City overview

St. Thomas is a U.S. Virgin Island and U.S. territory, built around the harbor town of Charlotte Amalie and the cruise-ship trade, with Danish colonial forts, duty-free shopping and some of the best beaches in the Caribbean. Orthodox Jewish life on the island runs through Chabad Lubavitch of the Virgin Islands, based on the East End near Red Hook, led by Rabbi Asher Federman and Mrs. Henya Federman. There is no restaurant, standing daily minyan, or eruv here — the island runs on advance planning: kosher meals are pre-ordered from Chabad’s own kitchen, and davening is arranged around who is visiting that week. St. Thomas also holds one of the oldest synagogue buildings in the Western Hemisphere, in Charlotte Amalie, though it is not part of the current Orthodox community.