The Miraculous Ingathering of Jews in the World

The Bet Eliahu synagogue in Belmonte, Portugal. (Photo: Bricking/ Wiki Commons)

Bnei Anusim: The Miraculous Ingathering That Could Double the Number of Jews in the World

By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz September 25, 2015  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“Even if your exiles are at the end of the heavens, the Lord, your God, will gather you from there, and He will take you from there. And the Lord, your God,will bring you back to the land which your forefathers possessed and you will take possession of it, and He will do good to you, and He will make you more numerous than your forefathers.” (Deuteronomy 30:3-5)

A new global campaign has been launched to locate Bnei Anousim, Jews who were forcibly converted during the Spanish Inquisition, which began in 1391 and continued until 1497.  The initiative, headed by Shavei Israel, has the potential to return millions of Jews to the global community in a massive ingathering of exiles. Estimates by the Jewish Agency have put the potential total population of Bnei Anusim at twice the present Jewish population.

“We are at the beginning of an historic turning point, one that will see millions of people throughout the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world reconnecting with their Jewish roots,” said Michael Freund, chairman and founder of Shavei Israel, in a statement. “There are millions of people throughout Spain, Portugal, and Central and South America who are descended from Iberian Jews, and we believe it is time for the Jewish people to reach out to them.”

According to genetic studies conducted over the past decade, 20 percent of men in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) have Jewish ancestry. Similar studies in Brazil estimate that 5-10 million people there are descendants of Bnei Anousim.

Shavei Israel set off a wave of interest when the organization published a free Spanish-language practical guide to discovering Jewish heritage, “Do You Have Jewish Roots?”, which has been distributed to almost 10,000 people. It contains information on subjects such as how to conduct a genealogical search, traditionally Jewish names, names unique to Bnei Anusim, and identifying hidden Jewish customs.

The term “crypto-Judaism” describes the phenomenon of secretly observing Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith. Often, secret observance of Jewish customs and commandments can go on for many generations within a family. There have even been cases discovered of entire communities continuing to observe customs they no longer understand and don’t realize have Jewish origins.

Many Bnei Anusim keep Jewish burial customs, wrapping the deceased in white shrouds as opposed to coffins. Some dietary customs are clear indications of Jewish heritage. Many Bnei Anusim have an oral tradition of having an allergy to pork or not eating blood in the form of the traditional Spanish blood sausage. There have been cases of Bnei Anusim who refrained from eating leavened products during Holy Week, which coincides with the observance of Passover. Some Bnei Anusim relate to Saturday as their day of rest. Lighting candles on Friday night is another tradition that has lasted throughout many generations, even after the connection to Judaism has been lost.

The legacy of the Inquisition and hidden Jews is not a myth or a legend, but a reality recognized by the Spanish and Portuguese governments, which have extended an offer of citizenship to the millions of descendants of expelled Sephardic Jews.

This is not a uniquely European phenomenon. Many communities in remote corners of the globe have been discovered to have Jewish roots. The discovery of the Jews of Ethiopia led to a dramatic rescue mission by the State of Israel. The Subbotnik Jews of Russia, the Jewish community of Kaifeng in China, descendants of Jews living in Poland, and most recently, the Bnei Menash Jews who arrived in India by way of China, have all been able to trace their roots back to a Jewish source.

Jews hide their identity not out of shame, but as a reaction to the anti-Semitism which has accompanied the Jewish people throughout their exile. During that time, they were scattered  among the nations. Many were lost in their wanderings, intermarrying and converting, their descendants assimilating into their adopted cultures until their Jewish identity disappeared. Part of the messianic prophecy, the proof as well as the promise, is the ingathering of the exiles, a miracle that is happening in front of our eyes.  These prophetic days are bringing back Jews from the farthest corners, reawakening Jewish souls that have forgotten their roots in the Holy Land.

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/49651/bnei-anusim-the-miraculous-ingathering-that-could-double-the-number-of-jews-in-the-world-jewish-world/#8EBz5OYav1kH30QP.99

Persecutors of Jews Queue Up to Say Sorry!

Wednesday, June 17, 2015 |  Charles Gardner  ISRAEL TODAY

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Topics:

Anti-Semitism

Amidst rising anti-Semitism, there appears to be a somewhat surprising parallel move towards repentance by some European nations for the many shameful actions taken against Jews over the centuries. The latest comes from Spain which, having expelled some 300,000 Jews in 1492, now appears ready to invite their descendants back!

The Sephardic Ancestry Bill, which is expected to pass through the Spanish Senate this month, aims to correct an “historic mistake” by offering citizenship to as many as 3.5 million Sephardic Jews around the world whose ancestors were forced out by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

Neighbouring Portugal has in recent years passed a similar ‘Law of Return’ offering citizenship to the many Sephardic Jews they persecuted, including my own ancestors who were forced to flee to America in the 19th century. So I guess that entitles me to Portuguese citizenship!

These are welcome moves which contrast sharply with the growing hostility towards Jewish communities being demonstrated in Europe generally, not only in the desecration of synagogues and personal attacks, but in the calls for boycotts and condemnation in the political and economic sphere.

No doubt Spain has been influenced by their former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar who, in aTimes article almost exactly five years ago, urged support for Israel on the basis that “if it goes down, we all go down.”

Aznar argued that the Jewish state is at the cutting edge of the battle between militant Islam and the West and concluded: “Israel is a fundamental part of the West which is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not our fate is inextricably intertwined.”

And in 2008 a Spanish newspaper is said to have published a hard-hitting article expressing similar sentiments – regretting the part Europe had played in an attempt to destroy a people who had pursued nothing but life and peace, while at the same time welcoming Muslims whose extremist ranks blew up trains and hijacked planes.

It does at least continue to demonstrate the potential power for good inherent in the printed word in a world where there is an ever-intensifying battle between truth and propaganda.

Meanwhile, a group of nearly 200 British Christians want to apologize and make amends for the way in which their government turned back Jewish refugees fleeing war-torn Europe 70 years ago, preventing tens of thousands from landing in their biblical homeland apparently because they exceeded a quota on immigration.

In doing so, Britain reneged on its own Balfour Declaration of 1917 promising to do all in its power to establish a home for the Jewish people. Shortly after making the promise, penned by Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour, Britain was awarded the mandate to rule the area following the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

They were thus presented with an obvious opportunity of fulfilling their pledge. But from 1938 to 1948 the British prevented more than 90 ships from landing at Haifa, according to Julie Stahl and Chris Mitchell in an article for CBN News.

“I’m here to commemorate those Jews…who suffered or died as a result of the shameful policies of the British government of the day,” Col Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, is reported as saying.

Rosie Ross, who organized the day of repentance, said: “We turned them away and put them in camps in Cyprus and Mauritius, and some were even returned to deportation camps in Germany.”

Others were locked up in a detention camp in Atlit, south of Haifa.

Lord Simon Isaacs, speaking at the event, said the quota on immigration breached Britain’s contract with the Jewish people ratified at the treaties of San Remo (1920) and Versailles (1923). And he said there were two reasons behind their behaviour: appeasing the Arabs and a Labour government that was essentially anti-Jewish.

He hopes the British government admits its mistake in time for the 2017 centenary of the Balfour Declaration. Modern Israel was re-born in 1948 despite Britain’s obstructive tactics.

For more on the subject, read my new book, Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com and Amazon.com

PHOTO: Scene depicting the expulsion of the Jews from Spain

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Israel digs in as international community goes on the offensive

Tuesday, December 04, 2012 |  Ryan Jones, Israel Today 

 

 

 

Israel on Monday responded to international condemnation over its earlier approval of more Jewish apartments in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria by announcing that an additional 1,600 housing units will now be constructed.

In addition to the 3,000 units approved on Sunday, Israel will now add another 1,600 apartments to the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo, which was at the center of a previous major dispute between Israel and the US over Israel's right to build anywhere in its own capital.

The uncharacteristic hardening of Israel's position in the face of international pressure was sparked by last week's UN vote recognizing "Palestine" as a sovereign state outside the framework of a negotiated peace settlement.

Israel feels that the world's response to that stunt, which most agree was unhelpful in achieving peace, has been grossly hypocritical.

While the Palestinian motion at the UN was a clear violation of its signed agreements with the Jewish state, Israel's punitive approval of more Jewish housing in areas claimed by the Palestinians is not prohibited by those same documents.

Nevertheless, the world immediately backed off criticizing the Palestinian leadership, while accusing Israel of having dealt a "death blow" to all hopes of peace. (That despite the fact that the peace process had been conducted for over 10 years while the Jewish population in Judea and Samaria was growing.)

All major Western European countries summoned the Israeli ambassadors stationed there for rebuke, and Britain and France were reportedly considering sanctions of some sort against the Jewish state.

Though most of the negative response came from Europe, Israeli officials were convinced the Obama Administration was behind it.

"This is a masked threat orchestrated by Washington," a senior Israeli diplomat told Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper.

Following Sunday's decision to build new Jewish housing in response to the Palestinian statehood bid, Chicago Mayor and former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has launched a serious of vicious verbal attacks against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

First Emanuel called Netanyahu's behavior "unfathomable," then he accused the Israeli leader of repeatedly "betraying" Obama.

There is growing concern in Israel that Obama, via Emanuel, will attempt to influence Israel's upcoming election in order to oust Netanyahu from office. While that is a long-shot, the White House could succeed in making it nearly impossible for Netanyahu to form a stable coalition following the election.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23544/Default.aspx