Monthly Archives: March 2017

Sand on the floor of a synagogue is not a typical interior design choice, at least in the Bay Area. But for a historic shul in the Caribbean, why not?

That there was and is a Jewish community in a region renown for reggae music and the golden age of buccaneers may come as a surprise to many Jews unfamiliar with the communitys early origins in North America.

But Jews there were, and they built some of the first synagogues, even before many in the United States.

Such historic sites from the 17th and 18th centuries are the subject of a book of photography and an exhibition of the same name at the Peninsula Jewish Community Center in Foster City. Entitled Jewish Treasures of the Caribbean, it is the brainchild of New York-based photographer Wyatt Gallery.

The inspiration for the collection came from his time working as a stringer in the region for the New York Times, Gallery tells J., where he came across several old synagogues and cemeteries. After witnessing the destruction following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Gallery says that he set out to document every site, a mission that is now complete. He traveled to Barbados, Curacao, Jamaica, St. Thomas, St. Eustatius and Suriname.

The early settlers were Sephardic, and the architecture was based on what Gallery says was a mother congregation in Amsterdam.

There are five shuls left today, he says.

Gallery is not a religious Jew now, but grew up going to High Holy Day services with his grandfather, and says he feels connected to Jewish culture and his heritage.

While exploring historic Jewish sites in the Caribbean, Gallery learned that the community there was quite powerful much more so than its counterpart at the time in the U.S.

Many Jews living in the region were merchants and amassed a significant fortune selling arms to the American revolutionaries a fact the British used to blame the Jews for losing the war. And yes, some Jews in the region who ran plantations owned slaves.

The most interesting find for Gallery was a cemetery that is located far off the beaten path. To locate it he had to take a boat up the river in the rainforests of Suriname, and then hike. Only a few people know of the graveyards existence, and how to find it, he says.

Finding each of the historic treasures required the help of the various local Jewish communities scattered around the region most of the shuls were located right in the center of cities, nearby where the Jewish merchants used to operate.

Contemporary communities are small, usually consisting of about 150 to 200 people.

Gallery hopes his book will raise awareness in the global Jewish community, and is seen as a call for preservation. Many of the shuls and especially the cemeteries have been damaged by the weather over the years, he says, and in some cases vandalized.

The PJCC exhibit comprises 37 photographs Gallery selected that he says represent the 200 in the book. I chose those that would create a portrait of the entire project, he says.

A gallery talk and a question-and-answer session will be held at 7 p.m. March 28, concluding the exhibitions run at the JCC.

Originally posted here:

Photographer unearths Jewish treasures of the Caribbean - Jweekly.com

Royal Caribbean Cruises said a cruise ship was operating safely and did not touch bottom in response to a Broward County couple's complaint that the boat had stopped within 100 feet of striking their waterfront home.

According to WFOR-TV and WPLG-TV in Miami, the Celebrity Equinox was leaving Port Everglades on Friday afternoon and heading toward the patio of Bill and Yasmine Todhunter.

Bill Todhunter said the cruise ships usually pass hundreds of yards away their home.

"I looked up and I knew something was wrong, because I was looking up at the bow of the boat," Todhunter told WFOR-TV.

Yasmine Todhunter grabbed her cellphone and began recording video, which shows engines on the front of the ship apparently trying to slow its approach. Her husband said the ship had "come aground."

Royal Caribbean Cruises, issued a statement saying the ship was navigating safely " under the guidance of local port pilots" and that it did not touch bottom.

The Equinox is 1,041 feet long and weighs more than 120,000 gross tons.

The Coast Guard told WFOR-TV that ships must report collisions or groundings, and Royal Caribbean has not. The Todhunters said they contacted the Coast Guard and said the agency was planning to investigate.

Royal Caribbean: Cruise ship approaching Broward home was operating safely (w/ video) 03/08/17 [Last modified: Wednesday, March 8, 2017 2:41pm] Photo reprints | Article reprints

More:

Royal Caribbean: Cruise ship approaching Broward home was operating safely (w/ video) - Tampabay.com

Aside from the release of the next installments in the Marvel andStar Warscinematic universes, Disney will also be releasing the newest outing in one of their longest-running and most profitable franchises to date withPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Making the return of severalof thefranchises oldest players, like Orlando Bloom as Will Turner and Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa, the new film promises to take the franchise to places its never quite been before. That includes the villainous Captain Salazar, a ghost pirate played with gleeful malevolence by the always reliable, Javier Bardem.

Picking up several years after the events of the last film,Dead Men Tell No Tales follows Johnny Depps Captain Jack Sparrow as he searches for the Trident of Poseidon, the only artifact capable of protecting him from Salazar and his undead crew. The latter of whom has just escaped the Devils Triangle by the time the film begins, looking to settle an old score with Sparrow, and simultaneously destroy every last Pirate still alive on the seas.

Disney just recently released a brand new, full theatrical trailer forDead Men Tell No Tales, and with a prime May release date, it promises to be a dark horse release for the studio this year. In continuation of the recent boost in promotional materials for the film, Disney has also unveiled a brand new international Dead Men Tell No Tales poster, unitingboth the moviesheroes and villains. Check it out for yourselves,down below:

Beginning back in 2001 withThe Curse of the Black Pearl, its doubtful anyone at the time could have predicted just how long thePirates of the Caribbeanmovie franchise would last for. Based initially on the Disney ride of the same name, the franchise started out as a fun, B-movie action film and went on to feature fights with Blackbeard, Davy Jones, and now, a Ghost Pirate and his undead crew. To say its been one of the zanier, and unexpected popular franchises of the 21st century then, wouldnt be much of an understatement.

Dead Men Tell No Talesmay or may not be the last installment in the franchise also, after the recent theatrical trailer marketed it as that,right before the directors contradicted that marketing choice. Whether or not it is, though, thePirates of the Caribbeanfranchise has had its fair share of ups and downs over the years and after the multiple year break-in between installments, itll be interesting to see just how much hypeDead Men Tell No Tales is able to garner for itself in the weeks leading up to its theatrical release.

Source: Disney

Read the original:

New Pirates of the Caribbean 5 Poster: Heroes & Villains Unite - Screen Rant

InselAir is one of the Caribbean's largest airlines, operating flights to countries like Jamaica, the US and Colombia

Brits have been warned against travelling with InselAir one of the Caribbeans largest airlines.

The Foreign Office has included the caution on the travel advice pages for countries that the company operates flights to, including Colombia, the US and the Caribbean.

Alamy

The government made the decisions after concerns were raised about the airlines safety record.

The message reads: Safety concerns have been raised about INSEL Air.

The US and Netherlands authorities have prohibited their staff from using the airline while safety checks are being carried out.

UK government officials have been told to do the same as a precaution.

InselAir, which is based on the Caribbean island of Curaao, served around 1.4 million customers last year.

While it mainly flies to Caribbean countries, it also runs flights to Miami, Caracas and Medellin.

Alamy

A spokesperson for InselAir told SunOnline: The Dutch Civil Aviation Inspectorate has recently visited Aruba and Curacao and met with the representatives of both InselAir Curacao and InselAir Aruba airlines.

They requested to perform spontaneous audits to which both airlines had no objections.

Both airlines remain until now unaware of any findings from the Dutch Civil Aviation Inspectorate that would have an effect on the airworthiness of their operations.

Upon the briefing received after the audit the inspectors said that they were pleasantly surprised with the conclusion of the findings in all of the following areas: Flight Operations, Operation Control Center, Safety and Security, Training, Scheduling, Quality and Maintenance of InselAir Curacao.

Currently neither of the airlines have major pending technical and operational findings with their respective Aviation Authority.

The ongoing grounding of the MD fleet in Aruba is due to a position taken by the Aviation Authority of Aruba in support of the government of Aruba that took the decision to freeze the bank account of the airline due to arrears in payment of taxes.

Read this article:

The Foreign Office is advising Brits not to travel with this Caribbean airline - The Sun