MOROCCAN JEWS IN THE AMAZON HINTERLAND: IDENTITY, RELIGIOSITY AND FORMATION OF JEWISH IDENTITY

• Autor(a) principal: Damasceno Borges de Sá, Eneida
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Vinicius de Freitas Reis , Marcos, Estevam Noronha, Andrius
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Caminhos (Goiânia. Online)
• Texto Completo: https://seer.pucgoias.edu.br/index.php/caminhos/article/view/13641
• topic: Judeus; Amazônia; Identidade Judaica; Jews; Amazon; Jewish identity

The aim of this article is to analyze the main causes that led to the immigration of Moroccan Jewish communities from North Africa to the Amazon (Brazil), from the second half of the 19th century onwards. Therefore, bibliographical research was carried out on the subject supported by the newspaper A Voz de Israel, the first Jewish newspaper to circulate in the Amazon region. This study presents the reasons that support this diasporic movement, as well as the existing cultural diversity in these communities in the cities which are located in the mouth of the Amazon River (a region that includes Belém do Pará, some islands, such as Marajó, and Macapá). The Jewish families that settled in the Amazon during the 19th and early 20th centuries came from two communities residing in Morocco: the Toshavim and the Megorashim, who spoke Spanish, Portuguese and a local dialect, Hakitia. This migratory process resulted in the formation of a new Jewish identity that re-signified their culture articulated with the Amazon region. In addition, these communities established several sociability connections that enabled the economic and political rise necessary to enter the main groups of local power.