Moyses Chahon

Isaac Nahon (1907-2000), general of the Brazilian army, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, into a family of Jewish immigrants from Oran, Algeria. He entered the military service in 1918 and studied at Realengo Military School in Rio de Janeiro graduating in 1925. As an artillery officer he rose through the ranks from lieutenant in 1928 to colonel in 1952. After serving in several positions within the Brazilian army, he was named military attache at the Brazilian embassy in Paraguay holding that position from 1959 to 1961. After graduating from the Higher Military School of War in 1962, he was advanced to the rank of brigadier general. As commander of the IV Army based in Recife, during the 1964 military coup Nahon was responsible for the arrest of Pelopidas Silveira, the mayor of Pernambuco, who was elected with the support of the left parties. His next position was chief of staff of the III Army, based in Porto Alegre, and after having been advanced to the rank of division general in 1965, he became commander of the eight-military region based in Belem. As of 1969 he served commander of the Main Directorate of Army Personnel with the rank of full general.

Waldemar Levy Cardoso (1900-2009), Marshal of the Brazilian Army, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, into a Jewish family of immigrants from Algeria and Morocco. He studied at the military college in Barbacena in the state of Minas Gerais from 1914 to 1918. Levy Cardoso was involved in an uprising against the Brazilian President Artur da Silva Bernardes for which he was sentenced to 3 years in prison, but managed to escape. He took part in the Revolution of 1930 that elevated Getúlio Vargas to the presidency of Brazil. During WW II he served as a lieutenant-colonel and commander of an artillery battalion with the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (Força Expedicionária Brasileira – FEB) in Italy and took part in the Battle of Monte Castello in northern Italy from November 1944 to February 1945.  From 1951 to 1953 he served as military attaché at the Brazilian embassy in Madrid and then in Paris. In 1964 he received the rank of general and after the 1964 military coup served for a short period of time in a senior position in the Ministry of Defence. Levy Cardoso retired from the army in 1968 with the rank of marshal. From 1971 to 1985 he was on the board of directors of the national oil company Petrobras.  

Samuel Kicis (1913-1984), general of the Brazilian army, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, into a family of Jewish immigrants from Romania. Kicis entered military service in 1932. During WW II he served as an artillery captain in the ranks of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (Força Expedicionária Brasileira – FEB) in Italy and took part in the Battle of Monte Castello in northern Italy from November 1944 to February 1945. In the 1950s and the 1960s he advanced through the ranks of the Brazilian Army and was discharged in 1968 with the rank of general.

Rio de Janeiro

The second most populous city in Brazil. The capital of the Brazilian republic until 1960.

The city of Rio de Janeiro contains Brazil's second largest Jewish community, after São Paulo. According to the Jewish Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FIERJ), by 2000 the Jewish population was estimated to be between 25,000 and 30,000, approximately 0.34 percent of the city's total population. The Jewish community of Rio de Janeiro is made up of Jews from both Ashkenazi and Sefardi descent; during the mid-1800s, Jews came to Rio de Janeiro from Morocco and organized a community alongside their Ashkenazi neighbors. The vast majority of Rio's Jewish population lives in the central neighborhoods of Leblon, Botafogo, Ipanema, and Copacabana. As of 2010, these communities were home to synagogues, Jewish day schools and kosher shops.

The Jews of Rio de Janeiro are represented by a well-organized network of social, religious and cultural institutions. Affiliated with the FIERJ are more than 80 different organizations dedicated to communal work. These include synagogues, schools, social and welfare programs, women's organizations, and various health and fitness associations. Among those that have made the most impact on the Jewish community over the years are Organização Sionista, B'nai B'rith, Clube Israelita Brasileiro, Sociedade Beneficente das Damas, Lar da Criança Israelita, and notably the Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Hospital Albert Einstein, Hebraica and Monte Sinai. Rio's Jewish community has always been active in philanthropy, supporting local and state foundations while also establishing many of their own.

Various media outlets serve the Jewish community of Rio de Janeiro. The FIERJ produces a weekly television program dedicated to news and education. The Jewish Public Affairs also produces a television program known as Menorah TV. Circulated throughout Rio's Jewish community is Jornal Alef, the city's Jewish newspaper.

Religious Jewish life in Rio is varied. Congregations range from Haredi and ultra-Orthodox to Reform and other liberal streams of Judaism. In 1900, the number of congregations numbered only two: one was established by Jews who had immigrated from Western Europe, and the other by Jews from North Africa. By 2005, there were as many as 30 synagogues in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The two most well-known synagogues in Rio are Congregação Judaica do Brasil, a Reform congregation, and Associação Religiosa Israelita, a congregation founded by Jewish immigrants from Germany in 1942, which has a membership of over 800 families.

Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in Rio's Jewish day schools. These schools range from Orthodox to pluralistic. Hebrew courses and Jewish studies programs are offered at the state universities of Rio de Janeiro. Among the most notable Jewish schools in Rio are Scholem Aleichem Colégio Israelita Brasileiro (pluralistic), Eliezer Steinberg– Max Nordau (pluralistic), Bar Ilan (religious Zionist), ORT, Machané Or Israel (Orthodox), and Beit Menachem (Orthodox).

The city of Rio de Janeiro is host to a number of Jewish cultural centers and museums. These include the Midrash Centro Cultural (MCC). A Reform institution located in Leblon, one of Rio's most affluent neighborhoods, the MCC offers a variety of educational programs, concerts, and events. A central hub for social Jewish life is the Hebraica community center. In addition to organizing cultural and social events, Hebraica provides a wide array of sports and recreational activities, as well as health-related programming. Other important Jewish communal centers include Club Monte Sinai, an athletic club, and Rio's three Chabad centers.

There are also a number of significant Jewish landmarks located throughout the city. In 2008, Rio's tourist guide union created the city's first Jewish-themed tour. Visitors to Rio can take an organized tour of the city's downtown area for a glimpse of its historic Jewish past. One important center for Jewish history is the small Jewish museum featuring what is known as the Feldman Collection. Comprised of close to 60 menorahs and other ritual objects, each item was designed by Russian-born artist Joseph Feldman. The museum also includes several items donated by Brazil's first Jewish immigrants and artifacts from Holocaust survivors who settled in Rio after the Second World War. Other important Jewish landmarks are the Yitzhak Rabin monument and the Grand Temple in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Once the center of Jewish life in Rio, the city's downtown area has been in decline for decades and as a result, services at the Grand Temple only take place during High Holy Days.

HISTORY

Beginning in the 16th century there were small groups of Marranos, generally from Portugal, in Rio de Janeiro; they later assimilated into the local population. With the proclamation of Brazilian independence (1822) and the proclamation of the Brazilian empire (1824) which espoused religious tolerance, the first practicing Jewish immigrants began to appear sporadically in Rio de Janeiro. One of the prominent individuals among these first newcomers was Denis de Samuel (1782-1860), a young immigrant from England who attained great success and influence and earned the title of baron from the king of Portugal.

The first attempt at organizing a community was made in 1846 by Jews originating from Morocco who came to Rio de Janeiro from northern Brazil. The organization Uniaoshel Guemilut Hassadim, which still exists, ascribes its origin to this attempt. In 1867 the local council of Alliance Israelite Universelle was established in Rio de Janeiro. In 1873 a society for religious and welfare matters was founded. It tried to establish a cemetery and, from 1876 onward, maintained a fixed place of prayer, but its limited scope, as well as the consequences of assimilation, precluded the institution from achieving its potential.

At the time of proclamation of the republic (1889), the number of Jews in Rio de Janeiro was estimated at 200. In 1900 there were two synagogues in the city, one formed by North African immigrants, and the other by French and west European settlers; both congregations were small. With the developments that began in 1900, by the end of World War I the city's Jewish population was estimated at 2,000.

There was a large great wave of Jewish immigrants to Rio de Janeiro after World War I, and as the Jewish community grew communal life became more diversified. In 1910 the Centro Israelita do Rio de Janeiro was founded by French Jews; its principal objective was the establishment of a synagogue and a cemetery. The latter was founded in 1920 in Vila Rosali. The first philanthropic institution was established under the name Achiezer in 1912; it was later (1920) changed to the Uniao Beneficente Israelita and sought to promote the settlement of, and permanent assistance to, Jewish immigrants in Rio de Janeiro. As of 1924, the Uniao was taken over by the Jewish Colonization Association (ICA), which dispatched Isaiah Raffalovitch as its permanent delegate to Rio de Janeiro. His efforts to establish a unified community there failed because of the great organizational and partisan diversity. In 1937 the Policlinica Israelita, one of the most useful Jewish communal institutions of Rio de Janeiro, was founded as part of the medical section of the same Uniao with the aim of extending medical assistance to immigrants.

Another institution dedicated to aiding women, children, and the elderly was created in 1923 under the name Sociedade Das Damas Israelitas (Froien Farein), which developed a diverse social program. In the political and cultural realm, the first Zionist organization in Rio de Janeiro was founded in 1913 under the name Tifereth Zion; it was replaced in 1922 by the Federacao Sionista do Brasil. In 1927 the Comite Central of the Po'alei Zion party was founded. The Sholem Aleichem library was established in 1915, the Biblioteca Bialik in 1937, and the Michal Klepfisz library in 1944. These three libraries continue to function and develop general cultural activities. The first large school, Magen David, was established in 1922. Numerous newspapers and weeklies began being published in Rio de Janeiro beginning n 1916.

In 1969 there were close to 30 communal organizations in Rio de Lar da Crianca, lar dos Velhos, Policlinica, Froien Farein, Lai-Shpar-Kasse dedicated to relief and aid; Hebraica, Monte Sinai, CIB, Asa served the community's recreational needs. Cultural organizations included the labor Zionist Biblioteca Bialik, and Centro Idish and Folks-Institute of the Yiddishists. There were three Conservative synagogues, four Sephardi congregations, an Orthodox congregation, and three cemeteries.

Niterol is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro and has had an organized Jewish community since 1916. Its community has included a religious services organization (synagogue, cemetery, etc.), a local school (76 pupils in 1967), and a number of cultural and social activities. In addition, the Hebraica Club (founded 1961), which has about 600 members, has offered recreational, sports, and cultural activities. The community's library, named after David Fishbein (founded 1922), has served as a cultural center.

In 1997 there were 40.000 Jews living in Rio de Janeiro. The total Jewish population in Brazil at that time was 130,000.