Contemporary Panama’s “reason d’existance” derives from the
famous canal which created an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans, thus shortening travel routes for much of the world’s shipping
routes. Considered to be one of the
greatest engineering feats of its time, its story combines a fascinating
perspective on American history and the history of technology. Anyone really interested in the fascinating
history of the construction of the Panama Canal should read David McCullough’s, The Path Between the Seas.
Panama has become a focal point of vacation traffic.
Kosherica’scruise to Mexico and Panama is scheduled to depart from San Diego on Friday
December 21. While the canal generally overshadows any other points of
interest, we thought our readers might like to know a little about Panama’s
Jewish character.
Here are a number of facts you may have never known about
the Jewish community in Panama:
- That there is such a thing;
- It’s the only country
outside of Israel that elected two Jewish presidents in the 20th
century;
- With an estimated Jewish
population of 7,000, it has 8 kosher restaurants;
- A record 85% of its Jewish
population maintain kosher households;
- It boasts a large and very
well stocked kosher supermarket which has over 10,000 food items from
Israel, Europe and Panama;
- It has 5 Jewish schools
for elementary through high school students.
Like much of South and Central America, Panama’s earliest
Jewish settlers were Spanish and Portuguese Marranos- Jews who during the
Spanish inquisition in the middle ages - had officially converted to Christianity
while clandestinely maintaining their Jewish faith and rituals.
Panama and other destinations in the southern
hemisphere were a haven because they could finally end the double lives they
were living and resume their identities as Jews. The
end of Spanish colonial rule in 1821 resulted in Panama becoming part of
Columbia which heralded the arrival of Sephardic Jewish settlers from Jamaica
and Ashkenazim from Central Europe. The
lack of a large community served as a catalyst for many of them to either
intermarry or integrate within the general population.
Again in the middle of the 19th
century the Jewish population base was replenished by immigrants from the
nearby Caribbean region and the Netherlands.
The first synagogue, Kol Shearith Israel (Voice of the dispersed of
Israel)- a most appropriate name, was established in 1876. Today, this
community has about 160 families.
In 1911, around the time that the canal was being completed,
there were over 50 Jews living there. In 1933, unrelated to events in Europe, a
small contingent of Jews from Syria and (what was to become) Israel established
a second congregation, Shevet Achim – (Brotherly unity), which is modeled on
Orthodox tradition and is today the largest congregation. But the pressures of intermarriage negated
the influx of newcomers which occurred after the end of the First World War. By
1936, the two synagogues had a combined population of 600. A third synagogue – Beth El- (The house of
the Lord), also Orthodox was founded by Jews who arrived escaping from Nazi
dominated Europe.
By the mid 1990’s the Jewish population had risen to over
7,000. The the three synagogues joined by several international Jewish
organizations like Bnai Brith and WIZO, are united under the Consejo Central
Comunitario Hebreo de Panama - Central
Jewish Community of Panama which supports a vibrant and independent Jewish
life.
Have you been to Panama before? Let us know in the comments below, on Facebook, Twitter or Google+. Also, if you want to see some amazing pictures from previous Kosherica cruises, check out our Pinterest.
