Nadene Goldfoot
A small community of persecuted Jews inhabited Azores Islands 950 miles off the coast of Portugal.
In 1818, North African Jews whose ancestors had been expelled from Spain came to the Azores. This was duty free and allowed them to import and resell to local businesses. In 1820, the Portuguese liberal revolution led to religious diversity.
In any event, much has changed in the Azores since the 1974 revolution that took shook up Portugal. The islands have opened up to the world, and people who return there, after decades in Canada or the United States, often can hardly believe how much life conditions have improved, how modernized the infrastructures are.
Azores an archipelago in the N. Atlantic; a Portuguese possession. Graciosa Island (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɡɾɐsiˈɔzɐ]) (literally "graceful" or "enchanting" in Portuguese) is referred to as the White Island, the northernmost of the Central Group of islands in the Azores. The ovular Portuguese island has an area of 60.65 square kilometres (23.42 square miles), a length of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) and a width of 7 kilometres (4.3 miles). It is a volcanic island, dominated by a 1.6-kilometre-wide (1.0-mile) central caldera (the Caldeira) located in the southeast.
When the Spanish Inquisition forced Jews to convert or leave, many fled to Portugal. Because of their wealth and skills, King Joao II offered permanent or temporary residency to a large number of them. When Joao II died and Manuel became king, he wanted to consolidate his power by marrying into the family of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain; they agreed on the condition that Manuel expel all the Jews from Portugal. In 1496, after some of them had left, Manuel forcibly converted the remaining ones to Christianity. Even after baptism, they had to go to great lengths to profess their Catholic faith. There were secret Jews who, in public, adopted Christian customs while they continued their clandestine religion at home. There were Jews who sincerely converted and became Catholics. But, officially, there were no longer any Jews left in Portugal.
Today, Portugal’s oldest post Inquisition synagogue the Shaar Hashomaylum Synagogue (above), which was built around 1820 and consecrated in 1836 is being restored. Work was completed in 2015. It's now a museum being no Jews live here anymore. A minyon is needed of 10 men. They may not even be 3 living here today.
New Christians (Marranos) from Portugal presumably settled in the Azores in the 16th and 17th centuries, but there is no consistent record of them. The first known settlement of Jews in the islands began in 1818 with the arrival of five merchants from Morocco. By 1848 the Jews in the Azores numbered 250; several small communities had been established, the most important being in Ponta Delgada (founded in 1836) where there were 150 Jews. Among the founders were several members of the Bensuade family, whose descendants became influential in international commerce, banking, and philanthropy. The number of Jews in the islands has dwindled steadily in recent years.
The Azores, which was duty free, was where they could import and resell merchandise to local businesses. The Inquisition ended in 1821,supposedly, and Jews were “tolerated” in Portugal. A group of them came to Terceira, and I was staring at about 50 of their tombs, which bore names like Abohbot, Benarus, Levy, Zagory and Bensabat.
When the Spanish Inquisition forced Jews to convert or leave, many fled to Portugal. Because of their wealth and skills, King Joao II offered permanent or temporary residency to a large number of them. When Joao II died and Manuel became king, he wanted to consolidate his power by marrying into the family of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain; they agreed on the condition that Manuel expel all the Jews from Portugal. In 1496, after some of them had left, Manuel forcibly converted the remaining ones to Christianity. Even after baptism, they had to go to great lengths to profess their Catholic faith. There were secret Jews who, in public, adopted Christian customs while they continued their clandestine religion at home. There were Jews who sincerely converted and became Catholics. But, officially, there were no longer any Jews left in Portugal.
Today, Portugal’s oldest post Inquisition synagogue the Shaar Hashomaylum Synagogue (above), which was built around 1820 and consecrated in 1836 is being restored. Work was completed in 2015. It's now a museum being no Jews live here anymore. A minyon is needed of 10 men. They may not even be 3 living here today.
New Christians (Marranos) from Portugal presumably settled in the Azores in the 16th and 17th centuries, but there is no consistent record of them. The first known settlement of Jews in the islands began in 1818 with the arrival of five merchants from Morocco. By 1848 the Jews in the Azores numbered 250; several small communities had been established, the most important being in Ponta Delgada (founded in 1836) where there were 150 Jews. Among the founders were several members of the Bensuade family, whose descendants became influential in international commerce, banking, and philanthropy. The number of Jews in the islands has dwindled steadily in recent years.
Graciosa was an island, one which harbored a few Jews looking for refuge during one era or another. The Spanish Inquisition seemed to last forever, even chasing down Jews who fled to Mexico.
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| A rare Megilla of 19th century found in the Azores Islands, the story of Purim: Queen Esther now digitized: (photo credit: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF ISRAEL) |
Africans, Moors, Jews, Scots, Germans, Italians, French, Spanish, Flemish and Portuguese all migrated to the Azores
Graciola Island has the meaning of grapes. "For the Spanish and Portuguese wine grape also known as Graciosa."
After 1485 the Captaincy of Graciosa was unified under the administration of Pedro Correia da Cunha, Second Captain of Porto Santo (Madeira) and brother-in-law of Christopher Columbus. Taking his family to Graciosa, he settled in Santa Cruz, moving the municipal seat and supplanting Praia as the administrative center. The following year Santa Cruz is elevated to "village" and municipality, under the religious parishes of Santa Cruz and São Mateus da Praia. The change caused an influx in settlers from Beiras, Minho and Flanders (in the Habsburg Netherlands) permitting the installation of the first municipal structures (in this case the construction of the Santa Cruz lighthouse in 1486).
By the mid-19th century, the Azorean Jewish population was about 250, most of them living in Ponta Delgada, on Sao Miguel Island.” The historic Shaar Hashamayim Synagogue in Ponta Delgada was recently renovated and converted into a museum about the history of Jewish life in the Azores.Feb 26, 2018
The historic Shaar Hashamayim Synagogue in Ponta Delgada was recently renovated and converted into a museum about the history of Jewish life in the Azores.
In 1818, North African Jews whose ancestors had been expelled from Spain came to the Azores. This was duty free and allowed them to import and resell to local businesses. In 1820, the Portuguese liberal revolution led to religious diversity.
The first references to the establishment of Jewish families in the Azores is from the first half of the nineteenth century. Jews came to the Azores from Morocco because of the economic restrictions that were being imposed on them there at the time. In the same period, the influence of the Catholic Church had declined in Portugal, and the advent of liberalism, particularly after the Liberal Revolution of Porto (1820), attracted Jews to the Azores. Jews were accepted at the time, in contrast to the persecution by the Inquisition in previous centuries. It is likely that those Jews that arrived had Portuguese ancestry. Family names from this period are Abohbot, Benarus, Levy, Zagory and Besabat.
An interview with a native Azores citizen: Almeida Mello said he sees the synagogue as a symbol of religious tolerance. In 2008 he published a book about it and told the large crowd at the launch that it was “an SOS for the synagogue. We must do something now to preserve it, or it will be too late.” The city officials placed him in charge of promoting the synagogue and raising money.
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| Manny Mattos found out he was Jewish; from Azores Islands, video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPKt8aOS97 |
“I descend from those New Christians,” Almeida
Mello confided. “My ancestor was Manuel Dias, a
trader. Actually, I believe that 99 percent of
Portuguese people have Jewish blood because the
Jews have been in Portugal for 2,000 years.”
My records show that Jews emigrated to Portugal after 1492 due to the Spanish Inquisition. Before that, they emigrated to Portugal during the Arab rule after 632 CE. When the state became Christian in 1139, there were already Jewish communities in Lisbon, Beja, and Santarem. Conditions were tranquil, except during riots in Lisbon in 1373, and Portugal escaped the wave of massacres that engulfed Spain in 1391. King Alfonso III (1248-1279) wrote up an elaborate code with a chief rabbi (Arrabi Mor) at its head. Large numbers of Spanish exiles were allowed to enter Portugal on payment of a poll-tax, but many were detained in the country and sold as slaves.
Manuel II ordered the expulsion of Jews from Portugal in October 1496 in order to secure the hand of the Spanish Infanta but later changed his mind and had almost the whole community converted by force in 1497. This is how a large number of Marranos were created in Portugal.
In Lisbon, the freedom of worship was permitted only after the Revolution of 1910. In 1910, the First Republic of Portugal was created. With its creation came the abolition of many religious institutions. The church seized church property, banned religion in schools, and even banned several popular religious festivals.
Some Jews found in Portugal are now returning to Judaism. Actual Jews numbered 300 in 1990, mostly living in Lisbon, Portugal. Ashkenazi immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe arrived in recent years.
Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graciosa
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia. Portugal.
The blatant lies on this page are a testament to the utter lack of integrity and the deceit of Jewish people. In particular the claim of 99% of Portuguese people having Jewish ancestry, and Jews being in the Azores for 2000 years? 2000 years? Is this person insane. The Jews were nowhere near here 2000 years ago. This is vile contemptible lies and the person who wrote them should be held accountable, and will be held accountable for it, if I have anything to do with it. Disgusting lies.
ReplyDeleteOur written history is proof, and so is our DNA. You are arguing with science. History is that the Jews were in Spain and Portugal and that the Alhambra decree said they had to convert or leave, so many did convert, but at the same time knowingly continuing in their heart and with their family remaining as Jews; something their DNA would verify later. Sorry that your opinion is so opinionated.
ReplyDelete