Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Medieval versus Early Modern Synagogues
- 2 Jews, Synagogues and Compulsory Urban Consolidation at the Dawn of the Early Modern Period
- 3 Urbanization and Jewish Public Space: The First Great Synagogues
- 4 Readmission and Colonial Frontiers: New Synagogues in Lands of Tolerance
- 5 Jews and Early Modern Cultural Exchanges: Cross-Pollination and its Effects on Synagogue Design
- 6 Lavishing the House of Assembly: Synagogues, Global Trade and Exotic Ornamentation
- Conclusion: From Early Modern to Modern: Synagogues in Transition
- Glossary
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
4 - Readmission and Colonial Frontiers: New Synagogues in Lands of Tolerance
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Medieval versus Early Modern Synagogues
- 2 Jews, Synagogues and Compulsory Urban Consolidation at the Dawn of the Early Modern Period
- 3 Urbanization and Jewish Public Space: The First Great Synagogues
- 4 Readmission and Colonial Frontiers: New Synagogues in Lands of Tolerance
- 5 Jews and Early Modern Cultural Exchanges: Cross-Pollination and its Effects on Synagogue Design
- 6 Lavishing the House of Assembly: Synagogues, Global Trade and Exotic Ornamentation
- Conclusion: From Early Modern to Modern: Synagogues in Transition
- Glossary
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
In 1688, the Sephardic poet and historian Daniel Levi de Barrios (1635-1701) gave in verse one of the earliest known surveys of English Jewry:
Now, in six English cities, are known six sacred lights of Israel:
three in Nevis, London, Jamaica;
the fourth and fifth in two parts of Barbados;
[and] the sixth is verified in Madras Patân.
De Barrios' concise survey testifies to the remarkably broad geographic distribution of Jews in the English-speaking world during the late seventeenth century. His survey is extraordinarily global in its perspective, with the Caribbean, not the British Isles, as the central representation of English Jewry. A study of the synagogues of the Caribbean provides a rich historic resource for obtaining a new perspective on British Jewry. Synagogues, as physical structures of cultural heritage, can serve as an indicator for the place of Jews within society at large. Such analysis raises questions concerning the socio-political and economic influences on the Jewish communities in the English Caribbean as compared to those in Great Britain. For instance, what informed the planning and architectural design of synagogues in the British Empire during the colonial period? Did architectural influence come from Jews, non-Jews or the environment? Did the mercantile wealth of the Jewish communities under discussion impact the construction of synagogues and their architectural evolution? If so, how?
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- Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014