The Sephardic Jews of Alabama

Sephardic Jews settled in Mobile, Alabama as early as 1765 during the English Colonial Period 1763-1780. The first Sepharic Jew to settle in Alabama was Joseph De Palacios, who purchased land in Mobile, on July 9, 1765. 

The Sephardic Jews in Mobile returned to Alabama once the United States gained the area back from Spain in 1813 and had close business and family connections to New Orleans, Charleston and the West Indies. 

The first Jewish Synagogue in Alabama, was dedicated on December 27, 1846, in Mobile and was named Sha’arai Shomayin Umaskil El Dol. It held a handful of its early services partially using the Ladino (Judeo Spanish), as their first rabbi was a Sephardic Jew, by the name of Benjamin Da Silva (born November 17, 1811 in Amsterdam, Holland, died May 11, 1881 in New Orleans, Louisiana). 

The congregation mostly composed of Ashkenazi Jews existed officially since January 25, 1844 but held services at private homes until the Synagogue opened, in 1846. The main Sephardic settlement on the Gulf coast was in New Orleans and many families moved there both before and after the War Between the States.

The Sephardic Jews, in Mobile, always few in number, tended to marry members of their faith—either locals or from other Sephardic communities, in other states, or overseas. The most prominent Sephardic Jews in Alabama included Thomas Cooper De Leon, Samuel Nunis, Dr. Aaron Lopez and Dr. Joseph Bensadon.

Fuente: Periódico La Costa Latina