Architecture reminiscent of 17th century Amsterdam
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On February 15, 2008 I visited the historic Synagogue of Congregation Mikve Israel-Emanuel which covers most of a square block in the center of Punda (the main business district of Willemstad). It’s pastel yellow walls rise majestically at the corner of Hanchi di Snoa and Columbustraat. There are four large portals in the wall surrounding the synagogue through which one may enter the courtyard. Most people today enter the courtyard through the Hanchi di Snoa entrance.Â
 As you approach the synagogue through the courtyard, you see the Hebrew inscription (in pure copper) on the lintel over the great mahogany doors. It reads: “Yaft Elohim l’ Yefet, v’yishkon  b’ahole Shem” (“May God enlarge Jafeth and let him dwell in the tents of Shem” – Gen. 9:27).
Mahognay Theba (Readers Platform)
 As you journey through the large mahogany doors, you pass from the 21
st century back to the history of this Jewish community. The interior of the Synagogue has a sacred, old-world charm unlike any Synagogue that I have visited in the Western Hemisphere. The visitor is immediately aware of the sand covering the floor like a thick carpet. There are both symbolic and practical reasons for the sand. Symbolically, it represents the sand in the desert where Israel camped during the long journey from slavery to freedom. The interior of the synagogue is arranged in such a way as to remind one of the ancient Israelite encampment, with the Tabern acle in the center and the tribes camped about it on the sand.
- Raised baldaquin of the Parnassim
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In the center of the Synagogue, surrounded by the sand, is the mahogany Theba (Readers Platform). Services are conducted by the Rabbi and/or Hazzan from the Theba, facing the Hekhal. The sermon is delivered from the small enclosure at the front of the Theba called the Hakham’s pulpit.Â
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On the east wall of the Synagogue is the Hekhal (Holy Ark). The Hekhal is seventeen feet high and fifteen feet wide; it is fashioned of heavy, richly carved mahogany with solid silver ornamentation. It has four doors, all of which are opened at the beginning and at the end of the Torah Service. Inside the Hekhal are 18 Torah scrolls, several of which are wound on solid silver rollers.
Hekhal (Holy Ark)
In the center of the north wall of the Synagogue is the raised baldaquin of the Parnassim (trustee  of the congregation); it is generally referred to as the “Banca”.
 The Synagogue of Congregation Mikve Israel-Emanuel of Curacao is unique in many ways. There is the architecture reminiscent of 17th century Amsterdam; there is the sand covering the floor like a thick carpet; there are the magnificent brass chandeliers and a host of other features that set this historic house of worship apart from any other. But most important are the facts that this synagogue is the oldest Synagogue building in the Americas and that it houses the oldest Jewish Congregation in the Americas. To those who visit the synagogue, they extend the traditional blessing – as described over the courtyard portals; “Blessed may you be in your coming, and blessed may you be in your going” – Deut. 28.6
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December 23rd, 2009 | 
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