Arthur Carlos Barros Basto was a Portuguese army officer and the founder of the Portuguese Jewish community of Porto. Nicknamed "the Portuguese Dreyfus", he was declared "immoral" in June 1937 for helping descendants of returning Jews to be circumcised. And now, he is yet again,...
Many Jewish families around the world have a tradition to have a Tu B'Shevat 'seder', or ceremonial meal. Just as at a Passover seder, symbolic foods are eaten in a special order in celebration of the important role trees play in our life. It's traditional...
A spontaneous visit to our Jerusalem offices by ten people representing two Norwegian interest groups turned into an interesting lecture about Lost and Hidden Jews, and a real learning experience. Arvid Bjerga, who set up Shavei Israel’s Norwegian branch almost three years ago, was present in...
The Shavei Israel Maani Center hosted the fascinating lecture entitled “Bnei Anusim, Past and Present” by our dear Edith Blaustein. It is important that from both a personal, and a national level we must not forget the past of the Jewish people; let us learn...
"The Jewish Identity Project: New American Photography" by Susan Chevlowe (2005) is a beautiful photographic coffee table book. Featuring ten photographic and video projects by emerging and mid-career artists, all commissioned by The Jewish Museum, the book presents a range of provocative discussions of the...
Shavei Israel, together with the Beit Midrash Sephardi, have appointed Rabbi Eliyahu Franco as a new emissary to El Salvador, where he has taken up his position to work to strengthen Jewish life in the country. More than 500 years after their Iberian Jewish ancestors were...
We wrote about the Bissato family, Yehoshua, 45, Chana, 36, and their daughter Leah, 10, when they arrived in Israel from Caxias do Sul, Brazil. The former pastors' unusual path actually led them away from the teachings they grew up on and onto a path towards...
It was a very special Chanukah in the emerging Jewish community of Shmaya v'Avtalyon in Armenia, El Salvador, a city not far from the capital, San Salvador. Beginning with the bar mitzvah of Ariel Guevara, on the first night of Chanukah, where literally lighting the Chanukah...
This year, as always, we were inundated with photos and videos of light and celebration from our communities around the world as they celebrated the holiday of Chanukah. Some highlights from this year are the many photos we received from emerging communities in Latin America, and...
Shavei Israel hosted a historic Chanukah candle-lighting ceremony at the infamous Palace of the Inquisition, bringing light to a building which symbolized darkness for centuries. The event, which was organized together with the Beit Moshe Jewish community in Mexico City, was all the more powerful due...
