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Panama’s Jewish Community
Author: lunnrochelle
Despite Panama’s predominantly Catholic population, many Jewish communities thrive and have real estate in Panama of their own. Since it is also a democracy, there is no discrimination against Jews and they are free to avail themselves of their own Panama property and Panama real estate.
Many Jewish American retirees are entranced by the availability and access of synagogues, as well as specialty store for Jews, which specifically specialize in providing kosher foodstuffs. Truly, there is no discrimination here, which has encouraged many Jewish retirees to enjoy the good food, weather, people, and lifestyle by buying their own Panama property and real estate in Panama.
Unfortunately, the Jewish community has not seen a home grown rabbi yet, but things just might change as more and more people – retirees and sometimes their families – buy their real estate in Panama and Panama property and become part of the small but growing Jewish community and movement in the country.
A Brief History
Jews were a part of Panama’s society as early as the occupation from the Spanish and Portuguese, but were forced to practice in secret, for fear of the persecution of the then very strict and unforgiving Catholic authorities. A number of them purchased real estate in Panama, which has served as the base of the communities that are present now. Many have learned to integrate themselves into the Catholic society and live in peaceful co-existence with them.
Many more Jews flocked to Panama (some again buying their own Panama property) while escaping the harsh environment of Europe during the Nazi persecution and summary execution of millions of Jews there. Here, they were able to flourish and make a life of their own, free from discrimination and violence.
The Panama Jewish Community Now
At present, there are only just about 10,000 Jewish residents in the country, still a very small number compared to the predominantly Catholic populace. Still, it has not been a hindrance for Jews to flock to the country and avail themselves of Panama property and real estate in Panama, both or either for recreation, retirement, and business purposes. There are many resources available to Jews despite their being a minority, testament to the country’s friendliness and respect for other faiths. There are synagogues and Jewish schools, most located in Panama City, but there are also some outside the capital like in Colon and David. Panama City is also host to Super Kosher, a wonder piece of real estate in Panama that is reputed to be the largest kosher supermarket outside Israel.
Many of the Jews in Panama are orthodox, and a vast majority keep kosher and observe Shabbat. Most of the Jews in Panama belong to either Sephardic or Ashkenazic congregations while a small minority are reform Jews.
In fact, the Jewish community has integrated itself so well into Panama’s society that a number of them have established business in Panama property and Panama real estate industries, making it even easier for Jews to have a space and real estate in Panama that they can call their own.
You plan to buy some property, and Panama property is a great choice for sure. If you like exotic countries with beautiful beaches and mountains, than you should visit Laurie
Cooper’s site http://www.cpanama.com and check Panama real estate offer.
Article Source: http://www.a1articles.com/article_1054529_33.html
The Jews of Rhodes
by Sol Menashe
Rhodes is a small island, just off the Turkish Coast, with a history that is as colorful as the natural beauty of the island. The earliest mention of a Jewish settlement in Rhodes appears in the First Book of Maccabees in the second century. It is also evidence that at that time a well reputed center for philosophy and rhetoric existed on the Island. Appolonious Molon, a Jew, taught at the center and is reputed to have had Julius Caeser and Marcus Cicero as students. Although there have been many traces of Jewish life on the Island there has always been religious animosity against the Jews dating back to the Hellenistic era. The first written confirmation of a viable community is seen in the mid 12th century in reports by the Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela, Spain, when he found a community of about 400 Jews. By the 13th century few of the original Romaniot Jews still lived in Rhodes. In the first quarter of the 16th century, many of the Sephardic Jews, expelled from Spain by the Inquisition, found their way to Rhodes mainly at the invitation of Suleiman the Magnificent of Turkey. Turkey had just won the island from the Knights of St John and wanted to develop it as a trading center. The Jews were treated well by the Turkish rulers and were given homes in what became the Juderia - the Jewish Quarter. Under Italian rule, when they took over in 1912, conditions deteriorated gradually, culminating in the rule of Mussolini, whose siding with Hitler resulted in atrocities and deportation of virtually all the Jews from the island to the labor and death camps in July 23, 1944. From its heyday of 5,000 Sephardim, the Jewish population was reduced to just a few souls who remained. 1,604 died at the murderous hands of the Nazis and the others emigrated during the Italian occupation mainly to Africa, Argentina and America.
10 Interesting Facts
about Tel Aviv, Israel
Author: Tom Harel
The second largest city in Israel, Tel Aviv is situated along the Mediterranean coast. The history behind this rich metropolis is astounding. Originally known as Jaffa, the city dates back to 1470 BC, where an Egyptian pharaoh mentioned it in letters he wrote. It is also mentioned in the Bible, in the book of Jonah, and when referring to Solomon's Temple and the Tribe of Dan. It is believed to have been a port for over 4,000 years. Here are some facts about this interesting Jewish city that is full of intrigue and culture.
1) The name Tel Aviv was given to the city in 1910 after much deliberation. The Book of Ezekiel says, "Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days." Abib or Aviv means "spring" in Hebrew, which symbolizes renewal. Tel describes an archeological site where layer upon layer of civilizations were built over each other.
2) Tel Aviv is located on land north of the original old city of Jaffa, where it was purchased from the Bedouins. Before this time, however, Jaffa had been owned by many countries, with archeological excavations from 1955 - 1974 revealing gates and towers from the Middle Bronze Age.
3) In 1997 and later on, excavations revealed portions of a large brick wall dating back to the Late Bronze Age and a housing complex that dated back to the Iron Age. Sections of buildings from other periods have been discovered also, including the Pharaonic, Persian and Hellenistic years.
4) Jaffa finally began to grow as an urban center by the early 18th century. This was shortly after the Ottoman government in Constantinople came in to stop the attack from the pirates and Bedouins and also guard the port. Jaffa began to show tremendous growth in the 19th century, particularly from 1806 to 1886, when the population grew from 2,500 to 17,000 residents.
5) In April of 1909, sixty-six families of Jews set about to barter a portion of the land by lottery, using seashells. Each family's name was written on white shells and the various plot numbers were written on gray shells. Thus, each family acquired a particular plot of land in a particular area that is located in the northern section of Jaffa. The families began to live and work in this area and within one year, many important streets, all sixty-six homes and a water system were constructed.
6) Unfortunately, political friction between the Jews and Arabs in Palestine continued to increase under British administration. In May of 1921, riots sprang up in Jaffa and many Jewish residents were killed. After this disaster, many of the Jews in Jaffa fled to Tel Aviv. Between the years of 1920 and 1925, the population of Tel Aviv increased from 2,000 to 34,000.
7) Tel Aviv became the more popular city for business while Jaffa began to slowly deteriorate as the center of commercialism. A master plan for the city was developed in 1925 that was soon accepted by the city council. Between the years of 1927 and 1930, Tel Aviv experienced some growing pains and financial hardship. The city continued to grow however, and the setback soon passed.
8) Many Jews fled to Tel Aviv when the Nazis took over Germany and by 1937, the population of the city was up to 150,000. The population continued to increase, and within two more years time, the population was up to 160,000, comprising a third of Israel's Jewish population.
9) When Israel declared her independence in 1948, Tel Aviv's population had already risen to over 200,000 residents. The city served as a temporary center of political government until it was moved to Jerusalem in 1949. Many foreign embassies have remained in the Tel Aviv area, however, due to the international dispute over Jerusalem's status. In 1950, the two cities of Jaffa and Tel Aviv officially united, and it was renamed Tel Aviv-Yafo, to maintain the recorded and historical name of Jaffa.
10) Since that time, Tel Aviv has continued to grow into a more moderate-minded city with the development of nightclubs and cafes. Although Tel Aviv has seen her share of troubles, she continues to grow and provide the world with tourist attractions second to none. In fact, the international tourism of Tel Aviv is often compared to the popular tourist cities of Barcelona and Miami. With more than forty-four hotels in Tel Aviv, the city lives up to its name - the city that never sleeps. It is not difficult to find a hotel in Tel Aviv, considering how many available choices there are.
Tel Aviv is a city with an active nightlife, beauty and culture. in the midst of museums, cultural and architectural sites, bus tours and other activities, tourists never have to worry about what to do next. The city boasts of a huge variety of restaurants, with both international and Israeli cuisine. There are also more than one hundred sushi restaurants in the city. You will experience many things by taking a trip to Tel Aviv, Israel - from relaxation to an exciting nightlife - you will find it all here.
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Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1324900_29.html
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Insights into Caribbean Jewish History
from Rabbi Stephen F. Moch, the new Rabbi in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Part I
People ask me all the time why I chose to accept the position as Rabbi in St. Thomas. I answer that I chose to come to St. Thomas, because this Congregation exudes its history. The Congregation today consists overwhelmingly of Ashkenazim from the United States with a smattering from Canada, Israel, Brazil and Chile, but we continue to see ourselves as custodians of a history, of which we feel a part, and of our magnificent Synagogue building, which we cherish as a Sephardic treasure of the Caribbean.
Desiring to learn more of that Caribbean Jewish heritage, this past January, I accompanied a past president of my Congregation and fourth generation St. Thomian of Ashkenazic descent, Katina Coulianos, to Kingston, Jamaica. There we attended a conference titled, “The Jewish Diaspora of the Caribbean.” It brought top scholars of Sephardic Jewish history and culture and a couple of hundred participants from the United States, Canada, England, France and Israel, including many Jamaicans, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Judah Cohen, now teaching at the University of Indiana,who wrote, Through the Sands of Time, the history of the St. Thomas spoke at the Conference about St. Thomas’ Jewish Community.
The Jewish Community of Jamaica today, though only about 200 strong, still supports a Synagogue building three or four times the size of ours in St. Thomas, has an impressive Museum and Cultural Center, a Jewish Home for the Aged and the Hillel School, that runs through grade 12 and includes Jamaica’s International Baccalaureate program. Jamaica’s only remaining Synagogue also has a sand floor, as do other Caribbean Synagogues, like those in St. Thomas and Curaçao as well as the one in Paramaribo, Suriname in northeast South America. This Caribbean Jewish custom recalls when those who built these Caribbean Synagogues lived in Portugal and Spain and had to practice Judaism secretly on pain of being burned at the stake. Those clandestine Jews put sand on the floors of the secret places where they gathered for community prayer, to muffle the sound of their footsteps, lest they be overheard and reported to the Inquisition.
Ainsley Henriquez, conference organizer, standing at the Lector in front of the Aron Ha-Kodesh, introducing the Conference attendees and presenters to the Kinston Synagogue with its sand floor.
Jamaica’s history goes back to Christopher Columbus to whom the Spanish Crown awarded the Island of Jamaica. He protected many Conversos, Jews newly converted to Christianity, many of whom practiced Judaism secretly. The Conference organizer, Ainsley Henriquez, decends from such early immigrants, one of whom may have been the Jewish pirate named Henriquez.
Edward Kritzler, author of The Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean, addressed the Conference.
The British took the Island from Spain in 1655 and its openly Jewish history began. Twenty-one Jewish cemeteries dot the Island, most now overgrown. The grave stones are written in Hebrew and Portuguese, like many of the monuments in our older Jewish cemetery on St. Thomas.
Monument on the left Abraham Henriquez, remembers one of Ainsley Henriquez’ ancestors, who died at the age of 41 in 1729. The Hebrew at the top of the stone is not visible. The Portuguese inscription is depicted, as well as the very common gravestone motif of a tree being felled by a heavenly axe-wielding hand, representing the cutting off of a life. This is offset by the skull and dry bones motif in the corners that recalls the vision of Ezekiel of a valley of dry bones, which will be resurrected from death to life again. The other monument memorializes Ribca, wife of David Mendes, who died at age 21 in 1731, is written in Spanish and depicts a flower being plucked in its prime, recalling the verse from Song of Songs, “My Beloved (God) went down to His garden to pick lilies.”
The Jews of the Caribbean were called “the Portuguese Nation” or, as they called themselves “La Naçao” - “The Nation.” While the Jews in the Balkans and Turkey speak Ladino (old Spanish) to this day, the Jews of the Caribbean spoke Portuguese for generations. This resulted from the flight of many Spanish Jews to Portugal, where King Manuel II offered them asylum for a sum of money. When he decided to marry the daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand, they demanded that he expel the exiled Spanish Jews from Portugal. He avoided having to do that, and loose all those talented immigrants and the wealth they brought, by forcibly converting them to Catholicism and declaring them members of “the Portuguese Nation.” The King offered these Conversos immunity from “inquiry” of the Inquisition for two decades. Still in 1506 anti-Converso riots erupted and by 1530 the Inquisition arrived full-force in Portugal. The king forbade them from leaving Portugal and doing so became very dangerous, but staying would prove more dangerous. These Jewish converts to Catholicism began to flee to southwest France, to Bordeaux and Bayonne and on to Hamburg, Altona (then in Denmark), Amsterdam and a century later to London, where they emerged as Jews and established sizable synagogues of Portuguese Jews. They had to recover the Jewish knowledge that had been lost to them during that previous generation when they lived as Catholics. Jamaican Jewish poet, Samuel Palache in his “A Man of Three Worlds” described a self imposed collective amnesia of a marrano past. “Their refusal to admit their forced conversion, prevented them from discussing the decision to return to Judaism. The theme was simply never broached.” This breach with the Jewish past separated the Portuguese Jews from other Spanish Jews who fled to the Ottoman Empire and maintained an unbroken connection with their past.
The Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam soon became the largest Synagogue in Europe and became the mother Synagogue of the new Portuguese communities springing up all over the Atlantic coast of North and South America, as well as the Caribbean islands of Jamaica, Curaçao and Barbados. The Curaçao Synagogue was three fourths its size and imitated its archetecture, but added sand to its floor as did the Synagogues in Surinam in Dutch South America, where the only autonomous Jewish area in the Western Hemisphere sprung up in Jodensavan, an agricultural community deep in the rainforest.
At bottom left, the Current Synagogue, Shaare Shamayim, of the United Congregation of Israelites in Kingston, Jamaica, built 1912. Top left, the same Synagogue in the same location, built in 1888 and destroyed in the 1907 earthquake. Center top, Congregation Shaare Shamayim, built 1750, enlarged 1839, destroyed by fire, Dec.11, 1882. On upper right, Congregation Shaare Yosher, the first Ashkenazic Synagogue, built 1789, destroyed by fire, Dec 11, 1882, rebuilt 1894 and destroyed by the earthquake of 1907. The current United Congregations of Israelites brings the Sephardic and Ashkenazic Communities together into one.
Since my return, I find that bits of our rich Jewish past pop in on me in the form of tourists, like the one who came into the Synagogue last week and told me that, though she is not Jewish, her ancestors were Hoheb’s. Samuel Hoheb was one of the Jews of St. Eustatius arrested and then exiled by Admiral Rodney to St. Kitts in 1781, after they seized the Island from the Dutch. Upon return to St. Eustatius, Hoheb found his properties auctioned off. He, along with four other Jews, made his way to London to sue Admiral Rodey without success. He returned penniless and died on St. Eustatius. Most of his family, however, with the greater part of the Jewish community, left for St. Thomas, where in the 1782 tax list recorded the presence of Jacob Robles, a “Hoheb,” who had been listed as the Service Reader in St. Eustatius.
The very next day, another woman came into the Synagogue to say that she was a Maduro, an important Jewish family that included “Readers” who led our Services in St. Thomas. She was also related to a former St. Thomas Rabbi, Joshua Piza. She told me his story. He was from Amsterdam and received a position as Rabbi in Curaçao. He traveled there with his wife, children and sister-in-law. Upon arrival, the community hosted a feast for them at which his wife – at least according the story told me - saw black servants for the first time and thought them devils. The sight scared her to such an extent that she died of a heart attack. Rabbi Piza then married his sister-in-law, at the urging of the Community. That second wife subsequently died at the birth of their first child. Then Rabbi Piza married Hannah Sasso, but soon lost his position in Curaçao due to a dispute about proper pronunciation of Hebrew. Soon after, he accepted a position here in St. Thomas, until his death in a few months later in 1850.
Part II “When Our Strength Weakens Us”
I continue to mull over the insights gained at the Conference on the Jewish Diaspora of the Caribbean that I attended last January in Kingston, Jamaica – or “Jewmaica” as one writer coined it after the Conference. The Jewish communities of Jamaica, Curaçao and Suriname each have a continuous Jewish presence that goes back, unbroken to the 1600’s and in the case of Suriname to the 1500’s. If you count the secret practice of Judaism in the Spanish days of Jamaica, it goes back to 1494, when Columbus settled on Jamaica and apparently allowed “secret” Jews to live more openly than elsewhere under the Spanish flag.
In the 17th and early 18th Centuries, Jewish life flourished in the Caribbean. From Curaçao, Jews engaged in commerce throughout the Caribbean, bringing them to Nevis, St. Eustatius and St. Thomas. They also settled along the Maracaibo coast of Venezuela and engaged in commerce down into the Andes communities of Peru. In Jamaica and Suriname Jews owned large sugar plantations. These two more self sufficient agriculturally based communities did not depend on the commerce that carried Curacao’s influence throughout the Caribbean. Everywhere these Jews settled, including such places as New York, Philadelphia, Newport, Charleston and Savanna, they held high the sacred Spanish Portuguese rite with its grand intonation of traditional prayers, a tradition they carried from secret cellars in Portugal to Amsterdam, London, Bayonne, Bordeaux and on to the west.
St. Thomas had a small number of Jews from its earliest days of Danish Settlement. The fourth governor, Gabriel Milan 1683-87) was reported to be of Jewish origin. He was paranoid and terrorized the local population, then fired on the Danish fleet coming into town. They took him back to Copenhagen and beheaded him for treason. The nascent Jewish community purchased a cemetery in 1750, in Savan, where Jews, Catholics and Freed Coloreds lived. Emigration from St. Eustatius, San Dominque (Haiti) and Morocco through the 1780’s and 1790’s enlarged the community considerably and the Hevre Kadisha, called Gemilut Hasadim, began a minyan in private homes in 1792. T he Jewish Community requested permission to form a Kehilah or officially sanctioned Congregation and received that permission from the Danish King in 1796. Kehilah Kedosha Beracha ve-Shalom, the Congregation of Blessing and Peace, began to function on June 25, 1796 and we have not missed public Shabbat Services from that day until the present. We flourished and established a proud Jewish Community and built our first Synagogue in 1803, only to see it burn down in a city-wide fire a year later. Rebuilding of the synagogue began soon after, but a second fire destroyed the building in 1806 before it was completed. Then, in 1811, the Congregation purchased the property on which the current Synagogue stands, but could not afford to rebuild until 1825. They renamed the Congregation in its rebuilt Synagogue: Beruach ve-Shalom u-Gemilut Hasadim, Blessing, Peace and Righteous Deeds. Despite the addition to the name, it too burned down a third time on “Old Year’s Night,” December 31, 1831. With the help of other Spanish Portuguese communities, notably Shearith Israel in New York City, the Jewish Community here rebuilt their synagogue in 1833, as it stands today. It remains an architectural gem, built in a magnificent Spanish-Portuguese style that continues to entrance us today. This time, our community constructed it with thick masonry walls so it would not burn down again and with a structure designed to protect it from both Hurricanes and earthquakes.
On the left, the entrance to the St.Thomas Synagogue; center, view of the Bemah with the Lector in front of it, the Bancas (benches), made in 1833 of island grown mahogany, all dove tailed and pegged, one of the Baccarat chandeliers brought from Paris in 1833, and sand floor; right photo, the Aron Kodesh (Ark) and Torah Scrolls with a freeze of the Ten Commandments above and the Neir Tamid (Eternal Light), rescued from the December, 31, 1831, fire that destroyed the previous Synagogue, built in 1821.
The Spanish Portuguese character of the Congregation’s members and worship has all but disappeared and has waned throughout the Caribbean. At the Conference in Kingston, we saw evidence of the past abundance of Jewish life. Numerous Jewish cemeteries dot Jamaica, largely hidden under the dense foliage. The oldest Community, Port Royal, lay beneath the waves, destroyed by earthquake and tidal waves in 1696. The Community continues on and still supports an infrastructure that boasts a Jewish Old Age Home and the Hillel School, Jamaica’s primary college preparatory school, that includes an International Baccalaureate program. Only a dozen or so of its 700 students are Jewish and they do not enjoy the benefits of a Jewish curriculum. Many of them would not be considered Jewish by strict Orthodox standards. Even in Curaçao and Paramaribo, the surviving Jewish Community of Suriname, the Sephardic rite struggles to survive. In St. Thomas, the Spanish Portuguese melodies and rites have been replaced by the folk-rock beat of an American Reform Jewish style of worship.
One of the Conference presenters, Mordechai Arbell, addressed the disappearance of Spanish Portuguese Judaism. Arbell, who knows Caribbean Jewish communities, including St. Thomas, hails from Sofia, Bulgaria and lives in Israel. He has served as Israel’s ambassador to Panama and Haiti. He addressed us on the topic: “The Gradual Disappearance of the Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Communities of the Caribbean.” He commented, “Throughout our long history, Jewish communities have been destroyed by persecution, discrimination, pogroms and genocide. In the case of the Caribbean, where in most places Jews have enjoyed equal rights (and in some instances special privileges), good relations with the local population, high social standing and a comfortable economic situation, we are witnessing a gradual disappearance of Jewish life.” Arbell challenged us, “Might one reach the bitter conclusion that equal rights and the lack of anti-Semitism and discrimination might be as dangerous to Jewish existence as persecution and murder? One is reminded of the words of Nahum Goldman, the founder of the World Jewish Congress: ‘Where it is good for Jews, it is bad for Judaism.’”
Arbell outlines why Jews have slowly disappeared here. In addition to the ease of assimilation, he points to what he calls the “ultra-Orthodox approach and its behavioral modes, which created opposition among the younger generations and alienated them from communal Jewish life.” On the other hand, Arbell points to how “The Reform movement introduced its own prayers and brought in its own religious leaders. Gradually, the Reform began erasing the Sephardi roots and traditions so dear to the Spanish/Portuguese communities all over the world.” That has certainly been the case here in St. Thomas. I recently found in the office book shelf a copy of the old Union Prayer Book. Inside was inscribed the name: Rabbi Moses D. Sasso, testifying to the advent of Reform liturgy during the tenure of our last Sephardic Rabbi. In the back of the book were pasted the words of the Jewish Hymn in Spanish, “Bendigamos.” Such attempts at maintaining a frail connection with the past have all but disappeared here, since Rabbi Sasso died in 1977.
Arbell suggests that “neither right-wing Orthodoxy nor Reform have found the right way to preserve Judaism in the Caribbean” but believes that “Jamaica and Curaçao have found the path between the two." The Holocaust and the destruction of the old Spanish Portuguese synagogues and communities of Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Hamburg and the Sephardic centers of Jewish life in Greece and the Balkans took their toll. Before the war they gave constant spiritual nourishment to Caribbean communities, supplied rabbis and were places of Jewish study. Those spiritual centers suddenly evaporated. Arbell contends that the more recent arrival of Ashkenazim has also led to the withering of the Spanish-Portuguese Caribbean Judaism. To a certain extent, newer Jewish immigrants “damaged the social standing of the Jews as Jews in society. The Spanish-Portuguese Jews were reluctant to be lumped with the newcomers, and some joined the non-Jewish upper social classes.” Economic decline and the ascendancy of the United States and post-war Europe has also tended to drain the Jewish communities in the Caribbean of their younger generation, who do not return after university experiences in the United States, the United Kingdom or the Netherlands.
Arbell told the story of going with an Israeli film crew to a small community on the coast of Venezuela, where once a flourishing Sephardic Community existed and now only a remnant remains. They entered the court yard of a home where they understood Jews still lived. A caretaker confronted them and asked what they wanted. Arbell told them in Spanish that they were from Israel searching for the remnants of the old Jewish Community. The caretaker then yelled into the house to the old woman who lived there, “Señora, your compatriots have finally come to find you – seventy years too late.”
I recently buried in our cemetery, the widow of Rabbi David Cardoze’s grandson, and also the stepson of Rabbi Moses D. Sasso. She was not born Jewish, but raised seven Jewish children (one died at age four), and was studying for conversion when the Rabbi at the time, Stanley Relkin, left the Island. Her children, none of them members of the Synagogue, and most of them now practicing Christians, held her funeral in the Catholic Cathedral and buried her with her husband and daughter in the Jewish Cemetery. I have only one member of the Congregation left from the old Spanish-Portuguese families who built our beautiful Synagogue. Though we in St. Thomas continue to derive pride from the Sephardic roots of the Congregation, we have not held onto enough traditions. Today we are slowly reintroducing some of the Spanish-Portuguese melodies, as sung in Curaçao. I hope that in the next few years, we can reintroduce a few more of the traditions that were an important part of our Congregation not long ago.