Chabad Lubavitch of Mauritius
Chabad-Lubavitch in Mauritius: the Barbers' Grand-Baie centre since 2011, serving residents and tourists; in 2025 it won a French court ruling for the Jewish burial of Paul-Loup Sulitzer
| Chabad Mauritius
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Chabad-Lubavitch emissary operation |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder(s) | Laima Barber and Mushkie Barber |
| Headquarters | Grand-Baie |
| Area served | Mauritius |
| Key people | Laima Barber and Mushkie Barber |
| Website | JewishMauritius.com |
| Remarks | Affiliations: Listed by Lubavitch.com as "Chabad Mauritius"; not part of the Kinshasa network. Uses the Jewish cemetery at St Martin, founded by wartime detainees |
Chabad-Lubavitch in Mauritius is run from Grand-Baie by Rabbi Laima Barber and his wife Mushkie, who have "served the Jewish community of Mauritius since 2011".[1][2] The 2011 census counted 43 Jews, but Barber says there are "actually hundreds". The centre also caters for Jewish tourists, with prayer services, Torah classes, kosher deliveries and "supervision of kosher food options in local supermarkets".[1] In February 2025 Barber obtained a ruling from a French court that blocked the cremation of the French novelist and financier Paul-Loup Sulitzer and allowed his Jewish burial in Mauritius.[1] Sulitzer had been convicted in Paris in 2009 in the "Angolagate" affair over arms sales to Angola, and did not appeal.[3][4]
Emissaries and centre
- Laima Barber and Mushkie Barber arrived in 2011.[1] Lubavitch.com lists "Chabad Mauritius" at Grand-Baie; the website is JewishMauritius.com.[2] Chabad.org calls Barber "director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Mauritius".[1]
- Barber has presided over three funerals at the Jewish cemetery in St Martin.[1]
History and the wider Jewish community
According to Chabad.org, the Jewish cemetery at St Martin was founded in 1943 by 1,500 Jews whom the British refused entry to Mandate Palestine as they fled the Holocaust and sent to Mauritius, "where 128 of them succumbed to tropical diseases and food scarcity". Barber says it "is maintained and in use by the community to this day".[1]
The Sulitzer burial
Paul-Loup Sulitzer retired to Mauritius and became close to Barber, putting on tefillin with him "frequently". He died on 6 February 2025, aged 78. A relative arranged a cremation. Barber, Sulitzer's lawyer and his youngest daughter went to a French judge, who ruled that Sulitzer would have wanted a Jewish burial; "On appeal, the ruling was upheld." Sulitzer was buried at St Martin on 16 February 2025.[1]
Sulitzer's conviction (background). On 27 October 2009 the Paris tribunal correctionnel sentenced Sulitzer to 15 months' imprisonment, suspended, and a €100,000 fine in the Angolagate case, "une affaire de vente d'armes de guerre à l'Angola dans les années 90".[3] Sulitzer did not appeal his conviction.[4][5] The Paris Court of Appeal's ruling of 29 April 2011, which acquitted Charles Pasqua and reduced the sentences of Pierre Falcone and Arcadi Gaydamak, dealt with the defendants who had appealed. Sulitzer was not one of them.[6][5] Chabad's account of the burial does not mention it.[1]
Relations with the state, business and Israel
Barber dealt with the French embassy in Mauritius over the burial.[1] No other dealings with the state, business or Israel were found.
Funding and donors
None found.
Controversies
None found involving Chabad. See the note on Sulitzer above.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1943 | St Martin Jewish cemetery founded by wartime detainees |
| 27 Oct 2009 | Sulitzer convicted in the Angolagate case (no appeal lodged) |
| 2011 | The Barbers arrive; census counts 43 Jews |
| 6 Feb 2025 | Death of Sulitzer |
| Feb 2025 | French court blocks his cremation; burial at St Martin on 16 February |
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Mauritius
- Chabad Lubavitch of South Africa
- Chabad Lubavitch of Angola
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Mendel Super (Chabad.org), "Defying Odds, Shliach Saves French Author from Cremation", Anash.org, 30 March 2025. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, "Grand-Baie, Mauritius – Centers", Lubavitch.com, accessed 20 October 2026. Chabad-side directory.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Paul-Loup Sulitzer condamné à 15 mois de prison avec sursis dans l'Angolagate", La Dépêche, 27 October 2009. Press.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "24 des 36 condamnés de l'Angolagate ont fait appel", Challenges, 16 November 2009. Press.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Angolagate : les principales étapes de l'affaire", Le Nouvel Obs with AFP, 21 February 2011. Press.
- ↑ "Angolagate : Charles Pasqua relaxé en appel", RFI, 29 April 2011. Press.