From Christian to Jew

Abstract

The next crucial step in the siblings’ journey to gain the right to live and pray as they pleased came in 1811 when they moved to Suriname, a South American colony on the Caribbean Sea. In Suriname, Sarah and Isaac found their home among the largest multiracial Jewish community in the Americas and formally converted to Judaism. This community provided a spiritual home for Sarah and Isaac, but it also marked them as second-class citizens. Since their father, Abraham, had not married their mother, Surinamese law considered Sarah and Isaac people of color. This racial designation followed them into the synagogue, where they would sit separately from whites and couldn’t partake in synagogue honors. This chapter places the siblings’ experiences alongside that of other multiracial Jews who lived in Paramaribo at that time, highlighting their battles against oppression.