In the Cloud Forest of Panama: A Kosher Miracle

It’s a damp morning at the start of the rainy season in the middle of Panama’s tropical cloud forest. Mist hangs in the air, the not-too-distant volcano is shrouded in fog, and trees bristle in the morning wind. The sounds of hummingbirds and quetzals fill the air. It’s just another day in paradise for Hana and Rabbi Yakov Poliwoda.  For Yakov and Hana, their journey into the unknown began in 2016 with a visit to a coffee shop. The eatery in question was Morton’s Bakehouse, run by a Jewish couple: Barbara and Morton Rabkin. Morton was a retired attorney from Cincinnati, Ohio, who set up an artisan bakery in the highlands of Chiriqui Province, Panama. When Yakov and Hana met Barbara, she said to them, “You’re a young Chabad couple, so why don’t you open a Chabad center here in Boquete?” 

In 2016, there were just 40 Jews known to be living in the small town in Chiriqui on the western side of Panama, about a 45-minute flight from the capital Panama City. The capital boasts a growing Jewish population of 15,000 people who support over 45 restaurants, multiple synagogues, and even a kollel Jewish learning center.  The mix of tropical forests, cooler weather, and cheap property has made Boquete an ideal retirement spot for both Panamanians and, increasingly, expatriates, particularly from the United States, among them Jewish migrants.  The Poliwodas took three years to consider Barbara’s suggestion before they took the plunge and moved from Panama City to the mountains.  Venezuelan Yakov and Brazilian Hana studied in the US and Canada respectively at Chabad institutions before they married. 

Chabad’s Mission

RABBI YAKOV POLIWODA runs the Chabad house in the Boquete cloud forest.

Like many other Chabad shlihim (emissaries), the pair’s mission was to bring increased Yiddishkeit to Jews, wherever they may be.  The big difference for Yakov and Hana was entering the unknown, a place with no formal Jewish institutions, no synagogues, no schools, not even a Jewish cemetery. Just a Jewish-owned bakehouse.  The couple’s first step was to find a plot of land that would become the region’s Jewish cemetery. Sadly, the first person to be buried there was Morton.  Initially, the couple ran their Chabad house out of their small home but their dream was to find a property they could convert into a fully-fledged Chabad center.  “We had no real plan,” says Yakov. 

After renting a small property and then space in a hotel, they found a property with adjacent land close to the center of Boquete.  Swiftly after moving into their new house, Yakov and Hana were already knocking down walls to expand their kitchens to provide kosher meals for visitors to the area.  For Hana, there were particular challenges living in Boquete – first among them, the need for a mikveh (ritual bath). In the first years of their time in the cloud forest, she would either fly to Panama City once a month or find a discreet beach.  BY THIS point, the community had grown from 40 souls to 100. As children came along, the couple knew they needed to provide an education framework.

PRIOR TO BUILDING a community mikveh in Boquete in 2024, Hana Poliwoda would have to fly to Panama City to perform the mitzvah each month

As a result, they opened a tiny school, currently attended by their own two girls and two others from the community. Two young Chabad women from Canada and the US volunteer with school classes.  And with a growing community, Yakov and Hana needed a space to host events such as prayer services and the traditional Chabad Friday night dinner. The Poliwodas fundraising went into overdrive. As soon as they could, the pair constructed a stunning Chabad house in a verdant cloud forest.  In normal circumstances, an architect would incorporate the Aron Kodesh (holy ark for the Torah scrolls) into the design. But things are often different with the Poliwodas, this time, thanks to Yakov’s Florida-based grandmother.

A synagogue in Miami was looking to donate an ark and she thought it would be the perfect fit. The only trouble was, it was almost two stories high. The Poliwodas drew on Yakov’s Moroccan roots, and he built a gorgeous double-height, open-plan synagogue in Moorish style to match the ark.  What Yakov and Hana have proved is they will never shy away from a challenge. They decided to take over Morton’s bakehouse and turn it into a kosher bakery and café. Set in a large garden including banana trees, rainbow eucalyptus, a kid’s soccer field and swings, Morton’s offers an extremely broad menu. As well as extensive breakfast and lunch menus, travelers to Boquete can pick up boxed meals to take on excursions. 

All the staff are warm, well trained and speak excellent English. And they certainly know how to make a scrumptious bagel and lox. And when Morton’s closes, the Poliwoda’s offer delicious, wholesome meaty meals, which they deliver to local hotels and guest houses.  It feels as though the Poliwodas add another layer to their project each year.  The Chabad House now incorporates five guest rooms, so observant visitors can stay in a kosher environment and use the synagogue and mikveh, all while taking in 360 degrees of the surrounding vertiginous hills.  It’s not in everyone’s DNA to leave behind a rich Jewish community, a plethora of synagogues and educational facilities, and tremendous kosher stores and restaurants and head into what is after all the unknown.

The Poliwodas may modestly say they didn’t have a vision and they will do whatever they feel they need with God’s help, but they also have tremendous inner strength and spiritual gumption as they bring their dreams to reality.  It is refreshing to spend time with the Poliwodas in their Boquete oasis, seeing how they have transformed life in this lush paradise to enable observant Jewish visitors partake of all that Boquete has to offer.  Chabad Boquete is open for business for individual travelers, families and groups. The Poliwodas are just a website click away (chabadboquete.com) and happy to help with all questions, including those about the tourist offerings in this stunning part of Panama.