A special Yom Kippur Mahzor has been released
Newscaster: A special Yom Kippur Mahzor has been released for the Brazilian Jews of the Amazon. Some 3,500 Sefardi Jews living in northern Brazil’s Amazonian region will now be able to for the first time use a prayer book translated into Portuguese. The Mahzor uses the traditional Hebrew text of the Yom Kippur prayer services, which now has a translation and transliteration into Portuguese. It was made possible by “Shavei Israel”, which provides assistance to different Jewish communities around the world. They’re presently working in 9 far-flung Jewish communities. We spoke to Shavei Israel’s founder, Michael Freund.
Michael Freund: This was a process over a couple of years. The Mahzor, of course is a very comprehensive volume, and it required a great deal of effort in terms of translation. But we’re very happy now that it’s come to fruition, because there was a great need for it among the Jewish communities of the Amazon in Brazil.
Newscaster: Tell me something about these communities. My recollections of the Amazon in brazil, it’s jungle.
Michael Freund: Yes, that’s correct. Basically at the beginning of the 19th Century, there was a migration of Jews from Morocco to South America, and as the rubber boom in South America gained steam, a growing number of Jews sought their fortunes there. And a number of them, once they reached brazil, they settled in cities such as Belem and Manaus, along the Amazon, and they built Jewish communities in every respect, which remain there until today. There are approximately 700 Jewish families or so living in the area along the Amazon River, and they continue to preserve and maintain the unique customs that their forefathers brought with them from Morocco. So this Mahzor, which incorporates those customs, and some of their special liturgy, is intended to assist them to observe the festival, to observe Yom Kippur, and preserve the traditions.
Newscaster: Do they speak Hebrew?
Michael Freund: Some of them do, like any Diaspora Jewish community, there are those who are more fluent in Hebrew, and those who are less fluent. But the services, of course, take place in Hebrew. The Mahzor, however, includes a transliteration, as well as a translation into Portuguese, in order to make it easier for those who have a bit of trouble with Hebrew, to nonetheless participate in the service, and understand it as well.
Newscaster: Have you been there, have you visited them?
Michael Freund: Yes, I’ve visited the area, and it’s a very strong and dedicated Jewish community, which is doing its utmost to maintain the traditions, and to adhere to the heritage that their ancestors passed down to them.
Newscaster: How sophisticated is the place, I mean, they’re not like the tribes along the Amazon, running around in grass skirts and this kind of thing, they’re living in a more, I would suppose, a more modern city?
Michael Freund: Absolutely, it’s not a jungle setting of any sort, Belem and Manaus are cities in northern Brazil, and the Jews there are professionals and doctors and lawyers and entrepreneurs and businessmen.
Newscaster: They’re problem is they’re so cut-off, aren’t they, from other communities?
Michael Freund: Yes, Brazil of course, is an enormous country, and they live in a more remote part of the country. And in addition, because of their unique history, they observe traditions that are not especially common among the rest of Brazilian Jewry.
Newscaster: So would you be able to recognize some of the prayers if you attended “כל נדרי” night service there?
Michael Freund: Absolutely, the overall service is of course very similar in uniform to that which is found in other Jewish communities. But they do have their own unique practices and customs and prayers, which they recite, which others might not be familiar with.
Newscaster: This is in Portuguese, so would it go to the Jewish in Portugal as well? Will they be able to use it?
Michael Freund: Yes, in other words, the Mahzor is intended primarily for Brazil”s Jews of the Amazon, but because it is in Portuguese, and it contains the transliteration, so it can also service other speaking-speaking Jewish communities around the world, in places such as Lisbon, and Porto, and Portugal, and elsewhere.
Newscaster: Your job at “Shavei Israel” is to help the remote communities of Jews around the world. Have you done this kind of transliteration for other communities in the world?
Michael Freund: Yes we have, because we believe very strongly that smaller or remote Jewish communities often do not get the attention and the resources that they deserve. They are often not on the radar screen of world Jewry and the State of Israel. And they too are like Diaspora communities elsewhere, are struggling with issues of assimilation and modernity, and upholding the tradition. So we think it’s important to provide them with the tools that they need in order to better understand and appreciate their heritage, and to enable them to pass that heritage on to the next generation.