THE
DEDICATION
It
is difficult to convey the emotions that overcome us when inserting the
large brass key into the lock plate and turning it twice to the right.
We feel the large mahogany door swing open slowly, allowing us to pass
from the tumult of everyday life into the peaceful twilight of the sanctuary.
As our eyes adjust to the serene majesty of the interior of our SNOA, we
realize that the haze we first saw is actually the subdued light shining
through the blue glass of the windows, reflected off the dark mahogany
furniture and absorbed by the white sand on the floor. Although the building
has gone through several major changes in its 250-year history, this feeling
must have also overcome our forefathers when they entered the building
for its dedication 250 years ago. 
Chacham
Raphael Jesurun consecrated the building on the 15th of Nisan 5492, the
first day of Passover, 1732. The MAHAMAD (President Jacob Ephraim Jesurun
Henríquez, Vice President Jacob Curiel and Gabay Moses Penso), the
Building Treasurer Abraham Jesurun Henriquez, the councilors, the contributors
and all the members could well be proud of their brilliant achievement
as they sat, elegantly dressed, in their new House of Worship. How their
spirits must have soared as they worshipped the Lord Almighty for the first
time in their new, candlelit Synagogue during this solemn service of dedication!
How great their joy must have been to recite the special prayers of thanksgiving
and hope offered from the TEBAH or in front of the open HEYCHAL; to join
in singing the special hymns composed for this occasion; to celebrate the
culmination of all that they had worked for, had contributed to and had
dreamed of for almost two years.
Standing
in this fascinating world created by our Sephardic forefathers, one is
overwhelmed by the sacred, “old world” mysticism of our SNOA which makes
it so unlike most other synagogues in the Western Hemisphere. This feeling
is magnified manifold when, as it was then and is still the case today
several times a year on special occasions, the interior of the Synagogue
is aglow with the warm, shimmering lights of the over one hundred and fifty
candles mirrored many times over in the gleaming brass and silver ornaments
of our ancient SNOA (RDLM).
| Punda
The Building Begins | Construction of Our "Snoa" |
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