Anusi Matters
Out of the Basement

By Rabbi Juan Mejía

It always starts with a small spark, silent, almost invisible. The spark turns into a fire, the fire into a conflagration that lights up the darkest of nights. We, who peer into the darkness for signs of hope, might have just witnessed that spark. In the recent biennial convention of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the congregational arm of North American Conservative Jewry—representing over 700 synagogues in all the continent—a resolution was passed.

This is not in itself surprising. Conventions such as these tend to produce resolutions and statements by the bucketful. In this particular convention, hot-button topics like Iran, anti-Israel sentiments in the global scene, Gilad Shalit, Darfur, and ethical kashrut were also addressed. The resolution that is potentially revolutionary, like the topic it deals with, was not as noticeable, almost secret, lurking in the shadows.

The resolution (whose entire text can be read here) acknowledges the tragedies experienced by the Sephardic Jews of the Iberian Peninsula during the persecutions of the Inquisition. It also recognizes that some descendants of these Jews continued to observe Judaism even unto this day. Thus, the resolution urges American Conservative congregations to learn and commemorate the suffering of Sephardic Jewry as part of their Tisha Be'Av services, and, most explosively, to facilitate the reintegration of the descendants of these Jews, called Bnai Anusim, into normative Judaism by opening their synagogues and creating educational materials for this purpose.

The architect of this resolution is Rabbi Stephen Leon of Congregation B'nai Zion of El Paso, TX. A veteran activist for the reintegration of the Bnai Anusim, Rabbi Leon has been opening his congregation to these descendants of secret Jews for over twenty years with surprisingresults. Today, Bnai Anusim—fully reinstated and recognized as Jews—participate actively and noticeably in every aspect of Rabbi Leon's congregation: from the board to reading the Torah on Shabbat to leading an award winning annual conference about the topic of Crypto-Judaism. Rabbi Leon's bold vision of inclusion and its overwhelming results, as charted by seers like Dr. Gary Tobin z''l, show the way to the potential for American Jewry if they only opened themselves to the possibilities of active outreach beyond the parochialism of just our most obvious of Jews and their families. Rabbi Leon answered a call that had been on hold for five hundred years and found a vibrant Jewish world eager to happened.

Cynics might imply that this is just another well-intentioned but powerless declaration of good faith by a naive American Jewish organization. True, the internal reach of this resolution might be limited. This coming Tisha Be'Av maybe just a handful of congregations might answer Rabbi Leon´s and United Synagogue's call. And, even then, the true purpose of theresolution might be lost in simply marvelling at the novelty of these strange Jews and their compelling narratives. What the cynics ignore is the effect that this resolution will have on the Bnai Anusim.

We have been waiting in the darkness of history for over five hundred years. So far, the willingness of the Jewish community to show us the way back home had been expressed in the devoted activism of a few sporadic individuals. But this, the recognition of our predicament and our existence by one of the mayor branches of normative American Judaism, is something completely new and wondrous. Furthermore, the resolution which passed unanimously, is nothing short of a call to the Bnai Anusim to come home. In turn, the Bnai Anusim will respond to this call and flock to the light of Rabbi Leon's spark with the knowledge that we are wanted somewhere. And then doors that were until now only knocked upon become open doors, and these doors open even more doors. Thus, transforming the date of our calamity, as our Sages say, in the date when our redemption begins.