Casa Shalom
Institute for Marrano-Anusim Studies

Casa Shalom - Executive Director Report 2005

Library, web and other news

This has been a memorable year for Casa Shalom. The opening by Israel's 5th. President, Yitzchak Navon, in January of our beautiful Davis-Goodman Marrano-Studies Library extension, aided by the support of the JNF UK (see full report elsewhere in this issue), will be a day long remembered.
We are now working under so much better conditions which in turn enables us to help many more people that need our aid.

More people than ever are visiting our Web-site at www.casa-shalom.com. In 2004 it had the incredible number of 10,000 visits ! We are honoured that more enquiries than ever are coming in from all over the world. Our informative replies both in depth and quality amazes many, especially in the Genealogical and Folklore fields where we have frequently given aid to Anusim urgently seeking vital information to enable them to apply to the Rabbinate to regain their Jewish identity. Amongst locations we are currently helping include places as far apart as the Phillipines, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Brazil and Spain etc.

Visit to Northern Spain

Our visit to Northern Spain in June in this connection was particularly fruitful in aiding one of our members now in Miami, of Cuban /Spanish origin to trace her family back to the tiny isolated town of Fermoselle, close to the Portuguese border.
Here we found many residents conscious of their Jewish connections and in buildings numerous underground passages that had sheltered Jews in earlier times as well as the vestiges of the Jewish Quarter.

The town of Simancas holds the Spanish National Archives and we were honoured to be so well received into what is usually a closed territorary to outsiders and given every help and facility to search with what we needed and to set in motion an excellent future research arrangement.

Lecture programme

Our International Lecture programme continues to be much sought after especially with the facility of the Air-Fare sponsorship for the Tel-Aviv first American stop, keeping costs down for the hosts, yet at the same time giving valuable support to the aims of the Institute--Education and Research.
The most successful 2004 Autumn trip was literally Coast to Coast, the itinerary reading Boston,Florida, California, Seattle and return to Boston, with stop-overs each end in UK.

The proposed November 2005 programme is looking equally expansive over many parts of the United States and includes numerous return invitations.It is so often overlooked how many Anusim are hidden away in American Towns and our presentations seems to bring so many of them to the surface, aiding both us and them as we learn from each other.

Other news

We have continued to expand the Audio-Visual department and sincerely thank members for the books, videos, old films etc donated. Please remember us for any suitable unwanted items, like Guide books, films etc.
We are particularly searching for the following: Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England volumes 3, 4 & 6.

As we expand so does our day to day expenses and need for office assistance .We are as ever most grateful for all the unstinting help given to keep us open, but are especially appealing this year for Sponsorship for paid office help as we have now reached thes stage where volunteer assistance is just not adequate for all that needs to be done each day and must without delay be supplemented.
We managed to build our beautiful new quarters. Do not let us fall down in keeping it open. If you desire that your subscription/Donation to be especially earmarked for this please just mark your form accordingly. Adding to your subscription by offering to sponsor at $8 per hour, just a couple of hours work, could make ALL the differnce to our future.

As ever we are always happy to hear from you and to have your views and comments. STAY IN TOUCH.

Shalom

Gloria Mound

Last updated: 29 Jan, 2007