(AMERICAN JUDAICA).

Wertheimer, Lea & Co.

London

(1888)

K.K. Shaare Shalom - Order of Service at the Consecration of the Synagogue of the United Congregation of Israelites, Duke Street, Kingston, Jamaica, on Thursday, 19th July, 5648-1888. * Tipped in: Kingston Synagogue donation card from the consecration ceremony.

Kahal Kadosh Shaare Shalom “Holy Congregation of the Gates of Peace”, also known as the United Congregation of Israelites, is an historic synagogue in the city of Kingston on the island of Jamaica. Today, it stands as the only Jewish house of worship in the entire country. With the influx of Jews to Jamaica in the 17th century, multiple synagogues were constructed across the island in such locations as Montego Bay, Spanish Town, Port Royal, and Kingston. Originally, two synagogues were built in Spanish Town, the Sephardi K.K. Neveh Shalom consecrated in 1704, and the Ashkenazi K.K. Mikveh Yisrael erected in 1796. These two congregations would later merge as Jews began to migrate from Spanish Town to Kingston, the new capital city. As in Spanish Town, two congregations (Sephardic and Ashkenazic) existed in Kingston. Over many decades, Jews began to intermarry and assimilate resulting in the merger of the Ashkenazic and Sephardic synagogues to attempt to merge. In 1885, Shaare Shalom was built by the United Congregation of Israelites. The building was reconstructed following an earthquake in 1912 and this structure, serving a unified congregation continues to exist.