The History of the Jewish Community in Peru
When Did Jews First Arrive in Peru?
Peru is a remarkable South American country, blessed with extraordinary natural treasures and home to diverse, ancient cultures spanning thousands of years — most of which have historically shown goodwill toward the Jewish people.
The earliest reference to Peru in Jewish sources takes us back to the construction of the First Beit HaMikdash. When King Solomon built the Temple, he dispatched envoys to distant lands to procure the finest materials. One such expedition was sent to Ophir to bring gold for the Temple. According to tradition, Ophir is none other than Peru — known today as the Cajamarca region — from which much of the Temple’s gold was sourced.
The Era of the Spanish Inquisition
The next chapter of Jewish life in Peru begins approximately five hundred years ago, in the shadow of the Spanish Inquisition. As the Age of Discovery opened up the New World, many Jews saw in it a lifeline — a chance to flee persecution and start anew. Jews came to Peru by various means: some arrived as soldiers or members of conquest expeditions, others were prisoners released from jail on condition that they join the conquering forces. Columbus himself, widely believed to have been of Jewish descent, brought with him many Anusim — forced converts — as part of his voyage.
In the years before Spain consolidated its grip over most of South and Central America, the region was something of a haven for Jews. The Spanish were occupied with conquest and had not yet turned their attention to enforcing religious conformity as they had done in Spain. But once the conquest was complete, Jews were compelled to practice their faith in secret. The Inquisition was formally established in three locations across South America: Lima (Peru), Cartagena (Colombia), and Mexico City — and the persecution of anyone who deviated from the Catholic faith began in earnest. This legacy is still visible today: the vast majority of Peruvians have entirely abandoned any connection to the indigenous Incan spiritual traditions, having been thoroughly displaced by the Christianity imposed upon them by their conquerors.
The Famous Shabbat Raid
One of the most painful episodes of this era involved a prominent and wealthy Jewish man — a person of significant influence who held a senior position in the Peruvian government and owned vast tracts of land. In the basement of his home in central Lima, he maintained a secret synagogue, and it was there that eighty Jews were gathered for Shabbat tefillot when they were captured. They were led through an underground tunnel directly into the adjoining church. The incident caused enormous embarrassment to the authorities, as many of those arrested were respected and powerful figures in public life.
Today, that building houses a police station, still visible in the city center. In the church next to it, the bones of the Jews murdered in that tragedy are kept to this day.
During this brutal period, Jews were subjected to horrific torture, almost always ending in death — typically by burning or hanging. Those who confessed to being Jewish were sentenced to death and buried in a house of worship in the Callao area (which no longer exists, having been destroyed by a massive tsunami that swept the area into the sea many years later). Those who refused to confess were likewise put to death, but their remains were taken to a church in central Lima — where, tragically, Jewish bones can still be found today.
The site where the Presidential Palace now stands in the Plaza de Armas was the very place where condemned Jews were burned at the stake. They were marched there along a road known as the Calle de los Judíos — the Street of the Jews — a name it still carries to this day.
The Congress building itself was once a headquarters of the Inquisition, which held authority over all territories under Spanish Christian rule. As Lima was the capital of the region, condemned heretics were brought there from across the continent. The Inquisition Museum still exists not far from the Presidential Palace, though it is frequently closed — there appears to be little institutional desire for this history to become widely known. Key details have been deliberately omitted, a reflection of how deeply Christianity’s historical campaign of persecution has been sanitized and suppressed.
Descendants and the Question of Jewish Identity
Today, there are many Peruvians who are descended from those who were forcibly converted or murdered, and who bear Sephardic surnames that were common among Jews of that era. Many of them identify as children of Jews or Anusim. However, in reality, most have had no meaningful connection to Judaism for centuries. When they attempt to join Jewish communities — often hoping for a better life — they are not accepted, and many become upset upon learning that Jewish identity is passed down through the mother. The pain of this disconnect is real, even if the halachic reality cannot be changed.
From the time of Columbus onward, Jews have maintained a presence in Peru in one form or another, across its many regions, right up to the present day.
In Cusco, for example, there was once a thriving community large enough to sustain ten regular minyanim daily. As has so often been the case throughout Jewish history, the surrounding culture sought to absorb or co-opt what it could not destroy — and to this day, one of the city’s churches holds a Torah scroll from that period.
The Modern Era: From the 1800s to Today
The third and current period of Jewish life in Peru begins around the year 1800, when a significant wave of Jews arrived seeking their livelihoods. Some came from Morocco to work in the rubber trade in the jungle regions, including Iquitos and the surrounding area. (A Jewish community center still exists in Iquitos today, on a plot adjacent to the public cemetery.) Others arrived from Germany, Turkey, and elsewhere in search of economic opportunity. Over time, many brought family members or Jewish spouses to join them.
As the years passed, some of these Jews or their descendants emigrated to other countries or made aliyah to Eretz Yisrael. Tragically, others assimilated entirely — often not out of indifference, but out of circumstance. Living in remote locations, sometimes as the only Jew in a distant village, with no access to a Jewish community and no realistic prospect of finding a Jewish spouse nearby, many simply had no path to Jewish continuity. Some of their descendants still live in Lima today and consider themselves fully Jewish — unaware that, due to improper conversions or a maternal line that was never halachically Jewish, their status is not recognized. In many cases, this stems from a lack of knowledge rather than deliberate rejection of Torah.
During the Holocaust, hundreds of Jews streamed into Peru. Some settled permanently; others eventually moved on to other countries.
At its peak, the Jewish community maintained a presence in the following cities: Lima, Cusco, Arequipa, Ica, Trujillo, Iquitos, Huancayo, and several other towns and development areas. By the 1920s and 1930s, most Jews had concentrated in Lima, and today it is the only city with a permanent, organized Jewish community.
The Flourishing of Lima’s Jewish Community
During the height of this period, six synagogues operated simultaneously in Lima:
Knesset Israel (in Miraflores)
The German Synagogue (established 1870)
Union Israelite (on Avenida Brasil, previously located in two other sites) — the largest of the six
The Spanish Synagogue (Beit Yaakov, on Calle Batres)
Sharon
The community also supported a day school — León Pinelo — two old-age homes, a hospital (Beit Borja), and the Hebraica Club, among other institutions.
Without a strong foundation of Torah-true Jewish education, however, assimilation steadily increased and the community diminished considerably.
Chabad Comes to Peru
In 1987, the Lubavitcher Rebbe שליט”א sent his first shluchim to Peru: Rabbi Shneur Zalman (Uri) and Rebbetzin Shternah Sarah Blumenfeld. Their mission was to breathe new life into the local community — and over the years, their work expanded to include the many Jewish tourists who began visiting the country. A second Chabad House was later opened in Cusco to serve the large number of tourists passing through, and Chabad operates at virtually every point across Peru where Israeli and Jewish travelers are found.
The mission of Chabad is to prepare the world to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu — the Lubavitcher Rebbe שליט”א.
Today, the Chabad House stands as a beacon of Jewish light for Peru and the surrounding region, and serves as a living model of what vibrant, committed Jewish life looks like.
The Chabad House includes:
A Beit Knesset (s1ynagogue)
A Torah learning center offering classes on a wide range of topics for men and women
Four kitchens and two restaurants
Three mikvaot
A fully certified shechita operation
Chalav Yisrael dairy products
A kindergarten and summer camp
And much more
You are warmly welcome to visit the Chabad House. Feel free to reach out to us for more information.
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