Shavei Israel Emissaries Program
Background
Shavei Israel is dedicated to the research of the Lost Tribes of Israel, anousim (Marranos), and other descendants of ‘lost Jews.’ Shavei Israel also endeavors to provide tangible assistance to individuals and communities who sincerely desire to return to the Jewish people. This includes sponsoring spiritual leaders and educators to communities who are in the process of returning to the Jewish fold.
Details
Shavei Israel supports emissaries in communities that show a desire to increase their Jewish awareness. Today, Shavei Israel sponsors rabbis in Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Poland and educators in India. Additional emissaries are needed in these countries and in Latin America.
Shavei Israel emissaries teach Judaism and Hebrew, conduct prayers on Shabbat and holidays, prepare weekly bulletins for the community, establish programs for children and youth and give individual guidance. Shavei Israel emissaries are a contact for members of the community, as well as those on the outside of the community framework, who are interested in investigating their connection to Judaism and the Jewish people.
Emissaries
Rabbi Nissan Ben Avraham - Shavei Israel's emissary in Spain
Itinerant Rabbi among different Bnei Anousim groups that are interested in returning to Judaim in Spain (Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante, Sevilla and Valencia). He writes articles in Catalan about the weekly parasha for Shavei Israel’s bulletin and is a Sofer Stam. A descendant of the Chuetas from Mallorca, he made aliya in 5738 (1977). In Israel he returned to Judasim and studied in the Ateret Cohanim and Shilo yeshivas. He received his semicha (Rabbinical ordination) in 5751 (1991).
Contact Rabbi Nissan Ben Avraham
Rabbi Elisha Salas - Shavei Israel's emissary in Portugal
He serves as the Chief Rabbi of the city Belmonte and as a traveling shaliach in the villages of northern Portugal. Rabbi Salas was born in Chile and received smicha from the Sefardi Beit Midrashi in the Old City of Jerusalem. He has also received certification as a shochet, in education, and as a mashgiach kashrut. Rabbi Salas made aliya in 1999 and lives in Jerusalem. He has a degree in accounting and management from the University of Santiago De Chile. Contact Rabbi Eliash Salas
Rabbi Boaz Pash - Shavei Israel's emissary in Krakow, Poland
In Krakow, Poland, he serves as the Chief Rabbi and assists the local community of “hidden Jews”. He has also been an emissary and teacher in Sao Paolo, Brazil, at the Shavei Israel Center in Aizawl, Mizoram, northeast India and an emissary of Shavei Israel in Lisbon, Portugal. He specializes in kabbalah and published a book on the teachings of Rabbi Ashlag TZ"L. Rabbi Pash was born and grew up in the Old City of Jerusalem. He received his rabbincal ordination at "Heichal HaTorah" yeshiva and participated in the founding of the yeshiva at Maaleh Amos. Soon after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Rabbi Pash went to Kiev, Ukraine, where he inaugurated and taught at the local yeshiva.
Contact Rabbi Boaz Pash
Rabbi Itzjak Rapoport - Shavei Israel's emissary in Wroclaw, Poland
Being of Polish descent he became interested in the rebirth of Jewish communities in Poland, and consequently took up the position as Rabbi of Wroclaw (Breslau) and Silesia in the fall of 2006. From 2002 to 2006 Rabbi Rapoport served as the Rabbi of Oslo, Norway. He is a native of Stockholm, Sweden. He received his rabbinical ordination in Israel in 2002 from Yeshivat Hamivtar (Efrat), as well as from HaGaon HaRav Zalman Nechemia Goldberg shlit"a.
Contact Rabbi Itzjak Rapoport
Rabbi Pinchas Zarczynski - Shavei Israel's emissary in Warsaw, Poland
Rabbi Pinchas Zarczynski is Shavei Israel's emissary to Warsaw, the city of his birth, where he serves as a Rabbi in the Jewish community. He made aliyah at a young age together with his family, and received his BA degree in architecture, before serving on the Kiryat Menachem district council in Jerusalem. Rabbi Zarczynski studied at the Machon Meir yeshiva in Jerusalem, and is also a graduate of the Strauss-Amiel Institute.
Contact Rabbi Pinchas Zarczynski
Yochanan Phaltual - Shavei Israel's emissary in Manipur, India
Yochanan serves as the administrator of Shavei Israel's two Hebrew Centers in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur - Beit Milton in the city of Imphal, and the Shavei Israel Hebrew Center in Churachandpur. In addition, he is the editor of Shavei Israel’s weekly bulletin in the Thadou-Kuki language for the Bnei Menashe, which is distributed to community members in both India and Israel. Previously, he served as the administrator of ORT Manipur. Yochanan holds a BA degree in Indian history from the University of Delhi.
Lyion Fanai - Shavei Israel's emissary in Mizoram, India
Liyon serves as Shavei Israel's administrator in Mizoram and is the editor of Shavei Israel's weekly bulletin in the Mizo language, which is distributed to community members in both India and Israel. He is a member of the Advisory Forum of the Indian Ministry of Chemistry, and he holds a BA degree from Manipur University.
