PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP)<\/strong> \u2014 Plagued by high maintenance costs, the tiny Jewish community in Suriname has rented out one of the oldest synagogues in the Western Hemisphere for a computer shop and an Internet cafe<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to do this to save the synagogue,\u201d Jewish community leader Dennis Kopinsky said.<\/p>\n But some in this former Dutch colony in South America are unhappy about the 265-year-old Sedekwe Shalom<\/em> Synagogue\u2019s unlikely transformation.<\/p>\n Nathalie Brunings, an Adventist, compared it to the Bible story in which Jesus drove merchants out of a Jewish temple because he found it disrespectful. \u201cIf Jesus came here right now he would get real angry,\u201d Brunings said.<\/p>\n The synagogue, a white wooden building erected by Sephardic Jews, is a landmark in Paramaribo, the capital. It was built in 1736, Surinamese historian Andre Loor said \u2014 a date that would make it four years younger than the Mikve Israel-Emanuel<\/em> Synagogue on the Dutch island of Cura\u00e7ao, which claims to be the hemisphere\u2019s oldest continuously used synagogue.<\/p>\n Over more than two centuries, the \u201conce flourishing\u201d Jewish community of Suriname has dwindled to about 200 people, said the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n The congregation\u2019s decline echoes the waning fortunes of other Jewish communities, many of them with roots in medieval Spain, who arrived in the Caribbean with the first European colonists.<\/p>\n Kopinsky said the Sedekwe Shalom<\/em> congregation has only about 60 members now, and they now worship at the only other synagogue in town.<\/p>\n The airy space of Sedekwe Shalom<\/em> is occupied by computer cables, monitors, and desks where visitors tap out e-mails. An air conditioner is tucked into one of the tall windows, which are topped by small semicircle windows in the Dutch colonial style.<\/p>\n \u201cI know in my heart I am not happy with a business center housed in a synagogue, but under the circumstances it was the best decision possible,\u201d Kopinsky said.<\/p>\n But some Surinamese feel protective of the landmark, regardless of their faith.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is outrageous,\u201d said businessman Maurice Issa, a Roman Catholic. \u201cHow on earth could they do this?\u201d<\/p>\n Suriname\u2019s Catholics have been struggling to restore their 116-year-old wooden cathedral in Paramaribo, which has not had a service in nearly a decade. Many other colonial buildings have rotted or burned down.<\/p>\n \u201cI am Catholic and I cannot imagine a business center in the cathedral,\u201d said Daniel Satimin, who was using the Internet at the synagogue\u2019s cyber cafe.<\/p>\n To preserve the synagogue\u2019s religious artifacts, the community dismantled the interior and sent everything \u2014 benches and all \u2014 to the Israel Museum for 10 years for display and restoration.<\/p>\n The museum exhibit, \u201cAll the Way from Suriname,\u201d features 18th-century items including an 8-foot-tall menorah<\/em> \u2014 or candelabra \u2014 and a Torah with silver and jeweled ornaments.<\/p>\n Part of the Suriname synagogue is now taken up by a workbench where proprietor Jimmy Rosheuvel \u2014 a member of the congregation \u2014 bolts together new computers for customers.<\/p>\n Like Kopinsky, he believes the synagogue\u2019s transformation was the only way to save it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe in Suriname are always so emotional,\u201d Kopinsky said. \u201cLook around Paramaribo and see what emotions have done to many of our historic buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Arny Belfor, Associated Press Writer PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) \u2014 Plagued by high maintenance costs, the tiny Jewish community in <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1237,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-template\/full-width.php","meta":[],"yoast_head":"\n