Israel - Jewish Exodus from Western Europe Sets New Record - CBN News

Jewish Exodus from Western Europe Sets New Record - ISRAEL

01-19-2016

CBN News

Jewish immigration to Israel from Western Europe has reached an all-time high in an exodus mainly caused by a spike in anti-Semitic attacks from Islamic radicals.

Just last week, a machete-wielding teen attacked a Jewish teacher in the southern French town of Marseille, prompting a local Jewish authority to ask fellow Jews to refrain from wearing their traditional skullcaps to stay safe.

The Jewish Agency, a leading nonprofit group, reports that 9,880 Jews from Western Europe moved to Israel last year. That number is more than 10 percent higher than 2014 and double the figure from 2013.

Jews have increasingly reported assaults and intimidation, mostly from Muslim extremists. And while the attacks have taken place in Belgium, Denmark and other European countries, France has seen the worst of it.

That's why the vast majority of immigrants, close to 8,000, came from France. The shocking rise in anti-Semitic violence there has shattered the sense of security of the world's third-largest Jewish population.

France is still reeling from a series of attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 that killed 130 people, and it just marked the anniversary of attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery store, which killed 17 people. In each case, the Islamic State claimed responsibility.                  

France's Jewish community of some 500,000 is the largest in Europe. Jewish schools and synagogues are often surrounded by soldiers in combat fatigues, armed with automatic rifles, who patrol the streets.

And though Jews make up less than 1 percent of the population there, French officials say more than 50 percent of all reported racist attacks in 2014 were directed against them.

Experts say European Jews have not felt this threatened since World War II, when 6 million Jews were murdered in the Nazi Holocaust.

Watch video here: Jewish Exodus from Western Europe

Last Jewish Family from Aleppo, Syria is Safe in Israel | Itamar Eichner ISRAEL TODAY

The Last Jewish Family from Aleppo, Syria is Safe in Israel

Wednesday, November 25, 2015 |  Itamar Eichner  ISRAEL TODAY

The two women in this story, whose personal story could make a great Hollywood thriller, are now living in Ashkelon's Absorption Center. These last Jews to live in Aleppo, Syria, were smuggled out of the bombarded city in an intricate operation carried out a year ago by Free Syrian Army Muslim men. This operation was financed and run by Moti Kahana, an American Israeli businessman who for the last four hears has been in close contact with Syrian insurgents. 88 year-old Miriam (not her real name) and her 53 year-old daughter were smuggled from Aleppo through the Turkish border to Istanbul and from there were brought to Israel.

Miriam kept a Jewish life style, and continued to eat kosher food despite it being difficult to obtain in the midst of civil war. Miriam's second daughter Linda (not her real name), along with her Muslim husband and his three children from his first marriage escaped with her to Istanbul. However, Since Linda converted to Islam, the couple didn't want to go to Israel and, in any case, were not entitled to enter Israel under the Law of Return which is applicable to Jews only. They, in the end, chose to return to Syria.

Miriam knows biblical Hebrew from the prayer book and at a young age attended Aleppo's main synagogue, where the legendary Hebrew Bible manuscript, the Aleppo codex, was kept. In retaliation to the 1947 UN "Partition Plan," this synagogue was set on fire and destroyed.

The Jewish family lived in extremely difficult conditions in the area of Aleppo which is in an area controlled by the Syrian government forces. Water and electricity were cut off after this area was severely bombarded by the insurgents. The journey from Aleppo to Turkey lasted 12 hours. On the way the family was stopped at a Jabhat al-Nusra road block. Disguised as Muslims, and only after a grueling investigation, were they allowed to continue on their way.

"This is the last Jewish family from Aleppo," stated Moti Kahana. This brings to closure 2700 years of Jewish life in this city. Kahana criticized the Jewish Agency for not permitting the converted daughter to enter Israel and de facto abandoned them in Istanbul. In return the Jewish Agency blamed Kahana for luring the family to leave Aleppo with the promise to bring them to the United States, and that the family initially did not want to go to Israel. The Jewish Agency stressed that they offered Linda's family to arrive in Israel, initially as tourists, but they have refused the offer.

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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

French anti-Semitism and French Aliyah Skyrocket on Parallel Tracks

Posted by: Staff Writer April 10, 2014  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8)

An aliyah information fair in central Paris on March 30. (Photo: Alain Azria)

By Josh Hasten/JNS.org

Against the backdrop of studies revealing rising anti-Semitism both in France and across all of Europe, as well as one particularly brutal attack in Paris last month, French Jews are flocking to Israel.

On March 30, the Jewish Agency for Israel released figures showing that aliyah from France increased dramatically over the first two months of 2014. In January and February alone, 854 French olim (immigrants) arrived in Israel, compared to 274 over the same period last year, representing a 312-percent increase.

Shay Felber—the Jewish Agency’s deputy director-general for community services and resident expert on France, who made aliyah from France with his parents in the 1970s—cites three main reasons for the current trend. Two are anti-Semitism and the difficult economic situation in France. But from a more positive perspective, the high level of Jewish education and Zionistic identity prevalent in the French Jewish community is also leading to an upswing in immigration to Israel, Felber tells JNS.org.

Pictured is David (identified only by his first name), a 59-year-old Jewish teacher who was severely beaten in Paris last month. The attackers drew a swastika on David’s chest. (Photo: David via The Algemeiner)

In Paris during March, a 59-year-old Jewish teacher was subjected to anti-Semitic slurs and then severely beaten by a group of young men identified as being “Maghreb.” The men proceeded to draw a swastika on the chest of their victim with a marker, and vowed they would return to finish the job. No arrests have been made yet for that attack.

Felber believes that the current rise in anti-Semitic incidents and attacks in France is a direct result of the situation on “the street,” with many of the episodes being perpetrated by local Arabs and Muslims. Yet Felber stresses that the anti-Jewish sentiment is not French government policy, but that the government “is trying very hard to combat” anti-Semitism.

One recent study that reveals the worrisome realities for French Jewry is the 2013 report on anti-Semitism in France compiled by SPCJ, the security unit of France’s Jewish communities. According to the report, 423 anti-Semitic acts were recorded in the country in 2013 alone. The research also indicates that last year, 40 percent of all racist violence perpetrated in France targeted Jews. The report amplifies the ramifications of that statistic by explaining the trend from a proportionality perspective.

“Since Jews represent less than one percent of the French population, what this shows is that less than one percent of French citizens were the target of 40 percent of racist attacks perpetrated in the country,” says the report.

The document also states, “Since the year 2000—and for 14 consecutive years—the number of anti-Semitic acts in France has been very high, about seven times higher than numbers recorded in the 1990s. During this period, six people were murdered because they were Jewish, including three young children.

The report concludes that anti-Semitism in France “cannot be considered anymore as a temporary situation associated with the situation in the Middle-East; it is a structural problem that has not been fought as such and has not been halted yet.”

While many French Jews are moving to Israel to escape their situation at home, Israeli tourists are known to travel frequently throughout Europe—often ignoring the situation on the ground in hopes of having an enjoyable vacation.

Gideon Behar, director of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department for Combating Anti-Semitism, tells JNS.org that while he is “concerned about the rising anti-Semitism in Europe, and it is something we are following very closely,” his office has not issued any travel advisories or warnings for France or any other European Union countries leading up to the current robust Passover holiday travel season.

Mark Feldman—CEO of Zion Tours, a leading Jerusalem-based travel company—concurs that there is “no direct guidance for traveling to France” at this time. He says his company sends many Israeli travelers on vacation to places like Morocco, and that to “avoid speaking Hebrew, don’t be overly loud, [and] walk in numbers are what we would advise clients traveling to many cities throughout the world [to do], and not just [in] France.”

Regarding aliyah—not only from France, but from Europe in general—being a result of rising anti-Semitism, Behar cites the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) November 2013 study. That study was based on a survey given to 5,847 Jews from EU member states, asking them about their own experiences and perceptions of discrimination, hate crime, and anti-Semitism.

Two-thirds of FRA respondents (66 percent) consider anti-Semitism to be a problem across the EU member states surveyed, while three-quarters of the respondents (76 percent) indicate that anti-Semitism has worsened over the past five years in the country where they live. Almost half (46 percent) of the respondents worry about becoming the victim of an anti-Semitic verbal insult or harassment in the next 12 months, while one-third (33 percent) fear a physical attack in the same period.

In the 12 months before the survey, 26 percent of all respondents reported experiencing an incident or multiple incidents involving verbal insult or harassment because they were Jewish, and 4 percent experienced physical violence or threats of violence. Seventy-five percent of respondents consider online anti-Semitism to be a problem in their country of residence, and almost three-quarters (73 percent) said that online anti-Semitism has increased over the last five years.

The Jewish Agency, meanwhile, recently unveiled a new government plan to encourage aliyah from France. Along with the Israeli Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, the initiative is boosting the number of Jewish Agency shlichim (emissaries) in France, increasing marketing efforts, developing new immigrant absorption programs, and establishing a special committee headed by the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office to remove obstacles to French aliyah.

The proposal also sets clear benchmarks for increasing the number of olim, seeking to double their numbers in the coming years. The plan was developed in consultation and cooperation with French Jewish organizations, both in France and in Israel. Other partners include the World Zionist Organization, the Israeli Ministry of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, and Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal, who are all are working together for the first time in order to strengthen French aliyah.

The Jewish Agency’s Felber says the plan is two-fold, “to promote aliyah in France through aliyah fairs, Hebrew-language courses, and sessions which assist in potential olim to find jobs in Israel, while the second part is kilitah (absorption) in Israel.” Felber says the Jewish Agency is in the process of constructing two new absorption centers, and at the same time is working with local municipalities in order to help French olim secure employment while also integrating into society.

Felber says he is confident that based on the large aliyah figures for French Jews—he estimates that there have been 100,000-120,000 total olim from France to date—these new immigrants will also succeed in building their new lives in the Jewish state.

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/13567/french-anti-semitism-french-aliyah-skyrocket-parallel-tracks/#LQdVVE8lPRLhfQGi.99