eSefarad Noticias del Mundo Sefaradi
Anousim Knesset Caucus and Conference (October 13, 2015)
Last week in Jerusalem, at the Inaugural Session of the Knesset Caucus for Reconnection with descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Communities, I had the honor of being chosen to be the voice of the B’neiAnousim, as a direct descendant of the Crypto Jews of the Iberian Peninsula.
This daylong event was sponsored by the World Jewish Congress, The Institute for Sefardic and Anousim Studies at Netanya Academic College and an organization called Reconectar .
It was a day filled with excitement and awe for me as I was able to address so many people at one time with the important message of the plight of the bneianusim all over the world. Many of these people want to just connect with their Jewish Roots while remaining Catholic, others just want to know about their ancestry and yet others wish to find their ancestry through genealogy and return via an official return or a traditional conversion. The challenge is that in Latin America and most other countries of the world, there are no approved Beit Dins ( Jewish Courts) that would make a conversion that would be acceptable to all.
This Caucus intended to deal with all those issues at once and make sub committees so to speak that would address each issue. I for one, am dealing with the Genealogies of the descendants of the Crypto Jews. I find it ground breaking that I was able to bring genealogy to the world stage in the front row. At the end of the day, tracing these lineages has become one of the most important missions for the Bneianousim.
We heard from Mr .Ashley Perry, The Caucus Director and Professor Abraham Gross who has always been a staunch supporter of our Society and is the Director of the Institute at Netanya Academic College. Joe Lovett was present as well and able to show the trailer of his movie ,Children of the Inquisition. He spoke beautifully on the feelings of the many that he has interviewed through the years that have discovered that they are true Children of Descendants. A young woman named Ana ( now Hannah) told her impassioned story of returning and now living in Israel .There were many talks on the need for everyone to recognize that this phenomenon is worldwide and the time to take action is NOW.
The Ambassador of Spain was present, as was Michael Freund from Shavei Israel and many other important dignitaries and personalities. It was a true convergence of people and organizations that in one way or another are working on this highly complex problem facing the Jewish people today.
It was indeed a historic event that was not only live streamed but was also heard in Hebrew and English Simultaneous Translations at all time.
Genie Milgrom
Miami – USA
