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...
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 we reported on the planned Shabbaton that was to take place at the newly kosher Har Sinai Hotel in Belmonte, Portugal. Now we have pictures from the event itself. Shavei Israeli’s emissary Rabbi Elisha Salas and Rabbi Isroel Nachum from Safed hosted a group...
Waving Israeli flags, singing songs in Hebrew and brandishing letters in support of the Jewish State, the Bnei Anousim community of Portugal gathered in front of the Israeli embassy in Lisbon on Yom Ha’atzmaut last week to celebrate Israel’s 68th birthday. The rally was organized in...
The newly kosher Har Sinai Hotel in Belmonte, Portugal (we wrote about it here) will be the site of a festive Shabbat this coming weekend. Shavei Israeli’s emissary Rabbi Elisha Salas and Rabbi Isroel Nachum from Safed are hosting a group of 80 American Jews in...
It’s Purim and Shavei Israel communities around the world are celebrating. Purim commemorates the Jewish victory 2,000 years ago over Haman’s evil plans in ancient Persia. There are enough surprising twists and daredevil turns in the story to keep the plot of the Megillah, the...
Kosher travelers to Belmonte, Portugal may soon no longer have to worry about checking ingredients, avoiding foods that mix milk and meat, or steering clear of treife. Shavei Israel’s emissary to the region, Rabbi Elisha Salas is working with the 27-room three-star Har Sinai (Mount...
Eldad Villegas grew up in the city of Bello, Colombia. But when he came to Israel in 1998 for the first time as a tourist, “something that was asleep inside of me awakened,” he says. “It was a deep love for Israel; its music, its...
[caption id="attachment_26370" align="alignleft" width="300"] Luis and Claudia[/caption] Luis (Uziel) Morao learned about his Jewish roots in Portugal at a tender young age…literally: his family formally began practicing Judaism after he was circumcised, although for Luis that wasn’t at 8 days, as is traditional in Judaism, but...
