SHAVEI ISRAEL or ISRAEL RETURNS

SHAVEI ISRAEL or ISRAEL RETURNS

Bringing home lost tribes and "hidden" Jewish communities.  Israel Returns opens the door to all who  have decided that Judaism and a return to the Jewish people are central to their fate and their identity. 

We reach out to “lost” and “hidden” Jews around the world. From Poland to Peru, and Barcelona to

Brazil, Israel Returns aims to help descendants of Jews reconnect with the people and State of Israel.

COMMUNITIES ... Israel Returns works with the following communities:

Subbotnik Jews The Subbotniks were peasants in southern Russia who embraced Jewish practice and converted to Judaism more than 200 years ago under the Czarist regime.  They were referred to by the term “Subbotniks”

because of their love of the Subbot, which is Russian for Sabbath.  In the early 19th century, Czar Alexander I expelled them from their homes and deported them to the far reaches of the empire as punishment for their adoption of Judaism.  They were later ruthlessly persecuted by the Communists, and thousands of them were murdered by the Germans after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II.  There are still an estimated 15,000 Subbotnik Jews living primarily in southern Russia and in Siberia, most of whom wish to return to the traditions of their ancestors and emigrate to Israel.

The Kaifeng Jews The first Jews arrived in Kaifeng, one of the capitals of imperial China, over a thousand years ago, when Jewish merchants from Persia settled in the area. At its height, in the Middle Ages, Kaifeng’s Jewish community numbered as many as 5,000 people, with rabbis, synagogues and various communal institutions. But assimilation eventually began to take its toll. The last rabbi of Kaifeng died two centuries ago, and by the middle of the 19th century, the community was forced to sell the synagogue, Torah scrolls and its other remaining assets.  Until today, however, there are between 500 and 1,000 identifiable descendants of the Jewish community, and in recent years an awakening has been taking place among them, as increasing numbers of young Kaifeng Jews seek to reclaim their heritage.

The Hidden Jews of Poland Prior to the outbreak of World War II, Poland was home to more than 3,000,000 Jews.  Ninety percent of Polish Jewry was annihilated in the Holocaust, and post-war Communist oppression caused many of Poland’s remaining Jews to flee. Those who stayed often had to hide their identities.  

But since the downfall of the Iron Curtain, and Poland’s transformation into a democracy, an increasing number of Poles have begun to discover their families’ Jewish roots.  These include young people whose Jewish parents or grandparents were put up for adoption with Polish families and institutions in a desperate attempt to save them from the Nazi onslaught nearly seven decades ago.  Raised as Polish Catholics, many have only recently learned of their true Jewish identity, leading them to play an active role in rebuilding Jewish life.

The Jews of the Amazon

In the 19th century, the rubber boom in South America brought about a social and economic transformation of the Amazon region. Thousand of immigrants from the other side of the Atlantic, including numerous young Moroccan Jews, made their way to South America searching for better opportunities.  Initially, they didn’t intend to stay, but many of them eventually married local women and settled in the area. Nonetheless, the young Moroccans Jews instilled their descendants with a strong sense of Jewish identity.  Many of their descendants continue to bear typically Moroccan Jewish family names such as Cohen, Ben-Zaken or Ben-Shimon, while their external appearance is remarkably local.  In recent years, a growing number of these Jews of the Amazon have begun to reconnect with their heritage, leading several hundred to make aliyah.

Bnei Menashe

The Bnei Menashe (sons of Manasseh) claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, who were sent into exile by the Assyrian Empire more than 27 centuries ago.  Their ancestors wandered through Central Asia and the Far East for centuries, before settling in what is now northeastern India, along the border with Burma and Bangladesh.  

Throughout their sojourn in exile, the Bnei Menashe continued to practice Judaism just as their ancestors did, including observing the Sabbath, keeping kosher, celebrating the festivals and following the laws of family purity. And they continued to nourish the dream of one day returning to the land of their ancestors, the Land of Israel.  In recent years, Shavei Israel has brought some 1,700 Bnei Menashe back home to Zion.  Another 7,200 still remain in India, waiting for the day when they too will be able to return to Israel and the Jewish people.

Bnei Anousim

Bnei Anousim in Spain

In the early Middle Ages, Spanish Jewry was one of the oldest and most successful Diaspora Jewish communities, also known as SEFARADI. But from 1391 onwards, a series of terrible disturbances and great tribulations befell the Jews of Iberia, resulting in unprecedented waves of expulsion, persecution and forced conversions. These tragic events culminated in 1492, when the remaining Jews were formally expelled by Spanish monarchs. Many of those who had been compelled to convert to Catholicism – known by the Hebrew term Bnei Anousim – remained behind, where they nonetheless continued to preserve their Jewish identity and to practice Jewish tradition covertly, away from the prying eyes of the Inquisition and its enforcers. One of the most famous examples was the converted Jews from Palma de Mallorca know till today by the name “chuetas”(pig).

Bnei Anousim in Portugal.- In 1497, the Portuguese king presented the Jews living in his realm with a dastardly choice: convert or die. Some chose death, but most of Portuguese Jewry were dragged to the baptismal font and compelled to accept Catholicism against their will. But many of these “New Christians” did their utmost to remain loyal to their Jewish roots, passing down the faith and practices of their ancestors across the generations. And while many were made to pay a heavy price by the Inquisition for their continued fidelity to Judaism, many others somehow succeeded in preserving their Jewish identity. Perhaps the most famous example was the community of Belmonte, in northern Portugal, where some 150 Bnai Anousim were formally restored to the Jewish people two decades ago by a rabbinical court sent from Israel.

Bnei Anousim in Brazil.- When the doors of the New World swung open in the 16th and 17th centuries, Brazil came to play an important role for the Bnei Anousim. Seeking to distance themselves from Iberia, where the hand of the Inquisition was heaviest, the Bnei Anousim actively participated in the colonization and development of the new continent. Brazil offered the possibility of a new life, and the hope of one day returning to the faith of their ancestors. But the long arm of the Inquisition reached across the Atlantic, and continued to pursue the Bnei Anousim, hunting down those accused of secretly practicing Judaism and remaining faithful to the laws of Moses. But even the heartless cruelty and ruthless efficiency of the Inquisitors could not extinguish the flame of Judaism, and countless thousands of families, especially in the interior of northern Brazil, continued to preserve Jewish rituals and traditions. This flame is still very much alive today, and in cities such as Recife, Fortaleza and Natal, the descendants of Brazil’s Bnei Anousim are once again clamoring to rejoin their people, the nation of Israel.

In recent years, throughout Spain, Portugal and South America, a growing number of their descendants are emerging from the shadows of history, looking to reconnect with the Jewish people and return to the faith which was so cruelly taken away from their forefathers five centuries ago.