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.
African-American Jews are people who are both African American and Jewish, whether by mixed ancestry or conversion. African-American Jews may be either Jewish from birth or converts to Judaism. Many African-American Jews are of mixed heritage, having both non-Jewish African-American and non-Black Jewish ancestors. Many African-American Jews identify as Jews of color, but some do not. Black American Jews from Africa, such as the Beta Israel from Ethiopia, may or may not identify as African-American Jews.
Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the few centuries following the forced expulsion of unconverted Jews from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal in 1497. They should therefore be distinguished both from the descendants of those expelled in 1492 and from the present-day Jewish communities of Spain and Portugal.
Bevis Marks Synagogue, officially Qahal Kadosh Sha'ar ha-Shamayim, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located off Bevis Marks, Aldgate, in the City of London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation is affiliated to London's historic Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community and worships in the Sephardic rite.
The history of Jews in Charleston, South Carolina, was related to the 1669 charter of the Carolina Colony, drawn up by the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury and his secretary John Locke, which granted liberty of conscience to all settlers, and expressly noted "Jews, heathens, and dissenters". Sephardi Jews from London were among the early settlers in the city and colony, and comprised most of its Jewish community into the early 1800s.
The Nidḥe Israel Synagogue is a Conservative Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Synagogue Lane in Bridgetown, Barbados. It is the only synagogue in Barbados, and is bordered by the wider Magazine Lane, James, Coleridge and Pinfold streets, it is a part of the Synagogue Historic District.
Henriques is a Portuguese surname meaning Son of Henrique (Henry). The Henriques family has many branches, each with a somewhat different surname. In 16th century Portugal, dozens of New Christian families used the name singly or in combination with others, such as Henriques de Castro, Cohen Henriques Eanes, Henriques de Souza, Henriques de Sousa, Henriques Faro, Mendes Henriques, Gabay Henriques, Lopes Henriques, Gomes Henriques, Henriques da Costa, Henriques da Granada, Henriques Coelho, and many more. Once they left Portugal and reverted to Judaism, they took more Jewish first names and often inserted Jewish tribal designations, such as Cohen and Israel, just before "Henriques", such as Cohen Henriques and Israel Henriques.
The history of the Jews in Barbados goes back to the 1600s. A Jewish population has been in Barbados almost continually since 1654.
Aaron Lopez was a Portuguese-born merchant, slave trader, and philanthropist. Born in Lisbon into a converso family, he moved to British America, settling in the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Through his varied commercial ventures, Lopez became the wealthiest person in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1761 and 1762, Lopez unsuccessfully sued the colonial government of Rhode Island in an attempt to become a British subject.
Temple Beth Elohim is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 230 Screven Street in Georgetown, South Carolina, in the United States.
The Jodenbuurt is a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands. For centuries before World War II, it was the center of the Dutch Jews of Amsterdam — hence, its name. It is best known as the birthplace of Baruch Spinoza, the home of Rembrandt, and the Jewish ghetto of Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London. Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London, after he achieved success, he donated large sums of money to promote industry, business, economic development, education and health among the Jewish community in the Levant. He founded Mishkenot Sha'ananim in 1860, the first Jewish settlement outside the Old City of Jerusalem.
The history of the Jews in Suriname starts in 1639, as the English government allowed Spanish and Portuguese Jews from the Netherlands, Portugal and Italy to settle the region, coming to the old capital Torarica.
Bilhah Abigail Levy Franks was an English–born Ashkenazi Jewish woman who lived most of her life in the Province of New York, British America. Born in London and raised in New York City, she married a London-born merchant and reared a family of nine children. While committed to Jewish observance, she and her family also socialized freely in the wider Christian society. Theirs was considered one of the prominent families of colonial New York.
Emanuel Lousada was a British merchant, planter and politician with interests in Jamaica and Barbados. He was the High Sheriff of Devon from 1842 until 1843, making him the first Jew to hold the title in a county outside of the Sheriff of London, which had been held first by David Salomons in 1835. Lousada was associated with Peak House, Sidmouth. Lousada owned more than 400 African slaves on his sugarcane plantations in the British West Indies at the time of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. He died a wealthy man, leaving £100,000 in his will.
Black Jews in New York City are one of the largest communities of Black Jews in the United States. Black Jews have lived in New York City since colonial times, with organized Black-Jewish communities emerging during the early 20th century. Black Jewish communities have historically been centered in Harlem, Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Queens. The Black Orthodox Jewish community is centered in Brooklyn. A small Beta Israel (Ethiopian-Jewish) community also exists in New York City, many of whom emigrated from Israel.
Racism in Jewish communities is a source of concern for people of color, particularly for Jews of color. Black Jews, Indigenous Jews, and other Jews of color report that they experience racism from white Jews in many countries, including Canada, France, Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews also report experiences with racism by Ashkenazi Jews. The centering of Ashkenazi Jews is sometimes known as Ashkenormativity. In historically white-dominated countries with a legacy of anti-Black racism, such as the United States and South Africa, racism within the Jewish community often manifests itself as anti-Blackness. In Israel, racism among Israeli Jews often manifests itself as discrimination and prejudice against Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, Ethiopian Jews, African immigrants, and Palestinians. Some critics describe Zionism as racist or settler colonial in nature.
Lucy Marks was an African-American Jew from Philadelphia, one of the few documented Black Jews during early American history. She may have been a member of Congregation Mikveh Israel, and she is buried in Mikveh Israel Cemetery.
The Lindo family was a Sephardic Jewish merchant and banking family, which rose to prominence in medieval Spain.
Isaac Lopez Brandon was an African-American Jew, one of the earliest recorded Jews of African descent in American history. Born in Barbados, he and his sister Sarah Brandon Moses went on to become part of the Sephardic upper class in New York City. Portraits of him and his sister are the earliest known paintings of Jews of African descent in North American history. In Barbados, Brandon fought for the equal civil rights of the Jewish minority.
