Jews of the Amazon: Self-Exile in Earthly Paradise

In this absorbing work, historian Segal narrows his focus to the tiny Jewish community of Iquitos, an isolated Peruvian town in the Amazon jungle. Segal weaves the town's microhistory with the larger history of Peru. Jewish men first came to Iquitos during the rubber boom in the late 19th century, married Amazonian women and created their own syncretic Jewish tradition, including elements of nominal Catholicism and indigenous religions. Segal categorizes the Iquitos Jews with the Marranos of Spain who secretly maintained their Jewish faith after ostensibly becoming Catholics. Recognizing their mixed ancestry, he calls them ""Jewish Mestizos."" Others have dubbed them ""Jewish Incas."" For comparative purposes, Segal provides background information about such other ""exotic"" Jewish communities as the B'nai Israel of India, Samaritans, Karaites and Beta Israel of Ethiopia. These and other lesser known Jewish communities have been lost as a result of war, exile and forced conversions. Born in Venezuela but educated in America, Segal began this project in 1995, as part of his doctoral program. He candidly documents his clouded role as a ""sentimental scholar"" who abandoned objectivity and adopted the cause of the people he studied. Segal became enamored with the 100 Jewish Mestizos of Iquitos, teaching them Jewish religion and prayer services, and intervening on their behalf to secure their eligibility for immigration to Israel. Describing these activities, he acknowledges that he ""trespassed the boundaries"" of traditional scholarship. The result is an unusual, refreshing and vividly researched cultural study. (Nov.)