On October 21st at 5 pm, Dr. Hilit Surowitz-Israel will be presenting a lecture titled "Between Amsterdam and the Antilles: Diaspora and Community in Colonial Curaçao". The talk will take place in the Lucy Ellis Lounge, Language, Cultures and Literatures Building (LCLB 1080).
This talk explores Curaçao's pivotal role at the height of its influence by examining the production and circulation of religious material culture, focusing on the significance of "the gift" within Sephardic communities across the Americas. Curaçao strategically used gifts, especially ritual objects, to shape and guide Jewish ritual and practice throughout the Atlantic world during the early modern period. Through this unidirectional flow of religious materials and personnel, the Mikvé Israel congregation of Curaçao not only spread its customs and rituals but cemented its status as the mother congregation of Jewish communities across colonial America.