Peru´s ´Jews of the Jungle´ Receive Rabbi
February 14, 2006
Arutz 7 Israel National News
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. "Assimilation
and intermarriage took a heavy toll on the Moroccan Jews who
chose to remain in the area," noted Shavei
Israel Chairman Michael Freund. "Now, however, their
children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren have begun
to return to their Jewish roots."
 Known
as the City of Palms, Tarapoto is located adjacent to the Andes
Mountains, over 600 kilometers north of Lima, Peru's capital.
Many of the town's Jewish descendants still bear distinctly Jewish
names, such as Ben-Zaken, Ben-Shimon and Cohen.
The community is well-organized, and its members
include doctors, lawyers, architects and academics who work at
the local university. They gather for regular Sabbath and holiday
prayers.
Last year,
while on a visit to Peru, Freund met with the leaders and members
of the Tarapoto community, who asked him to consider sending them
a rabbi who could teach them more about their Jewish heritage.
Freund
took up the challenge, and a Spanish-speaking rabbi arrived in
Tarapoto last week, where he will begin conducting classes, services
and other educational and outreach activities.
 "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. |
