Shavei Israel sends books to Brazil
Rio de Janeiro’s Jewish Museum is best known for its collection of 69 menorahs and Jewish ritual objects designed by Russian-born artist Rio resident Joseph Feldman. The small museum – the only one in Brazil until a new museum in Sao Paolo opens later this year – has been the de facto go-to location for Jewish tourists and locals alike. (Rio has a Jewish population of 30,000 out of a total of 95,000 in the country.)
But the museum’s staff was at a loss when asked about Brazil’s Bnei Anousim community.
Bnei Anousim (or Marranos) arrived in Brazil from Portugal some 500 years ago as they fled the long arm of the Inquisition. They established Kahal Zur, the oldest synagogue in the Americas, in 1636 in the town of Recife.
Today there are at least 30 different Bnei Anousim communities scattered across Brazil, some with just a few dozen members, others with several hundred. There are makeshift synagogues and mikvehs (ritual baths). The number of Brazilians with hidden Jewish roots could be as high as 40 percent.
But the Jewish Museum in Rio mostly documents more recent Jewish history, starting in the early 20th century. Visitors wanting to know more about Brazil’s Bnei Anousim past – as well as Brazilian Bnei Anousim wondering about their own Jewish heritage – would leave without a satisfactory answer.
The museum’s staff reached out to Shavei Israel earlier this year. They’d heard about Shavei Israel’s book Do You Have Jewish Roots?, which is now available in Portuguese as well as the original Spanish. They asked if the museum could have a copy.
Do You Have Jewish Roots? – in Portuguese
We sent them 6 books to have on hand to share with visitors.
Do You Have Jewish Roots? wasn’t the only printed material that’s made its way from Israel to Brazil this year. Members of the Bnei Anousim community of Beit Shorashim in Natal, the seaside capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte, asked if we could send them copies of Shavei Israel’s Portuguese-language siddur (prayer book).
Shavei Israel’s prayer book for Shabbat in Portuguese
We checked and discovered we were nearly out of stock – we only had two of our Shabbat prayer books left, which we duly dispatched. That’s hardly enough for the 150 Bnei Anousim in Natal.
We’d like to send more siddurim to Natal and to the other Bnei Anousim communities of Brazil. Please help us produce a new print run. You can visit the Support page on our website and make your donation.
An eBook version of Do You Have Jewish Roots? can be downloaded for free at this link.
Coming soon: a new interactive book store on the Shavei Israel website where you will be able to find all of our publications.