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Luis de Torres Synagogue.

Freeport, Bahamas:
Island Congregation

RUTH ROVNER

Special to The Jewish News

W

henever he wel-
comes visitors to the
Luis de Torres
Synagogue on the island of
Freeport, congregation presi-
dent Jack Turner always asks
if they know how the
synagogue got its name.
"And they usually guess it's
named for some wealthy
Sephardic Jew who donated
money to us," he says. But it's
not.
So he tells them about Luis
de Torres, who was Christo-
pher Columbus' interpreter
and a Marrano, one of those
Spanish Jews who pretended
to convert after the Jews were
expelled, but practiced
Judaism in secr^f
De Torres was probably the
first Jew to set foot on land in
the New World, and it hap-
pened not far from Freeport.
In 1492, when Columbus first
spotted land, he landed first
on the Bahamian island of
San Salvador. "And we
assume that his interpreter
set foot on the land even
before Columbus did," says
Mr. Turner, who has a
number of articles documen-
ting the activity of Mr. de
Torres.
So, when the Jews of Free-
port built their new syna-
gogue in 1974, they named it
in honor of a Jew who was in
the Bahamas long before they
were. Now this year, as the
500th anniversary of Colum-
bus' discovery of America is
celebrated, they feel especial-
ly proud of their connection to
Luis de Torres.
"We remember him every
week in synagogue by
reciting a brief poem;' says
Mr. Turner, who then laun-
ches into a recitation of the
rhyme: "In the year 1492/
Columbus sailed the ocean

blue/And in his crew, there
was a Jew?'
Members of the small but
loyal Freeport Hebrew Con-
gregation also are proud that
theirs is the newest syna-
gogue built on any of the
island resorts in the Atlantic
or Caribbean. It's also one of
the few Reform congregations
on any of the islands.
It's a synagogue that's
especially well suited to the
resort environment of Free-
port. Capital of Grand

Relations between
Jews and non-
Jews on the island
are excellent.

Bahama Islands, Freeport is
an island of powdery white
beaches, palm trees, and
lavish-looking hotels and
casinos. It looks like the
idyllic island resort it is.
The synagogue located on
East Sunrise Highway, just
one-quarter mile from the
center of town, looks quite ap-
propiiate to this lush setting.
It's a modern white stucco
building surrounded by palm
trees, thick pine trees, even
an orchid tree. This is the on-
ly Jewish house of worship in
the 700-islands — not all of
them inhabited — that make
up the Bahamas.
"The members raised all
the money and also helped
supervise the design;' says
Jack Turner, who leads the
way into the modern 120-seat
sanctuary, where services are
held every Friday evening
during the tourist season,
from November through the
end of Passover.
Built by architect Cory De
Vries — who was not Jewish
but was guided in the design
by congregants — the syna-
gogue was dedicated in 1974.
It was a big event on the

