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Negev Office Grand Opening
October 13
10 AM
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Sephardic Anusim Center of the Americas
September 1, 2008
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"The exiles from Jerusalem who are in
Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev."
(Obadiah 20)
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The Hebrew name for this month is Tishrei and
it is the seventh month in the Jewish calendar. This
month generally comes around the nominal
(Gregorian) calendar months of September and
October. The reason for this discrepancy with the
Gregorian calendar is due to the fact that the Bible
basis its months on the lunar calendar and not the
solar one as is the Gregorian calendar.
During this time period, Jews around the world
experience something quite different to the Catholic,
Protestant or Evangelical streams of faith. I'm
including Hispanic/Latinos with Jewish roots who
have also been known as Sephardic, "Marranos,"
Crypto Jews and Benai Anusim.
In the Jewish calendar, 2008 is known as the year
5769. Meantime, last month (August) has been
preparatory to the Days of Awe. Feelings of
repentance and a deep need for reconciliation began
to crescendo throughout the month.
This year, the 10 Days of Awe begins on the eve of
September 29th with Rosh Hashanah
which is the Jewish New Year. The 10th day is the
holiest day of the Jewish Year which is Yom Kippur
or the Day of Atonement which falls on October 9th.
It is strongly believed that God grants new revelation to
His children for the new year on Rosh Hashanah and
later seals it on Yom Kippur's Day of Atonement.
Some have alluded to "Atonement" as "at-one-meant"
with God.
The Days of Awe are a serious time of reflection and
seeking forgiveness from those we may have
wronged. As we empty ourselves of old hurt feelings
and cleanse ourselves with a sincere passion to be
righteous, we open ourselves up to everything new
God has in store for us in the new year.
Maybe this is the perfect time to make amends with
one another. In fact, because of the extreme
persecution and the attempted annihilation of
Hispanic Sephardim while in Spain and Mexico, in
order to survive, many of our forefathers did and said
things that were hurtful and detrimental to their
neighbors.
The suffering they endured physically, mentally and
spiritually caused them to break covenant with
members in their communities. One major issue was
the fact that many Sephardic Jews professed (or
pretended) to be Catholics in order to avoid further
tortures and burnings at the stake imposed by The
Inquisitions! Their actions often brought disgrace to
their fellow Jews.
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Contact Information
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Dr.Dell F. Sanchez | |
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210.326.6570 | |
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A few days ago I began to feel a very strange
sensation of deep regret and a desire to be reconciled
with those I may have offended. I wasn't aware of the
multi-generational implications which I'd like to talk to
you about which are within the context of our
Sephardic history.
Therefore, one the day before Yom Kippur (The Day of
Atonement), we have a very special day called Kol
Nidre. This falls on Wednesday October 8th.
Kol Nidre arose as a result of Sephardic Jews
asking God to forgive them for their actions which
were contrary to God's will and purpose. They would
ask God to please erase their sin of having hurt Him
and broken basic elements of His Covenant. Because
God is a merciful and forgiving God we know He
grants us forgiveness and great relief from the inner
pain which kept us in bondage.