Puerto Rico's Jewish history reflects the island's broader experience as a crossroads shaped by the movement of people, cultures, and ideas. In this presentation, Dr. Dean-Olmsted traces the development of Jewish life on the island from the arrival of Crypto-Jewish settlers during the Spanish colonial period through 20th century migrations under U.S. rule, including of Jewish military personnel, Eastern European refugees, U.S. business families, and Cuban exiles.

Drawing on her ethnographic research, Dean-Olmsted then focuses on the contemporary Jewish landscape, in which recent demographic and economic shifts have resulted in an increase of both Puerto Rican "Jews by Choice" and wealthy Jewish foreigners drawn by tax incentives. In addition to presenting data from interviews and observations, Dean-Olmsted relates her own experience as a Jewish community member and participant in Jewish and Israeli disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Examining the lives and sensibilities of Jews in Puerto Rico raises critical questions on how notions of Jewishness interact with ideologies of race, class, and national belonging in the modern world.