“We are on our way to extinction,” says René Levy Maduro, a lifelong member of Curaçao's Jewish community. “Our numbers are just diminishing to the point of no return.”
In his late 70s and walking with a cane, he spent four decades on the board of Mikvé Israel-Emanuel—15 years as its president—and has seen the congregation change over the generations. But it's the attrition that's most concerning. Younger Jews are leaving the Caribbean in droves as they seek post-secondary education and other opportunities in the United States or Europe. “Our numbers will just get smaller."
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