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Panama: Stability In The Cradle Of Transience

For almost five hundred years, Panama has been a way station for the transient. Long before the construction of the Panama Canal at the turn of the 20th century, traders and missionaries, adventurers and outlaws passed through the ports and swamps of Panama on their way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific or vice versa.


Jacob Atias Robles, Jewish community leader, displaying his family tree going back to Amsterdam and Spain

Although descendents of the anusim, or crypto-Jews, originally from Iberia, had been living in Panama since the early 16th century, there was no openly practicing community until several centuries later. Both Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews began to arrive in Panama in fairly substantial numbers in the middle of the 19th century, lured by economic opportunities such as the construction of the railroad and the Gold Rush in California. Subsequent waves of immigration - from the disintegrating Ottoman Empire during World War I, from Europe before and during World War II, from Arab lands during the post- 1948 exodus and, more recently, from South American countries suffering from economic crises - have contributed to the diversity of the Jewish population.

The center of Jewish life in Panama is in Panama City, though historically, small groups of Jews settled in other cities such as Colón, David, Chitre, La Chorrera, Santiago de Veraguas, and Bocas del Toro. These groups have essentially disappeared, as families moved to the capital in search of education for their children and for economic reasons. Numbering approximately 9,000, the Jewish community is a strong presence, despite its relatively small size in relation to the greater population of Panama (3 million). Panamanian Jews have a keen sense of identity and tradition, making for the highest percentage of children enrolled in Jewish schools and the lowest percentage of intermarriage and assimilation of almost any Diaspora country in the world.

The first congregation - Kol Shearit Israel - was founded in 1876 by liberal Sephardim from the Caribbean and the Netherlands. Today it identifies with the Reform movement and numbers approximately 160 families.

As in the case of the synagogues, the four Jewish schools represent the variety of traditions within the community-at-large. Instituto Alberto Einstein, established in 1955, is religious-Zionist in philosophy and currently has an approximate enrollment of 750 students from pre-school through high school. Despite the 8-15 hours a week of Judaic studies, the school’s general studies curriculum remains at the highest level and is internationally recognized for the high quality of the education it offers. The Hebrew Academy of Panama was established in 1979 with the purpose of creating for those who wished a somewhat more intensive religious environment. Today there are approximately 400 students enrolled. More recently, the Yitzhak Rabin School was founded as an educational alternative, providing a pluralistic Jewish education that focuses on Israel, Jewish history and culture alongside academic excellence in general studies. Of late, Talmud Torah Har Sinai opened in order to satisfy the increasing number of parents who want their children to acquire a deeper knowledge of Torah and religion at a young age. The school accommodates children up to the age of six. Although expensive, the schools offer scholarships and subsidies so that all Jewish children can receive a Jewish education. These ideologically diverse four schools account for 98% of the school-age population of the community.


	The kosher supermarket in Panama City

The level of religiosity in the Panamanian Jewish community, if it can be measured by the percentage of people keeping kosher, for example, has, for some years now, been on the rise. Many attribute this to the untiring efforts of Rabbi Sion Levy, who has been working to raise consciousness with regard to practices, such as kashrut, in the community for several decades. Recalling Panama’s convenient location for anything pertaining to trade, the fact that its Jewish community is the largest importer of kosher products in the region is not surprising. What is impressive, however, is that such a small community could support several kosher restaurants, two full-time shochtim (kosher slaughterers), four bakeries, two cheese-making establishments, and two kosher supermarkets, one of which is the second largest kosher supermarket in the world outside of Israel.

Known for its generosity, the Panamanian Jewish community knows that tzedakah (charity) begins at home, but doesn’t end there. The synagogues, community institutions and local philanthropists support the needy - unemployed, elderly and immigrants - on an individual basis, providing educational scholarships for children as well. International organizations, such as WIZO, B’nai B’rith and the local Kol Shearit Israel Sisterhood, fund a variety of projects, from local Jewish schools to national welfare initiatives and support for Israel. The community takes pride in the fact that Panama is per capita one of the countries that donates the most to Israel. One specific project of the Panamanian Jews is to aid and strengthen the Cuban Jewish community through the provision of kosher food for the holidays, organization of synagogues, helping the elderly and holding Bar Mitzvah celebrations. Panamanian Chief Rabbi Levy has traveled twice to Cuba in order to perform circumcisions for Jews of all ages. The Jews of Panama are also involved in organizations such as the World Jewish Congress, the Jewish National Fund, Keren Hayesod, Friends of Yad Vashem and Friends of the Hebrew University.



The non-kosher section in the kosher supermarket in Panama City

Although strongly identified and somewhat insular as a community, the Jews of Panama are by no means removed from the economic, political and social life of their country. On the contrary, economically, for example, they have come a long way since their arrival as immigrants with scant resources searching for a better future. Most of the Jews have reached the higher levels of economic success within the general population, traditionally as businessmen but more recently as lawyers, doctors, engineers, bankers, tourism entrepreneurs and employees of the government. Similar to the history of the Jews in the United States, the early immigrants to Panama toiled long and hard to build the foundation for the current generation’s economic security and would find it hard to believe the prominent status and tremendous success of their descendents.

Panamanian Jews also have a history of involvement in government and in civic and diplomatic posts. Fascinatingly, Panama is the only country outside of Israel to have had two Jewish Presidents in the 20th century. In the 60s, Max Delvalle was first Vice President and then President of the Republic. He is known for his famous inaugural speech in which he said: “Today there are two Jewish Presidents in the world — the President of the State of Israel and I.” His nephew Eric Arturo Delvalle was President from 1985-1988. Both were members of the Kol Shearit Israel synagogue and were involved in Jewish life.

Although Panama today remains one of the world’s most traveled trade routes, the country no longer bears the image of the “Latin Wild West,” suffering more in the 20th century from the political upheavals that rocked the region than from a watering hole mentality. Over the years, Panama’s Jews have succeeded in forming a strong and stable community, characterized by its traditional practices, economic security and lack of the demographic crises that plague so many of the world’s small and large Jewish communities.

Panamanian Jews neither assimilate nor emigrate in substantial numbers and most are active in community life. While anti-Semitism exists at some level in Panama, as it exists in the rest of the world, there are rarely any serious manifestations. Heavily influenced over the years by groups of transients arriving and settling, locals are used to a variety of minorities and are generally tolerant. The history of the Holocaust is taught in national schools, and while there is not much active dialogue, relations between the Jews and other religious groups are cordial. Stable, prosperous and respected, the Jews could hardly be more optimistic about their future as a thriving community in Panama.

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