Photo © Israel Museum, Jerusalem, by Elie Posner |
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The Tzedek ve-Shalom Synagogue
Paramaribo, Suriname |
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Founded in Paramaribo, the capital city of Suriname, in 1736, the Tzedek ve-Shalom synagogue is a typical example of Spanish and Portuguese synagogues in the New World. The republic of Suriname – formerly known as Dutch Guiana – is a tropical country situated on the northern coast of South America, just above Brazil. In the mid-17th century Jews of Spanish and Portuguese origin, who had fled to Holland during the Inquisition, were among the early European settlers in Suriname. They established sugarcane plantations along the Suriname River, to which they gave biblical names, and founded a village in the Savanna, which they called “Jerusalem on the Riverside.” Also referred to as the Jewish Savanna, it became the center of this remote colony until the middle of the 18th century, when most of the Jews moved to Paramaribo. Formerly situated in the middle of a large courtyard, the Tzedek ve-Shalom synagogue is a neoclassical wooden building, rectangular in shape and painted white. Flanked by three arched Digital presentation of this object was made possible by: The Ridgefield Foundation, New York, in memory of Henry J. and Erna D. Leir |
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