A big mazal tov goes out to Rabbi Shimon Yehoshua, our emissary in Colombia, on his marriage to Helen, of Bogota, Colombia, in Bogota this week! The wedding was attended by dignitaries, friends and relatives from far and wide including Chief Rabbi of Bogota Alfredo...
This week the Ma'ani Center, along with Israel's Ministry of Culture, presented Esther Astrug, as she shared her extraordinary story to a Spanish-speaking audience; the latest in the series of conferences devoted to various lost and hidden Jewish communities around the world. Esther, who converted...
Mexico has become the home of many Anousim who wandered to the shores of the New World in hope of staying away from the Inquisition. Miriam, or as she was known previously, Cindy Montiel Tapuz, is a member of such a family. Just two years...
David Peretz, a young Jewish boy from Ecuador, immigrated to Israel with his family not long ago, dreaming of celebrating his bar-mitzvah with his family in Jerusalem. Last week, his dream came true, and the Peretz family enjoyed a beautiful and emotional event that became possible thanks to the...
Last week we published the first part of the interview given by Shavei's Chairman and Founder Michael Freund about the descendants of the forced converts of the Inquisition to the פנימה עלמה magazine. Here’s the next installment of this article. It happened 500 years ago, are people starting to look for their...
On the night of 8th of Av, 527 years ago, the last Jews of Spain were deported. Those who had already been converted to Christianity were not allowed to leave the country, and many others were killed through the Inquisition. In recent decades, hundreds of...
Shavei Israel communities from different parts of the world shared photos with us of them at services and in mourning for the destruction of the Temples and remembering other tragedies in Jewish history that happened on Tisha B’Av, the annual fast day. As customary on...
Ecuador today has a number of young and developing communities of Bnei Anousim (descendants of those forcibly converted during the Spanish Inquisition), each of them numbering at least a few dozen people eager to learn more about Torah and Jewish tradition, and reconnect with their...
We work with many communities around the world and occasionally will profile some of the amazing locals who volunteer as representatives. These generous individuals help us organize our activities in the best way possible, and reach more people in their respective regions. One of these...
David Peretz is a twelve-year-old Jewish boy in Jerusalem, who, like other Jewish boys his age, is preparing for his bar mitzvah. However, David’s story is quite different from most other Jewish boys his age. David and his family are from Ecuador, and their road to...
