History of the Jews in Indonesia

Last updated

Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue (Tondano), is currently the only synagogue in Indonesia. Sinagoga tondano.jpg
Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue (Tondano), is currently the only synagogue in Indonesia.

The history of the Jews in Indonesia began with the arrival of early European explorers and settlers, and the first Jews arrived in the 17th century. [1] Most Indonesian Jews arrived from Southern Europe, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, the Middle East, North Africa, India, China, and Latin America. Jews in Indonesia presently form a very small Jewish community of about 500–1,000, from a nadir of about 20 in 1997. [2] Judaism is not recognized as one of the country's six major religions, however its practices are allowed under Perpres 1965 No. 1 and article 29 paragraph 2 of the Constitution of Indonesia. [3] Therefore, members of the local Jewish community have to choose to register as "Belief in One Almighty God" (Indonesian: Kepercayaan Terhadap Tuhan Yang Maha Esa) or another recognized religions on their official identity cards. [4]

Contents

Presently, most Indonesian Jews live in Manado on the island of Sulawesi. [5]

History

In the 1850s, Jewish traveler Jacob Saphir was the first to write about the Jewish community in the Dutch East Indies after visiting Batavia, Dutch East Indies. He had spoken with a local Jew who told him of about 20 Jewish families in the city and several more in Surabaya and Semarang. Most of the Jews living in the Dutch East Indies in the 19th century were Dutch Jews who worked as merchants or were affiliated with the colonial regime. Other members of the Jewish community were immigrants from Iraq or Aden.

Between the two World Wars the number of Jews in the Dutch East Indies was estimated at 2,000 by Israel Cohen. Indonesian Jews suffered greatly under the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, and were interned and forced to work in labor camps. After the war, the released Jews found themselves without their previous property and many emigrated to the United States, Australia or Israel. [4]

By the late 1960s, it was estimated [4] that there were 20 Jews living in Jakarta, 25 in Surabaya and others living in Manado, East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Papua.

Since the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, and Israel's retaliation in the ongoing conflict, Indonesia has seen a massive rise in antisemitism, [6] [7] which was already a significant problem for the majority-Muslim country. [8] [9] [10] Mass protests, violence and discrimination have pushed the already-marginalized Jewish population to take further steps to conceal their faith.

Israelitische Gemeente Soerabaia

The Surabaya Synagogue in 2007 Surabaya Synagogue 2007.jpg
The Surabaya Synagogue in 2007

Israelitische Gemeente Soerabaia (English: Israelite Congregation in Surabaya) is a Jewish association in Surabaya which was founded in 1923. It was founded by Iraqi Jews, who have historically made up most of its membership. The congregation had what was for years the only synagogue in Indonesia. The congregation was at its largest in the 1930s, when it had around 1000 members; after most of them emigrated by 1960, it has been reduced to a tiny fraction of its former numbers.

During the Dutch colonial period, there were hundreds of Jewish immigrants living in Surabaya, most of whom worked as government employees, soldiers or merchants. [11] Surabaya was an ideal place to live for immigrant Jews at that time because the Dutch colonial government protected and gave them civil rights without discrimination.

The Israelitische Gemeente Soerabaia was founded by Izak Ellias Binome Ehrenoreis Rechte Grunfeld and Emma Mizrahie on 31 July 1923, in Surabaya. [12] [13] One of the first thing it established was a Jewish cemetery in 1926, one of only a handful in the Indies. By the 1930s the congregation seems to have reached its largest extent with around 1000 members. [14] However, during that time the congregation did not have an official synagogue space and weddings and bar mitzvahs would take place in private homes (especially that of Charles Mussry) or rented rooms in institutional buildings. [11] [15] The community was persecuted during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies. [11]

After renting various rooms to use as a synagogue, the congregation bought Eigendom Verponding, an estate formerly owned by the Kruseman family in 1948 and established it as the new Surabaya Synagogue. [16] The estate was owned by Joseph Ezra Izaak Nassiem and the operation of the synagogue was supported by the Sayers family. [17]

Despite their purchase of a new synagogue, Jewish community in Surabaya never again reached their 1930s numbers and continued to decline in the 1950s. The congregation embraced Zionism and the newly independent state of Israel and flew Israeli flags at the opening of the building. [13] At first there was not a local rabbi to take up a position in the synagogue; eventually Ezra Meir, a rabbi of Iraqi descent living in Singapore, was recruited to take up the role. [11]

International and national events negatively affected the IGS and drove waves of emigration to Israel, the United States, Australia and the Netherlands throughout the 1950s. The Sinai War, Israel, the United Kingdom and France attacked Egypt to seize the Suez Canal, led to increased hostility against the Jewish community in Indonesia. However, the true end of a vibrant Jewish community in Indonesia and the steepest decline in IGS membership came about as a result of the Dutch-Indonesian dispute over Western New Guinea, which led to measures against "Dutch" people living in Indonesia and the nationalization of the property of many foreign nationals, including Dutch Jews. [11] The membership of IGS dwindled to around 100–150 by 1959, and to only 10 or so by the twenty-first century. [14] [16] [18] During that period of decline the IGS nonetheless remained the most viable Jewish congregation in the country; the Jakarta congregation essentially merged with it and the Surabaya synagogue remained the only one in operation. [18]

Despite the emigration of many adherents, the IGS is still considered to exist among a small community of descendants of the original group in the twenty-first century. The synagogue itself was sold and demolished in 2013, causing complaints from the remaining community members. [19]

Population

Assimilation and population changes

The social and cultural characteristics of Indonesia contributed to assimilation. Most Indonesian Jews changed their names to Indonesian names.[ citation needed ] Jews were obliged to change their names and beliefs.[ citation needed ] Later Chinese Indonesians were forced to change their names as well, but they were still allowed to practice Buddhism in Indonesia. [20]

Religion in Indonesia is regulated by the government. Indonesian Jews face the challenge of declaring a religion on their government ID cards called KTP (Kartu Tanda Penduduk). Every citizen over the age of 17 must carry a KTP, which includes the holder's religion. Indonesia only recognizes six religions, none of which are Judaism. Reportedly, many Jews who have registered a religion have registered as Christians.

An estimated 20,000 descendants of Jews still live in Indonesia, though many are losing their historical identity. Since most Indonesian Jews are actually Jews from Southern Europe and the Middle East Area, the languages spoken by them include Indonesian, Malay, Arabic, Hebrew, Portuguese and Spanish. [21]

Synagogues

The Indonesian Jewish community is very tiny, with most members living in the capital of Jakarta and the rest in Surabaya. Many Jewish cemeteries still exist around the country such as in Kerkhof Cemetery in Aceh, Semarang and Surabaya in Java, in Pangkalpinang in Bangka Island, in Palembang in South Sumatra, and in North Sulawesi.

Torat Chaim, Jakarta

A small congregation led by Rabbi Tovia Singer, previously the only rabbi in present-day Indonesia. It operates in conjunction with the Eits Chaim Indonesia Foundation, the only Jewish organization in Indonesia to have official sanction, under the auspices of the Directorate General of Christian Community Guidance (Ditjen Bimas Kristen), from the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Surabaya synagogue

There was a synagogue in Surabaya, provincial capital of East Java in Indonesia. For many years it was the only synagogue in the country. The synagogue became inactive beginning in 2009 and had no Torah scrolls or rabbi. It was located in Jalan Kayun 6 on a 2.000 m2 lot near the Kali Mas river in a house built in 1939 during Dutch rule.

The home was bought by the local Jewish community from a Dutch doctor in 1948 and transformed into a synagogue. Only the mezuzah and 2 Stars of David in the entrance showed the presence of the synagogue. The community in Surabaya is no longer big enough to support a minyan, a gathering of ten men needed in order to conduct public worship. The synagogue was demolished, to its foundation, in 2013. [22] [23]

Tondano synagogue

Since 2003, Shaar Hashamayim synagogue has been serving the local Jewish community of some 30-50 people in Tondano city, Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi. Currently it is the only synagogue in Indonesia that provides services. [24] A tiny local Jewish community remains in the area, composed mostly of those who rediscovered their ancestral roots and converted back to Judaism.

Indonesian Jews

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Touro Synagogue</span> Historic synagogue in Rhode Island, United States

The Touro Synagogue or Congregation Jeshuat Israel is a synagogue built in 1763 in Newport, Rhode Island. As the only surviving synagogue building in the U.S. dating to the colonial era, it is the oldest synagogue building still standing in the United States and North America. In 1946, it was declared a National Historic Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baghdadi Jews</span> Jewish ethnic group from the Middle East

Baghdadi Jews or Iraqi Jews are historic terms for the former communities of Jewish migrants and their descendants from Baghdad and elsewhere in the Middle East. They settled primarily in the ports and along the trade routes around the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in the Netherlands</span> Jewish life in Holland

The history of the Jews in the Netherlands largely dates to the late 16th century and 17th century, when Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain began to settle in Amsterdam and a few other Dutch cities, because the Netherlands was an unusual center of religious tolerance. Since Portuguese Jews had not lived under rabbinic authority for decades, the first generation of those embracing their ancestral religion had to be formally instructed in Jewish belief and practice. This contrasts with Ashkenazi Jews from central Europe, who, although persecuted, lived in organized communities. Seventeenth-century Amsterdam was referred to as the "Dutch Jerusalem" for its importance as a center of Jewish life. In the mid 17th century, Ashkenazi Jews from central and eastern Europe migrated. Both groups migrated for reasons of religious liberty, to escape persecution, now able to live openly as Jews in separate organized, autonomous Jewish communities under rabbinic authority. They were also drawn by the economic opportunities in the Netherlands, a major hub in world trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sephardic Jews in the Netherlands</span>

The community of Sephardic Jews in the Netherlands, particularly in Amsterdam, was of major importance in the seventeenth century. The Portuguese Jews in the Netherlands did not refer to themselves as "Sephardim", but rather as "Hebrews of the Portuguese Nation." The Portuguese-speaking community grew from conversos, Jews forced to convert to Catholicism in Spain and Portugal, who rejudaized under rabbinical authority, to create an openly self-identified Portuguese Jewish community. As a result of the expulsions from Spain in 1492 and Portugal in 1496, as well as the religious persecution by the Inquisition that followed, many Spanish and Portuguese Jews left the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 15th century and throughout the 16th century, in search of religious freedom. Some migrated to the newly independent Dutch provinces which allowed Jews to become residents. Many Jews who left for the Dutch provinces were crypto-Jews. Others had been sincere New Christians, who, despite their conversion, were targeted by Old Christians as suspect. Some of these sought to return to the religion of their ancestors. Ashkenazi Jews began migrating to the Netherlands in the mid-seventeenth century, but Portuguese Jews viewed them with ambivalence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Luxembourg</span> Ethnic group

The history of the Jews in Luxembourg dates back to the 1200s. There are roughly 1,200 Jews in Luxembourg, and Jews form one of the largest and most important religious and ethnic minority communities in Luxembourg historically.

The Nederlands-Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap (NIK) is the umbrella organisation for most Ashkenazi Jewish communities in the Netherlands, and is Orthodox in nature, while to be described as traditional in outlook. The expression Orthodox, is for the Dutch situation at least, of a later date than the existence of the congregations that make up the NIK and the NIK itself. The Rabbi of the NIK is Rabbi Dr. Raphael Evers. In total, the NIK has some 20 rabbis actively working in 18 congregations throughout the country, serving some 5,000 Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portuguese Synagogue (Amsterdam)</span> Orthodox synagogue in Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Portuguese Synagogue, also known as the Esnoga, or Snoge, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Mr. Visserplein 3 in Central Amsterdam, Amsterdam, in the North Holland region of The Netherlands. The synagogue was completed in 1675. Esnoga is the word for synagogue in Judaeo-Spanish, the traditional Judaeo-Spanish language of Sephardi Jews.

<i>Portugees-Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap</i>

The Portugees-Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap (PIK) is the community for Sephardic Jews in the Netherlands. Sephardic Jews have been living in the Netherlands since the 16th century with the forced relocation of Spanish but above all Portuguese Jews Jews from their home countries due to the Inquisition. Some 270 families are connected to the PIK, also sometimes called PIG,.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Antwerp</span> Jewish history in Antwerp, Belgium

The history of the Jews in Antwerp, a major city in the modern country of Belgium, goes back at least eight hundred years. Jewish life was first recorded in the city in the High Middle Ages. While the Jewish population grew and waned over the centuries, by the beginning of World War II Antwerp had a thriving Jewish community comprising some 35,000, with many Jews connected to the city's diamond industry. The Nazi occupation of Antwerp from 1940 and The Holocaust decimated the city’s Jewish population. By the time of Antwerp's liberation in September 1944, the Jewish population had fallen to around 1,200.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delft Synagogue</span> Synagogue in Delft, Netherlands

The Delft Synagogue is a Reconstructionist Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Koornmarkt 12, in the city of Delft, in the South Holland region of The Netherlands. Designed by L. Winkel in the Neoclassical style, the synagogue was completed in 1862, fell into disuse after World War II, was subsequently restored and reconsecrated from 1974.

The history of the Jews in Barbados goes back to the 1600s. A Jewish population has been in Barbados almost continually since 1654.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Singapore</span>

The history of the Jews in Singapore dates back to the 19th century. Jews are currently a significant minority population in the country. Singaporean Jews or Jewish Singaporeans are citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. Uniquely, Singapore is the only remaining country in the region to have indigenous Jews.

Congregation Beth Israel is a Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 411 South Eighth Street, in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Founded in 1907 to provide services for the High Holidays, it was then, and remains today, the only synagogue in the Lebanon area.

The history of the Jews in Aruba can be traced back to the 16th century, when the first Jewish immigrants began to arrive. The first Jews in Aruba were Sephardi Jewish immigrants from Netherlands and Portugal. The first Jew to settle in Aruba was a Portuguese-Jewish worker for the Dutch West India Company named Moses Solomon Levie Maduro, who arrived in Aruba with his family in 1754.

The Dutch Israelite Religious Community of The Hague is the Ashkenazi Orthodox Jewish community in The Hague and is a member of the Nederlands-Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap (NIK).

The Temple Israel is a Progressive Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Hillbrow, a suburb of Johannesburg, in the district of Gauteng, South Africa. Designed by Hermann Kallenbach in the Art Deco style, the synagogue was completed in 1936 and is the oldest of eleven Progressive synagogues in South Africa. The synagogue is classified as a provincial heritage site. The congregation is affiliated with the South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ), which is part of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Union for Progressive Judaism</span> Affiliate of the World Union for Progressive Judaism

The South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ) is an affiliate of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and supports 11 progressive congregations. Rabbi Moses Cyrus Weiler, a founder of Reform Judaism in the country, led the country's first Reform synagogue, Temple Israel in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. Weiler is credited with growing the movement, to represent 15-17% of South African Jewry and establishing 25 congregations in the country. A 2020 joint study by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and the University of Cape Town showed that 12% of Jews identified as Progressive and that in relative terms the progressive strands are increasing after falling to 7% in 1998 and 2005 studies. In Johannesburg, the community accounts for 7% of the city's Jewry, rising to 18% in Cape Town and 25% in Durban.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surabaya Synagogue</span> Former synagogue in Surabaya, Indonesia

The Surabaya Synagogue, officially the Beth Shalom Synagogue, was a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Surabaya, Java, Indonesia. It is generally said to have been the only synagogue in the country during the years it operated, although since then Sha'ar Hashamayim has opened in Sulawesi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue (Tondano)</span> Synagogue in North Sulawesi, Indonesia

The Sha'ar Hashayamim Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Tondano, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The synagogue was previously known as the Ohel Yaakov Synagogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaakov Baruch</span> Rabbi of the Shaar Hashamayim Synagogue

Yaakov Baruch is a leading Rabbi of the Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue, located in Tondano, Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi.

References

  1. ↑ Klemperer-Markman, Ayala. "The Jewish Community of Indonesia". The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  2. ↑ Fishkoff, Sue (August 15, 2024). "South Bay rabbi delivers fourth Torah scroll to Indonesia's Jewish communities". www.jweekly.com.
  3. ↑ Armenia, Resty (2016-08-03). "Pemerintah Tidak Melarang Agama Yahudi di Indonesia". nasional (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  4. 1 2 3 Banka, Neha (22 April 2019). "Inside the secret world of Indonesia's Jewish community". Haaretz. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  5. ↑ Brieger, Peter; Buol, Ronny (5 March 2019). "On remote island in Muslim-majority Indonesia, Jewish community lives in shadows". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  6. ↑ Haime, Jordyn (2023-11-29). "Despite unrest in Indonesia, a Jewish community finds peace among other faith groups". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  7. ↑ "Jews in Indonesia hide in 'religious closet' as anti-Israel sentiment flares". South China Morning Post. 2023-11-14. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  8. ↑ "Subscribe to read". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-08-21.{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  9. ↑ Haime, Jordyn (February 10, 2022). "Indonesia Muslim groups demand closure of country's first-ever Holocaust exhibition". www.timesofisrael.com.
  10. ↑ "Muslim groups in Indonesia demand closure of country's first-ever Holocaust exhibition". The Forward. 2022-02-10. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Utama, Abraham (3 August 2016). "Riwayat Komunitas Yahudi di Surabaya". CNN Indonesia (in Indonesian). Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "Ned.-indië. Israelitische Gemeente Soerabaja". De Indische courant (in Dutch). Surabaya. 28 July 1923. p. 17.
  13. 1 2 "25 Jaren Israëliëtische Gemeente Soerabaja". Nieuwe courant (in Dutch). Surabaya. 1 March 1949.
  14. 1 2 "In Soerabaja bestaan vijf wereldreligies naast elkaar". Leeuwarder courant: hoofdblad van Friesland (in Dutch). Leeuwarden. 2 June 1960. p. 2.
  15. ↑ "Joodsche gemeente Soerabaia". De Indische courant (in Dutch). Surabaya. 28 April 1934. p. 9.
  16. 1 2 Harsaputra, Indra (17 September 2013). "Group protests synagogue demolition". The Jakarta Post. Surabaya.
  17. ↑ Ilawati (2018). Eksistensi Komunitas Yahudi Keturunan di Jakarta: Studi Tentang Komunitas UIJC (The United Indonesian Jewish Community) (PDF) (Bachelor thesis) (in Indonesian). Jakarta: UIN Syarif Hidayatullah.
  18. 1 2 "De Joodse gemeenschap in Indonesië". Nieuw Israelietisch weekblad. Amsterdam. 6 February 1959. p. 3.
  19. ↑ "Sengketa Synagogue Yahudi Surabaya Berujung ke Polisi". Hukum Online (in Indonesian). 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  20. ↑ "What's in a name? Chinese-Indonesians have many stories". The Jakarta Post.
  21. ↑ "Inside the Secret World of Indonesia's Jewish Community". Haaretz.
  22. ↑ Sinaya, James. (May 30, 2013). Jawa pos newspaper, 26 May 2013, 30 May 2013.
  23. ↑ "Indonesia's Last Synagogue Destroyed". The Jerusalem Post . 5 October 2013.
  24. ↑ Hussain, Zakir (February 18, 2013). "Indonesia's Only Synagogue Struggles to Find Wider Acceptance". Straits Times. Jakarta Globe. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.