It is not surprising to hear that Jewish life in Italy through the ages constitute a rich chapter within Jewish history. We could easily grasp its dimension by just mentioning such luminaries as Leone Ebreo (Don Yehuda Abarbanel), the celebrated medieval thinker, Rabbi Moshe Chaim...
How were your holidays? For the Bnei Anousim celebrating in Spain, Portugal and South America, the Jewish holidays were a time of reflection, inspiration, joy and rediscovery. The High Holy Day period is now over (and the rain we prayed for has already begun to fall here in...
Less than a month before Rachel Souza Lima was scheduled to arrive in Israel on the final leg of her years-long journey to Judaism, war broke out with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. She had never been to Israel before and she was worried for...
Shavei Israel is pleased to present a special guide for the High Holidays in Spanish, especially prepared for the Bnei Anousim*, descendants of Jews who were forcibly converted during the time of the Spanish Inquisition. The guide includes two special articles on each holiday (Rosh Hashanah,...
Recent immigrants to Israel from the Bnei Menashe, Bnei Anousim and Subbotnik Jewish communities have another reason to celebrate this New Year: the Shufersol chain of Israeli supermarkets has donated NIS 50,000 ($13,000) of coupons to the new olim to ease their holiday purchases. This is...
The Jewish community of Belmonte, Portugal, knows how to celebrate Shabbat with gusto. Here are a few photos from a recent Friday before sundown with Shavei Israel's emissary to the community, Rabbi Elisha Salas, who gives some of the men an impromptu lesson in tying the knots on...
When Shavei Israel announced the publication last week of its new book in Spanish, Do You Have Jewish Roots?, we expected a few hundred people to request a free download of the eBook version. But within 48 hours, so many people had clicked to receive...
Rio de Janeiro’s Jewish Museum is best known for its collection of 69 menorahs and Jewish ritual objects designed by Russian-born artist Rio resident Joseph Feldman. The small museum – the only one in Brazil until a new museum in Sao Paolo opens later this...
Abigail (Marina) Erlich was scheduled to stand before the rabbinical conversion court to formally return to Judaism when, at the last moment, she revealed to Rabbi Elisha Salas, Shavei Israel’s emissary to Portugal and her guide through several years of study, that she believed she...
