(JEWISH GROUP) (JAHM) This graphic novel illustrates the story of America's first Jewish congregation -- pirates and all

(JAHM = Jewish American (nominally) History Month)


Julian Voloj wrote the graphic novel ‘Remnants’ about the Jews who established the first congregation in New York. Courtesy of Julian Voloj/collage made on Canva

Graphic novelist Julian Voloj was walking through Manhattan’s Chinatown when he stumbled across the cemetery of the United States’ oldest Jewish community, Shearith Israel. This inspired him to write Remnants, an interpretation of the story of 23 Jews from Brazil who established North America’s first congregation.

When people think about Jewish immigration to New York, it usually brings to mind the waves of Eastern and Central European Jewish migrants in the early 20th century. But Remnants sheds light on the Sephardic immigration that introduced Judaism to the Americas far earlier.

These Jews were originally from the Iberian Peninsula and had fled to the Netherlands during the Portuguese and Spanish Inquisitions that lasted from around the middle of the 15th century to the 19th century. When the Dutch began occupying Recife, Brazil in 1630, several Jews immigrated to the new South American colony and founded the first synagogue in the Americas, Kahal Zur Israel. Through the eyes of a young girl, Remnants recounts how they had to flee for their lives again in 1654, when Recife was seized by the Portuguese, who banished all Jewish and Dutch settlers. This group of Jews eventually arrived in New Amsterdam, now known as New York.

Voloj is used to challenging assumptions about the homogeneity of Jewish identity in his work. His graphic novel Ghetto Brother told the story of a Puerto-Rican gang member living in the Bronx who finds out later in life that he comes from a family of crypto-Jews. Recently, Voloj co-created the graphic novel Hyphen: Jewish Stories in Our Own Words, which features a dozen personal stories from Jews from across the globe. In Remnants, vibrantly illustrated by Brazilian comic book creator Andre Diniz, Voloj turns his attention to the diversity of American Jewish history.

more...