Discovering History
Restoring Identity
Building Destiny
For more information on B'nai Anusim Institute please take a look at our   website.
   
Who are 
B'nai Anusim?
Anusim is a Hebrew term meaning "the coerced ones", or "the forced ones" and refers to Jews from Spain and Portugal who were forced to convert to Catholicism against their will in a period of time from the late 1300s through the 1500s.   B'nai, plural of ben, is a Hebrew word meaning sons, or as in this case descendants.  B'nai Anusim are the descendants of those Jews who were forced to abandon their faith and heritage in order to survive the horrific persecutions in Spain and Portugal prior to and during the Spanish Inquisition.  Today, B'nai Anusim comprises approximately 15-20 percent of the Hispanic population throughout the American continents. 
About the Directors
Michael Hendrix and Azucena (Sussy) Mata Hendrix are the founders and directors of B'nai Anusim Institute.  Michael, a lifelong history enthusiast, became aware of the story of Anusim while living in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico.  Since that time he has become an avid student of the saga of B'nai Anusim.
Sussy, a native of Betania, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, began to become aware of her own Anusim roots in 2005, which led to their pursuit of return to their Jewish heritage, as well as their vision of establishing B'nai Anusim Institute.  
 
The Journey 
of B'nai Anusim
 
B'nai Anusim Institute
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B'nai Anusim Institute is a 501c3 non-profit organization.  All donations are tax deductible.  You may donate online at our website.  Or you may send your donations to:

B'nai Anusim Institute
P.O. Box 1114
Calhoun City, MS 38916

Anusim and the
Settlement of the United States

by Michael Hendrix / July 3, 2018

The history of the settlement of the land that would become the United States is intertwined with the story of the journey of B'nai Anusim.

In the 1400s the Jewish population in Spain and Portugal was merciless persecuted at the hands of their Catholic aggressors. As much as a half of the Jewish population of Spain were forcefully converted to Catholicism in order to save their lives. They were often called Anusim, a Hebrew word meaning "the forced ones". They were also referred to as "conversos", a Spanish word meaning converts. Many these Anusim conversos continued to practice their Jewish faith in secret, causing them to be called Crypto-Jews. Despite their conversion to Catholicism these Anusim Jews were merciless tortured and often burned alive in public ceremonies.

In the midst of this horrific scenario arose a man known as Cristobal Colon, or Christopher Columbus as he is known to the English-speaking world. According to a number of historians Columbus was a Sephardic Anusim Jew who hoped to find a new land of refuge for the suffering Anusim. It is known that Columbus brought several Anusim with him on his first voyage in which he would "discover" the Americas. On October 12, 1492 at 2 am in the morning on the last day of the Jewish feast of Sukkot, or Tabernacles, Rodrigo de Triana, a known Anusim crypto-Jew first saw sight of land.   The ships awaited daylight before landing on the shore of the island of Hispaniola.   Today the island of Hispaniola is comprised by the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
On his second voyage to the Americas in 1493 Columbus carried with him a Spanish explorer by the name of Juan Ponce de Leon. Ponce de Leon settled on the island of Hispaniola where Columbus had first landed on his initial voyage. He quickly became a leader on the island and was commissioned to explore the neighboring island of Puerto Rico in 1508. In 1509 he was appointed the first governor of Puerto Rico. Ponce de Leon heard rumors among the Indians about a land that contained amagical spring or fountain. According to the legend those whose drank this water would be rejuvenated. Ponce de Leon received permission to explore this land and look for this "fountain of youth". In 1513 led an expedition sailing from Puerto Rico and landed near present-day St. Augustine, Florida. Ponce de Leon and his crew, several of which were Anusim Jews, explored the eastern coast of Florida. They became the first Europeans to discover and explore what would become the nation of the United States.  Little is known about the background of Juan Ponce de Leon. However, his son, Juan Gonzalez Ponce de Leon, who was a member of Hernan Cortes expedition that conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico, married into a known Anusim family.
St. Augustine
In 1565 Pedro Menéndez de Avilés led another expedition to explore and colonize Florida. The Naval commander of Menéndez's voyage was his Anusim brother-in-law Gonzalo Solis de Meras. A number of the expedition were also Anusim Crypto-Jews. The crew sighted land on the 28th of August, the day after the Jewish festival of Rosh Hashanah, but they remained on the ship. It is suspected that the Anusim crew waited until after Yom Kippur passed before going ashore. On September 8th, the day before the Jewish festival of Sukkot began, they finally went ashore and founded the colony of St. Augustine, Florida. The settlement was the first colony in what would become the nation of the United States.
In 1580 Anusim conquistador Luis de Carvajal brought 200 Spanish Anusim to settle the new territory of "El Nuevo Reino de Leon" (The New Kingdom of the Lion) of which he was governor. The large territory included the present-day states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila and Chihuahua in Mexico and Texas and New Mexico in the United States.   In 1589 Carvajal was arrested and accused of Judaizing by the Mexico Inquisition. In 1590 he died in the Inquisition jail in Mexico City. The plight of the Carvajal family brought much fear to the Anusim community in northern Mexico. In 1597 Juan de Oñate led a group of 500 Anusim across the Rio Grande River near present day El Paso, Texas. They continued to travel into present-day New Mexico where they settled.
Congregation Mickve Israel
In 1733 a group of Sephardic Jews led by Dr. Samuel Nu ñ ez arrived at the Georgia colony. Dr. Nu ñ ez had been a prominent physician in Lisbon, Portugal and was the personal physician to the king of Portugal. The Nu ñ ez family, while converting to Catholicism in order to avoid being put to death, continued to practice Judaism in secret. Some members of the family were burned at the stake and Dr. Nu ñ ez himself was taken prisoner by the Inquisition. However, because the king fell ill and needed the help of the doctor, Nu ñ ez was freed. In 1726 Dr. Nu ñ ez and his family fled to London where they returned to live an openly Jewish lifestyle. After coming to Georgia in 1733, Dr. Nu ñ ez became a respected physician and is attributed to saving Savannah from a horrible outbreak of yellow fever. Dr.  Nu ñ ez, along with the Sephardic immigrantes founded Congregation Mickve Israel in Savannah, Georgia.  It is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States.  The great-grandson of Dr. Nu ñ ez, Uriah Phillip Levy, became one of the highest ranking naval officers in the Civil War. He so respected Thomas Jefferson, who authored the Declaration of Independence, that he bought Monticello, the declining home of Thomas Jefferson and restored it to its original state.
It was a descendant of Sephardic Jews who had fled the Spanish Inquisition that would later write a poem that would capture the heart of Anusim who came to the Americas in search of a new land of refuge. Emma Lazarus was a descendant of the first openly Jewish settlers to settler in the United States. They came to New York in 1654 from Brazil when Portugal gained control Brazil. Lazarus wrote the famed words that captured the heart of not only Anusim refugees, but all immigrants who came to the United States in hopes of a better life. Her words are written on the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York City, "Give me you tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."




The journey of B'nai Anusim had a vital role in the discovery, settlement and development of the Americas. You may join with us in telling the story of their journey by your donation. You may make your donation on our website or you may send it to B'nai Anusim Institute, P.O. Box 1114, Calhoun City, MS 38916. B'nai Anusim Institute is a 501c3 non-profit organization. All donations are tax deductible.