According to the Wikipedia,
” the Sephardic Bnei Anusim are the children of the converted Spanish Jews to define the comtemporary Christian descendants of an estimated quarter of a million 15th-century Sephardi Jews who were forced to catholicism during the 14th and 15th century.
Under Jewish religious law, also known as halakha, the Jewish status of Sephardic Bnei Anusim as a collective group is not, by most religious authorities, automatically recognized for two reasons. Firstly, because of issues regarding generational distance, and secondly, because of issues relating to the proving of an unbroken direct maternal Jewish lineage. ”
Dear friends, I tend to think that troughout history all people in all nations have coordinated their efforts, no matter in which subject, to stay closely stuck to the same ideology, same crimes or same “hesed” being demeasurately influenced by eachother ! Wars are also a show of the same solidarity ! So are progroms, nazism, big Revolutions, Islam, Christianity in short all big waves in the world.
American historian Howard Morley Sachar has estimated the number of Spain’s Jewish exiles at around 100,000, while Hebrew University’s Haim Beinart has put the total at 200,000. In recent years, a growing number of Anousim from across Europe, South America and parts of the US have begun to return to Israel and their people.
Mark Jobling of the University of Leicester in England and Francesc Calafell of the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, analyzed the Y chromosomes of Sephardim. The results were then compared with the Y chromosomes of 1,000 + men of Spain and Portugal. The Y chromosome inherited (passed) from father to son, it became possible to measure the two groups up against each other. That gave us that one-fifth of the Iberians are of Jewish descent.
I believe that in the “return” of bnei Anusim the same will be experienced depending on how important will be the number of our brothers who will decide to join the faith of their ancestors .
If Israel and the Jewish people undertake a concerted outreach effort toward our genetic brethren in Iberia, it could have a profound impact in a variety of fields, ranging from anti-Semitism in Europe to the future of Jewish demography.
Besides, when someone discovers they are of Jewish descent, it is likely to create a greater sense of kinship for Jewish causes. Hence, we should seek to promote and cultivate their affinity for Israel and the Jewish people.
Our task now should be to welcome our brothers into our midst. Yesssss !
sharope.blanco@gmail.com