Peru´s ´Jews of the Jungle´ Receive Rabbi
February 14, 2006
www.shavei.org/article.php?id=663
Comprising
several hundred people, the Tarapoto community consists of descendants
of Moroccan Jews who migrated to the area in the late 19th century.
Settling in towns in Peru's Amazon basin such as Iquitos in the
1880s, many became involved in local trade and commerce. From there
they spread out to other parts of the country's northern interior,
such as Tarapoto.
"It
is remarkable that even in the remotest corners of the Peruvian
jungle, the pintele Yid (Yiddish for the spark of Jewishness)
inside every Jew continues to live on," Freund said. "No matter
how far a Jewish soul may have wandered, the fact is that it will
eventually find its way back home to its Land and its people."
For more information, contact: office@shavei.org.