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. 
However, this group of records provides incredible information for the development of a family tree. I did a basic search for the name Cohen and it retrieved 204 results. One of those was for Miriam Pearl Cohen, who died on 14 June 1987, in Walnut Creek.
The entry provides two ways to view the record. The first is the indexed version which provides the names and locations of others listed on the document (shown below).
For the most part, these records tend to place the people into the census records, which can continue to build the trees. It's a wonderful way to connect to our ancestors.
Now, thanks to the new available AI tools such as FamilySearch's Full Text Search, it is becoming easier to find the documents of our ancestors. Using simple search parameters I have been able to locate a few more important documents.
Rosa Meyer
On the 18th of February in 1904, Rosa Meyer died in Salt Lake City, Salt lake, Utah. Her will was probated on 1 April 1904, also in Salt Lake City. The probate document (shown below) has some incredible information.
In addition to listing all her siblings, but also the children of those who were deceased, including their current residences. This was important because many of the community had been driven out of Fordon. This helps us bring the families back together. Also, on line 5 of the page above, she left $50 to the Jewish community of Fordon. She may have left but they were not forgotten.
Frederich Auerbach
As the Knowles Collection continues to grow, it becomes necessary to change the way it can be accessed at FamilySearch. It is true that change is not always good, but I feel this change is great for the Knowles Collection. Previously, the 6 databases of the Knowles Collection had to be searched all at the same time, and it was a sometimes confusing search. Below is a step by step process for accessing those databases.
