Peru
Apartado 1943
(Husares de Junin 163)
Lima 11
Tel. 51 14 241 412/ 244 797
Fax 51 14 312 412 [October 2000]
Union Israelita del Peru
Porras Osores 210
San Isidro
Lima-Peru
Tel. +51 1 440-0290 [Source: Peter Salamon, July 2005]
Bikur Jolim (Welfare Society)
Av. Guardia Civil 175, Lima-Peru
Tel. +51 1 475-9005 [Source: Peter Salamon, July 2005]
"In 1966, an Incan Catholic from the Peruvian city of Trujillo named Villanueva began to learn more about Judaism and, when the Catholic Church excommunicated him for his increasing hostility toward Catholicism, he emigrated to Spain to avoid further prejudice. While in Spain Villanueva studied Judaism and returned to Peru to convert his community of Indians to his new-found faith. More than five hundred of his fellow community members became devoted Jews. As the poor Trujillo Jews became more observant, they found that they were not able to acquire sufficient ritual objects such as prayer books (siddurim) or prayer shawls (tallisim). In the absence of necessary ritual objects the Incan Jewish community began to focus more on studying mystical questions such as reincarnation (gilgul) and concept of a Messiah. The European-descended Jews of Lima did not accept the Incas' Judaism and did not allow them to use the synagogue or ritual bath (mikva); when Inca Jewish women needed to use the ritual bath they used the ocean or a nearby waterfall. In order to find a more receptive environment for their Judaism three hundred members of the community have emigrated to Israel, but some have remained, assuring that their way of life would not disappear from Peru. Their ranks are growing, and the Incan Jewish community of Trujillo has again had to face poverty, prejudice and the question of how they are going to maintain their Judaism."
Source: http://www.mindspring.com/~jaypsand/dispersed.htm [January 2002]
Liebman, Seymour B. Papers, 1573-1986. 654 items. Notes: Chiefly photocopies, carbon copies, and microfilm, of documents in Archivo General de la Nación, Mexico City, Mexico, Archivo Histórico Nacional de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, Archivo General de Indias, Seville, Spain, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., DRT Library at the Alamo, San Antonio, Tex., Arquivo da Torre do Tombo, Lisbon, Portugal, Biblioteca Nacional del Perú, Lima, Peru, and Casa de la Inquisición, Lima, Peru. Archivo General de la Nación, Mexico City, Mexico. Archivo Histórico Nacional de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. Archivo General de Indias, Seville, Spain. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., U.S. DRT Library at the Alamo, San Antonio, Tex., U.S. Arquivo da Torre do Tombo, Lisbon, Portugal. Biblioteca Nacional del Perú, Lima, Peru. Casa de la Inquisición, Lima, Peru.
Historian, teacher, lecturer, and author; d. 1986. …together with 19th and 20th century documents on the establishment of Jewish cemeteries in Lima, Peru; …Purchase and gift. Finding aid published in: National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States, microfiche 3.110.34. This entry replaces MS 83-1095. Location: Tulane University, Latin American Library (New Orleans, La.). Control No.: DCLV93-A1255 [December 2000]
Trahtemberg S., Leon. Los Judios de Lima y las Provincias. Lima-Peru: Union Israelita del Peru, February 1989. Name list at http://www.salamon.net/jp_surnamelist.htm. [December 2000]
also select the Peru link at http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/comm_latin.html [October 2005]
[UPDATE] Jewish Burial Index for Peru [June 2015]