International Survey of Jewish Monuments Back to Projects Page
Rachel Frankel, an architect in New York City, has been
researching the synagogues of Suriname for the past several
years. In November 1997, ISJM awarded her a $500 research grant.
This seed funding has leveraged $8,700 in grants from three
other foundations: the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, the
Mitrani Family Foundation, and the Maurice Amado Foundation.
These funds will enable Ms. Frankel to return to Surinam with a
photographer and an Hebraicist Aviva Ben-Ur, and to visit
Holland to consult archival material. Ms. Frankel has submitted
the following report of her work to date. On October 12, 1785,
the synagogue of Bereche ve Shalom on the Jodensavanne (the
Jews' Savannah) in the Dutch colony of Suriname* celebrated its
100th anniversary. Governor Wichers, the Councils of Police,
notable citizens from the capital city of Paramaribo, and some
1,600 others attended. People ate and drank from tables adorned
with over 300 dishes and 1,000 Chinese l