Twenty-eight “Marranos” — Spanish Jews who secretly maintained some ties with Judaism — arrived today in Haifa. They are the first since the Spanish Inquisition to emigrate to Israel and formally readopt the Jewish faith.
The four Chuetta families, Jews forcibly converted to Christianity during the Inquisition, came from Palma de Majorca in the Ballearic Islands. They are part of a group of 40 other similar families awaiting transportation to Israel.
The emigration was organized by the Association for Righteous Converts to Judaism in cooperation with the Jewish Agency. The four families left Haifa immediately after arrival for new housing units set aside for them in Ness Ziona. Sixteen members of the group will be circumcised this week in rejoining the Jewish religion from which their families and ancestors had been separated for more than 500 years.
Francisco Milac, 43, leader of the group, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that “for generations, my family knew we were Jews, though we had no religious training and we did not observe any Jewish holidays. In fact, “he added, “until a few weeks ago we did not even know of the existence of Yom Kippur but in spite of this we felt like Jews and are proud to be so.”
The first time the group ever visited synagogue was in Marseilles, prior to embarking for Israel. At that moment, Milac said “we already felt we had achieved our purpose.” He said that the awakening of Jewish consciousness among the Marranos stemmed partly from films about Israel which they saw on Spanish television.
The decision to settle in Israel developed from a chance meeting with a visiting Tel Aviv physician, Dr. Confino, who became interested in them and contacted the Association for Righteous Converts in Jerusalem. The Association sent its president, Dr. Ben Zeev, to Palma. He assured himself of their direct descent from pre-Inquisition Jews and their wish to emigrate to Israel.
The Association contacted the Jewish Agency which arranged for transport and housing. Campos Garcia, another member of the group, told the JTA that members of the group believed “there are more than 500, 000 conscious Marranos in Spain today and most of them wish to emigrate to Israel. We are only the first wave of a huge movement.”
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