Our new prayer book in Portuguese

Shavei Israel has published a new daily siddur (prayer book) intended for use by the Brazilian Jewish communities in Belem, Manaus and other towns in the northern part of the country. The siddur will also be distributed to those Bnei Anousim (people whose Jewish ancestors in Spain and Portugal were compelled to convert to Catholicism) who fled to Brazil hundreds of years ago.

The siddur includes the original Hebrew prayers on the right side with a phonetic translation into Portuguese on the left. There is also a Portuguese-language translation to enhance comprehension by the local population.

Keep reading to learn why the new "Ner Tamid" siddur is uniquely suited to the Jewish community in Brazil.

Aaron Klein

Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund was interviewed this week on the Aaron Klein Show on WABC Radio. The program aired on Sunday night at 8:45 PM New York time. Michael spoke about the dramatic developments with the Bnei Menashe aliyah as well as other Shavei Israel activities. 

You can listen to the full interview here.

How do you celebrate Passover in China? With gefilte fish, charoset, chicken soup with dumplings, and six liters of raisin wine!

Hebrew University graduate student Shulamit Gershovich has been spending the semester studying at a local university in Kaifeng to improve her Chinese. She is also teaching Jewish history and culture, as well as Hebrew and some English, to the Jewish community there. She reports that, with Shavei Israel's generous assistance, this year's Seder was particularly festive.

In addition to the kneidelach from Israel, "each family brought two dishes, which were all vegetarian," she writes. "We read the Haggadah and acted out the ten plagues and the song 'Had Gadya' ('One Little Kid')." The table was set with flowers and a beautiful white tablecloth, which Shulamit bought specially for the evening.

We have more details about Passover in Kaifeng on our website - click here to continue reading.

We also have a lovely photo gallery of images taken just before the start of the holiday - click here to view it.