For the second year in a row, a vivid exhibition tracing the history and experience of the Bnai Anousim (Jews who hid their identity for fear of persecution) is drawing large crowds across Brazil as it tours the vast South American country.
(courtesy of Shavei Israel)
The exhibition, entitled "Crypto-Jews: The Flame that the Inquisition Could Not Extinguish," was designed and produced by Shavei Israel (www.shavei.org), a Jerusalem-based group that reaches out and assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to the Jewish people.
It opened Monday at a festive ceremony at the Center for Jewish Culture in the southern city of Sao Paolo, where approximately half of Brazil's Jewish community currently resides. Hundreds of local Jews and Bnai Anousim attended.
(courtesy of Shavei Israel)
In recent weeks, the exhibition was on display in the cities of Porto Alegre and Curitiba in the south, as well as Recife in the north of the country. It includes a wide array of maps, illustrations and photographs, with explanatory panels in Hebrew and Portuguese that tell the story of the Bnai Anousim and their struggle over the centuries to preserve their Jewish identity. A Spanish-language version has previously been shown in Israel and in Spain.
(courtesy of Shavei Israel)
"Bnai Anousim" is the Hebrew term for people whose ancestors were forcibly converted to Catholicism during the time of the Inquisition. Historians have often referred to them as "crypto-Jews" or by the derogatory term "Marranos."
(courtesy of Shavei Israel)
"Growing numbers of Bnai Anousim throughout the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking world are looking to reconnect with Israel and the Jewish people," said Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund. "One of our goals is to raise awareness among world Jewry about this phenomenon by telling the story of the Bnai Anousim, both in the past and the present.
(courtesy of Shavei Israel)
"For far too long, the Jewish people have ignored the Bnai Anousim and it is time for that to change. We need to reach out to them and to welcome them back home."
(courtesy of Shavei Israel)
With an eye toward local audiences, the exhibition highlights the arrival of Portuguese crypto-Jews in Brazil beginning in the 16th century, and it describes the horrific persecution they endured at the hands of the Inquisition. Those suspected of practicing Judaism in secret were often sent back to Portugal for trial, where they were frequently burned at the stake in public ceremonies.
(courtesy of Shavei Isr
The exhibition will be on display in Sao Paulo through mid-October. For further information, or to arrange for the exhibition to appear in your community, contact: office@shavei.org.