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Sahar Hassamain Synagogue, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores

Description

The Bensaúde Family was determined to have a synagogue on every Island which led to the creation of the Sahar Hassamain Synagogue. It was a small synagogue held within private property.² In 1836, the Sahar Hassamain Synagogue, would then be established. During the 19th century, the synagogue offered art, Hebrew language, and Torah classes.³

The Synagogue is located in a private 2 story home behind the living room doors of the former private rabbi’s house.⁴ The Synagogue has arched ceiling and windows, a wooden interior, and an ark containing two preserved Torahs wrapped in a velvet draping. On the velvet coverings, there are dedications to Aaron Mittleman and Sandy Mittleman. The Mittleman were funders and organizers of the first interfaith group in the 80s who first attempted to restore the Synagogue.⁵ Above the Torahs are tablets, written on them are the Ten Commandments in Hebrew. The Synagogue has 67 seats.

David Zagury, the first rabbi of this Synagogue was highly regarded as a preacher and an author.⁶ Between him and Mimon Abohbot in Terceira, Jews would come to them for consultation of religious procedures.

This Synagogue held the largest concentration of parchments and implements of the synagogues in the Azores. Over 50 filing boxes of sacred books, communal documents, commercial letters, phylacteries, prayer shawls, mezuzah scrolls, and other religious items.⁷ This synagogue would be bought by the Bensaudes who’d ultimately offer the first parchments scroll of the Torah to the synagogue. The Synagogue documents were transferred to Lisbon to be taken care of by the local Jewish population.

In 1923 Israel’s future Prime Minister, Golda Meir visited the city of Ponta Delgada and the synagogue.⁸ During her stay, the synagogue was on its last legs and the community members were few. By the end of WW2, the Jewish community in the Azores dwindled and the economy in the Azores was poor. As such, This synagogue was almost abandoned for many years, due to the death or departure of the last Jews on the island. In 1917, the final rabbi of the Synagogue, Samuel Albo, died leaving the Synagogue without leadership.⁹ It received its first conservation work, by order of the Bensaúde family. 

In the fall of 1967, before its full restoration, the Synagogue held a Yom Kippur service. The Synagogue had not held a service in over 20 years. US Air Force Captain, Nathan Landman, requested that the servicemen hold a service in the last synagogue standing in the Azores. On October 13th, 16 Jewish Servicemen and their families were flown from the joint US-Portuguese base Lajes, on the island of Terceira to São Miguel to hold the service and were joined by 6 other Jewish locals.

From the Azores, many Jews left the Islands for Lisbon, the Iberian Peninsula at large, but also for America where there are sizable communities in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, and Idaho.¹⁰ Many of the Azorean immigrants sought out work similar to the work they had in the Azores, in the case of Massachusetts, people in the whaling and fishing industry already had a relationship which led to many people immigrating there. Farmers from the Azores often moved to the west coast leading to Azorean communities in Sonoma and Napa Valley. Dairy farmers moved to Idaho in the same fashion.

This renovation took its time to come about. in 1980 an interfaith group formed in Fall River, MA attempting to save the Synagogue.¹¹  It is also notable that the group was not solely composed of Jewish people but of Christians and other faiths. By ‘88 they formed a committee to secure funds but it failed. In 2003 the Israeli Community of Lisbon got involved and a new group formed including José de Almeida Mello, Fátima Sequeira Dias, Jorge Delmar Soares, Isabel Albergaria, and António Bensaúde Castro Freire, who renovated the Synagogue. Working with them was the Azorean Jewish Heritage Foundation based in Fall Rivers, MA. In 2011 the Foundation began a campaign with the individuals previously mentioned and the city of Ponta Delgada to raise the necessary funds to renovate the Synagogue. The campaign raised 70,000 dollars.¹² On April 23, 2015, the Synagogue reopened its doors as a repurposed museum. More than a hundred visitors came in the first few hours. Over a year later the museum had attracted 5,000 visitors.¹³

The Museum still operates today and is owned by the city.¹⁴ Services are not held regularly but if requested service can be held.

São Miguel, Azores, Portugal

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