Les Juifs de Panama

A commercial crossroads of the isthmus linking the two oceans, Panama attracted from the colonial era, and especially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Sephardic Jews from Curaçao and the Caribbean, as well as Sephardim from the Mediterranean basin and Ashkenazim. The construction of the canal and the growth of import-export trade favored the settlement and prosperity of several families. The community organized itself into distinct congregations according to origin, endowed with synagogues, schools and communal institutions. Remaining active and well structured, the Panamanian Jewish community counts among the most solidly established in Central America, and some Jews there have held prominent public office.

Sources & resources

• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan
• Jewish Virtual Library ↗