The Portuguese Jewish diaspora was born out of a double tragedy:
the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and the forced
conversion/expulsion of the Jews from Portugal in 1497. The potent
combination of expulsion, Inquisition, and crypto-Judaism left
people neither wholly Jewish nor wholly Christian in their
identity. Subsequently many left the Iberian peninsula; some found
refuge in the Caribbean, but succeeded in maintaining strong
connections with Portuguese Jews in western Europe, the Ottoman
empire, and the Far East, while they also forged ties with the
surrounding peoples and cultures. This book looks at many different
aspects of this complex past. Its interdisciplinary approach allows
a wealth of new information to be brought together to create a
comprehensive picture. Part I sets the context, and also considers
the relationship of Caribbean Jewry to European trading systems;
its special ties to Amsterdam and Dutch-ruled Curacao; and the role
of Jewish merchants in Jamaica's commerce. Part II examines the
material and visual culture of Jews in the British and Dutch
Caribbean, while Part III looks at Caribbean Jewish identity and
heritage and their modern manifestations. Part IV contains archival
studies that illuminate other subjects of importance-adventure and
piracy, Jewish participation in a nineteenth-century revolt of
black slaves and in the first Jamaican elections after Jews were
granted the right to vote, and questions of concubinage and sexual
relations between Jews and blacks. Part V moves from the local to
the international, in particular the connection with mainland
America. In their diversity, the contributions to this volume
suggest the many ways in which the formation of the Caribbean
Jewish diaspora can be understood today: as a Jewish diaspora
dispersed under different European colonial empires; as a Jewish
cultural entity created by a set of shared traditions and
historical memories; and as one component in a web of relationships
that characterized the Atlantic world. Defining it is no simple
matter: like all diaspora identities it was constantly in flux,
reinventing itself under changing historical circumstances.
CONTRIBUTORS: Aviva Ben-Ur, Miriam Bodian, Judah M. Cohen, Eli
Faber, Rachel Frankel, Noah L. Gelfand, Jane S. Gerber, Josette
Capriles Goldish, Matt Goldish, Jonathan Israel, Stanley Mirvis,
Gerard Nahon, Joanna Newman, Ronnie Perelis, Jackie Ranston, James
Robertson, Jessica Roitman, Dale Rosengarten, Barry L. Stiefel,
Hilit Surowitz-Israel, Karl Watson, Swithin Wilmot
General
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