Bnei Anousim

Gila Arditi's family always kept separate sets of dishes for dairy and meat, washed their hands before eating, and circumcised their infant boys back in Colombia. But Gila never realized she was Jewish until she was a young adult.  

Italian concert pianist Miriam Sangiorgio only learned of her Jewish roots in a dramatic revelation in her father's dying days. 
Miriam Pena of Peru dreamed of seeing the desert. But when she arrived in Israel, her heart told her she was part of the Jewish people.  What all three of these brave women have in common is that they are Bnei Anousim (people whose ancestors were compelled to convert to Catholicism more than five centuries ago at the time of the Spanish Inquisition) and that they are studying to re-engage the heritage they nearly lost at Shavei Israel's Spanish-language Machon Miriam Jewish Institute for Return and Conversion in Jerusalem. 

It’s taken over 300 years but, for the first time in history, a Spanish regional government has condemned the atrocities perpetrated by the Inquisition against Bnei Anousim (Jews who were compelled to convert to Catholicism and whom historians refer to by the derogatory term Marranos). This unprecedented event, which took place in the Spanish city of Palma de Mallorca last month, came as the result of a meeting earlier this year between Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund and a top aide to Frances Antich Oliver, president of Spain’s Balearic Islands. At the meeting, which was also attended by Rabbi Yossi Wallis, head of the Arachim organization, Freund asked Oliver to hold a public ceremony and express regret for the dark chapters of the past; the president acceded to the request.

Last week, the Mediterranean resort city of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, was the scene of a remarkable historical event. After centuries of denial, a Spanish regional government condemned the Inquisition, and its persecution of Jews who had been forcibly converted to Catholicism. At a special ceremony, Frances Antich Oliver, president of Spain's Balearic Islands, uttered words that no Spanish leader before him had ever had the courage to declare.

The historic event was organized by the Presidency of the Balearic Islands, along with the Shavei Israel to commemerate the massacre of  37 members of the Chuetas community over 320 years ago. [nggallery id=63] El evento histórico fue organizado por la Presidencia de las Islas Baleares, junto con la organización Shavei Israel y a la iniciativa seunieron...

PALMA, MAJORCA — The old stones of the historic quarter of the Spanish island of Majorca are worn smooth with secrets ignored by most tourists that pour into this city from cruise liners on the sparkling Mediterranean....

  Honorable Dayan Rabi Wiesel Israel, Honorable Presidente de la Comunidad Autónoma de las Islas Baleares Honorable Consejero de la Presidencia Señoras y señores. Valls llevaba la bandera y Tarongí  el pendón con todos los Xuetes detrás que hacían la procesión Cuando le llegó el fuego a las arrugas de sus pantalones ella dijo "¡Felet no...

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