Join writer, historian, and community member Neal Rechtman for a fascinating tour of Jewish Barbados. We'll visit the beautifully restored Nidhe Israel Synagogue (1654), its adjacent cemeteries, and the recently discovered Mikveh.

Discover how a group of Sephardic Jews, fleeing the Portuguese Inquisition in Brazil, made their way to Barbados and secured the protection of Oliver Cromwell, the English Protestant leader. This early Sephardic community later grew with new arrivals from England and played a key role in developing the British sugar industry.

Following a period of decline and mass emigration, a new wave of Ashkenazi refugees formed the core of today's tiny 50-person Jewish community—giving Neal the distinction of being 2% of the entire Jewish population of Barbados.