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54 July 14 • 2016

Obituaries

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T

here are tens of millions of
people reaching out or knock-
ing on the door of the Jewish
world — and most Jews are not aware
of this phenomenon,” Ashley Perry,
president of Reconectar recently told the
Jerusalem Post.
Reconectar (recon-
nect in Spanish and
Portuguese) is an
organization that
reconnects the descen-
dants of Spanish
and Portuguese Jews
compelled to become
Roman Catholic more
than 500 years ago —
known as b’nai anusim
in Hebrew or conversos
in Spanish — with the Ashley Perry
Jewish people today.
Perry estimated that
there are more than
100 million descendants of these Spanish
and Portuguese Jews, and that tens of
millions today want to reconnect and
learn about their Jewish roots.
“Every day, I receive tens or hundreds
of emails from people around the world
who know or have discovered that they
have Jewish ancestry,” he said. “And they
are seeking solutions to reconnect to the
Jewish people.”
Perry, who has worked for many years
as a senior government adviser, serves
as the director-general of the Knesset
Caucus for the Reconnection with the
Descendants of Spanish and Portuguese
Jewish Communities headed by MK
Robert Ilatov.
The issue is of personal importance
to London-born Perry, whose family
name was originally Perez. Himself a
descendant of Spanish and Portuguese
Jewish exiles, his family fled the Iberian
Peninsula and made their way to
Holland and then to the U.K.

ISRAELI ACTION
Last week, the issue was thrust into the
spotlight as Education Minister Naftali
Bennett was presented with the recom-
mendations of the Biton Committee,
tasked with empowering Sephardic
Jewish cultural studies within the general
education curriculum.
The committee provided recom-
mendations on integrating the heritage
of Mizrahi Jews from Arab or Muslim
countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Iran,
Tunisia, Morocco and Libya into the
curriculum as well as the heritage of

Spanish Jewry.
One of the recommendations of the
committee was for students to take
annual school trips to Balkan states,
Spain and Morocco as part of a heritage
tour to learn about Jewish roots in those
countries.
Perry explained that this renewed
interest in reconnecting
with the Jewish world was
made possible due to tech-
nological advances such
as genealogy and DNA
testing, and even simple
Google searches.
“Many people knew
they were Jewish and kept
a strong Jewish identity.
There were others who kept
certain traditions thinking
they were quirky family
traditions and only now are
realizing they come from
Judaism,” he explained.
According to data gath-
ered by Reconectar over the course of
nearly a decade, some 10 to 20 million of
these descendants already self-identify
as Jewish.

GENERATIONAL PROJECT
When asked about the status of these
descendants under Jewish law, Perry
said there is a debate among rabbis
about what process they would have to
undergo, but it is a “halachic obligation
to welcome them back as Jews.”
“What we need to understand is that
almost every Jew around the world today
is a descendant of converted Jews,” he
explained. “Almost every Jew throughout
history has been forcibly converted and
rabbis throughout history — including
Rambam and Rashi — have had to deal
with the issue.”
He added that because there have
been few forcible conversions in recent
history, the issue has “dropped off the
map.”
Through Reconectar and the Knesset
Caucus’ activities, Perry said there are
hundreds of thousands of people who
have already reconnected in some capac-
ity to Judaism.
“This is going to be a generational
project; it will be the challenge and the
opportunity for the Jewish world in the
21st century,” Perry said.
“We’ve never had the opportunity to
grow and thrive in such a way. Jewry
has been shrinking, and here we have
millions of people who are knocking on
our door who are part of our history and
hopefully will be a part of our future.”

*

