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BARCELONA (JTA) -- On the top floor of this city's Jewish community center, a group whose ancestors were cut off from the Jewish people more than 500 years ago are receiving tips and training to become pro-Israel advocates in the 21st century. “We can use cyberspace to circumvent the traditional media,” Raanan Gissin, a former Israeli government spokesman, tells them.
CHURACHANDPUR, India - When Asher Kipgen is asked the Hebrew name of his father, who immigrated to Israel six years ago from a village in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, he blurts out "Netanyahu" without thinking twice. The real name of his father, who lives in Kiryat Arba, is Natan, but the mention of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's name is no coincidence. Many of the 7,232 members of the Kuki, Mizo, Lushai and Shin tribes carefully followed the elections in Israel, in the hope that the new prime minister of Israel would bring them to the country.
For 83-year-old Mendel Kingbol, a recent immigrant, Passover and its message of deliverance resonate far more strongly than perhaps any other festival. As one of the elder members of the Bnei Menashe community, Kingbol still recalls, with a mixture of fondness and nostalgia, the way his ancestors celebrated the festival over the centuries in the farthest reaches of northeastern India.
Following criticism from left-wing politicians, the immigration-assistance group Shavei Israel has stopped settling immigrants in the West Bank, directing them to the Galilee instead. "We did it to stop ideological issues from blinding people to our cause," says Michael Freund, the U.S.-born founder and president of the nongovernmental organization, which focuses on bringing back lost Jewish communities around the world into the fold of Judaism. "We saw that even though our activity in reality had nothing to do with politics, we still had to break out of being viewed as some kind of right-wing organization," he added.  Advertisement
For first time since Inquisition, Portuguese cheese gets kosher seal For the first time since the Spanish Inquisition in Portugal, a dairy product has been given an official kosher certificate. The ground-breaking product is a hard, goat's milk cheese, manufactured by the descendant of Anusim (Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity).
Down a narrow, cobblestone lane in the heart of the northern Portuguese city of Porto stands a centuries-old monument to Jewish valor and ingenuity. Several years ago, workmen renovating a four-story medieval structure at 9 Sao Miguel street in the old Jewish quarter discovered a false wall on the ground floor. Upon removing it, they entered a large and dusty room containing an unusual recess carved into the facade.  
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