Like so many of its Caribbean neighbors, the history of the Jewish community in Puerto Rico dates to the 15th century. Many of these early Jews were Crypto Jews, those who had fled the Spanish Inquisition. However when they arrived in Puerto Rico they found that Judaism could not be practiced openly as it was also prohibited under the rules of the Spanish Inquisition. This prohibition caused many of the community to flee to the mountains, far away from the populated area around San Juan. Here they could continue to practice Judaism. 
Luis de Torres is widely believed to be the first Jew to arrive in Puerto Rico. He did so as the interrupter for Christopher Columbus on his journey to the New World. He was part of the second voyage, arriving in November of 1493.
It wasn't for another 450 years before large numbers of Jews settled in Puerto Rico. These were refugees fleeing the German occupation of Europe.
The next large group of Jews arriving in Puerto Rico came in the 1950's. They to were refugees, this time fleeing Cuba as Fidel Castro came to power. The majority of the Jews from Cuba migrated to Miami, Florida but good amount did move to Puerto Rico. This was most likely because of the fact that the island of Puerto Rico was very similar to that of Cuba and to many it felt like the home they had left. Today, Puerto Rico has one of the largest Jewish community's in the Caribbean, over 2500 people.
FamilySearch has a growing number of collections that can help people find their Puerto Rican ancestors. These can be found by looking under the search tab, under Records.
