Bikur Cholim Synagogue, Santiago

The Bikur Cholim Synagogue is situated in downtown Santiago and has been described as one of Chile's oldest Jewish places of worship.[1] At the time of reporting in August 2025, it was in limited use by the local Jewish community.[3]

The synagogue exists within a wider network of Chilean Jewish institutions. The Jewish Community of Chile serves as the umbrella organization of Chilean Judaism, while Santiago is home to several synagogues and organizations including the Comunidad Israelita de Santiago, Círculo Israelita de Santiago, the Sepharadic Community, and Nueva Bnei Israel.[2]

Jewish presence in Chile dates to the arrival of Jewish converts to Catholicism with Spanish conquistadors beginning in 1535. The first recorded minyan in Santiago took place on Rosh Hashanah in 1906. In 1909, 87 people signed the founding act of Chile's first formal Jewish center, the Sociedad Unión Israelita de Chile.[2] These events provide historical context for Santiago's Jewish institutions but do not establish the founding date of the Bikur Cholim Synagogue.

The Hebrew phrase bikur cholim means "visiting the sick" and has historically been associated with Jewish charitable work. A welfare association called Bikur Holim was active in the Jewish community of Izmir during the 19th century, although the archival record does not link it to the Santiago synagogue.[4]

Estimates of Chile's Jewish population vary. The World Jewish Congress gives a general figure of roughly 16,000, while citing a 2018 estimate by demographer Sergio DellaPergola of 18,300. Most Chilean Jews live in Santiago, with smaller communities elsewhere in the country. Approximately five percent of Santiago's Jewish community is described as Orthodox.[2]

Jewish communal life in Santiago includes synagogues, schools, museums, kosher facilities, youth movements, media organizations, and recreational institutions. Public traditions include the annual Tefila de Chile, attended by national officials, and the lighting of a Hanukkah menorah at the Casa de la Moneda. The city also has a Hebrew school, an Orthodox school, and a Center for Jewish Studies.[2]

Other Jewish sites in Santiago include the Museo Judío inside the Círculo Israelita de Santiago, a museum maintained by the Sepharadic Community, and the Sala Museo Judío Alemán inside Nueva Bnei Israel. The Archivo Judío de Chile preserves documents, photographs, memoirs, minutes, genealogical records, and audiovisual materials concerning Jewish life in the country. The cited source does not identify these institutions as parts of the Bikur Cholim Synagogue.[2]

On the night of August 23, 2025, the facade and entrance of the Bikur Cholim Synagogue were defaced with red paint and antisemitic posters.[1] One poster depicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a bullet hole in his forehead. The Jewish Community of Chile condemned the vandalism as an attack on religious coexistence and peace.[1]

The incident was not isolated. The synagogue had been vandalized multiple times following the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led terrorist attack on southern Israel.[1] The August 2025 attack received coverage from international Jewish news outlets and was included in a Counter Extremism Project roundup.[3][5]

Contemporary reports identify the Santiago site as the "Bikur Cholim Synagogue" and do not use the compound designation "Bikur Cholim B'nai Israel Synagogue."[3][5] The World Jewish Congress separately identifies Nueva Bnei Israel as a Chilean Jewish institution but does not connect it to Bikur Cholim.[2]

Similar names do not necessarily identify a single congregation. In Baltimore, Bikur Cholim and B'nai Israel were separate institutions: Bikur Cholim was incorporated in 1865 and followed the Polish style of worship, while B'nai Israel was founded by Lithuanian Jews in 1873.[6][7] The available sources therefore do not establish that the Santiago synagogue formally carries a compound name combining Bikur Cholim and B'nai Israel.