Chuetas of Majorca recognized as Jewish

Descendants of secret Jews are “from our brethren the children of Israel,” Rabbi Nissim Karlewitz rules.

A leading rabbi and halachic authority in Israel has recognized the Chuetas of Palma de Majorca as Jewish, the Shavei Israel organization announced on Monday.

The Chuetas are descended from the Jewish inhabitants of the Spanish island of Majorca who suffered extreme oppression in the Middle Ages, until by 1435 all of them had been killed or forcibly converted to Catholicism.