Jews of the Azores (Harif, 20 September 2022)

The first known settlement of Jews in the Azores, an archipelago of Atlantic islands, began in 1818 with the arrival of five merchants from Morocco. By 1848 the Jews in the Azores numbered 250; several small communities had been established, the most important being in Ponta Delgada (founded in 1836). There were once five synagogues in the city, but only one, the Shaar Hashomayim, Synagogue, remains. It was renovated in 2015 and is now a museum. The President of the Friends of the Synagogue, José de Almeida Mello, assisted by Carol Castiel, who herself has worked to preserve the Jewish heritage of another island community, Cape Verde, will share with us the remarkable history of this remote community.(See Carol’s Harif presentation