Featured Articles

Shavei Israel Profile: Leonor Castro – From professional dancer to neuroscience student in IsraelLeonor Castro – De Bailarina profesional a estudiante de neurociencia en Israel

[caption id="attachment_9138" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Leonor Castro"][/caption] When Leonor Castro came to Israel in 2009, it was with a scholarship from the overseas student “Masa” program to study dance. Only 17-years-old at the time, Castro had already danced professionally back in her native Portugal, focusing on contemporary dance and ballet. In Israel, she was invited to join the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company as an apprentice. And then, something remarkable and unexpected happened. “I fell in love with the country of Israel,” Castro says. “I was always too scared to come. In Portugal, all you see is bombs falling everywhere. But what I discovered was a real feeling of community. Everyone is trying to be your family.” The emotional connection she felt being at the heart of the Jewish people was not something she’d ever experienced in Portugal. “I remember that on the first day of classes on the Masa program,” she continues, “an Israeli girl who I’d only talked to for a few seconds invited me to her house. Everyone wants to invite you for the Jewish holidays. In the space of two weeks, I made good friends who I have until today.” Now, three years later, Castro is still dancing, but it’s been pushed for the moment somewhat to the side as she is preparing to start university in Israel – with a major in neuroscience. Why the change? “I was always connected to the arts, but I also loved research, going into things deeper, especially in the medical area. I didn’t want to be a doctor, though,” she explains. “Neuroscience spoke to me.” Castro grew up knowing she was Jewish, even though she was baptized as a child. It started with her grandfather who told Castro’s family about their Jewish roots and traditions. But then he and Castro’s grandmother moved to Venezuela for work. Her grandmother eventually returned to Portugal to care for her sick mother, while her grandfather stayed in Venezuela. The family sadly lost contact with him, and most of those budding Jewish traditions faded away. And yet, a quiet fire from two generations past still burned in Castro’s heart. “I really don’t know how it happened,” she admits. “But this feeling started growing inside of me. I wanted to study the language. I wanted to learn more about the Holocaust and about Judaism. When I heard about the Masa dance program, I knew I had to come.” Portugal and Israel are very different, Castro says. The key distinction is “whether you’re ‘inside’ or ‘outside.’ In Portugal, she explains, “no one knows the religion of anyone else; it’s not something we talk about in public.” During the time that her grandmother lit Shabbat candles, it was always private; hidden, she says. “Now I’m in a place where Judaism is ‘outside’ of the house.” Castro’s Jewish connection blossomed when she met Shavei Israel’s emissary to Portugal, Rabbi Elisha Salas. “It was in Belmonte where he is living,” she says. “He really helped me, trying to figure out issues of aliyah and returning to Judaism.” [caption id="attachment_9139" align="alignright" width="296" caption="Castro at the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company"][/caption] Today Castro lives in Tel Aviv’s trendy Florentine neighborhood where she says all her friends are Israeli (“there aren’t many Portuguese here”). She is currently studying in a pre-university seminary to improve her Hebrew. She is also taking courses that will allow her to transfer her high school studies in Portugal to the equivalent of an Israeli matriculation certificate. Looking back on her initial hesitations, she says that, “Israel is not as scary as I thought. It’s really the opposite of what I’d seen in the media in Portugal. If I go out of my house at 11 at night here, I feel safer than if I leave the house at 7 PM in Portugal.” Israel has become her home and she has no plans to turn back. “Israel is an amazing country,” she says. “It has developed very fast for the amount of time it has existed.” Despite her enthusiasm, she has concerns, too. “We need peace,” she says. “Not just for Israel but for the Jewish people all over the world.” When we spoke, the terrorist attack in Toulouse, France, was still fresh in her mind. Perhaps that career in neuroscience can help mend the rifts that cause so much pain – if not in the world then at least inside the brain. And we expect Leonor Castro will keep on dancing….the dance of freedom and joy of living a full Jewish life in the Land of Israel. Here's another picture of Leonor dancing in Israel:

 

[caption id="attachment_9138" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Leonor Castro"][/caption]

Cuando Leonor Castro llegó a Israel en el 2009, lo hizo con una beca de un programa de “Masa” para el estudio de danza. En ese entonces tenía solo 17 años pero ya había bailado profesionalmente en su país de nacimiento, Portugal, concentrándose en danza contemporánea y ballet. En Israel, fue invitada a unirse a la Compañía de Danza Contemporánea de los Kibutzim, como aprendiz.

Y entonces, algo remarcable e inesperado sucedió. “Me enamoré de Israel”, dice Castro. “Siempre tuve mucho miedo de venir. En Portugal todo lo que ves son esas bombas que caen por todos lados. Pero lo que descubrí aquí es un verdadero sentimiento de comunidad. Todos intentan ser tu familia”.

La conexión emocional que sintió al estar en el corazón del pueblo judío fue algo que nunca experimentó en Portugal. “Recuerdo que en el primer día de clases del programa Masa”, continúa, “una niña israelí con la que solo había hablado unos segundos me invitó a su casa. Todos te invitan aquí para las festividades judías. En dos semanas hice de muy buenos amigos con los que cuento hasta el día de hoy”.