Jewish Scene
Study: 20% of Spanish, Portuguese men are of Jewish lineage
Itamar Eichner
Published: 07.12.08, 11:40
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1. poland
Dan   (12.07.08)
bet half of that country is jewish
2. Even Christopher Columbus was a secret Jew.
(12.07.08)
He put a letter of the Jewish alphbet on a corner of the page of his letters to his family, in a stylized picture so only his family knew instantly the little picture on each page was of a Jewish alphabet letter. The bible speaks of Naaman the Syrian who had to go to the House of Rimon to worship to remain a Syrian General and to survive even though he knew the God of Abraham. That is what happened to many Jews in Spain and other places. The Lord understands such situations.
3. Jewish blood
Yona ,   Israel   (12.07.08)
I think that the numbers are greater than what is stated here.
4. Only in Spain and Portugal?
Ariel Ben Avraham ,   Tzfat, Israel   (12.07.08)
It is an absurd omision not to include those descendents of Anusim in Latin America and the Philipines. Serious studies indicate that 35% of Latin America's population are people who descended from Jews forced to convert. Please, update your data!
5. It's the same old story, in every age...
Erastus CoupeDeVille ,   Ong's Hat, NJ   (12.07.08)
Once a government or an empire is overthrown, the former apparatchiks and commissars are the targets of the conquerers' revenge.
6. monotheism
observer   (12.07.08)
the difference between God and G-d; the First has only one son, but the Second has millions of sons.
7. #2 No he doesn't idolatry is Yehareg ve'al ya'avor
David ,   J-lem   (12.07.08)
8. i know for a fact that
rashid ,   palistinian   (12.07.08)
bill shakespeare the famous englishman writer was in fact a palistinian his name was billal speare and he was a sheik in palistine and later on the english tfu tfu changed his name to bill yaanee william sheikspeare we get everywhere because we are the original peaple on the planet please send us palistinians more money and i will tell you more stories
9. And yet, #7, exists something called "Kol Nidrei"
John ,   Europe   (12.07.08)
Made by Anusim who by day had to go to churches and bow to crucifixes, and by night to synagogues. If you would obey pikuah nefesh STRICTLY, then all these Jews should allow themselves to be slaughtered on the spot. So don't look at things so narrow, eh?
10. On topic: this is all cute and beautiful, but it means nothi
John ,   Europe   (12.07.08)
If you dig deep enough, half of the Europe will find "Arabic" lineage, since we all know that cradle of the civilizations is Nile - Mesopotamia. So what? Should I go not convert to Islam because some piece of me is Arabic? Also, somehow I doubt that "every 5th blood-Jew" will convert back to Judaism. So this research is relevant only to the historians, who can now try to pinpoint more approximate numbers of anusim.
11. THEY WERE JEWISH.NOT JEWISH NOW, WASTED SURVEY ABOUT NOTHING
INTELLECTUAL CURIOUS ,   ..............DACON9   (12.07.08)
12. #6 THEY HAVE A MILLION IDOLS AND NEW SAINTS EVERY YEAR
QUEEN ISABLELLA SOON ,   ..............DACON9   (12.07.08)
#6 THATS A CUTE ONE YOU THOUGHT OF. ISRAEL THE NATION IS THE ONE G'Ds FIRST BORN. Commentary is like this, ISRAEL,even though not the first nation, HASHEM SAID ISRAEL WILL BE LOOKED AT AS THE FIRST BORN , BECAUSE ALL THE 'OTHER NATIONS' ,,, GOYEEM WILL FOLLOW ISRAEL AS WE FOLLOW THE ELDEST MEMBER OF THE FAMILY.,*THE FIRST BORN. ISNT FUNNY HOW ALL THE XTIANS DISREGARD THE SECOND COMMANDMENT
13. Anusim in Portugal
David Cardoso ,   Lisbon   (12.07.08)
This is nice to know. I only found out i had jewish ancestry while i was 17/18. I'm not religious and always felt huge disrespect for the Catholic Church mostly because their belifs and rituals seem ridiculous to me and a way of exploring people. As i studied the Inquisition processes i only became more disgusted. I also feel anger to see some of these anusim descendants (older generations) feel a certain shame of their roots but it's probably due to catholic prejudice which is stuck in their minds. Conversions still took place during the fascist dictatorship specially dring the 2nd WW. My grandmother and her mother on my mothers side is an example of that even though her father still remained jew. Regarding this study, i dare to say the jewih population in end of the 15th century was about 1/4 of the portuguese population. Take into account that the samples here are very small. Only 1500 samples for a 10 million universe. Besides it's also necessary to study mtDNA. I sure there were a lot of jewish women who married as well christian men. The royal maternal lineage of the last portuguese kings was jewish (the republican status was established in 1910). I'm not defending a retun to jewish religion as i'm not religous at all but i certainly think all anusim descendants should know their genetic lineage, the language, the writing, the music, the history and of course Israel, the land of our ancestors. ------------------------------------------------- I think jews need to procriate a lot more in order to keep the jewish ethnic group demographically significant. I also consier Israel must belong to jews not by religious reasons but for survival reasons. Afterall jews had to deal with a holocaust. So we regained the land that once belonged to us and was then occupied by britains and arabs. Was the re-occupation brutal? To some arabs yes (as many were killed and expelled form their homes. Was there a better alternative (peacefull one)? I don't know. At the time I doubt there was one. It was one of those situations when we think: "it's us or them". Is there room for peace now? We'll see. Should we give away the West Bank? And if so what would we get in exchange? I may be too idealistic here, but my dream is to see Turkey, Syria, Lebannon and Israel as part of the European Union in the near future. of course Syria and Lebannon would require radical reforms in their political, military, social and economical systems. If Turkey becomes a sucessfull example i belive the doors would be open for such dream. Hizbullah and Hamas need to be exterminated. Weapons may not solve the problem but economical corruption may work. If palestinians and south lebanese become economically dependant of israelis, that is by developing strong economical ties, they will likely support much less these radical movemnts that lead to nowehre but suffering in the name of muslim mythology. We need to westernize these people. They're still living in the dark ages and they are victims of their religious leaders. They need democracy and secularism. If economy and democracy is achieve in those countries i also hope jews, as people from other western countries start emigrating to those places.
14. So it turns out that 'Palestinians' don't believe in science
Adam ,   Ramallah, Israel   (12.08.08)
15. why do the Jews care about the Spanish ancestry?
Bye spain ,   USA   (12.08.08)
so, their ancestor used to be Jewish but they are not Jewish. Case closed!
16. To #15: And why not?
Antonio ,   Spain   (12.08.08)
Jews are PROUD of all their history. Why not care about their descendents here, then? They're part of their history. I suppose that you, as a part of a country and culture with only 250 years, can find several problems to see this.
17. historical error
(12.08.08)
Portugal wasn,t conquered by the catholic nonarchs - ferdinand and Isabella. Spain as it is now didn,t even existed when portugal achived it´s modern day form in the XII centurie
18. #15
David Cardoso ,   Lisbon   (12.08.08)
If you think other people shouldn't be aware of their ancestors then you're stupid. The fact is when we're referring to the people who came from the kingdom of Judah, we use the name jews. Therefore if my ancestor came from that region i have the right to say i have jewish origins just like the descendants of a japanese living in America can consider themselves japanese even though they do not their fathers language or culture. Fact is they kepts the genetics traces that identify them as japanese. Let me also remind you that kind of attitude of yours is not very smart specially in a time in which Israel is in danger. Jews, just like arabs, persians and japanese are above all a genetic group not a religious one. The jewish religion is just a cultural element that has been preserved since the anceint times. But as Science evolves jewish religion, just like many other will tend to fade away and when that happens what will preserve the jewish identity? Genetics, the language, the writing, the history, the food, the music etc etc. Those are the key elements for the future of jewish identity not an ancient religion based on myths create by people who didn't even know the Earth is round or Science basics.
19. This is not all the study revealed
Jake   (12.08.08)
The study also revealed that a high number of Iberian Jews were forced to convert to Islam. This article is wrong in stating that Jews "thrived under Muslim rule throughout the Middle Ages" until the were forcibly expelled or converted by the Christians. That is an Orientalist view. In fact, the first massacre against Jews in medieval Spain was carried out by the Moslems of Granada in 1066. Waves of Islamic fundamentalist persecutions (Almohads and Almoravides) forced Jews under Moslem rule in Spain to convert to Islam or flee for their lives. this was centuries before Ferdinand and Isabella.
20. Iberian Conversos
Jeffrey Myron Paul ,   Canada/ Algarve   (12.08.08)
Mr. Cardoso is right about Portugal. However, many Jews who refused to convert, were burned in Autos de fe (acts of faith). For those interested in the subject, I recommend my friend, Richard Zimler's,"The Last Kabalist of Lisbon", an international best seller about a Jewish/Portuguese family named "Zarco" and those novels that follow...Anusim were derogartorily called "Maranos" or pigs!
21. Black African Jewish DNA
Curious ,   Atlanta, USA   (12.08.08)
Has anyone done a study on them to see if they have any traces of "Jewish lineage"? I'm just curious. I know there are the Lemba who are actually Cohains. But what about the rest of Africa, it is right in the middle of all this Bible and religious stuff happened. Are there any organizations to look into Black African Judaism, I know Chabad started out helping Russians and people from that region come close to Judaism is there one for Black Africans? I know there can be traces found there, they fond some way in Siberia and that is no where close to the Middle East or Africa. Just Curious.
22. This study confirms we must educate them to come back
David ,   Boston, USA   (12.08.08)
Let them know what was taken for them and see if they want to come back to Judaism. I bet there are millions who would. Its important to know. I have seem studies that if we had not be persecuted, murdered, forced to move, there would be between 100 and 150 million Jews today. Its also a reason why the Jewish people are so strong today, natural selection. If we can overcome thousands of years of persecution we can overcome anything. Educate them and let them decide if they want to come home to Judaism or not. Its not proselytizing. Its the right thing to do.
23. #21 Curious in Atlanta
Logic ,   Israel   (12.08.08)
The most famous example of Black African Jews are the Ethiopian Jews. I've heard of Black Jewish communities in Uganda, but don't know much about them, other than the fact that they set up some small synagogues. Also, I recently saw a documentary describing the possibility that Jews fleeing from the destruction of the Temple made their way to Yemen and then possibly across the sea to Africa. (The film was about the lost ark and speculated where the ark and the exilees ended up.) I doubt this can help satiate your curiosity, but at least its a starting point.
24. #22
Logic ,   Israel   (12.08.08)
Just imagine if a sustained effort was made to bring back just a fraction of those millions to Judaism! Of those who return to the fold, many thousands could chose to make their homes in Israel.
25. #23 and #24 Black African Jewish DNA
Curious ,   Atlanta   (12.09.08)
Thanks for being positive and thanks for the info. Am Israel Chi
26. #24 Logic I agree, but who will start the process?
David ,   Boston, USA   (12.09.08)
How do we get the Rabbis and Jewish education systems around the world, and especially in Israel to start the process? I know in Israel they have helped with Ethiopean Jews and Indian Jews. There is a Rabbi in Southern California who helps bring back Crypo Jews in Mexico. Its time to bring home our "distant relatives."
27. Study: 20% of Spanish, Portuguese men are of Jewish lineage
RIck ,   Jonesboro, AR.   (12.09.08)
My question to you is this. Would these Jewish people that were converted or forced to Christianity be alive and would they have lived through Hitler? Maybe it was a blessing in disguise; I'm not into forcing anyone to convert, however God works in mysterious ways!
28. Franco
Susan ,   Kfar Saba   (12.09.08)
That is why Franco wouldn't let the Nazis come in. He knew it. They would have decimated the Spanish population.
29. #18 HOW MANY TIMES DID I TELL YOU,DONT STOP THE MEDS..
..............DACON9   (12.09.08)
30. #21, THEY ARE NOT KOHANEEM BY TORAH LAW AND THEY ARE NOT JEW
..............DACON9   (12.09.08)
IT ONLY MEANS THEY HAD SEX WITH A JEWISH MAN 500 YEARS AGO... JUSTTHE FACTS..
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