The Jewish Nation of the Caribbean
- Subtitle: The Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Settlements in the Caribbean and the Guianas
- Author: Mordechai Arbell
- Publisher: Gefen, 2002 – 384 pp.
- LOC Permalink: http://lccn.loc.gov/2001054490
- Availability: out of print and very expensive; recommend finding in a library
Review
Mordechai Arbell is a Bulgarian-born Sephardi who moved to Mandatory Palestine druing WWII. Rising to become an important Israeli diplomat, he embarked on a storied career in which he served as Consul or Ambassador to several countries in the Caribbean Basin. These experiences nurtured a passion for preserving the history and culture of Western Sephardim in the New World, which he fulfilled for many years as a Research Fellow for the Ben-Zvi Institute and as chairman of "Sepharad."
One of his more recent works is this textbook-like survey of Western Sephardim in the Caribbean Sea and the north coast of South America. Treating each locale in turn, he offers a straightforward, coherent account that can be enjoyed by academics and popular readers alike. Although surveys of this kind suffer from the need for brevity and generalization, its primary strength comes from the fact that Sephardic life across a large geographical region can be compared within the space of a single volume.
One of his more recent works is this textbook-like survey of Western Sephardim in the Caribbean Sea and the north coast of South America. Treating each locale in turn, he offers a straightforward, coherent account that can be enjoyed by academics and popular readers alike. Although surveys of this kind suffer from the need for brevity and generalization, its primary strength comes from the fact that Sephardic life across a large geographical region can be compared within the space of a single volume.
Contents
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Introduction
Jews on the Wild Coast and adjacent islands The Jews of Martinique and Guadeloupe Jewish settlement in Cayenne Jewish settlement in Tobago Pomeroon/Pauroma Surinam Curaçao St. Eustatius |
10
33 36 45 58 67 82 125 172 |
Barbados
The Sepharadim of the Island of Nevis Jamaica Danish West Indies Haiti Caribbean Jews in the Liberated Colonies of Spain Epilogue Notes on Bibliography Index |
191
218 225 268 288 300 332 343 344 |