Jewish, Spanish-speaking in Puerto Rico

Introduction / History

On November 19, 1443, a man named De Torres stepped out of a small boat onto the shores of a foreign island in the Caribbean. The boat had been launched from a Spanish ship whose captain was Christopher Columbus. He was the first Jew to arrive in Puerto Rico. De Torres was a conversos, meaning he was a Jew who had been forced in Spain to convert to Catholicism. His ability to speak Portuguese, Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic and other languages made him a valuable interpretation for Columbus and others.

In 1478, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, established the Spanish Inquisition forcing all people to be Catholic. Hundreds of Jews were killed, and their synagogues destroyed. Eventually more Crypto Jews arrived on the island of Puerto Rico; they were hoping to avoid religious scrutiny, but the Inquisition followed them to the colonists. As a result, many secret Jews settled the island's remote mountainous interior far from the concentrated centers of power in San Juan and lived quiet lives. Some of them eventually assimilated and intermarried. There is little written history of these early Puerto Rican Jews.

In the 19th century the only colonies Spain still controlled were Puerto Rico and Cuba. The people on these islands wanted their independence. In order to maintain their control of these territories the government granted land to any Catholic who wanted to settle on these islands. This excluded Jews and Protestants. This, however, did not keep people of Jewish descent from settling in Puerto Rico.

One man, Mathias Brugman, an American whose mother was from Puerto Rico and father was Dutch-Jewish decided to move from the U.S. back to Puerto Rico. Mathias when older became the owner of grocery store. On September 23, 1868, Brugman and his son participated in the short-lived revolt against Spanish rule which led to their execution. Unfortunately this was what happened to Jews and others who fought for their independence from Spain. The first synagogue was not established until after Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain to the United States at the end of the Spanish–American War in 1898. It was located in Ponce.

Large numbers of Jewish immigrants began to arrive in Puerto Rico in the 1930s as refugees from Nazi occupied Europe. The majority settled in the island's capital, San Juan, where in 1942 they established the first Jewish Community Center of Puerto Rico. In 1952, Puerto Rico achieved U.S. commonwealth status and officially became the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

After the success of Fidel Castro’s 1959 Cuban Revolution, almost all of Cuba's 15,000 Jews went into exile. The majority of them fled to Miami, Florida. However, Puerto Rico also received a large influx of Jewish emigres from Cuba. The Jewish Puerto Rican people have continued to advance on the island. Currently it is the largest and wealthiest Jewish community in the Caribbean.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Puerto Rican Jews have made many contributions to the Puerto Rican way of life. These include popular businesses such as the Pueblo Supermarkets and Almacenes Kress clothing store. In all major areas of education, medicine, commerce, entertainment, tourism, trade, industry, arts, literature, music, science, spiritual life and political leadership they have been successful. Most of these hard working Jewish people are respected and appreciated in Puerto Rico.

On October 31, 2005, the Senate of Puerto Rico approved Senate Resolution 1480, recognizing the contributions which the Jewish community has made to the way of life of Puerto Rico and the friendship which exists between the peoples of Puerto Rico and Israel.

What Are Their Beliefs?

Puerto Rico is the only Caribbean island in which the Conservative, Reform and Orthodox Jewish movements are represented. The three major synagogues representing these movements are located in San Juan. The Reform and Conservative synagogues utilize English, Hebrew and Spanish in their teachings and services. In 2005, the first synagogue outside of San Juan was established in the City of Mayagüez on the island's west coast. In the 1950s, Augusto Rodríguez became the founder of the Hebrew Festival Chorus of San Juan's Jewish Community. Some Puerto Ricans have converted to Judaism, not only as individuals but as entire families. Most Jewish Puerto Ricans are satisfied with their lives and do not want to change. Most appreciate their Christian neighbors socially; however, they have no desire to become Christian believers or Messianic Jewish Believers.

What Are Their Needs?

Their struggling history with the church, persecution and loss has made these Jewish people feel confident that they have the personal power to overcome many problems and succeed. They need to humble themselves and know that all that they are and have is from God and his greatest gift being their freedom to accept Jesus as their messiah and savior! They need to go to the scriptures and hear God’s voice speak to them and guide them in their lives.

Prayer Points

Pray these people will be open to hearing the teachings of Jesus and knowing that in them comes the deeper spiritual blessing of knowing God’s grace.
Pray that the challenges of problems that have affected Puerto Rico’s people through natural disasters will bring strong, Christians in touch with the Jewish people so they will know the power found in God’s word.
Pray that whole families of Jewish believers will become Messianic Believers.
Pray that these Jewish people will not accept that their successes are enough to please themselves and others when they need to know that all that has come to them was from God.

Text Source:   Joshua Project