The Jewish Community of Sao Paulo

Ever since the establishment of Sao Paulo in 1545, New Christians arrived there in attempting to put some distance between themselves and the center of the Inquisition in Northern Brazil, . The percentage of New Christians among the population of the Southern "Capitanias" was substantial. Some rose to positions of local influence. The descendants of the New Christians observed practically no Jewish rites and customs.

**Boys sitting on the floor and praying, on the 9th of Av, in the Belem Synagogue . Brazil, 1981**
Photo: Abraham Isaac Amzalak, Brazil.
(Beth Hatefutsoth Photo Archive, courtesy of Abraham Amzalak, Brazil)

In the middle of the 19th century, the immigration of individual Jews began from France, especially Alsace-Lorraine. After the war of 1870-71, the number of these immigrants grew, but this group of newcomers did not create Jewish organizations. Only by the end of the century, after the establishment of the Republic, a synagogue was established, a Chazzan and Shochet were employed, and steps were taken to acquire land for a cemetery. At the same time, some Jews from Syria and the Near East had also settled in Sao Paulo. As a rapidly developing state, Sao Paulo attracted large waves of immigration from the beginning of the century, and part of the Jewish immigration also arrived to the city. As a result, Jewish communal life developed very quickly and many organizations were established such as a Jewish women's welfare organization (1915), welfare services of Ezra (1912), a Zionist center known as Ahavat Zion (1916), and the first Talmud Torah - which opened in 1916.

After World War I, with the growth of immigration, the number of organizations also grew and their activities became diversified. In 1920, a central Ashkenazi synagogue was established, in 1922 the "Renascenca-Ha-Techiyyah" school, in 1923 a Chevra Kaddisha, and in 1926 the Circulo Israelita, a center for culture and entertainment. The Sephardim and immigrants from Syria and Lebanon, of whom there is a large number in Sao Paulo, also established community organizations in the 1920's (1927, 1928, and 1929 respectively). After 1933, a growing number of immigrants arrived from Germany, and in 1936 they founded the Congregacao Israelita Paulista (C.I.P.), which acquired prominence in local Jewish life.

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Torah reading in a Jewish school
Sao Paulo, 1984
Beth Hatefutsoth, Visual Documentation Center
Courtesy of Eide Feldon, Brazil

A kosher delicatessen shop in the Bom Retiro neighborhood of Sao Paulo, 1981
Beth Hatefutsoth, Visual Documentation Center
Courtesy of Rene Daniel Decol, Brazil

After World War II, a few thousand families from the displaced persons' camps in Germany, and, later, from Egypt, Hungary, and Israel settled in Sao Paulo. The Jews from Egypt founded their own congregation in 1969. In the census of the Jewish Community conducted in 1969, 28,498 people were counted in 9,086 families, for an average of 3.2 persons per family, and since the number of Jewish families is larger than that covered in the census and reaches about 14,000, alongside perhaps unknown Jewish families, the number of Jews in the capital Sao Paulo was approximately 50,000 in 1969. About 18.2% of the entire Jewish population of Sao Paulo arrived in Brazil between 1951 and 1960, and 15.9% more came to the city from other places in Brazil. About half of the Jews were involved in trade (49.4%) and another 22.7% were in industry. The remainder were in education (5.5%), health services (3.8%), construction (3.12%), etc.

Eliezer Deutch, a scribe in Bom Retiro neighborhood of Sao Paulo, 1980
Photo: Sergio Salis, Brazil
Beth Hatefutsoth, Visual Documentation Center
Courtesy of Sergio Salis, Brazil

The Rabbi Yitzhak Elchanan synagogue of the Lithuanian community, Sao Paulo, 1980
Photo: Sergio Salis, Brazil
Beth Hatefutsoth, Visual Documentation Center
Courtesy of Sergio Salis, Brazil

The Jews of Sao Paulo are presently united in the Federacao Israelita do Estado de Sao Paulo, founded in 1946 and restructured 1964. It represents and coordinates 62 affiliated organizations, including 27 religious communities with synagogues, all of which, except C.I.P., are orthodox, Ashkenazi or Sephardi. In 1969, seven rabbis were serving as spiritual leaders of the community. One of them, Fritz Pinkuss, also held the Chair in Hebrew at the Sao Paulo State University. In 1970, a "Brazilian Center of Jewish Studies" was founded as an official part of the Sao Paulo State University. Cultural Circulo Israelita; Clube Esportivo Israelita Brasileiro Macabi (1927); and the Associacao Brasileira a Hebraica de Sao Paulo (1953). An important welfare institution is the old-age home, which was founded in 1937, and in 1971 housed 350 inmates. From 1964, Sao Paulo was the seat of the Confederacao Israelita do Brasil (C.I.B.) founded in 1948 in Rio de Janeiro as the representative umbrella organization of the communities. Jewish organizations from abroad such as the American Jewish Committee, World Jewish Congress, United HIAS Service, and the American Joint Distribution Committee are represented in Sao Paulo. A B'nai B'rith lodge, founded in 1931, interrupted activities for political reasons in 1942 and resumed them in 1953. In 1971, there were 13 lodges in Sao Paulo. A consulate general of Israel and various organizations with Jewish and non-Jewish membership symbolize the community's close ties with Israel. In 1969, there were 13 day schools with 5,318 pupils, five from kindergarten up to college and Ecole Normale, one with Chasidic Chabad orientation and one with Yeshiva characteristics, and two teachers seminaries. The Jewish communications media include six publications, two of which are bi-weeklies, two daily radio hours, and a weekly television program. Jews have a growing stake in the economic life of the city, spreading out far beyond their modest start with ready-made clothes manufacturing on installment and peddler basis and the furniture industry to leading positions in all branches of commerce and industry.

Their integration in public life is demonstrated by the presence of Jews in Parliament, University and Educational life, public services, law courts, etc. Since 1955, the Jews of Sao Paulo have built an ultramodern hospital named after Albert Einstein, with 220 beds, as a Jewish contribution to the public health service. It was opened in 1971. There are streets named "Albert Einstein," "Estado de Israel," "Horacio Lafer," "Theodor Herzl," and "Warsaw ghetto fighters". Outside the capital, organized communities with religious and educational services exist in the following cities: Santos, Sao Jose dos Campos. Sorocaba Rieberao Preto, Mogi das Cruzes, Sao Caetano do Sul, and Santo Andre.

Jewish population in the State of Sao Paulo in 1970 was 55,000-60,000, most of them were concentrated in the city itself. In 1997, there were 60,000 Jews living in Sao Paulo. The Jewish population in Brazil was 130,000.