The history of the Jews in Latin America began with conversos who joined the Spanish and Portuguese expeditions to the continents. The Alhambra Decree of 1492 led to the mass conversion of Spain's Jews to Catholicism and the expulsion of those who refused to do so. However, the vast majority of conversos never made it to the New World and remained in Spain slowly assimilating to the dominant Catholic culture. This was due to the requirement by Spain's Blood Statutes to provide written documentation of Old Christian lineage to travel to the New World. However, the first Jews came with the first expedition of Christopher Columbus, including Rodrigo de Triana and Luis De Torres.
Jewish Cubans, Cuban Jews, or Cubans of Jewish heritage, have lived in the nation of Cuba for centuries. Some Cubans trace Jewish ancestry to Marranos who came as colonists, though few of these practice Judaism today. The majority of Cuban Jews are descended from European Jews who immigrated in the early 20th century. More than 24,000 Jews lived in Cuba in 1924, and still more immigrated to the country in the 1930s. Following the 1959 communist revolution, 94% of the country's Jews emigrated, most of them to the United States. In 2007 an estimated 1,500 known Jewish Cubans remained in the country, overwhelmingly located in Havana. Several hundred have since immigrated to Israel. Considered one of the most important Latin American Jewish sites, Beth Shalom Temple is the epicenter for current Jewish life in Cuba and still conducts weekly Shabbat services.
Shmuel Szteinhendler, a rabbi in Santiago, Chile, is considered the current Chief Rabbi of Cuba and one of the most notable Rabbis in Latin America.
Beth Israel Synagogue is the synagogue of the Aruban Jewish community, located in Oranjestad, Aruba. Beth Israel Synagogue is an independent congregation with a liberal style similar to Reform Judaism or Conservative Judaism.
Congregation Beth Israel is an egalitarian Conservative synagogue located at 989 West 28th Avenue in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was founded in 1925, but did not formally incorporate until 1932. Its first rabbi was Ben Zion Bokser, hired that year. He was succeeded the following year by Samuel Cass (1933–1941). Other rabbis included David Kogen (1946–1955), Bert Woythaler (1956–1963), and Wilfred Solomon, who served for decades starting in 1964.
Congregation B'nai Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 3600 Riverside Boulevard, in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Founded in 1852 as an Orthodox community, the congregation is the oldest Jewish congregation in Sacramento. The congregation dates the California Gold Rush of 1849, when Jewish settlers gathered to observe the High Holy days. The congregation purchased its first building at 7th and L streets on September 2, 1852, making it the first synagogue west of the Mississippi River.
Beth Shalom or Beth Sholom may refer to:
Beth Shalom Reform Synagogue is a synagogue in the City of Cambridge. Founded in 1981, it held services in hired premises until 2015 when the community opened a new synagogue on a site on Auckland Road, the first Reform synagogue in Cambridge. The new building includes a prayer hall for at least 200 people. The building was dedicated on 6 September 2015 at a service led by Fiona Karet Frankl and addressed by Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, senior rabbi to the Movement for Reform Judaism.
Jews have been living in Maine, a state in the northeastern United States, for 200 years, with significant Jewish communities in Bangor as early as the 1840s and in Portland since the 1880s. The arrival of Susman Abrams in 1785 was followed by a history of immigration and settlement that parallels the history of Jewish immigration to the United States.
Emet veShalom is a synagogue in Nahariya, Israel. It was established in 1963 by a group of people, mainly Jewish immigrants from Germany and Central Europe, who sought a more liberal form of Judaism. Emet veShalom is one of the oldest Reform Judaism communities in Israel and is now the only non-Orthodox synagogue in Nahariya. It is affiliated to the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism.
The Jewish community of Houston, Texas has grown and thrived since the 1800s. As of 2008, Jews lived in many Houston neighborhoods and Meyerland is the center of the Jewish community in the area.
Beth El Hebrew Congregation is a Reform Jewish synagogue located in Alexandria, Virginia, in the United States. Established on September 4, 1859, it is oldest active congregation in the Northern Virginia region.
Adath Shalom was a Conservative synagogue located at 607 W Ritner Street, in the Whitman neighborhood of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The synagogue opened in 1922 and closed in 2007.
Beth Shalom is a Progressive Jewish congregation in Auckland and the largest progressive congregation in the country. The congregation was started in 1952 and later a temple was constructed and consecrated in 1960. It is a member of the Union for Progressive Judaism. The congregation has over 500 members, hosts a Hebrew school, and also has a burial society.
Cuba 
