Synagogue Mikvé Israel-Emanuel
Willemstad, Curaçao
Hanchi Snoa 29
P.O.Box 322 Curaçao,
+599-9-4611067 | info@snoa.com
Congregation Mikvé Israel-Emanuel is a Liberal Sephardic Community with a rich history dating back to 1651. It is situated on the island of Curaçao in the Dutch Caribbean. Our Community’s and Synagogue’s historic significance and heritage are well-documented and our Synagogue and Jewish Cultural Historical Museum draw thousands of foreign and local visitors every year. Our Synagogue is the oldest temple in continuous use in the Americas and has been our House of Worship since 1732.
Curaçao is an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Dutch king is our king. The society is cosmopolitan, multi-lingual and multi-cultural. English, Dutch, Spanish and the local vernacular Papiamentu are spoken by most Curaçao citizens, including in our Jewish community. European, US, Canadian and South American tourism is an important part of our economy. The island’s culture is a mix of Latin American and American music, often with an African beat; 18th and 19th century monumental buildings of Dutch architecture; soccer, baseball, tennis and watersports – and a bit of golf; and fully peaceful and respectful living of the majority Roman Catholic population with citizens of Protestant, Muslim, Hindu and Jewish persuasions. The majority of the population is ethnically African-Curaçaoan.
Our spiritual leader for the last fourteen years will retire in 2020 and we are actively searching for a new spiritual leader to take over our pulpit in July 2020. The enclosed profile of a new spiritual leader is indicative of what our congregation is ideally searching for.
Our congregation is eager to get to know potential candidates who are able to lead services in an inspiring way, who can stimulate attendance, and are able to explain and teach Torah, our traditions and history in an exciting way. Engaging children and in particular young adults is important to us as are social interaction and pastoral duties.
We are a closely knit small Jewish community but its historical significance and legacy to the Jewish world are far greater than our numerical size. Congregation Mikvé Israel-Emanuel now counts 165 local Jewish persons while including non-Jewish spouses and children, the total number is reasonably stable at two hundred souls. The only other and smaller Jewish congregation in Curaçao is Orthodox and led by a Chabad rabbi.
All our services and life cycle events are held in our beautiful and historic synagogue. Our spiritual leader leads Friday night and Saturday morning services as well as all holiday services including on all High Holidays. Our spiritual leader chants from the Torah and leads the singing of prayer-songs during services, accompanied by an organist. Our spiritual leader prepares youth for Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah.
Our spiritual leader co-leads (with the Rabbi of the Orthodox Jewish community) the Community Hebrew School. Some Jewish holidays events are celebrated jointly by the two communities as well as commemorations such as Holocaust and Israel Independence Day.
We look forward to hearing from candidates for this position and plan, after initial correspondence, to have telephone and Skype interviews with members of our board and of the search committee. If initial contacts are positive and if logistically possible we may have a congregational member, past spiritual leader or “Snoa friend” meet a candidate in person or extend an invitation to Curaçao.
Remuneration is to be commensurate with experience and competitive.
Interested in applying? Contact the congregation: vicepresident@snoa.com.
