Religion: Temple in Paradise

Ebenezer Townsend, supercargo of a New England whaler, noted in his diary on Aug. 19, 1798 that Hawaii's King Kamehameha I, had "a Jew cook." If the cook remained in Hawaii, added Townsend, "I think it will be difficult to trace his descendants, for he is nearly as dark as they are."

Ebenezer was right. The descendants of the king's "Jew cook"—the first Jew to be mentioned in Hawaiian history—have never been traced. But some of them perhaps took part last week in the dedication of Hawaii's first permanent Jewish place of worship, the...

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