A Record of the Jews in Jamaica
- Subtitle: From the English Conquest to the Present Time
- Author: Jacob A. P. M. Andrade
- Publisher: The Jamaica Times, Ltd., 1941 – 282 pp.
- LOC Permalink: http://lccn.loc.gov/42015210
- Availability: out of print and hard to find at any price; recommend finding in a library
Review
Jacob Andrade spent the better part of two decades collecting sources for this absorbing work. Traversing much of the island himself, he consulted archives, wills, cemetery inscriptions, deed registers, synagogue records, and personally conducted oral history interviews with older Jamaican Jews. The resulting book is a mine of descriptive and historical information about Sephardim and Ashkenazim on the island, including verbatim copies of many important documents, biographies of prominent citizens, and a detailed account of local cemeteries.
Unfortunately, the quality of the final product is marred by several deficiencies in the way it was prepared. Users will find that the formatting is confusingly minimal, so that it is sometimes unclear when a quotation ends and Adrade's prose resumes. Although the chapters are somewhat scattershot, there is no table of contents to serve as a guide, and in an even greater omission there is no index. Still, the sheer value and detail of the material contained in this volume cannot be overlooked, making it an essential source on Jamaican Jewish life.
Unfortunately, the quality of the final product is marred by several deficiencies in the way it was prepared. Users will find that the formatting is confusingly minimal, so that it is sometimes unclear when a quotation ends and Adrade's prose resumes. Although the chapters are somewhat scattershot, there is no table of contents to serve as a guide, and in an even greater omission there is no index. Still, the sheer value and detail of the material contained in this volume cannot be overlooked, making it an essential source on Jamaican Jewish life.
Contents – not available in the book itself
|
The coming of the Jews to Jamaica
Early struggles for equal rights Rights and privileges as British subjects Jews justify their admission to full citizenship The history of our synagogues English & German Jews' congregation of Kingston [Conflicts over ritual, and between congregations] Officers and other facts re: the United Congregation Jewish cemeteries and institutions Jewish loyalty and public work Appendices: German Jews who achieved naturalization Presentation of a platter to Moses Delgado Notable Jamaican Hebrews Jewish physicians and surgeons |
1
5 15 27 38 55 63 86 99 113 145 146 148 174 |
Jewish militiamen and officers
Extracts from wills Deeds and assembly votes for synagogue land Orders of service for synagogue consecrations Inventory of Neveh Shalom appurtenances List of interments in various cemeteries Documents re: synagogues on the island Notes related to the Ketuba Deeds for Jewish cemeteries Jews serving as Masons and as teachers Jews who served in the Great War Jewish population by city, 1881-1921 Genealogy of the Corinaldi family Hahamim of Jamaica Benevolent act of two Christian gentlemen |
176
178 194 197 199 201 239 251 252 267 269 279 280 281 281 |
Images
The plates from this book can be viewed online for free as part of the Reed Digital Collections