Shavei Israel
Roots - the Shavei Israel Newsletter
April 2010
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Shavei Israel
Shavei Israel (www.shavei.org) reaches out and assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to the Jewish people. These include the Bnei Menashe of India, the Bnei Anousim of Spain, Portugal & South America, the "Hidden Jews" of Poland and others.

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Yonatan Ralte from Mizoram
Yonatan Ralte from Mizoram
Thank you from the Bnei Menashe for your response this Passover


For 13-year old Yonatan Ralte of Aizawl, India, this Passover proved to be unique.

 

Ralte is a member of the Bnei Menashe community whose ancestors were exiled from the Land of Israel more than 27 centuries ago. They currently reside in India's northeast, along the country's borders with Burma and Bangladesh.

 

When Ralte recently celebrated his Bar Mitzvah, he told his parents that he had a very special wish: to be able to observe Passover in India with real, kosher matzah from Israel.

 

When Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund visited the Indian state of Mizoram last month just before the holiday, he surprised Yonatan with a box of matzah brought especially from Jerusalem. It was part of Shavei Israel's annual distribution of Passover goods to the Bnei Menashe to enable them to celebrate the festival like Jews everywhere.

 

This was made possible in large part due to your help. In the last issue of our newsletter, we asked for your assistance to distribute matzah to over 50 Bnei Menashe communities in India. You came through with that...and more: we were also able to provide classes and lectures in India dedicated to the holiday, and to distribute kosher-for-Passover Kiddush (sacramental) wine to community members.

 

Upon receiving his gift, Yonatan was profoundly moved, telling Michael that he would recite the Shehecheyanu blessing that is said at the start of the Passover Seder with an extra measure of gratitude this year.

 

All of us at Shavei Israel thank you for your continued support to help bring Jewish learning to India, and to bring the Bnei Menashe home to the Jewish state.

Dr. Jonathan Curci
Dr. Jonathan Curci
Shavei profile: Dr. Jonathan Curci - a Bnei Anousim Renaissance Man

We continue with our ongoing series of profiles of individuals from lost and hidden Jewish communities whom Shavei Israel has helped. Our second profile features Dr. Jonathan Curci from the Italian Bnei Anousim community.

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Dr. Jonathan Curci is a modern day renaissance man. Hailing from the south of Italy, Curci has worked as an international lawyer specializing in the nuances of intellectual property; as a tour guide bringing Jewish and Christian visitors from Italy to Israel; and as part of the team for a hi-tech startup in the field of renewable energy.

 

Curci's road back to the people of Israel has been just as winding. His family traces its Jewish roots date back to the area surrounding the city of Trani which, in the Middle Ages, was a major center of Jewish learning in Italy with many synagogues and yeshivas. Jews made up an estimated 80% of the population then, Curci says, and the oldest synagogue in Europe still in operation is located in Trani.

 

Dating back to the 13th century and used as a church for centuries, the synagogue was recently restored and returned to the Jewish community (for more information, see the Shavei Israel December newsletter here).

 

Unlike Bnei Anousim (whom historians refer to by the derogatory term "Marranos") in Spain and Portugal, the hidden Jews of Italy have retained very few overt customs. They don't light candles on Friday nights or eat unleavened bread on Passover.

 

Indeed, Curci recalls only two real traditions that were kept by the Jews in Trani: sitting outside during April cleaning their silverware ("It was a very meticulous period for cleaning," he quips) and not drinking a glass of milk while eating meat. On the other hand, they had no compunctions about eating pork and no outward symbols of their Jewish heritage ("we were very integrated," Curci says).

 

Nevertheless, Curci takes pride in his Bnei Anousim heritage and, growing up. Curci and his father would regularly visit the synagogue in Rome.

 

Curci began learning more about his heritage from an unlikely source: when he was a teenager, his parents converted to Mormonism where, ironically, they began to study the Bible for the first time.

 

Curci subsequently began studying Hebrew with a local Baptist minister - the only person who knew even a little of the language, he says - but was "unsatisfied. I wanted the real Jewish people with real spoken Hebrew."

 

As a result, for three summers as a teenager (and one more as a young adult), he traveled to Israel to learn Hebrew in ulpan; he's now fluent. "As soon as I got here, I knew I was coming home," Curci says. "It was a very strong feeling that I can't describe."

 

A teacher at his ulpan took Curci under his wings and began teaching him classic Jewish texts such as the Bible, Midrash and Talmud.

 

"He'd teach me everything," Curci says. "I was like his own child." Studying Torah also appealed to Curci's legal mind. Over the years, Curci has attended classes at the Aish HaTorah and Bet El yeshivas.

 

Now 34, Curci describes himself as trying to live as much as he can according to Jewish tradition, and hopes to complete a full conversion. That process has taken longer than expected, he laments. "I'd like to do the conversion in Israel, but they don't want to supersede the authority of the rabbinical court in Italy," leaving Curci in a temporary legal limbo.

 

Meanwhile, Curci visits Israel every few months, staying as long as his tourist visa will permit. In addition to checking in with his business endeavors, he brings groups from Italy "who want to learn more about the Jewish people and the ancient and modern land of Israel."

 

An author, Curci's most scholarly book has a heady title: "The Protection of Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge in International Law of Intellectual Property." It was published this year by Cambridge University Press. His latest book is more topical. Due out shortly, it defends the rights of Jews and Israel in the West Bank "while at the same time promoting a vision of harmonious living between Jews and Arabs," Curci says. His target audience is his home community back in Italy, so the volume will be his first in Italian.

 

Curci's company, Quantum, uses an Israeli design for solar panels which are assembled in China and marketed to Europe. Curci is in charge of French sales. He is also involved with planning a conference in Tel Aviv this fall designed to expose Israeli work in solar cells and photovoltaics to the international community. "This is how we can be a true 'light' unto the nations," he jokes.

 

Curci first met up with Shavei Israel founder Michael Freund during the re-dedication of the Scolanova synagogue in Trani, which brought together dozens of local Jews and Bnei Anousim, many of whom are now seeking to return to their roots - like Curci.

 

"I really appreciate the work" that Shavei Israel is doing, Curci says. It's "very moving. It helps me feel connected."

 

Curci can bolster his connection to Judaism in one other way: linguistically. "The name Curci derives from the Latin nickname to identify the Jews: 'Curtis Judaeis,' which translates as 'circumcised Jews,'" he explains. It is also close to the Hebrew "chatoch" which means "to cut."

 

In the coming months, Shavei Israel hopes to expand its programs in southern Italy to reach out to the Bnei Anousim in the area. This, Curci believes, is essential. Referring to his name, he notes wryly that Italy's Bnei Anousim have been "cut off from the Jewish people for far too long".

 

"It is time," he says, "to bring our people back."

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This month in social media

Here's some of what we posted on the Shavei Facebook site this month:
  • Returning from India, Shavei Chairman Michael Freund's personal appeal to the Prime Minister of Israel to help bring the Bnei Menashe home.
  • Also from India: exclusive video shot by Michael of a Bnei Menashe women's choir in Manipur singing "Shir Hama'alot."
  • Michael Freund writes in the Jerusalem Post's Christian Edition about the Bnei Anousim.
  • Lost in a tin can in Geneva: a new segment from the Cairo Geniza helps us understand the Jerusalem Talmud.
  • Synagogue in Malakhovka, Russia, near Moscow, re-built after being burned down five years ago.
  • Jewmaica! Everything you ever wanted to know about the Jews of Jamaica.
  • Comprehensive report in The New York Times on the Kaifeng Jews.
You can find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jerusalem-Israel/Shavei-Israel/

YouTube ImageWe also posted this month two videos (English and Hebrew) on YouTube about the seven young men from Kaifeng who are studying Hebrew and Judaism at Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu.

We have dozens of videos of "lost" Jewish communities on our YouTube site. Visit us at http://www.youtube.com/user/ShaveiIsrael