Dear Friends, When I posted my offer to answer your questions about Jewish genealogy in the Azores, I knew that I could help a few people in quest of their roots.
I am myself very much interested in my own roots, not related to the Azoresat all, and I am most grateful to the people who help me in my research. Helping others in an area where I have some knowledge is only a way to reciprocate. However, I did not expect so many inquires, both in the forum and directly to my address, and all at the same time. I will be glad to answer all I know, but please bear with me and give me some time. I will give you here some general topics, and will try to answer separately the first query that I received from you. Then I will be absent and without access to the Internet for about a week. On my return I will address the other inquires. But please don't ask very general questions that would be very difficult to answer: "I am very interested in Jewish life in the Azores. *Tell me everything.*" Or "My surname is XXX, tell me if I am a descendent from Jews." Please be more specific… and don't expect me to post here an Encyclopedia about the Jews in the Azores. Most probably many of you have visited the Azores. I was there only once, with my wife, for a very special reason about which you can read, if interested, in my site: http://www.steinhardts.com/LIBRARY/Judaism/azores.html We came back to Israel delighted with the islands and the people. A friend of us, to whom we recommended a visit to the Azores, had this comment to make on his return: "When the world was a paradise and because of the sins of Adam and Eva, God decided to destroy the paradise, he must have forgotten the Azores." When we speak about a Jewish presence in the Azores, we have to consider two different periods. The first period was a consequence of the forced conversion of all the Jews in Portugal in 1497. Not only were they converted to Christianity but also not allowed to leave the country to a place where they could practice their religion freely. So many went to Church but continued to practice part of the Jewish ritual of their ancestors in the secret of their homes. I have witnessed such practices in certain villages in the north of Portugal, almost 400 years after they were converted and persecuted by the Inquisition, many of them were burned alive. Since this was recently after the islands in the Atlantic were discovered and the Portuguese were populating them, several such forced converted managed to move there (a continuation of the Portuguese territory), hoping to escape the grips of the inquisition. However, as early as 1555, the Bishop of Angra, Jorge de Santiago, has denounced to the Holy Office in Lisbon, two groups of New-Christians in his area of jurisdiction, who were caught practicing certain Jewish rituals in secrecy. Some were embarked to Lisbon, by order of the Inquisition. >From that time on and up to 1802, the Church authorities in the Azores were after judaizers, and also after other heretics and sexual prevaricators. This included frequent inspections in search of forbidden books into ships moored at Azorean ports. In point of fact they were not very successful. Throughout that period only 112 individuals from the Azores were condemned to different sentences by the Lisbon Inquisition, of them only 26 on charges of Judaism. Particularly important is the story from the 16th. century of a ship carrying fugitive Jews that was caught by a storm and had to put into the island of Terceira. The governor allowed them to settle in the island, but not in the main city, Angra do Heroismo. So they went up the coast, a little bit to the north and settled in the place that became known as Porto Judeu (The Jewish Port). The village still exists and is a very nice one, but there is no memory of Jews there. Eventually some of them reached Brazil and settled there. But I wouldn't be surprised if some Azorean families still keep some "strange" traditions and rituals, ignoring that they are Jews. If you were told by a grandmother or an old aunt of such observances you are welcome to ask me if they may have any Jewish connotation, but please be specific as much as you can. Although I read the Inquisition files of some people from the Azores that were caught in such practices, I am not aware of any still practiced there in our days. The second period of Jewish presence in the Azores was in the 19th. century. The first Jews to settle in Portugal, after the Inquisition, were Moroccan Jews, coming from Gibraltar and Morocco. As from 1815 several families settled in the Azores. Those were real practicing Jews, who even opened small domestic synagogues in several islands where they lived and had their business. They even built a synagogue in Ponta Delgada, which is now to be reconstructed as a museum. They also had at least three Jewish cemeteries in Ponta Delgada, Angra do Heroismo and Faial. The reason they came to the Azores was because the local economic conditions were very much underdeveloped and this offered an opportunity to help develop the islands and make money too. For instance the only cloths used in the Azores were handmade by the women in the villages. The newly arrived started to import cloths from England and other places. Not only were they of a much better quality but also much cheaper. Because of the poor economic conditions there were no customs duties in the Azores. So the Jews started to introduce many new products that were unknown by the local population and at prices that were unheard there. Of course they were met by a very strong opposition from the local merchants who demanded from the authorities to forbid the Jews to do business in the Azores. Their cheap prices were ruining the local trade. In stead the authorities determined that they could do business only in the condition that all the money made in the Azores must be employed in buying local goods, which were mostly agricultural. This was a further challenge for the newcomers. They started to export local oranges and other products making also a large profit. So the economy of the region rose sharply to the benefit also of the other local businessmen By 1870 the conditions changed, import duties were already imposed and the Moroccan Jews began leaving the islands to continental Portugal, Brazil and the United States. Some of them however owned already very important companies which continued to exist to our days. The Bensaude family, for instance, had at one time a tobacco manufacturing company, a shipping company, an airline, etc. The Bensaude have intermarried with Catholic families, but they are still one of the most important, if not the most important, business concern in the Azores. They own shipyards, a chain of hotels and other enterprises. Some of you may be descendents from the 19th. century Moroccan families. In the 20th century some Ashkenazi (Central European) Jews who settled in Portugal, opened also businesses in the Azores. They all left since. To the best of my knowledge there is only a half Jew in the island of S. Miguel, whose mother was Jewish and he is very much devoted to the conservation of the synagogue and the cemetery. In Terceira, lives an English Jew, married to a Catholic lady. Inacio *Inacio Steinhardt* *Journalist - Translator -Researcher * Ein Hanoch 18/20 - Ganei Tikva 55900 - Israel Tel. (972)3-5341204 Fax (972)3-5344278 MEMBER OF: Tel Aviv Journalists Association, Tel Aviv Israel Translators Association, Tel Aviv Society for the Study of the Jews of Sefarad and the Sefardi Diaspora, Jerusalem __________________________; Web sites: www.steinhardts.com (English) www.steinhardts.com/ishluz (Português) steinhardts.wordpress.com (História das Palavras) -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
