Select the Panama link at
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/comm_latin.html: Most of the 7000 Jews live in Panama City, but there are also communities
in Colon, David and the former American Canal Zone. Panama was a Spanish colony.
Settlement by Jews openly practicing Judaism started in 1836 with the arrival of
Portuguese Jews from Jamaica, Guadeloupe, and Curacao and joined by Jews from
the Virgin Islands and later from Central Europe. In 1876, the
Spanish-Portuguese synagogue (Kol Shearith Israel) was founded in Panama City,
and in 1890 the Kahal Kodesh Yaacov in Colon. With the construction of the
Panama Canal, Jews came from Syria, Turkey and founded Shevet Ahim in Panama
City, Ahvat Ahim in Colon and a small community in David. The community has
three synagogues including a Reform congregation and two Jewish schools. [August
2005]