrock on the back of my sweatshirt. So, please, let’s be careful.”
Salinger’s other famous works include the 1948 short story “A Perfect Day for a Bananafish,” which follows the Irish Catholic-Jewish Glass family, who also make appearances in “Franny and Zooey.”
The letters, previously unpublished, were acquired from a private collector and will be on view at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory from Thursday to May 3.
The bookseller is also currently offering a first edition of the script of West Side Story, inscribed by all four writers of the play, book, and music: Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim. Peter Harrington has also sold a rare, first printed edition of “De Bello Judaico” by Josephus Flavius, the first-century Roman-Jewish historian.
The triad of letters is currently offered at a set price of $47,500 and includes two typed letters by Salinger, with his signature, and a carbon copy of Woodburn’s reply. It also includes a reference to one of Salinger’s “lost stories,” a prequel to “Catcher in the Rye” that was not to be published until 50 years after his death.
Salinger died in 2010 at the age of 91. The “lost story,” “The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls,” was set to be published in 2060, but in 2013, it was pirated and leaked online.
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