A visit to the lost Jews of Ecuador by Genie Milgrom

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Since I discovered my Crypto Jewish Roots, I have been traveling and speaking on the topic in different parts of the world. I have been able to share my personal journey and my findings with Jewish Groups in the United States as well as in Argentina, Ecuador and Spain. Every month, I have the opportunity to speak in at least two different locations. No matter who the audience is, I am usually met with people who have no previous knowledge of Crypto Judaism, B’nei Anusim or much less ,the before and after effects of the Spanish Inquisition . These groups are usually people that were born Jewish and whether or not they are today observant has been mostly irrelevant in the way the knowledge is received.

Up to now , I had honestly thought that I was your typical B’nei Anusim. I believed that I was carrying the banner for all others and that if there was a prototype, that I was it. I had converted through an official Orthodox Beis Din in Miami many years ago and had been accepted and practicing Judaism in an Ashkenaz setting for over 20 years before definitely finding my own Crypto Jewish Roots.

With these thoughts in mind, I innocently walked in to give a talk last week to a B’nei anusim Community in Guayaquil , Ecuador. The building was large and unpainted with faded blue letters and a  large star of David on tops located in an unassuming neighborhood . As I walked into a very large room, with beautiful banners in bright colors and a  small Aron Kodesh in the Center, I was astounded to see so many Jewish symbols in a city that did not announce itself to have a strong Jewish presence.

The President of the Community graciously welcomed us as he told us the story of his own return to the Jewish people. The tears streamed from his eyes with emotion as he recounted the difficulty and finally the elation of realizing that he had a Jewish soul that needed to return to its’ people. He talked to us about his community . Although soft spoken ,he came across with a large personality. He told us that he has some 200 B’nei Anusim Members, and that he has been struggling for years to be recognized as a bona fide community and receive help from Jewish Organizations. He has reached out nationally and internationally and no one has come to help. A few times a year he has received visits from Rabbi Terry Bookman from Miami. He has officiated at their weddings, taught them about prayer and his wife has helped them to kasher their kitchens and taught them to make challah . If not for this Rabbi, there is no other intervention.

He has managed to learn on his own and went to Israel for further instruction. He now teaches what he can to his community and they respectfully call him Rabbi . They have learned how to schecht and the community is eating from this meat . He showed us the stacks of siddurim that are photocopies and hand bound so that everyone can pray. I glanced at the Aron Kodesh and asked him if he had a Torah. He looked away shyly and told me that they did but it was not kosher. As we walked over to it , I imagined it had a small tear or some letters had been rubbed off but as he opened it , I saw the careful and delicate cutting and gluing of a Chumash that had been downloaded from the internet and rolled around the spindles. I could not even breathe as I saw the care and tenderness with which he handled it. It was MY turn to be awestruck as the tears flowed freely from my eyes. I had to turn so he would not see me and at that instant I was struck with the fact that this was a true B’nai Anusim and that I had been integrated into a mainstream Ashkenaz Community for so long that to me , a non-kosher Torah meant a letter that was slightly rubbed off.

I quickly agreed to return the following day, on my way to the airport, and give a talk to his congregation.

I was conflicted about what I should cover in my speech. This never happens to me as I speak often and give over my story continuously but I sensed that this community was  fragile and needed a special touch and a more embracing and loving hand than I was used to.

I returned the following evening and a stage and podium had been set up for me. I was touched that someone had worked tirelessly through the day to get this accomplished. Slowly, the congregation started coming in: the women in long dresses and all with their hair covered. The men , all wearing kippot and some with tzitzit outside , dangling as they walked. The forgotten Jews , the real B’nei Anusim, descendents of the Jews that had fled the Spanish Inquisition in Spain and Peru, were gathered before me. Asking G-d for divine inspiration to give me the wisdom to be able to touch them and instill in them strength for the adversities that I knew they would endure, I began to recount my own story of finding ,verifying and documenting my own Jewish past. I shared personal incidents of struggles within my own family and finally , I told them that as Jews we are given many laws but mostly we are meant to live in a Community environment and that the beauty of their existence was precisely in the community of 200 that they themselves had built and created. Looking around the room at the faces as I spoke, I marveled at the work and struggle that they endure day in and day out yet they are infused with a happiness that shines from within. In the face of these B’nai Anusim, I was humbled. There are communities all over Latin America struggling in this same way and we must be sensitive to recognize their need to return and belong to the Jewish people. A hearty Salute to the Rabbi Bookman who understood this before I did and an even stronger salute to the Lost Jews of Guayaquil Ecuador.

Genie Milgrom, author of My 15 Grandmothers . www.geniemilgrom.com