Sephardic law and customs Spain or Portugal (as well as one Romaniot and one Ashkenazi synagogue). In a process lasting from the 16th through the 19th century, the native Jewish communities of most Arab and Ottoman countries adapted their pre-existing liturgies, many of which already had a family resemblance with the Sephardic, to follow the Spanish rite in as many respects as possible. Some reasons for this are: The most important theological, as opposed to practical, motive for harmonization was the Kabbalistic teachings of Isaac Luria and Ḥayim Vital. Luria himself always maintained that it was the duty of every Jew to abide by
Religion in the Bahamas Religion in the Bahamas Religion in the Bahamas reflects the country's diversity. Since the English colonization, most Bahamians adhere to diverse Protestant denominations with Anglicanism, Baptist churches, Pentecostalism, Adventism and Methodism being at the forefront. Statistically speaking, major Protestant denominations include Baptists (35 percent), Anglicans (15 percent), Pentecostals (8 percent), Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) (5 percent), Seventh-day Adventists (5 percent), and Methodists (4 percent). Although many unaffiliated Protestant congregations are almost exclusively black, most mainstream churches are integrated racially. There are significant Roman Catholic (14 percent) and Greek Orthodox populations. Smaller Jewish, Baha'i, Jehovah's Witness and Muslim communities also