Michael Freund welcomes back crypto-Jews

They officially converted to Catholicism a half millennium ago, but a combination of discrimination, geographic isolation, and persistence kept the approximately 18,000 Xuetas of Mallorca as a distinct ethnic community, Jewish by ancestry, but not in practice. On July 11, Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, a leading halachic authority in Israel, recognized the Xuetas as Jewish, in no need of conversion.

“Since it has become clear… that throughout the generations most of them married among themselves, then all those who are related to the former generations are Jews, from our brethren the children of Israel,” Rabbi Karelitz wrote. According to their history, the Xuetas are descendants of local Jews who were forcibly converted in 1435. But Inquisition authorities on the Spanish-ruled eastern Mediterranean island continued to accuse them of secretly practicing Judaism, as crypto-Jews.

Branded as outcasts, the converts married amongst each other, retaining their Jewish ethnicity. “There are 15 distinct Xueta family names. Because of the historical circumstances and endogamy, it is relatively easy to document and prove their ancestry,” Freund said. Within the families, vestiges of Jewish customs remained. “At home, we have never eaten pork. We didn’t know why, but it was a custom in the family. And we don’t mix food like milk and meat,” said Palma de Mallorca resident Miyella Madraigal, in a 2008 promotional film by Shavei Israel.

The celebrated halachic ruling comes after years of efforts by Westchester-born oleh Michael Freund, whose Shavei Israel organization has traveled the world, documenting descendants of Jews, claimants of lost tribe membership, and others with Jewish roots, interested in returning to the fold.

“There was a particular sense of urgency as in the past two generations, intermarriages have begun and most of them could simply disappear,” Freund said. “We are not looking to compel them to wear yarmulkes, but simply the opportunity to return to their roots.” Freund’s own activism began in his youth, inspired by his grandmother, an “old-time Zionist,” in his words, who served as president of Hadassah, the women’s Zionist organization.

After completing his MBA, Freund made aliyah and served as a spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu during his first term as Prime Minister. “We received a letter from the Bnei Menashe and they’ve been writing to Prime Ministers at least since Golda Meir and possibly Ben Gurion. I decided to reply to their letter. It was a very big deal for them, but I was only a lowly bureaucrat,” Freund said. “They were sincere in wanting to be Jews and we should be embracing them.”

Under his new organization, Freund traveled to the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram to research their claims of Jewish ancestry. Undergoing conversion, members of this tribe settled largely beyond the Green Line in Gush Katif and Kiryat Arba, among other places. “Because of the economic situation and lack of government funding, the only communities that embraced them were in Judea and Samaria, to their credit,” Freund said, denying that the Bnei Menashe conversion was political. “In 2006, we began directing them to the Galilee, places like Maalot and Upper Nazareth. They should be able to live anywhere in Israel.”

Currently, Shavei Israel works with descendants of Jews not only in India and Spain, but also Poland, Brazil, and China. Freund stresses that his intention is neither missionary nor demographic, but to educate these descendants about their Jewish roots. Those who seek conversion are referred to Orthodox rabbis recognized in Israel.

Soon after Rabbi Karelitz made the ruling, Freund’s organization held a press conference on Mallorca, seeking to publicize it in the local press. “Many Xuetas attended and burst into tears. They never thought this would happen, where they would be welcomed back as Jews.”

But the Inquisition was not only in Spain and Portugal, its reach included southern Italy. “There is a Jewish awakening in southern Italy right now,” Freund said. “Together with the Italian Jewish leadership, we will have programs starting this fall in Italy.”