Shavei Israel recently dispatched Rabbi Nissan Ben Avraham to Spain to serve as the organization's emissary to the Bnei Anousim (people whose ancestors were compelled to convert to Catholicism during the time of the Inquisition). He will conduct a range of educational, cultural and religious activities in four Spanish cities: Palma de Mallorca, Alicante, Barcelona and Seville.
Rabbi Nissan was born in Palma into an "Apostolic and Roman Catholic" home where he was given the name Nicolas Aguilo. His parents sought to hide their Jewish roots but the children at school cursed him for being a "Chueta" - a derogatory term meaning "pig" in Catalan used to refer to descendants of Jews. He was ten years old, he says, when he "discovered that to be a Chueta was something awful, even though I did not succeed in understanding why."
At home, his family never spoke about being from the Chuetas, he recalls. "We never behaved according to any Jewish custom. There weren't any explanations either. The silence was absolute. But I wanted to know."
At 26, that desire to explore - and ultimately return - to his roots culminated in his packing both his bags and his heritage as he moved to Israel in 1978 and converted formally to Judaism. "If after 600 years I could not overcome the stigma of my being a Jew, why shouldn't I be a Jew?" he asks plainly.
After working as a schoolteacher and a Torah scribe while studying toward his Rabbinic ordination in 1992, the 53-year-old father of 12 and resident of Shilo is now helping other Bnei Anousim in Spain like himself who are eager to discover the tradition hidden away for so many years.
Spanish Jewry dates back to the early Middle Ages and it was one of the oldest and most successful Diaspora Jewish communities. But from 1391 onwards, persecution and forced conversions plagued the community, culminating in the complete expulsion of the Jews in 1492. Many of those who remained behind converted to Catholicism under duress but continued to preserve and practice Jewish tradition covertly...until this very day.
Rabbi Nissan has made peace with his journey from Cheuta to rabbi; indeed he embraces it. "If I weren't a Chueta," he notes, "nothing that happened to my life would have taken place. I wouldn't have gotten the chance to develop and get to where I am, or to help others like me."
Rabbi Nissan's new position has been widely covered in the news, including articles in
The Jerusalem Post,
JTA and
Maariv.
