Spain’s Crypto-Jews Seeking to Return

Amishav Seminar on Crypto-Jews in Madrid  More than fifty descendants of Spanish and Portuguese crypto-Jews attended an intensive three-day seminar held in Madrid this past weekend by the Jerusalem-based Amishav organization, which reaches out and assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to the Jewish people. The participants,...

The Jerusalem Post    Today marks the anniversary of one of the most important events in Jewish history in the past one thousand years. It is an episode that forever altered the destiny of the Jewish people, as well as that of European civilization, giving rise to seismic shifts in spheres as varied as cartography, commerce and mysticism.
"And these cherubs had their wings extended upward with the wings hovering over the kaporet [coverlet], with each baby-faced cherub facing his brother" (Exodus 25:20). Among the most well-known and fascinating accoutrements of the sanctuary in the desert were the pure gold cherubs on the cover of the Ark of Testimony. The most sacred objects in the sanctuary were the Tablets of the Ten Commandments, which were deposited in the Ark.
Jewish Action Magazine Nestled in the picturesque, rolling green hilltops of Samaria, the small settlement of Shavei Shomron rests quietly, despite its proximity to the flaming Arab cities of Tulkarem and Shechem. But some fascinating new neighbors have created a murmur across the yishuv. In August of 2002, the Amita Absorption Center, along with Amishav—an organization dedicated to bringing lost Jews from around the world to Israel— opened the settlement’s doors to the Bnei Menashe, a group of people from northeast India who claim to be Jews.
Associated Press    SHAVEI SHOMRON, West Bank (AP) - Some 2,700 years ago, 10 of the 12 biblical tribes of Israel were driven from the Holy Land into exile and the mists of history. Now, a group claiming descent from one of the lost tribes can be found sitting in a bomb shelter in a West Bank Jewish settlement, learning Hebrew.
Amishav delegates talk migration with Mizo hopefuls    They are born Mizo and speak the language of this far north-east Indian state bordering Burma - but they dream of a new life in Israel. There are nearly 5,000 people in Mizoram and the neighbouring state of Manipur who call themselves Jews, and 800 of them have already migrated to the Middle East.
The New York Times SHAVEI SHOMRON, West Bank, Dec. 16 — Sharon Palian and his fellow immigrants from India are still struggling with the Hebrew language and remain partial to homemade kosher curry rather than Israeli cuisine. But the 71 immigrants, who arrived in June with the firm conviction that they were descended from one of the biblical lost tribes of Israel, feel they have completed a spiritual homecoming.
The Jerusalem Post - Winter Supplement    When Dr. Larry Rubin of Jerusalem stood in front of the congregation on Shabbat Lech Lecha to say the birkat hakohanim (blessing of the priests), many of his fellow worshippers had tears in their eyes. The reason for these tears was a profound one: Larry Rubin was the first kohen to bless this community of Jews in 500 years. As he said the words of the blessing with his prayer shawl over his head, others copied him, putting their own prayer shawls over their heads. A few brought young children up to him to be blessed. They had only heard of the birkat hakohenim, but had never seen it before.
The Jerusalem Report AIZAWL / NORTHEAST INDIA The hand-painted letters on the shutters of the "public phone service" announce "Sabbath close." On any other day locals can call long-distance for 42 rupees (around $1) a minute from the worn touchtone phone at this little convenience kiosk. But today is Shabbat and the booth's owner is at home in a sparse cinderblock cubicle at the back, which serves both as a tin-pot kitchen and a single-cot bedroom, and is dissected diagonally by the underside of stairs belonging to the residence above. She's a petite woman in a knitted white cloche, and is just saying kiddush over Styrofoam cups of grape juice and chocolate-cream biscuits, beneath a Xeroxed pin-up of the Ten Commandments rendered into the Mizo tongue.
Dozens of Majorca´s "lost Jews", or Chuetas, whose ancestors were forcibly converted during the Spanish Inquisition, will gather this Friday for a seminar in Palma de Majorca exploring their Jewish roots.
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