History of the Jews in Barbados

[1] In 1674, a number of people also moved from Suriname following its surrender to the Dutch, the majority of these being deported to Jamaica, but a few managed to stay in Barbados.

[1] Two communities were established over time, the first being centered around the Nidhe Israel Synagogue in the Capital, Bridgetown, and a smaller one in northerly Speightstown.

Jews were forbidden from employing Christians, limited from purchasing more than one male slave, and were forced into living in a Jewish Ghetto in Bridgetown.

It has been suggested that the momentum of the technological drive in the sugar industry shifted to Barbados in preference to more politically volatile South American colonies.

In 1831, the island was devastated by a hurricane that severely damaged the economy and by 1848 the Jewish population had seen a significant decline in numbers.

Though the focus is on the long destroyed rabbi's house, excavations have revealed the intact 17th-century mikveh, which was constructed over a still-running freshwater spring.