THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SECRET JEWS (ANUSIM) STUDIES – Netanya Academic College

Secret Jews – Restoring a Stolen Legacy The International Institute for Secret Jews (Anusim) Studies Netanya Academic College

Introduction

Astonishingly, millions of people in the world retain remnants of Jewish traditions, yet they remain completely unaware of their Jewish roots. These people are secret or crypto-Jews and are the descendents of the Secret Jews (Anusim in Hebrew), Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity during the Inquisition in Spain. Many fled Spain for Portugal, North and South America, and many other countries to escape the depredations and brutality of the Inquisition. The International Institute for Secret Jews Studies investigates this unique phenomenon, and where possible, tries to rescue these descendents and help reunite them with their stolen Jewish legacy.

The International Institute

The college intends to establish an International Institute of Secret Jews Studies, based on the existing Casa Shalom founded by Gloria Mound in Israel. This will be headed by key public figures and relevant academics. The advisory board will include well known individuals from around the world in the field of Jewish history who will jointly head the Institute and lead its theoretical and practical studies. Academics Gloria Mound (Hon. Research Fellow of the University of Glasgow, Department of Hispanics, since 1988), Professor Joseph Faur and Professor Michael Corinaldi are already committed to this project. Pertinently, Prof. Corinaldi recently received the President’s Award for his research on remote Jewish communities.

A public Governing Council to be established will be headed by the fifth President of Israel, Yitzhak Navon, Former Supreme Court Justice Meir Shamgar has also been invited as a council member.

Vision

The International Institute for Secret Jews Studies will work to identify the vast Secret Jews community throughout the world in order to bring awareness to them of their Jewish roots and to help them, if they so wish, to return to their religion and homeland. At the present time it is estimated that there are millions of former Secret Jews in places as far apart as Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Venezuela, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Romania, Hungary, Iran and various African countries.

Most importantly, the Institute will raise consciousness in Diaspora Jewish communities and Israeli society of the significant Secret Jews issue in order to realise this objective.

The Institute will work in conjunction with the Jewish Heritage Centre and the Strategic Dialogue Centre at the Netanya Academic College. The Jewish Agency has also expressed an interest in working with the Institute.

Strategy

• Establish a Governing Council of respected public figures and intellectuals with an affinity to the subject.
• Conduct academic research on the Secret Jewish community.
• Add further publications to build on the achievements of the existing Casa Shalom Journal.
• Produce a documentary film about the Secret Jewish community and its culture.
• Offer assistance and support to Secret Jews.
• Build a dedicated library wing at the college, using the existing collection as its foundation, and in the meanwhile continue adding acquisitions to and caring for the current collection.
• Organize conferences and conventions to study and explore the subject.
• Improve communications/PR, including broadcasting a college radio programme and designing further modern media outlets.

The Casa Shalom Institute

Elie Schalit and a select group of people whose personal history ties them to this great legacy, together with first-class researchers such as Gloria Mound, have already begun collecting the diverse pieces of a vast historical puzzle in order to separate the myth from the reality and build a body of knowledge. As early as 1978 Mound’s research revealed that Jews had survived on the Balearic Islands since 1492. She expanded her research to the larger islands of Majorca and Minorca, where she found more hidden Jewish communities. These revelations have prompted huge interest all over the academic world.

As a result of this work, Schalit initially formed the Casa Shalom Institute which not only carries out research but also offers practical assistance to people who want to return to Judaism but lack a guiding hand. The institution is able to help them obtain information about their Jewish roots, family histories, Jewish heritage and conversion guidance. Casa Shalom has already developed contacts with international academic institutions and farflung Secret Jews communities. It has a membership thirsty for knowledge and inclusion.

The Institute also has a unique collection of several thousand books, manuscripts and documents, including many rare photographs and even musical scores, which will be kept in the new centre with the ultimate aim of digitizing the entire collection so that scholars, academics and members of Jewish communities around the world can easily access it.

Today, with the vision and support of Mr. Neil Davis, Netanya Academic College is ready to take this dream to the next level. The College views the preserving of the Secret Jews as a national, academic and historical challenge, and regards their redemption, in effect, as righting a haunting historic injustice.

Historical Background

One of the most significant events in our life as a nation occurred over 500 years ago on the Iberian Peninsula. The Jews, who had been exiled from their own land and dispersed across the world, enjoyed a Golden Age in Spain and Portugal, where they established important centres and developed their culture, heritage and scientific abilities for the benefit of mankind. At the same time they established themselves as a prosperous, prestigious and honourable community – until the tables were abruptly turned. In 1492 Spain’s Catholic monarchs issued the Edict of Expulsion, which the Inquisition ruthlessly policed.

The Jews of the Iberian Peninsula not only lost their livelihoods, property and positions, but many people and at times even whole communities were murdered because of their faith, and their children were sold into slavery. Many fled abroad and countless others were viciously tortured in Inquisition cellars.

Still more were lost to us when, against their will, they were forced to convert to Christianity as an alternative to death. In fact, a significant majority of the Jewish population lived on as Christians following the Inquisition’s cataclysmic persecution which spread to France, Italy and the New World as well. These conversions gave rise to the phenomenon of the Secret Jews – forcibly converted Jews (also called conversos) who faithfully continued to practice their Jewish religion in secret, despite the dangers involved.

Today, over half a millennium later, it is becoming clear that the Secret Jews who allegedly cut themselves off from Judaism, continued for centuries to secretly keep their religion. And so, there are indeed millions in the world today, hidden descendents of the Secret Jews, who cherish some remnants of Jewish tradition without even being aware of their meaning or of knowing anything about their Jewish ancestry. In conclusion, the goals of the institute will be to gather information about these Secret Jews, create a climate wherein they can reveal themselves and, if they desire, help them to reintegrate with their original people.

Leaders of Netanya Academic College

Prof. Zvi Arad
President
Prof. Arad is a distinguished, world-renowned mathematician and a leading authority in his field. He is a member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, has served on the editorial board of various international publications, and participated in many academic projects. Before founding The Netanya Academic College he held a variety of senior academic posts, including that of the President and Rector of Bar-Ilan University. He served as a member of the Council for Higher Education of the State of Israel, and fulfilled a key role in the development of higher education in Israel.

Prof. Sinai Deutch
Senior
Vice President and Dean of the Law School Prof. Deutsch is a prominent Israeli Jurist and an expert in Consumer Protection Law. He is the author of eleven laws in the field of consumer protection. His numerous public positions included, amongst others, serving as Deputy Chairman of the Israel Standards Institute, and membership on the Court for Business Restriction. He also served as Legal Advisor of the Consumer’s Protection Authority. Before founding The Netanya Academic College he was the Dean of Bar-Ilan University’s Faculty of Law.

Prof. Bernard Pinchuk
Rector and Vice President
Prof. Pinchuk is an internationally renowned scientist. He founded, together with Professor Arad, the Gelbart Institute and the Emmy Noether Research Center for Mathematical Sciences, and was the editor of the Israel Mathematical Conference Proceedings. He served in the past as Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Bar-Ilan University, was on the Faculty of the Mathematics Department at Princeton University, and was a member of the Institute of Advanced Study there.

Dr. David Altman
Senior
Vice President David Altman serves as Senior Vice President of the College and Deputy Chair of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue. In the past, Dr. Altman served as the Director-General of Bar-Ilan University and as Director of the Tel Aviv Foundation for Development. He was a senior board member in several institutes for higher education, and served as a board member on several committees dealing with aspects of arts and culture in Tel Aviv.

Mr. Yossi Zeira
Director-General
Yossi Zeira previously served as head of the tuition department and administrative head of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Bar-Ilan University. In his public activities, he served, among other roles, as a member on the national secretariat of the Union for Social Sciences and Humanities and a board member of the Religious Zionist Education Network, Dan region.

Netanya Academic College

Netanya Academic College has brought the spirit of higher education to the narrowest part of the State of Israel – only 8 miles from the border to sea. Netanya Academic College has also brought higher education to the million residents of the Sharon and periphery, which include hundreds of thousands of new immigrants to Israel as well as native-born Israelies, who have settled this area that protects the heart of the State of Israel.

Netanya Academic College boasts an attractive modern campus with manicured lawns, environmental sculptures and secluded restful corners. The interior design of the College was carefully planned with an eye to detail and atmosphere, as reflected in the roomy corridors, spacious study halls, radio and TV studios, large library, computer laboratories and a trading room. The campus includes the Feldman Water Sports Center with its tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, swimming pool, and more.

Netanya Academic College is accredited by the Council for Higher Education to award Bachelor Degrees in a wide range of subjects, such as Law, Business Administration, Computer Science and Mathematics, Behavioral Sciences, Communications, Insurance, Banking & Finance.

The College also offers an MBA degree in Business Administration (in marketing, finance, multipurpose administration and information systems management), an LLM degree in Law, an MA degree in Communication and an MA degree in Behavioral Science. The degrees awarded by the Mike Feldman School of Banking & Finance and the Ernst and Margot Hamburger School of Insurance are unique in this country. The College faculty consists of professors and scientists of renown who hold Ph.D. degrees from leading universities worldwide.

The college is a fully-equipped university campus, and aims to become the Sharon area university. Students will always be at the center of this institution, and to that end we emphasize the importance of teaching and research, and offer learning tracks that give our graduates the opportunity to reach the top of Israeli business and economy.

From the very start, Netanya Academic College has cooperated with the IDF and other Defense Ministry bodies. Ministry of Defense scholarships are awarded every year to students who were or are combat soldiers, and hundreds of discharged soldiers come to receive scholarships for higher education in Israel. The Center for Strategic Dialogue was previously headed by Minister of Defense and former Chief of Staff Ehud Barak; Major-General (Res.) Danny Yatom, former head of the Mossad and former MP; former Minister of Intelligence, Dan Meridor; and today is headed by Brigadier-General (Res.) Dr. Ephraim Sneh, former Deputy-Minister of Defense.

For further information visit our website: www.netanya.ac.il or – contact us: jhc@netanya.ac.il; tel. +972 9 8607785; fax +972 9 8607701