Sephardic Jews Leave Genetic Legacy In Spain - HISTORY

Drawn by the rubber rush, between 1880 and the beginning of the 20th century approximately 250 predominantly Sephardic Jews followed Coblentz’s example from Rabat, Marakesh, Tetuan and Casablanca. After the invention of synthetic rubber the dream of economic fortune in the jungle ended.

“Most of them left after the boom end around 1912″, says Jorge Abramovitz, current president of the Jewish welfare organization “Sociedad de Beneficiencia Israelita de Iquitos“, founded in 1909. The few remaining descendants of the former Jewish immigrants in the Peruvian Amazon are still united within this organization.

Abramovitz lives four houses away from the Plaza de Armas, Iquitos’s main square. The light blue painted colonial style building with high ceilings also houses his mattress business. “The house is painted in the colors of Israel”, he says with pride. His father Zew, of Polish descent, came from Palestine in the mid 1930’s and worked as a gold seeker in the tributaries of the Amazon River, and later as a leather merchant and textile importer.

Abramovitz’s wife, Rivka, created a small zoo in the backyard. Screaming little monkeys are jumping from pole to pole. Red, yellow, blue and green feathered parrots nibble their bananas, a Loro releases verbal fireworks -, even if the Jewish congregation gathers for the Kabbalat Shabbat in an adjoining room that serves as an improvised synagogue. A curtain separates this place of prayer from the rest of the house.