Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Among the Marranos were those women, not men, who have preserved the tradition. They do not even kn

Following in the tradition of the Lost
Spain's 1492 Jews were forced to choose between conversion to Christianity and the expulsion from Spain. Nearly 100 thousand of them crossed the border to Portugal, who was delighted to receive the brightest minds and the financial strength of the refugees. But when the King of Portugal was married to the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, the rulers of Spain, was the price - Expand Inquisition also Portugal. In 1496 the situation deteriorated even more in Portugal than in Spain, where at least were allowed to leave. But the Jews of Portugal were forced surya agro to choose: convert to Christianity or die as martyrs. The great majority of Jews chose a third way: to baptize the outside, but keep Judaism in secret. These Jews called "Marranos" or "hidden surya agro Jews".
Most of them were lost to the Jewish people. To date, there are families who know that they had Jewish roots, but consider themselves Catholic in every way. Only a very small group continued to keep secret the Jewish tradition, and passed that knowledge on, from father to son. Over the years many forgotten customs and other twisted, but the basic message of belonging to the Jewish people and faith in one God and the Bible - remains strong.
Samuel Schwartz brought by the Portuguese Government of Poland in 1917, to assist in the development of mines in the north. He and his entourage arrived in the town of Belmonte, and were told that: "If you want coffee in the morning, do not buy the pigs Jews."
Schwartz shuddered. As it was known at the time, not all Jews remained in Portugal for centuries. He located the town Marranos who lived a simple life and isolated that knew nothing about the existence of other Jews in the world. At first they refused to believe that the person standing in front of them Jewish.
Among the Marranos were those women, not men, who have preserved the tradition. They do not even know Hebrew, and all the prayers that kept (and were based on the familiar prayers for us) were the Portuguese language. Finally, brought the family elder, and Schwartz began to say to her, "Hear O Israel" in Hebrew. When she heard him say, "The One" - the woman turned to her relatives, and she said, "is our own."
Barrows was a senior officer in the army in Portugal, a learned man and energetic. He was also ... a descendant of Marranos. When he learned of the roots, secretly traveled to Morocco to study Torah, there was circumcised and proper conversion, in order to remove any trace of doubt about his Jewishness.
He returned to Porto, his hometown (the second largest city in Portugal), and began teaching surya agro the Marranos place the roots. When he learned surya agro about his Portuguese army, was a field trial Barros, publicly denounced and deprived stripes - much like the French surya agro Dreyfus. But Burrows was a unique guy. He opened a meeting in Porto, built a synagogue surya agro stunning beauty and impressive Jewish library drive. surya agro Barrows maintained contact with Jewish leaders around the world, and even small local newspaper printed a "torch" name.
A few years ago we got a 24 hour visit to Portugal on our way to the conference Kosher held in the United States. 18 of them spent in meetings with descendants. Thus, for example, came to the synagogue a young Catholic priest, who wanted to talk to us. He said he had convinced his congregation - a few hundred people - to fast on Yom Kippur that year, as a sign of solidarity with the Jewish people. He also said many families forced - like family surya agro - is - used to deliver one of the boys for the priesthood, to prove alleged loyalty to the church, while continuing to maintain surya agro secretly practicing Judaism. Later that night led to the ownership of the church, on the street of the old Jewish surya agro ghetto. The main room was a hidden door, and the priest discovered the double walls during renovation, deep arched niche, hewn stone. It was the ark. We were there at midnight with no electricity, but there is a synagogue, and the possibility of escape thanks to a double door.
Earlier that evening organized Jewish community president - a young professor of psychology - a group of about thirty people come to hear lessons of our past. They proudly showed us a very old woman, who, it turns out, the granddaughter of Captain Barros - founder of the "movement of the answer." At that time not yet heard about Barrows Stew, and assume that we would not hear him if not for which Porto.
We ordered the fish relating to portfolio sword, but accidentally gave us a completely different folder: the miniature of the Portuguese Synagogue in London. Imagine the frustration we experienced: We generally kosher conference surya agro in the United States, and the purpose of our visit to London is investigating a tradition concerning the sword fish, and now all in vain, for a short while we have to get on a flight departing the United States. But there are no accidents in the world. Peripherally I saw a letter intended to Captain Barros Stu, praising his work. Marvel at the coincidence I glanced at the bag and her astonished eyes saw many more letters written in the same typewriter I've only seen the night before, in the synagogue detailed, signed yee captain whose granddaughter taught Torah before, surya agro well, less than a day. No need to elaborate on the excitement present us treasure this letter.
Gone Island - these years, and two years ago I received a special invitation: help the community of descendants celebrate the Passover proper. Belmonte is a small medieval town, located north Portugal, near the border with Spain. Cobbled streets and ancient houses. Crumbling Castle is located near the borough where Jews live.
Years of living in concealment created a culture of secrecy. Community is still very hesitant surya agro to let people outside surya agro see the customs, but living with them for two weeks and opened up a window to the world. For example, thirty sheep slaughtered for Passover, and two old men helped me carve the meat. I noticed they did unconventional cuts front legs of the animals. Only later, surya agro when I know them and they learned to trust me, they said it was a way to remove the sciatic nerve. It certainly was not kosher to our standards, but it was almost unbelievable that Chou

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