eSefarad Noticias del Mundo Sefaradi
The erudite and respected jewish historian Isaac Emmanuel was of the opinion that there was most likely an organised synagogue in Brazil in 1633/34, this conviction was based on the solid evidence of the purchase by Simon Drago of a Sepher Torah, (the holy scroll of jewish law), in Amsterdam on the 10th of June 1633. A Torah Scroll is essential in a synagogue, indeed a synagogue cannot exist without one.
Drago had been living in Brazil for several years as a New Christian and the historian Emmanuel imagined that the destiny of the Sepher Torah was Recife where it would be used to found a synagogue given the religious tolerance of the Dutch Administration. The prolific brazilian historian José Antonio Gonsalves de Mello held Emmanuel’s opinion with such serious regard that he mentioned the hypothesis in his seminal work «Gente da Nação», but also stating that they had not found any evidence of the scroll in Recife (1)………….. they were looking in the wrong place!
