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This Jewish Community in the Caribbean Smuggled Gunpowder to the Patriots During the Revolution. A British Admiral Condemned the Island as a 'Nest of Vipers'
Key takeaways
- Eustatius Wyatt Gallery When museum curator Josh Perelman boarded an American Airlines flight from the Caribbean island of St.
- Known today as a menorah, this fixture is displayed every December in many Jewish households around the world, its candles lit to celebrate the eight days and nights of the Festival of Lights.
- In the 18th century, Jews observing Hanukkah would have used an oil lamp much like this one.
The entrance gate to the Jewish cemetery on St. Eustatius Wyatt Gallery When museum curator Josh Perelman boarded an American Airlines flight from the Caribbean island of St. Thomas to Philadelphia in early April, his carry-on luggage was heavy with the weight of memory—of a long-vanished community and an obscure but critical chapter in the history of the American Revolution. The precious object, carefully wrapped in a padded box with its own handle, was a Hanukkah lamp from 1761.
Known today as a menorah, this fixture is displayed every December in many Jewish households around the world, its candles lit to celebrate the eight days and nights of the Festival of Lights.
In the 18th century, Jews observing Hanukkah would have used an oil lamp much like this one. Bearing the Hebrew year 5522, the artifact is a poignant reminder of a Jewish community that once flourished on the Dutch island of St. Eustatius (also known as Sint Eustatius or, more commonly, Statia), in what is now the Caribbean Netherlands.