Nidhe Israel Synagogue in Barbados was built in 1654. The synagogue was renovated in 1988 and has won many preservation awards. Jews arrived in Barbados two years after the English began to settle the island. They were fleeing from Recife, Brazil when the edicts of the Inquisition were extended beyond Spain and Portugal. The architecture with its lancet windows and bulbous wood turnings on the railings and the arrangement of the pews is clearly Sephardic.
The signage in the synagogue describes its current religious affiliation as “conservative verging on orthodox.” There is the exterior staircase which leads to the women's gallery upstairs, but I'm not clear whether or not women still sit separate from the men.
Erev shabbat services are held there and there is a wonderful sign (along with its twin in the St. Thomas synagogue) saying that shorts are fine when services are not being held, but that shorts may not be worn to services. The congregation is too small to employ a rabbi, so members of the congregation take turns leading the services. However, signs explained that for brit malah, and weddings and funerals (I'm guessing about the last two; I can't remember for certain) they fly in a rabbi from Caracas or Miami.
The synagogue on St. Thomas, Bracha V'Shalom Ug'milut Chasadim, is considerably newer; the current structure dates back to 1823. However, the Jewish presence on St. Thomas goes back to the first congregation in 1796. The synagogue had a different name back then, but it acquired its present name when immigration swelled the Jewish population on the island. The synagogue was built as an orthodox synagogue with a low wall which segregated the women behind the men. The wall still remains, but the synagogue is now a Reform temple to meet the needs of a more diverse population, and men and women sit wherever. The congregation is large enough to need/afford a rabbi.
The most distinctive feature of the synagogue is the sand on the floor. I had always thought this a Sephardic feature which perhaps was a reference to wanderings in the desert or the soil of Jerusalem, but I learned that it dates to the Inquisition. Jews used sand to cover the floors of the meeting places to muffle the sounds of assembly.
Philip & Karen Selwyn