by Meryl Becker
Puerto Rico
My connection to Puerto Rico is that I lived there for a year many, many years ago as a VISTA volunteer, and I've been there many times since.
At the time I lived there, I went to services in San Juan on a Friday night and everyone was either American or from another Latin American country, so I assumed there were no Puerto Rican Jews. However, when I was there in 2019, I stayed walking distance from one of the synagogues. Since I wasn't going to be there on Shabbat, I walked over to talk to them. The president there told me that there have been Jews in Puerto Rico since Columbus. Most of them lived in the more remote mountains in the center of the Island, where they could hide more easily from the Inquisition, so their descendants go to services on Saturday morning, when it is not so hard to drive the distance after work. On a side note, the indigenous people, the Tanios, also went to the mountains to hide from their Spanish conquerors.
I went to Puerto Rico again this past January and made sure I would be there on a Shabbat morning. There is a Conservative, a Reform and a Chabad synagogue in San Juan. (There are about 2,000 Jews in Puerto Rico) I went to the Feform one, Temple Beth Shalom. Most of their members are Puerto Rican, but there are some Americans, so the prayer book is in Hebrew, Spanish and English and the service on Friday night is in English and Hebrew and Saturday in Spanish and Hebrew. Luckily, I speak Spanish.
The morning service was very nice, with lunch, and the people were very friendly, including a family who offered to drive me to my hotel. Even though I'd since read that nowadays most of the Puerto Ricans Jews live in the San Juan area, I really wanted to find Jews who had been there for generations. I did not find anyone who'd been there for generations, but it was very interesting anyway because it turned out that most of the congregation are converts! I talked to 7 people about their backgrounds. One was American, one grew up in Cuba where he didn't know why his father lit candles on Friday nights, and the rest were converts. When I asked them why they converted they all said the same thing: “It felt like home."
Costa Rica
I've also been to Costa Rica many times. My ex-husband and ex- son-in-law are Costa Rican, but we are still friendly, and I visit their families when I go there. Jews in Costa Rica also came there from the time of the Inquisition, but mostly were absorbed into the population. Then there were later waves after World war I and World War II, and more recently Americans and Israelis retiring there. Today there are about 2500-3000 Jews, mostly in San Jose.
The largest synagogue that also has a community center and museum is Orthodox, but I went to the Reform one a few years ago mostly because they didn't ask for me to email a copy of my passport, and later because I liked it, since the Reform one also started requiring a passport copy. My experience with services in other countries is that they have a lot more security than we do in the US, even in Costa Rica where they tell me there is a little antisemitism.
When I was there this past July, the beginning of the service at Congregation Bnei Israel was typical for a Reform service, but then they had eight aliyot, the haftorah and mincha. No sermon. So, it was interesting. The prayer book was also in Spanish, English and Hebrew, although the service was in Hebrew and Spanish. People were very friendly and welcoming and had me stand up and introduce myself. Afterwards there was also a lunch - delicious parve tamales! As far as I know, there was also only one other American. People heard I needed a taxi to get back to my hotel. I could hear people talking and brainstorming and figuring out who could help me with that, until a family going my way offered to drive me, which turned out to be very interesting. In a parallel to my experience in Puerto Rico, they were converts. They had been Evangelical Christians who got interested in Judaism and converted, but because they said the Orthodox shul wouldn't accept them (I forgot to ask them if they had an Orthodox conversion so I don't know if that was the problem), they were practicing Judaism by themselves at home for quite a while until they finally found this synagogue. When I told them they were now part of the tribe, so if they traveled, they could expect the same warm welcome I received, they actually cheered! As they dropped me off, they asked me to pray for their teenage daughter to find a Jewish husband, since the Jewish community is small and it's not easy.
So, different countries, different language, but same service, and same warm Jewish welcome and connection!
My connection to Puerto Rico is that I lived there for a year many, many years ago as a VISTA volunteer, and I've been there many times since.
At the time I lived there, I went to services in San Juan on a Friday night and everyone was either American or from another Latin American country, so I assumed there were no Puerto Rican Jews. However, when I was there in 2019, I stayed walking distance from one of the synagogues. Since I wasn't going to be there on Shabbat, I walked over to talk to them. The president there told me that there have been Jews in Puerto Rico since Columbus. Most of them lived in the more remote mountains in the center of the Island, where they could hide more easily from the Inquisition, so their descendants go to services on Saturday morning, when it is not so hard to drive the distance after work. On a side note, the indigenous people, the Tanios, also went to the mountains to hide from their Spanish conquerors.
I went to Puerto Rico again this past January and made sure I would be there on a Shabbat morning. There is a Conservative, a Reform and a Chabad synagogue in San Juan. (There are about 2,000 Jews in Puerto Rico) I went to the Feform one, Temple Beth Shalom. Most of their members are Puerto Rican, but there are some Americans, so the prayer book is in Hebrew, Spanish and English and the service on Friday night is in English and Hebrew and Saturday in Spanish and Hebrew. Luckily, I speak Spanish.
The morning service was very nice, with lunch, and the people were very friendly, including a family who offered to drive me to my hotel. Even though I'd since read that nowadays most of the Puerto Ricans Jews live in the San Juan area, I really wanted to find Jews who had been there for generations. I did not find anyone who'd been there for generations, but it was very interesting anyway because it turned out that most of the congregation are converts! I talked to 7 people about their backgrounds. One was American, one grew up in Cuba where he didn't know why his father lit candles on Friday nights, and the rest were converts. When I asked them why they converted they all said the same thing: “It felt like home."
Costa Rica
I've also been to Costa Rica many times. My ex-husband and ex- son-in-law are Costa Rican, but we are still friendly, and I visit their families when I go there. Jews in Costa Rica also came there from the time of the Inquisition, but mostly were absorbed into the population. Then there were later waves after World war I and World War II, and more recently Americans and Israelis retiring there. Today there are about 2500-3000 Jews, mostly in San Jose.
The largest synagogue that also has a community center and museum is Orthodox, but I went to the Reform one a few years ago mostly because they didn't ask for me to email a copy of my passport, and later because I liked it, since the Reform one also started requiring a passport copy. My experience with services in other countries is that they have a lot more security than we do in the US, even in Costa Rica where they tell me there is a little antisemitism.
When I was there this past July, the beginning of the service at Congregation Bnei Israel was typical for a Reform service, but then they had eight aliyot, the haftorah and mincha. No sermon. So, it was interesting. The prayer book was also in Spanish, English and Hebrew, although the service was in Hebrew and Spanish. People were very friendly and welcoming and had me stand up and introduce myself. Afterwards there was also a lunch - delicious parve tamales! As far as I know, there was also only one other American. People heard I needed a taxi to get back to my hotel. I could hear people talking and brainstorming and figuring out who could help me with that, until a family going my way offered to drive me, which turned out to be very interesting. In a parallel to my experience in Puerto Rico, they were converts. They had been Evangelical Christians who got interested in Judaism and converted, but because they said the Orthodox shul wouldn't accept them (I forgot to ask them if they had an Orthodox conversion so I don't know if that was the problem), they were practicing Judaism by themselves at home for quite a while until they finally found this synagogue. When I told them they were now part of the tribe, so if they traveled, they could expect the same warm welcome I received, they actually cheered! As they dropped me off, they asked me to pray for their teenage daughter to find a Jewish husband, since the Jewish community is small and it's not easy.
So, different countries, different language, but same service, and same warm Jewish welcome and connection!
Meryl is a long-time member of the Havurah.
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