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Jewish Cemetery, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores
The Jewish cemetery in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores.
Description
The Bensaúde family’s first concern on every island was to add a cemetery and a Synagogue. Of the two, the Bensaúde’s focused on adding a cemetery before the synagogue. Their reasoning lied in the fact that the only requirement for performing acts of worship is the participation of ten male co-religionists. The place did not have to be a synagogue or temple dedicated to worship, but could be any private house. But the sacred ground for the burial is essential, because the Jews are not allowed to make translations.1
In the 1980s, an interfaith group formed in Fall Rivers, MA, which attempted to raise funds to repair the cemetery and restore the Synagogue in Ponta Delgada.2 Leading that group was Aaron Mittleman who both organized and funded much of the movement. The group failed to restore the Synagogue but was able to raise enough money to repair the cemetery in the 1980s.
The Cemetery today is run by Jorge Delmar who is the last Jew on the Azores.3
The tombstones are in Hebrew and Portuguese.
Sources
Photos courtesy E.J. Medros.
Website with details about the community and cemetery: https://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC5RZE2&title=roteiro-hebraico-de-ponta-delgada&guid=cb3108db-14b3-4a3d-bdfc-f6d96b0b5d7d
Article about the community:http://www.cjnews.com/living-jewish/travel/oldest-existing-synagogue-portugal-reborn
[1] Inácio Steinhardt, “História da presença judaica nos Açores,” Do Corporativismo ao Estado Social Democrático 64, (2013): 17. https://journals.openedition.org/lerhistoria/646
[2] Gideon Gradman, telephone interview to Ramsey Perez, August 16, 2021.
[3] Miriam Bodian, “A Hidden Jewish ‘Archive’ in the Azores,” Not Even Past, accessed July 28, 2021, https://notevenpast.org/a-hidden-jewish-archive-in-the-azores/
Bibliography
Bodian, Miriam. “A Hidden Jewish ‘Archive’ in the Azores.” Not Even Past. Accessed July 28, 2021, https://notevenpast.org/a-hidden-jewish-archive-in-the-azores/
Steinhardt, Inácio. “História da presença judaica nos Açores.” Do Corporativismo ao Estado Social Democrático 64 (2013): 1-22. https://journals.openedition.org/lerhistoria/646