A Spanish noblewoman, who claims descent from the Marranos who were converted forcibly to Christianity by the Inquisition during the fifteenth century, returned to Judaism and has been accepted as Jewish by the Rehovot Rabbinical Court, it was disclosed today. The Marranos continued to practice Judaism in secret.
Miss Isabel Monios, 55, resumed her original family name "Yamin Oz," which means "right hand of strength," and her given name in Hebrew, Elisheva. A daughter of a former General in Franco’s Army, Miss Monios, who comes from the Island of Majorca, asserted that a majority of the Spanish Army Staff was made up of descendants of Marrano families. She also said that a number of Spanish Marranos settled a long time ago on Majorca and continued to live apart from other Majorcans and to marry only among themselves.
The Marranos who settled in Majorca still preserved in semi-secrecy some Jewish customs, including observance of the Furim Feast, the Yom Kippur fast and restriction of work on the Jewish Sabbath, she stated. She revealed that her father had admonished the entire family to re-convert to Judaism as soon as they could. She indicated plans to return to Majorca to establish a symgogue and invite religious teachers from Israel to go to Majorca to bring the Marranos back to Judaism.
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