KAHAL ZUR ISRAEL

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aukepalmhof
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Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

KAHAL ZUR ISRAEL

Post by aukepalmhof » Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:12 pm

This Brazilian stamp shows an imago of a ship, most probably of that time, name unknown, when it is a Dutch ship I do not believe she is a caravel, they never have used this type of vessel. Below I have given what I did find on the internet about this stamp.

In response to the "Decree of Expulsion" of King Manuel I of Portugal, many "New Christians," Jews who outwardly followed Catholic traditions while inwardly they maintained their Jewish religion, rituals, tradition, and culture, left Portugal. Some, after a stay in the Netherlands, immigrated to Recife, Brazil. After the Dutch gained control of Recife in 1630 the synagogue, Kahal Zur Israel, under the leadership of Isaac Aboab da Fonseca as rabbi, was founded and flourished between 1636 and 1654 when the Portuguese regained control of the town. Religious toleration ended and both the Dutch and Jews left. Many Jews returned to Amsterdam; some fled to the interior of Brazil. A group of 23 sailed for New Amsterdam where they founded the Shearith Israel Synagogue, the first Synagogue in North America.
The existence of Kahal Zur Israel was rediscovered and excavations began in 2000. The present small Jewish community plans to reconstruct the synagogue and turn it into a museum and Jewish cultural center.
The stamp was issued by Brazil in 2001 to commemorate Kahal Zur Israel. The map, Nova et Accurata Brasiliae totius Tabula by Jan Blaeu, ca. 1662, forms the background, with a red dotted line indicating the arrival of Dutch Jews in Recife, and their departure to New Amsterdam. The ship (a caravel ???) and the flag of Israel and the Netherlands.

As given by http://www.danstopicals.com/j_blaeu.htm

The following site has more on the Dutch Brazilian colonization.
http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/BrazilianJewry.htm
Dutch Colonization - 1624-1654
About 1600, the Dutch decided that they needed a West Indies Company. They had been running the very successful and profitable East Indies Company, which specialized in spices and exotic products from the Far East and Oceania; these were stock companies, meaning that shares were sold to interested investors. The records show that one-tenth of the subscribers to the West Indies Company had Portuguese Jewish names. The West Indies Company had extensive plans. Some involved exploiting New Amsterdam, now called New York, and many islands of the Caribbean. Their plans also included invading the northern hump of Brazil, an area known as a major producer of sugar.
Mauritius, the prince of Nassau, was chosen to head the Dutch expedition. He was joined by about 200 Jews who saw in it a golden business opportunity. The Dutch soldiers succeeded in defeating the Portuguese and thus began the Dutch presence in what is today the state of Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil.
The Jews, who came with the invading expedition and on subsequent trips, established a variety of businesses in New Holland, which is what the Dutch called their new territory.
Many became owners of sugar mills. However, sugar cane harvesting is very intensive labor and Brazilian Indians turned out to be unreliable workers. To find the necessary workers, the mill owners turned to Africa for slaves. The West Indies Company controlled the shipment of slaves because it owned the ships. But once on the ground in Brazil, Jews were responsible for the selling and buying of black slaves, often at prices that were four and five times what they had paid the West Indies Company for them.
There is some historical evidence that slaves working for Jewish mill owners fared somewhat better than those working for Christian owners. It is said that those working for Jews had the Sabbath off.
The Dutch in New Holland continued to allow religious freedom, as in The Netherlands. As a result of this policy, many Portuguese conversos who lived in the Portuguese controlled areas of Brazil moved to New Holland and dropped their forced conversion to become full-fledged Jews once again.
One Dutch survey during those years listed the New Holland population as 12,703.
Of these, 2,890 were white and half of them were said to be Jews in the city of Recife. Most of the Jews who were merchants could be found on the Rua dos Judeus - street of the Jews. It was on this street that the first synagogue in the Western Hemisphere was built in 1630. It was called Kahal sur Israel, the rock of Israel. Its first rabbi was Isaac Aboab da Fonseca who came from Amsterdam to lead this congregation.
The location of this synagogue was vaguely known, but about two years ago, a historian employed by the Municipality of Recife decided to look into the matter. He found the synagogue where it was supposed to be, except that the street name had been changed to Rua do Bom Jesus, the street of the Good Jesus.
His research also established that the building next to the synagogue included a mikve, the ceremonial bath. A couple of rabbis were asked to check the locale, and they confirmed that this was an honest-to-goodness mikve. In olden times, when piped water did not exist, mikves had to be established where there was running water, namely by a river. This was no problem in Recife. Seven rivers crossed the city before reaching the ocean. Recife is still known as the Venice of Brazil.
For years the Dutch enclave prospered, but then the West Indies Company lost interest in the Pernambuco colony. One reason was that the Dutch were at war with the English. The other reason was that Pernambuco's New Holland wasn't as profitable as other areas under the West Indies Company control. Promised shipments of goods and new soldiers failed to materialize, and eventually the Portuguese were able to defeat the Dutch and reconquer the territory.
The Dutch occupation lasted 30 years, from 1624 to 1654.
Brazil 2001 1.30Es, sg?, scott?
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