Beth Israel Synagogue is the synagogue of the Aruban Jewish community, located in Oranjestad,

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of P ...

. Beth Israel Synagogue is an independent congregation with a liberal style similar to

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generati ...

.According to Haruth Communications and the UJCL

Community

The community consists mostly of Jewish immigrants that arrived in Aruba from different parts of the world, and made it their home. After 1924, a large group of

Eastern European Jews The expression 'Eastern European Jewry' has two meanings. Its first meaning refers to the current political spheres of the Eastern European countries and its second meaning refers to the Jewish communities in Russia and Poland. The phrase 'Easte ...

, mostly from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, settled here, together with Jews from the

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and Sephardic families from Suriname, another Dutch colony at that time. The community opened a Jewish center in 1942 – the Jewish Country Club – and four years later, with the arrival of some Holocaust survivors, the community was officially organized. Today, there are about 75 members, plus 180 overseas members. Due to its small size, and the intimate, close knit nature of the community, one joint organization was formed, blending the Sephardic with the Ashkenazic traditions, respecting the common culture, and enjoying the differences.

Leadership

As of March 2013 Beth Israel Synagogue engaged the services of Rabbi Daniel Kripper who was originally from Argentina. After his ordination at the Latin American rabbinical seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina, He spent 3 years in Jerusalem, where he took postgraduate courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Rabbi Kripper served as a spiritual leader in different communities including The Ari, The New Israelite Congregation in Uruguay, Temple Adath Shalom in Pittsburgh, PA and Temple Beth Shalom in Palm Dessert, Ca. He has published many articles and several books and siddurim to comfort the sick. Up to his relocation to Aruba, Rabbi Kripper was the academic coordinator of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary. In 2003 he received an honorary doctor of divinity degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

References

External links

Official website

{{coord, 12.5130, N, 70.0303, W, source:wikidata, display=title Ashkenazi Jewish culture in North America Dutch-Jewish diaspora Buildings and structures in Oranjestad, Aruba Polish diaspora in North America Polish-Jewish diaspora Sephardi Jewish culture in the Caribbean Surinamese diaspora Synagogues in Aruba