Back يهود الامازون ARZ Judíos de la Amazonia Spanish יהודי האמזונס HE Djudios del Amazonas LAD Judeus da Amazônia Portuguese Амазонские евреи Russian Amazon Yahudileri Turkish

Amazonian Jews

Amazonian Jews
Total population
about 25,000
Regions with significant populations
 Brazil24,000[1]
 Israel550[2][3][4]
 Peru50[4]
Languages
Modern: Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Peru), Hebrew (Israel and liturgical)
Traditional: Haketia
Religion
Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Moroccan Jews, Sephardic Jews, Maghrebi Jews, Berber Jews, Brazilians, Peruvians, caboclos, mestizos

Amazonian Jews (Portuguese: judeus da Amazônia; Spanish: judíos de la Amazonia; Hebrew: יהודי האמזונס, romanized: yehudei haAmazonas; Ladino: ג׳ודיוס די אמאזוניה, djudios de Amazonia) are the Jews of the Amazon basin, mainly descendants of Moroccan Jews who migrated to northern Brazil and Peru in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The migrants were attracted to the growing trade in the Amazon region, especially during the rubber boom, as well as to the newly established religious tolerance. They settled in localities along the Amazon River, such as Belém, Cametá, Santarém, Óbidos, Parintins, Itacoatiara and Manaus in Brazil, some venturing as far as Iquitos in Peru.[5][6]

During the 20th century, the Jews of the region became concentrated in its urban areas, and some moved to other Brazilian cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, joining other Jewish communities there.[5][6] In the 21st century, in northern Brazil there were significant Jewish communities in Belém and Manaus, active with various institutions,[7][8] as well as smaller communities in Macapá and Porto Velho.[9][10] Of the approximately 120,000 Jews in the whole country, about 20% were estimated to be of Moroccan origin, mostly descendants of migrants to the Amazon basin.[1]

In parallel to the established Jewish communities, many of the original migrants dispersed and married into the local population. As a result, a significant portion of the general population of the Amazon region has partial Moroccan Jewish ancestry. Despite not being considered Jews under religious law, which requires Jewish matrilineal descent or conversion to Judaism, many of these descendants cherish their Jewish ancestry and some keep Jewish practices to various degrees.[11] In Iquitos, most of them formally converted to Judaism and moved to Israel under its Law of Return.[4]

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