A Roman aristocrat once asked Rabbi Yosi Ben Halafta, one of the Mishna’s leading sages, a provocative question. “In how many days did G-d create the world?” she queried. “In six,” he answered. “And what has G-d been doing since then,” she asked. “Matching couples for marriage,” Rabbi Yosi...
This weekend, the Jewish world celebrated the holiday of Shavuot, marking the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai 3,300 years ago. The Subbotnik Jewish community in Visoky, Russia, hasn't been around quite that long - the community was formed when peasants in southern Russia embraced Jewish...
The faces of 15 Jewish students from the Polish town of Lodz will be featured in a stunning new calendar to be released this fall. The calendar is being sponsored by Shavei Israel and the Emuna Foundation, which began working in Poland in 2016 to...
Yom Yerushalayim - Jerusalem Day - marks the reunification of Israel's capital following the Six Day War in 1967. It is an emotional day for veteran Israelis and even more so for new immigrants who only recently saw Jerusalem for the first time. A group of...
Do the Palestinians have Jewish roots? The question may sound fanciful. But not only do many Jews and Palestinians share remarkably similar DNA, there are also numerous customs and even names that overlap....
On most weekday mornings, the synagogue in Belmonte Portugal stands alert but empty. The small Bnei Anousim community in town just can’t take the time off from work to make up a minyan, Shavei Israel’s emissary to Portugal, Rabbi Elisha Salas laments. But last week, the...
Last week the Jewish world celebrated Lag B’Omer, the 33rd day of the period between Passover and the holiday of Shavuot, marked in Israel and around the Jewish world with special prayers, visits to the graves of holy men and, for the young (and young-at-heart), bonfires! Shavei...
Bonfires, a visiting chief rabbi and a movie being made by Steven Spielberg’s sister: these are some of the activities that have been keeping the Jewish community of Lodz, Poland, busy in the last month. Shavei Israel’s emissaries to Lodz, Poland, Miriam and Rabbi Dawid...
Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund was profiled in the Swedish-language newspaper in Finland Kyrkpressen last week where he spoke about Shavei Israel's activities in general and with the Bnei Menashe in particular. Can you read or understand Swedish? Then check out the two page spread that appeared in...
One of the most important programs for ensuring the successful absorption into Israel of new immigrants from the Bnei Menashe has been the creation of a network of adoptive families. These families welcome the newcomers from India into their homes, inviting them for Shabbat and...
