Kingston, Jamaica – New Spiel To Woo Jewish Tourists

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    Kingston, Jamaica – This island nation boasts miles of pristine beaches, reggae music and the Western hemisphere’s largest butterfly.

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    Now, it’s promoting a new asset to tourists: its Jews.

    From the tourism minister on down, Jamaican officialdom has embraced a plan to market the nation’s Jewish history as a way of wooing a new segment of travelers.

    New tours of Jamaica will offer travelers a rare look at the history of Jews on this Caribbean island.

    No matter that Jamaica has just one synagogue and no rabbi, or that its Jewish community is down to around 200 people. It was once home to a Jewish pirate named Moses, according to one account.

    A global economic downturn and “ferocious” competition from Mexico, says Jamaican tourism director John Lynch, mean that every traveler counts these days. Jamaica’s Jewish history, he concedes, has “been a well-kept secret.”

    Mr. Lynch wants to put together a tourism package that includes stops at historic Jewish cemeteries, a visit to the island’s synagogue and a traditional post-worship repast with Jewish families—with some beach time thrown in.

    Read more at The Wall Street Journal


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    19 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Get Mattisyahu to sing a theme song for any ad.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    I know a pirate named Moses.

    Oppertunist
    Oppertunist
    14 years ago

    Quick, sombody tell SEED. They are too small for a chabad house, and aish only does campuses.

    Babishka
    Member
    Babishka
    14 years ago

    Jamaica has one of the oldest Jewish settlements in the Western Hemisphere. I think the settlement in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands is the oldest, 100 years before Jews settled in North America.

    chabadnik
    chabadnik
    14 years ago

    there is a seasonal chabad house in Jamaica. check out http://www.chabadworld.org

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Actually, this would be a wonderful place for frum tourists to go without having to worry about diversions. While there are no restaurants on the Island with good hashgacha, you can pack a few cans of tuna fish and beans and get lots of fresh fruit at local vendors.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Alexander Hamilton was not born to a Jewish mother. His mother was married to a man of Jewish extraction named Levine. She separated from or divorced him. She had Alexander Hamilton out of wedlock with the Scot Hamilton. Since Alexander was born illegitimate he was barred from the local school on the island of Nevis. He actually attended the local cheder, did learn Hebrew and was often historically misidentified as Jewish. He was a genius, a Founding Father of America, but, not a Jewish one.

    Hamilton's status
    Hamilton's status
    14 years ago

    Re Hamilton’s mother – I am not so sure that his father was the non-Jew.
    Where did you get that information?
    I have seen it written differently.
    It is possible that he was a mamzer.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Any Yid who goes to Kingston is mishiga, Kingston has one of the highest crime rates and murder rates in the Carribbean and for that matter highest per capita in the world. We really have better places to spend our money.