History Of The Jews In Indonesia

There is a tiny Jewish community of 20 people in Indonesia. It lives mainly in Surabaya , the second largest city and second port of the country and capital of the province of East Java.

We can estimate the current population of Indonesia (2007) to over 225 million people, knowing that the census of 2000 showed 204 million people. Official figures for 1998 indicate that 80% of Indonesians are Muslim, Protestant 5%, 3% Catholic, 2% Hindu, Buddhist 1%, 9% consisting of "other" religions, including Judaism and Christianity Orthodox . These families are not religious. At the request of the effluent, the Jewish community of Amsterdam sends a rabbi to try to organize communities in Batavia and Semarang. Subsequently, Jews from Baghdad and Aden are joining their brethren in the Dutch colony .

In 1921 , the Zionist emissary Israel Cohen estimated that 2,000 Jews live in Java. The governor of Surabaya is a Jew then, several other community members are senior officials and other traders . The Jews of Baghdad , the most religious, form the core of the community. In the 1930s , the numbers of Jews originating in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union increases .

In 1957 , there are only 450 Jews in all of Indonesia, became independent in 1945. The community of Jakarta consists mainly of Ashkenazi , that of Surabaya of Sephardic . In 1963, the community no longer has 50 members and 1997, 20, a party in Jakarta and the rest in Surabaya, where they maintain a synagogue . Hostile reactions to the Jews began to emerge in the 1980s and 1990s in reaction to Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2009, the Indonesian Islamists are close to Synagogue Centennial Surabaya in retaliation for the Gaza War of 2008-2009 , Israeli military operation against the Hamas Palestinian . This synagogue was used only for offices but was always used at funerals. On site is still a Jewish cemetery in poor condition .

In 2010 , only one synagogue remains based in the country. Located in Manado on the northern tip of the island of Celebes it is built in the 2000s and is attended by a dozen people . In a city whose population is mainly Obedia evangelical , a small movement back to their Jewish roots born residents among some descendants of Jews who converted to Islam or Christianity for independence from Indonesia to ensure their peace. They are assisted by Rabbi Lubavitch of Singapore that guides the process of converting to Orthodox Judaism . This movement is seen favorably by local authorities. The sympathies and pro-Jewish pro-Israel are indeed strong in this region where movements evangelical and charismatic American and European origin have settled in the 1990s. The government of North Sulawesi has been erected on the hills above the city a menorah from 18 meters high with reference to that adorning the entrance to the Knesset , Israel's parliament . This structure is partly motivated by the hope of bringing on-site tourists and European businessmen. According to some experts, this growing enthusiasm for the local pro-Israel evangelical movement is a reaction to the rise of orthodox Islam in the rest of the archipelago .

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