Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Curaçao, N.A.

NEVÉ SHALOM

An ancient brass oil HANUKKIAH (Hanukkah lamp) was found in the estate of an old Curaçao family in 1979. Upon polishing, the Hebrew letters K.K. NEVÉ SHALOM came to light, making this the only artifact now in the Jewish Museum which can be definitely traced back to the Otrobanda synagogue.

High rentals within the walled city in the early 1730s, caused many families to settle in Otrobanda, the extension of town “on the other side” of the harbor entrance. Soon, there were complaints that the distance and the crossing of the harbor in a rowboat to attend services in Mikvé Israel, constituted a breach of the SHABBAT. Although some started using a home in Otrobanda as a Synagogue, the PARNASSIM refused them the use of a TORAH Scroll, since establishing a second Synagogue would be against the HASCAMOT (By-Laws) of the Congregation.

By December, 1732, the PARNASSIM relented and permitted the establishment of a second Synagogue, NEVÉ SHALOM (Dwelling of Peace), but under the jurisdiction of Mikvé Israel. Their newly constructed sanctuary at Breedestraat (O) 295, was consecrated in 1746 and their own school founded soon thereafter.

All went well for a time, until the leadership of NEVÉ SHALOM started chafing under the rule of the Punda PARNASSIM. The autocratic dominance of Chacham Samuel Mendes de Sola, coupled with the intransigence and lack of diplomacy on the part of the PARNASSIM, gradually made matters worse. Dissension grew into strife, and even physical fights. By 1750, more than half of the Jewish population sided with the oppositionists, while the rest supported the Chacham and PARNASSIM.

Since the Jews accounted for half of the island's white population (then numbering about 3000 souls), and since the Jews were responsible for practically all of the economic activity of the island in matters of commerce and shipping, it is understandable that such a rift seriously affected the well-being of the entire colony. Conscious of this, Fiscal Jan van Schagen, Governor Faesch, and even Protestant pastor Ds. van Rasvelt, tried many times to re-establish peace. However, after only a few weeks of apparent harmony, the deep-rooted strife would break out again in all its intensity.

Excommunication was the order of the day. Inasmuch as this meant that Jews were not permitted to have any dealings with the excommunicated- on pain of a similar fate- economic life was indeed seriously disrupted. On several occasions, Governor Faesch and Fiscal van Schagen reported this to the authorities in Holland. The States General finally appointed a commission, which included two prominent leaders of the Amsterdam Portuguese Synagogue, to seek an early and lasting solution to the conflicts. Their proposal was approved on April 1st, 1750, and His Highness William Charles Henry Friso, Prince of Orange Nassau, being the supreme authority of the Nation, signed an edict:

"There having come to our ears the discrepancies and discords which for some time past have arisen between Parnassim, the Church Council, and the Chacham or Preacher of the Jewish Nation at the Island of Curaçao on the one side, and some members of the aforementioned Congregation on the other, and from which no other than very prejudicial consequences may result for the commerce and prosperity of the aforesaid Island ...We Decree..."

The nine article peacemaking program which followed, received general acceptance and immediate obedience. The Jews were overjoyed with this personal intervention by their beloved Prince. A Solemn Thanksgiving Service attended by all the Island notables, was held in Mikvé Israel, peace reigned once again and both Jewish congregations flourished.

By 1817, however, there were very few Jews still living in Otrobanda. Their numbers not being enough to form a MINYAN, services were discontinued in 1818, and the property sold in 1864. (CGC).

TEMPLE EMANU-ÉL

The founding of the Dutch Jewish Reform Community “Emanu-Él” on May 28, 1864, was not the first manifestation of liberal Judaism on Curaçao. There had been members of the SNOA petitioning for the introduction of certain liberalizations as far back as 1839. This was repeated in 1845 and again in 1848, when some of the reformers actually withdrew from the congregation until the conservatives accepted certain changes. These trends continued and, by 1863, a distinct rift could be observed within Congregation Mikvé Israel: the conservatives, with the Chacham and the MAHAMAD on one side, and the reformers with some of the most influential and wealthiest members on the other side. The situation was compounded by personal and commercial rivalries. (Oral history has it that the winning of the concession to demolish the city walls by a consortium composed mostly of conservatives, as against another combination of liberals, also contributed towards deepening the schism that followed.)

Were Reform Judaism not the sole underlying cause, then it most definitely became the model and the legal basis for the new congregation. For once Congregation EMANU-ÉL was established, the first thing it did was to appeal to Dr. Samuel Adler, Rabbi of New York’s Temple Emanu-Él, for guidance. In fact, New York’s Reform congregation and Temple, became the very model for the new Curaçao congregation. It adopted the same prayer book, ritual and liturgical music.

Its sanctuary, too, was to be inspired by its American counterpart: the two spires of New York’s first temple became one; and, symbolic of the break with orthodoxy, it was topped by a ball and five-pointed star. (It is only in the early 1960s that this was changed to a six-pointed Star of David). The pulpit was immediately in front of the HEYCHAL, facing the audience which was seated auditorium style. Families, men and women sat together; head coverings and TALLIT were abolished; an organ was introduced, as was a mixed choir; and some special prayers in the English and Spanish languages were added to the service, which was otherwise entirely in Hebrew.

The new Congregation received almost instant support from the Government: it obtained a 2000 square meter plot of land in Pietermaai to build its sanctuary, and received permission to consecrate a cemetery on a piece of land that it had bought on Berg Altena in 1864. Jacob Abraham Jesurun laid the first cornerstone for the Temple on December, 17, 1865 and the Temple was dedicated on September 12, 1867. Its first President was Moises Cohen Henriquez.

A certain rigidity had taken hold of the Temple by the middle of the twentieth century. There had been virtually no contact with the world Reform movement and no significant changes had been effected in its services since its inception in the 1860s. The appointment of Dr. Maurits Goudeket as its spiritual leader in 1946, and that of his full-time successor, Rabbi Simeon J. Maslin in 1960, brought Temple Emanu-Él back into the mainstream of modern Liberal Judaism. The former effected the congregation’s affiliation to the Word Union for Progressive Judaism, while the latter strengthened Temple Emanu-Él’s ties to the Reform movement in the United States.

By 1963, there also lived within the membership of Mikvé Israel the desire to bring their Orthodox ritual more in line with their own personal, more liberal outlook. There were no longer any differences in the lifestyles of the members of Mikvé Israel and their brethren in Emanu-Él. They were closely interconnected by marriage, as well as in social and business relations. Dwindling numbers on both sides, and the consistently excellent personal and familial relationships between them, made a reunification desirable to both parties. So, under the guidance of Rabbi Maslin and Rabbi Ira Eisenstein (of the Reconstructionist Foundation of America) to whom Mikvé Israel had turned for advice, a merger agreement was reached by the Boards and ratified by their respective General Assemblies on November 9, 1964. Thus, Curaçao’s two Sephardic congregations were reunited after 100 years. United Congregation MIKVÉ ISRAEL-EMANUEL adopted the Reconstructionist ritual and Rabbi Maslin served as its first Rabbi (CGC).

Punda

The Building Begins | Construction of Our "Snoa"

The Dedication | The Galleries

The Eastern Façade | The Western Façade