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Shavei Israel visits Portugal – report and picturesShavei Israel visita Portugal – reporte y fotos

Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund spent several days in Portugal last week. Here is a summary of his trip along with pictures. Bnei Anousim study groups in Lisbon The trip began in Lisbon on Sunday night where Michael met some of the members of the group of Portuguese Bnei Anousim who are studying with Rabbi Elisha Salas, Shavei Israel’s emissary to Portugal. The group comes together from various places throughout the country, including Lisbon, Porto and elsewhere. All are looking to return to Judaism and rejoin the Jewish people. Here are pictures of the group. [nggallery id=116] Michael also toured the beautiful mikveh in Lisbon and the main Lisbon synagogue. Here are a couple of lovely pictures as well as one of the main synagogue in Lisbon. [nggallery id=118] Meeting with Portugal's Secretary of State for Culture [caption id="attachment_7762" align="alignleft" width="160" caption="Rabbi Elisha Salas, Francisco Jose Viegas, Michael Freund"][/caption] On Monday morning, Michael and Rabbi Elliyahu Birnbaum, Shavei Israel’s Education Director, along with Rabbi Salas, met with the Portuguese government's Secretary of State for Culture, Francisco Jose Viegas. Michael told him about the various activities of Shavei Israel in the country, and discussed a number of ways to work together to help revive Jewish culture in the country. Wedding in Belmonte The trip also included two “field trips” to smaller Jewish communities. The first was to the village of Belmonte, which is where Rabbi Salas is based. On Monday night, Shavei Israel arranged the wedding of Yosef Vaz of Belmonte. He is one of a number of Bnei Anousim in the village who returned to Judaism more than two decades ago. Yosef’s wife passed away last year, and he decided to marry another member of the community. Here are some photos (and a video) from the wedding. [nggallery id=114] Also in Belmonte, a young Jew named Shlomo led the Mincha (afternoon) and Maariv (evening) prayers…in fluent Hebrew! Shlomo’s parents were among the Bnei Anousim who converted back to Judaism in the late 1980’s. Here are pictures from the shul where Shlomo led the davening. [nggallery id=115] Suprise in Trancoso The second visit was to the village of Trancoso. Michael and the Shavei Israel visitors entered a store that sold local arts and crafts and souvenirs. The store had a small refrigerated section with drinks and food, including a whole section with three different kinds of kosher cheese! It turned out that it was cheese that Rabbi Salas had personally supervised as kosher. Here are two pictures – not for cheese lovers only! [nggallery id=117]