Jewish-Caboclos in Amazon

Abstract

This article proposes to reconstruct the profile of the descendant communities of Jews living in the Amazon since the first decades of the 19th century, prioritizing the Moroccans who chose to live in Belém do Pará and Manaus. Going back in time, we try to reconstitute their daily life and Jewish practices in the host communities. We recall that, in the first decades of the 19th century, groups of these Jewish immigrants went to live far from urban centers in isolated islets, that is, in small lands surrounded by streams. On the riverbanks they lived on stilts (houses under stakes) and slept in hammocks, adapting to local customs. They celebrated the most traditional religious festivals: Pesach (Passover), Yom Kippur (Great Fast) and Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). Initially, still without a rabbi and without Torah, the head of the house exercised the functions of hazam (liturgical singer) recreating the traditions inherited from his ancestors. A great adventure for those who did not speak Portuguese and were not used to the bad weather of a tropical country. In search of visions of this “green world”, we sought to reconstruct the traces that attest to the presence of Moroccan Jews in the Amazon, valuing their commercial houses, synagogues, graves, Jewish rites, cuisine and popular expressions.