The tiny island of Curaçao, in the Caribbean Sea, is often considered the cradle of Jewish life in the Americas. Nearly 400 years of Jewish presence on the island are exemplified by Mikvé Israel-Emanuel, the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Americas.

The founders of the congregation were Jews from the Portuguese-Jewish community of Amsterdam. Their prosperity enabled them to send financial support to help establish other Sephardi communities throughout the Caribbean, as well as to support Sephardic congregations in New York and Rhode Island. Today, fewer than two hundred Jews live on the island, but in its early years, Curaçao was home to more Jews than all the rest of the Americas combined.

The history of Congregation Mikvé Israel-Emanuel in Curaçao will be told through stories of the people and events that shaped the congregation and the broader Jewish community as they are today.

Ronald Gomes Casseres is descended from Sephardic Jews who came to Curaçao in 1690. Born on the Dutch Caribbean island, he is a leader of the historic Mikvé Israel-Emanuel community. Now retired after a long career in commercial banking, he has a particular interest in the history of Curaçao's Jewish community and its traditions and practices.

He has been active in numerous organizations and institutions in Curaçao and has published articles in local newspapers, the social-cultural journal Kristòf, the archival publication Archiefvriend, the American Jewish Archives Journal, and the congregation's Bulletin. In 2016, he co-edited Connecting the Lights, a publication exploring historical aspects of Curaçao's Jewish community, on the occasion of Chanukah.

He has been awarded decorations by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in recognition of his social and cultural contributions to the Curaçao community.