The Bahamas – A Jewish Perspective

What are you doing this winter? Well, if you haven’t heard yet, Kosherica Cruises is offering its Bahamas cruise for only $599! Yes, you can cruise the beautiful Bahamas on a five star, totally kosher cruise aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines Norwegian Sky.

Now, just in case you are looking for a little something beyond relaxing at sea, amazing scenery and the incredible kosher food that Kosherica promises, you’ll also find a lot of history in the Bahamas. As a matter of fact, there is a lot of Jewish history too.

The Luis De Torres Synagogue in Freeport in the Bahamas is named after the first Jew who was alleged to have set foot in the new world.  While his neighbors knew him to be a practicing Catholic, he was actually a Marrano (a crypto-Jew) who was forced to abandon his ancestral religion in favor of Catholicism out of fear of the Spanish Inquisition.  That probably explains his enthusiasm in joining Christopher Columbus’ voyage where he served as an interpreter given his fluency in Hebrew, Chaldean, Spanish Portuguese, French, Latin and his native Spanish.  As a member of the Santa Maria crew he arrived in San Salvador which was eventually included in the over 700 islands that comprise the Bahamas.

While he arrived there in 1492, the Bahamas were actually settled in 1620 by British soldiers.  During the 1700’s the islands were occupied by a small number of Jews who did not yet constitute an indigenous community.  Those that did settle there were in the main prosperous. Moses Frank, who achieved prominence, served as attorney General and Chief Justice of the Islands in the 18^th century.     

A somewhat larger group of Jews from Poland, Russia and the British Isles arrived after the First World War and settled either in Nassau or in Freeport. These original immigrants were the ancestors of the 300 or so Jewish residents of the Bahamas today.

While there are a number of Jewish congregations on the islands, the Luis De Torres, built in 1972 is the primary functioning synagogue.  The synagogue has a website: www.grandbahamasynagogue.org, email: jberlind@coralwave.com and a telephone number: 1-242-373-9457.  Services are held during the High Holy Days and extend through May.   

There is another community in Nassau, called The Bahamas Jewish Congregation.  Nassau also has a corner of the general cemetery sectioned off for Jewish graves.

This winter’s kosher cruise to the Bahamas is going to be a trip you will not want to miss! To find out about other Kosherica cruises this winter, check out our website: http://www.kosherica.com/.  To see some amazing photos from previous Kosherica cruises, check out these albums on Pinterest.

If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments below, on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.