Our Historic Synagogue
Welcome to one of the most interesting — and beautiful — synagogue settings anywhere in the world. We cherish our community — but it is often our building which people have heard about, and which they come from many places to see.
Our Historic Synagogue
There have been individual Jews on St. Thomas since the 1600’s.
Our first Jewish cemetery here dates from the mid-18th century.
And an organized community, our congregation, was founded in 1796.
THE STAGES TOWARD OUR PERMANENT HOME
Our physical presence, in the form of a permanent place of worship, took a bit longer to establish. The first synagogue was built in 1803 and burned down in 1804. An only partially rebuilt building burned down again in 1806.
But in 1831, there was another fire. Over 800 houses and other structures in Charlotte Amalie burned down in that conflagration.
But not everything was lost. Two special Torah scrolls and the Ner Tamid (Eternal Light) were saved from the fire. The community rebuilt once again. The scrolls and light were brought back into the present building at the time of its dedication in 1833.
Many people express a sense of awe in this sacred space. The pews were fashioned by shipbuilders from local mahogany. The Ark is crowned with the stone tablets that are the cornerstone of our faith and legal system. The domed ceiling soars above the sand floors and Baccarat crystal candelabra.
RESTORATION AND RENEWAL
The building was restored in 2000, preserving and protecting many elements from the original construction. It is one of only three National Historic Landmarks on St. Thomas.
Today, we are the oldest synagogue building in continuous use under the American flag and the second oldest in the western hemisphere.
Click below to download a more detailed history.
The Hebrew Congregation of St Thomas: A More Detailed History
The Sand on the Floor
The most commented upon and asked about feature of our synagogue, of course, is the sand on the floor. Although speculation centers on other reasons, the actual explanation has to do with history and memory.
The congregation was founded by nine Sephardic Jewish families, Jews of Spanish and Portugese descent. When they came here in the 1790’s they were thinking… of the 1490’s. They remembered that some of their ancestors, forced to choose between conversion or exile, became Catholic on the surface, but attempted to practice Judaism
in secret.
Once the Inquisition was formed, primarily to root our “heresy” among the “new Christians,” they knew what the penalty would be if they were to be caught. So, it is said, they put sand on the floor of the places they prayed, muffling sound as they came together. The sand on our floor is a tribute and a symbol, a historical memory of that survival strategy.
The Weibel Memorial Museum
Located in the back foyer of the St. Thomas Synagogue is the Weibel Memorial Museum. Through the efforts of the Bicentennial Committee and members of the Hebrew Congregation it was established in 1995. In the museum you will find images, artifacts and plaques commemorating the history of St. Thomas’ Jewish population, from congregants to governors of the island.
Named for Elias J. Weibel, the general manager of H. Stern Jewelers in the Caribbean from 1980 until his death in 1991, it was made possible thanks to the generous donations of Hans Stern and H. Stern Jewelers.
“Johnny” Weibel was born in Rumania and escaped to South America with his parents after World War II. He was 12 years old. He went on to Panama as a young man, working with his cousin, and then emigrated to Israel where he began his career with H. Stern in 1966, just before the Six-Day War.
In St. Thomas, Weibel was an active member of the Jewish community and the broader St. Thomas community. He was a charter member of the Rotary Club of Charlotte Amalie, he was honored with the prestigious Paul Harris Award for service and dedication, and an active member of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce among other organizations.
As part of the Weibel Memorial Museum you will find this detailed narrative of the history of the Jews in the Virgin Islands and more specifically about the St. Thomas Synagogue.
Our Memorial Czech Scroll
Our Memorial Czech Scroll pictured here, third scroll from the left.
In World War Two, when the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia, Hitler gave an order to his generals: burn the synagogues, but save the silver and the scrolls. The Nazis, whatever else they may have been, were careful record keepers. So they marked and catalogued each item, noting which town and destroyed Jewish community it had come from. Hitler’s intention for after the war, when he had killed all the Jews in the world, was to make a “Museum of the Extinct Race.”
Fortunately, of course, the Nazis lost the war. And after the war Allied troops found this treasure trove of scrolls — 1,564 scrolls in all. They packed them carefully and sent them to London, where they came into the hands of the Westminster Synagogue Holocaust Scroll Memorial Trust. There, the scrolls were, in turn, tracked and sent out, for use in synagogues throughout the Jewish world.
Thanks to a generous donation from the Rothbart family, the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas is proud to have, from the Memorial Scrolls Trust a beautiful Torah (MST #533) rescued from the Holocaust. This scroll came into our hands in 1975. Our Torah is from a small town Budyne nad Ohri which is in Bohemia, Czech Republic, where Jews lived from the 13th century.
These “Holocaust” scrolls are on “permanent loan.” Should there ever be, once again, a living Jewish community in the town from which our scroll came we would, perhaps, receive a Tweet, or a Facebook message, saying: “Can we have our scroll back?”
Until such a time as that happens, we are honored with the sacred task of “redemption.” We keep this scroll in use, as it was meant to be, as an ongoing response to those who would have it any other way.
We welcome you to come to see our Torah and learn more about its history.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE MEMORIAL SCROLLS TRUST
Our Historic Cemeteries
Information about our Historic Cemeteries coming soon!