One of Shavei Israel’s primary goals is to assist descendants of Jews, including lost tribes and hidden Jewish communities, to reconnect with their roots. Our work encompasses a wide variety of groups from diverse backgrounds, ranging from the Bnei Anousim in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Latin America; to hidden Jews in Poland; to Subbotnik Jews of Russia, Kaifeng Jews in China, Bnei Menashe in India, and more.
Shavei Israel established the Ma’ani Center with the aim of preserving, promoting and disseminating the unique heritage and culture of the various communities. We are grateful for the guidance, encouragement and support of Israel’s Ministry of Culture towards achieving this aim.
The Ma’ani center is located in Jerusalem at 3 Am VeOlamo Street, next to Shavei Israel’s head offices.
The center hosts lectures, exhibitions, and cultural events, and is home to a rich archive of documents, photos and music. Shavei staff frequently give lectures to schools and other groups, both in person or via Zoom as circumstances dictate.
The lectures highlight the history, traditions and heritage of these diverse communities, with an emphasis on characteristics such as language, dress, song, poetry and culinary elements.
The Ma’ani center has also organized mobile exhibitions in different localities in Israel explaining the culture of specific lost or hidden communities.
We believe that the Jewish people are One Nation with Many Faces and that it is our responsibility to ensure that the precious traditions of the past continue to be passed down to future generations.
Bnei Menashe girls from Nof Hagalil learn the traditional bamboo dance of Mizoram in advance of Aliyah Day. Their teacher, Dena Relte, made aliyah herself from Mizoram in 2014. In fact, it would probably hard to find a qualified teacher of this complex d...
26 July, 2023
The Faculty Fellowship Program in Israel is a competitive academic fellowship that brings approximately 35 US full-time university and college faculty members to Israel for an intensive 12 day trip in which they travel from the Golan Heights to Kibbutz Ketura....
08 June, 2023
The Ma’ani Center of Shavei Israel was happy to present a conference on The Heritage of the Jews of Italy given by our dear Rabbanit Renana Birenbaum. The Jewish community in Italy is one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world, dating back to......
27 February, 2023
A spontaneous visit to our Jerusalem offices by ten people representing two Norwegian interest groups turned into an interesting lecture about Lost and Hidden Jews, and a real learning experience. Arvid Bjerga, who set up Shavei Israel’s Norwegian branch...
01 February, 2023
