the street where the first synagogue was built is nowadays called "bom jesus" (jesus the good) instead of "good Jews" :)

I think its great that these people are showing an interest in their Jewish roots. They themselves may not be strictly regarded as "Jewish" but if they have a genuine passion to become Jewish, then more should be done by Jewish organisations outside Brazil to ensure this happens.

Mr Hopstein Brazil was never conquered by the dutch, just part of the Northeast, incluidng Recife was conquered by the Dutch from the portuguese crown. So writing that "Thus, in 1654, Portugal once again gained control of Brazil, and an expulsion edict was issued ordering the Jews to leave within three months. Most of the community scattered, but a portion chose to hide in the Interior by mingling among the local residents." is wrong. Regarding acceptance... may G'd put some light on heads and compassion in hearts of our rabis. Those are jews that kept their faith for 500 years, in other words... a long time before Chabad was founded. :-)

go study dumb

By definition a believer in "jesus" is a Christian, not a Jew

BTW, The battle for Recife wasn't based on religious factors. It was the sugar market (a HUGE MARKET at that time) that was on the table...

The street is named BOM JESUS (good jesus), but is widelly known as RUA DOS JUDEUS (jew's street)

The Torah is our history, our birthright, Jesus, its another story....................

LET'S NOT CRY ABOUT HOW THE CHRISTIANS HARMED US, JUST RESOLVE THE PROBLEM NOW, LIKE AN ADULT. MOSHE

How wonderful it would be if all of our 'lost brothers' could be 'found'. To hell with 'the rabbinate' if their minds are too narrow to cope with this.

The photo shows part of the "Fos d"iguasu" which is to the west (approx) of Brasilia. It is certainly not in the area of Amazonia. This waterfall is magnificent and very long and is amazing to see.

Just to say that yesterday the 2 hostesses at the American Airlines lounge in Rio's airport were Brazilian Jews. What a nice surprise :-)

Everything must be done to welcome these lost brothers and isters back. Our history is full of tragedies and we can reverse this one. Plus, adding several thousand more jews to the world will not hurt either.

Dear Avner Hopstein, Most of the places that are the starting point and main core of yr article are located in the northeast region of Brasil, specifically at Pernambuco state which is 2,600kms far from the Amazon river, at least. The amazonic region has a formative history quite different from that of northeast of Brasil. To be straight at the point: the Amazonas River photo showed heading yr article has nothing to do with the core of the matter. The broader photo in yr article shows the Foz do Iguaçú Water Falls, located at the city of Foz do Iguaçú, Paraná state, south of Brasil, not the Amazonas River, which is 4,100kms northward far from there. Pernambuco state is 3,800 kms far from the water falls. The facts above show us yr lack of attention in doing yr job and yr huge carelessness toward brazilian readers. Sorry to say, but you won´t be taken seriusly in so important matter. Aloir Augusto

Jew is someone son of a jewish mother or converted acordding to halachá. These people are goym.

Dumb! Dumb! Dumb! Those families have a tradition of only marrying between "crypto" families in order to protect jewish heritage, the same way the ethiopians did to fight assimilation. Most of them are not goys. Most of them are jews although their families documents are not "kosher". That's why this issue is so polemic all the time. It's hard to prove their jewish heritage after 500 hundred years living as crypto-jews, without formal rabinic supervision. Indeed, a "christian" friend of mine recently discovered a hidden SINAGOGUE on the basement of his family farm in the northeast...

Moshe... you don't know the economic condition of most of those families... and in fact the situation doesn't affect just a bunch of individuals but a quite LARGE (emphasis) group of people. In fact, I personally prefer to expend money on those families than subsidizing the one month vactions as those offered by the Jewish Agency to spoiled USA teenagers.

Having visited Beit Knesset Zur Yisrael in Recife it is clear these people are Jews. The problem of the rabbonim is that like they cannot accept each others Kashrut certification so the same goes for Jews who have maintained our traditions for centuries. Put it simply the rabbonim would rather not have these people, like the Ethiopians, Beni Mennash etc as they don't adhere to the practices of Jews in the last few hundred years in Poland, Germany, Russia etc. It is time the rabbonim opened their eyes and instead of running to the Pope as they did recently and visit the Archbishop of Canterbury, they go and visit these Jews in Brazil.

The street sign gives both names with their respective dates. Has Eyal been there? _ I have and have the photos to prove it

It amazes me how many Jews are narrow monded and intolerant. We should welcome these people into our community with open arms.

they always cover articles w/o telling the readers how we can help. We would respect and appreciate them a lot more had they told us how we can help. This is getting a little ridiculous. Jews should help each other!

Brazilian Amazonas picture is, Argentinian Cataratas del Iguazu!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Israeli Rabbinate wont make the same "mistake" it did with the Falasha. They make it harder for the Crypto Jews to 'regain' their heritage because they dont want more 'poor' people flooding into Israel as a burden. Its pretty much sick, and if Israel had the choice now, im sure they wouldnt have facilitated the incoming of the Beta Israel of Ethiopia. Zionism at its stingy best Ladies and Gentelmen!

Rather than, as the article claims, there being no Orthodox beth din in Brazil (huh?), there are no beth dins in Latin America (including Mexico) that oversees conversions within any country there. This owes to intra-communal agreements to accept the anti-Torah positon of the Aleppo Syrian Jewish rabbinate (Magen David communities) against accepting conversion as a way of preventing Jewish men from marrying converted gentile women. I forget whether this ruling was in the 1930's or 40's, and was defended from the criticism of other Orthodox communities in the time as being a just for this time only sort of measure. A measure that has stayed with us and cruelly discriminates against good people, such as the crypto-Jews of Brazil, as well as others from the outside who want to take the very serious step of accepting upon themselves the Torah. It's not just a matter of bringing in a beth din to perform conversions... it's a policy of accepting the most rigid rabinnical ruling even when it's against the Torah. Good thing Ruth wasn't seeking conversion in Latin America.

Ah yes, the stingy Jew, stock-in-trade of every anti-Semite on the planet. The truth is that Jews are the most generous of people. In the U.S., over 40% of all large gifts to charity are made by Jews. Israel, despite her limited resources, sends groups all over the world to help in times of tragedy and to alleviate suffering. Would that the Arab possessed even a small fraction of the incredible generosity that is so very common amongst Jews.

this is a very feel good story, long lost jews who finally find their jewish roots. But the truth of the matter is that according to Jewish Law (which you cannot dispute), if someone's mother is not jewish, he has to convert. No questions asked. If a rabbi's son married a non-jewish girl, his kids would be non-jews, no questions asked. If these so called "crypto-Jews" really want to be Jews, let them convert according to the law of the Jews. Instead, I suspect these people are only interested in enjoying the financial status of Jews in brazil, and even making allyah and getting money from the state of Israel.

Just because there are problems does not mean solutions cant be found to bring the Crypto Jews back to Judaism and even to Israel. There has always been a problem with agreements in the Orthodox community. As long as they have fullfilled the basic Mitzvot as Jews, they should be considered Jews, whether by conversion or other. We need to bring more people back to Judaism. There are millions out there. Its time to facilitate this, not hinder it. My wife converted to Judaism with no background in it through Orthodox conversion in US. We need to help bring our brothers and sisters home to Judaism. Some will go home to Israel, others stay in the Diaspora. As for mistakes in the article, I dont know enough about Brazil to comment, but I do want all Jews or those will Jewish ancestory or those who want to become part of the Jewish family to be welcomed as long as they are really committed.