JUNE 2010 TRIP TO CV

After a high-profile signing ceremony on June 10th to solidify a partnership between CVJHP and the Municipality of Praia, Cantor Isaac Assor recited two poignant psalms of King David and chanted a Hebrew prayer to honor the memory of the Jewish men and women buried in Cape Verde.

This was Cantor Assor's first trip to Cape Verde; He is the cantor and religious leader of the Synagogue in Lisbon. A Portuguese national of Moroccan descent, Assor provided much-valued advice regarding the repair and preservation of the Jewish burial plots in accordance with Jewish law and made a presentation about the sacredness of Jewish burial grounds and the tolerant temperament of Morocco --- the origin of most of Cape Verde's Jews.

In two official ceremonies replete with local television, radio and newspaper coverage, I signed agreements on behalf of CVJHP with the Municipalities of Praia and Boa Vista where two of the country's four major Jewish cemeteries are located. It was after the signing ceremony in the capital, Praia, that Cantor Assor chanted and made a moving presentation to dozens of interested citizens--Jewish and non-Jewish alike--and took questions. In fact, one of the guests was a Muslim businessman from Morocco who recently moved to Cape Verde. He was intrigued by the fact that most of the Jews who settled in Cape Verde in the 19th century and who are buried there, hailed from his home country. He intends to spread the word about our efforts to honor Moroccan patrimony in Catholic Cape Verde. The businessman is an important link to Moroccan Jews in Israel who may be interested in doing business in Cape Verde.


What else did we accomplish besides the formal partnerships with Praia and Boa Vista?

1. RESTORATION ADVICE. Cantor Assor made practical and concrete recommendations regarding cemetery restoration efforts in accordance with Jewish law (halacha), which we communicated to our technical counterparts in the Municipalities.

2. GROWING LINKAGES WITH DESCENDANTS. We are attracting and mobilizing more desdendants among the Anahory, Benchimol, Benros, Benoliel, Brigham, Cohen, Levy, Pinto and Wahnon families to become more involved in actively supporting our collective efforts at restoring the cemeteries and documenting the presence of their Jewish forebears. We welcome the collaboration of Dakar-based UNDP senior official Jose Levy; engineer Adilson Varela Moreira (Benchimol); entrepreneur and businesswoman Salamiths Spencer (Benchimol), former Minister of Education, Vera Duarte (Benros); lawyer Sofia Veiga (Wahnon); fabric store manager Esmeralda Anahory; Human Rights Commissioner and historian Zelinda Cohen; three members of the Pinto family in Sao Vicente and engineers Isaac and Israel Benoliel of Boa Vista to name a few!



3. VISIT TO SAO VICENTE AND SANTO ANTAO. The island of Santo Antao (the Jewish capital of the archipelago) boasts two cemeteries; both are located in the Municipality of Ribeira Grande. Thanks to this Municipality's initiative on my first visit in 2008, CVJHP and Ribeira Grande had already signed a partnership agreement. We are in the process of reviewing the restoration needs of the cemeteries in Penha de Franca and Ponta do Sol. While in Santo Antao, I went to the village of Cocoli, where Sulamita Pinto, grand-daughter of businessman Isaac Pinto, lives. She welcomed me with typical Cape Verdean morabeza and regaled me with stories about her well-known grandfather. In Santo Antao, I stayed one night at the beautiful hotel/resort called Pedracin.

4. UNICV - RESEARCH. On behalf of CVJHP, we are seeking a well-established historian who can undertake archival as well as oral research on the Jewish families who immigrated to Cape Verde. In conjunction with the University of Cape Verde (UNICV), we hope to identify a qualified candidate very soon.

5. PORTUGUESE AND AMERICAN EMBASSY EMISSARIES. I spoke briefly with the outgoing American Ambassador to Cape Verde, Marianne Myles, who has always shown strong support for the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project. We will follow-up with the new ambassador and other diplomats at the Embassy. Portuguese Ambassador Graca Guimaraes also demonstrated solidarity with the Project. I met with her briefly just before my departure to Boston.

As a result of this vital visit, CVJHP is moving closer to its main goals of establishing partnerships with Cape Verdean authorities and descendants to restore and preserve Cape Verde's Jewish burial grounds and to document the Jewish legacy. BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to CVJHP. Send your check to CVJHP, c/o Carol Castiel, 400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 812, Washington, DC 20001, USA.

CAPE VERDE HERE WE COME

Isaac Assor, cantor of the Synagogue in Lisbon, Portugal, and I are en route to Cape Verde this month - June 2010. We will sign a memorandum of understanding between Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project, Inc. and the municipalities of Praia and Boa Vista. (We already have an agreement with Ribeira Grande in Santo Antao). These agreements with the local governments (mayors), who are responsible for the maintenance of the cemeteries, will complete the groundwork to enable us to move forward with more vigor to raise funds to repair, restore and preserve the beautiful small Sephardic burial plots that dot the archipelago.

In Praia, there is a Jewish section in the Varzea cemetery which needs urgent repair, protection and beautification. Many of the tombstones are literally sinking. Cantor Assor in his capacity as religious advisor for the Project, will advise us on how to best repair and restore the stones in accordance with Jewish law (halacha.)

We will participate in a formal signing ceremony with the Mayor of Praia, Mr. Ulisses Correia, after which Cantor Assor will make a presentation in his native Portuguese about the significance of burial grounds in Jewish tradition among other topics relevant to Sephardic Jewish customs and rituals. All Jewish descendants are invited as are other interested Cape Verdeans, government officials and foreign ambassadors, to attend the ceremony.

While in the capital, Praia, we hope to advance our objective of persuading the central government to designate the Jewish cemeteries as "cultural monuments," so they will receive special care and enable us to raise funds more efficiently and effectively. For that, we hope to meet with the Minister of Culture. In the island of Boa Vista we plan to sign a memorandum of understanding with Municipality President Jose Pinto Almeida. This would confer greater status on and protection for the dilapidated Benoliel cemetery. Rafael Benoliel, architect in Lisbon, creator of the CVJHP logo, and distinguished descendant of the Benoliel family, has designed a blueprint to preserve and protect the small family cemetery and it environs. Next task ---raise sufficient funds to get the job done. We'll let you know how the trip goes, so stay tuned....

A CAPE VERDEAN DESCENDANT'S JEWISH WEDDING

In 2010, we continued with the crucial behind the scenes work which we hope will pave the way for successful fund raising. We estimate the need for roughly US$200,000 to cover the costs of cemetery restoration and preservation, research and publications and promotion of cultural and religous tourism, with attendant pamphlets and training.

In May 2010, I made a slide presentation on the Jews of Cape Verde to the World Jewry Committee of Har Shalom Synagogue in Potomoc, Maryland. We hope to do many more of these types of presentations in the future to raise awareness about the Jewish legacy in Cape Verde and promote travel to the islands by Jews.



I also met with the President of the American Sephardi Federation of New York to build bridges of cooperation. We will be cross promoting each others' web sites among other cooperative activities in the near future regarding Portuguese and Moroccan Jewry. And I also had the pleasure of meeting Raquel Andrade Benoliel de Carvalho ---- a young descendant of the famous Benoliel de Carvalho family. Raquel is converting to Judaism and marrying a Jewish American fellow. There are many more stories about the younger generation of Cape Verdeans who are "returning" to their Jewish roots. Many have converted independently. That warrants a separate post!

PORTUGAL TRIP

In September 2009, I traveled to Portugal on behalf of CVJHP to raise awareness among the Lisbon Jewish community and the descendants of the Jews of Cape Verde, many of whom reside in Lisbon. I met with members of the Benros, Benoliel, Cohen, Wahnon, Seruya and other families at a meeting organized by Mr. Pedro Benros and Viriato de Barros. I also had the pleasure of meeting the President of the Lisbon Jewish community, Mr. Jose Bensaude Carp, a cousin of former Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio. Distinguished businessman and historian, Roberto Bachmann also attended as did the vice president of the Jewish community, Esther Mucznik, and Cantor of the Lisbon Synagogue, Isaac Assor.

I also visited the Jewish cemetery in Faro, Algarve. This Jewish cemetery is an inspiration to me as it was restored in the same way we hope to restore and preserve the small burial plots in Cape Verde. Thanks to Isaac "Ike" Bitton, a Portuguese - born Jew of Moroccan descent, who lived in Illinois, the Faro Jewish cemetery has been registered as a Portuguese National Monument!!! We are trying to do something similar in Cape Verde! Unfortunately Ike passed away a few year ago, but not before he shared his passion and advice with me. Moroccan-born Sephardim "returned" to the Algarve at the behest of Marques de Pombal in the late 1700's. He reportedly told them that they would be "safe," even though many came before the Inquisition had officially been abolished. Marques de Pombal said Portugal needed the expertise of their former Jewish inhabitants, many of whom fled to Morocco at the time of the Inquisition. Although the Faro cemetery has many more graves than all four Cape Verdean Jewish cemeteries combined, it stands as a physical and spiritual inspiration for our work in Cape Verde. To Ike Bitton, a gregarious, proud Portuguese Jew --- May you rest in peace knowing that you are spurring us to replicate your good work in Cape Verde. Thanks to Ralf and Judy Pinto who manage the cemetery for their kind hospitality.

In Lisbon, I also met with senior officials at the Gulbenkian and Luso-American Foundations. Objective ---obtain funding and / or support for research into the families of the Jews of Cape Verde. We need to field researchers who can comb archives in Portugal, Morocco and Cape Verde to obtain more information about the commercial and professional activities of the Jewish families, many of whom contributed greatly to Cape Verdean development. We know that David Benoliel literally fueled the economy of Boa Vista in the early 1900's. We need to know more based on archival and oral history. Gulbenkian has an international fellowship program to which we plan to field a scholar next year (2011). And, I asked Cantor Isaac Assor, Portuguese Jew of Moroccan descent (whose lilting Hebrew chanting is divine) to be CVJHP religious advisor. His background as a scholar of Hebrew and Sephardic culture will help us decipher the meanings of the Hebrew and Portuguese etchings on the tombstones in Cape Verde.

In November 2009, I made a slide presentation on the Jews of Cape Verde for the Washington DC's Jewish Study Center. Joining me was John Wahnon, former President of AMICAEL, distinguished descendant of the grand Wahnon family. John is researching and documenting his family and provides invaluable support to me and CVJHP in general. John and I have become a veritable duo -- talking to groups about the Jews of Cape Verde and the need to honor their memory by preserving their burial grounds and documenting their legacy.

REVIEW AND PROGRESS UPDATE FOR CVJHP

Following the successful reception at the Moroccan Ambassador's residence in March 2009, CVJHP accomplished quite a bit behind the scenes. B'nai B'rith International, whose executive vice president, Daniel Mariaschin, is on CVJHP's honorary board, sent veteran journalist Larry Luxner to Cape Verde in June 2009 to investigate and write about the islands' Jewish heritage. Thanks once again to TACV - The Cape Verde National Airline - for sponsoring the transatlantic flight and providing discounts on the inter-island legs for Larry. See Larry's fabulous article entitled "Rediscovering the Jewish Heritage of Cape Verde," in the December 2009 issue of B'nai B'rith Monthly on our web site: http://www.capeverdejewishheritage.org/. Speaking of the web site, it is being re-designed and upgraded by Paul Wind and Lauren Newman, CVJHP newest volunteers. We hope it will be up and running by July 2010. It will be more attractive, user-friendly, and interactive. We want to reach out to descendants of the Jews of Cape Verde around the world and have them post memories or connect with one another. In August, I submitted a letter to the Cape Verdean Minister of Culture to request that all the Jewish cemeteries and other distinct places of memory be designated as "Cultural Monuments." We believe that this designation would not only go a long way in preserving the Jewish burial grounds and other buildings constructed or owned by the Jewish families, but would also help us to raise funds from foundations. By recognizing the cemeteries as "cultural monuments," the government of Cape Verde also acknowledges their unique historical and cultural value. Foundations and individuals are more inclined to donate to a Project when they see stakeholders, such as the government of Cape Verde, taking concrete supportive actions such as this.

MOROCCAN KICKOFF RECEPTION FOR CVJHP

In March 2009, the Moroccan Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Aziz Mekouar hosted a reception to honor the Moroccan roots of Cape Verde's Jewish presence. More than 100 people attended. B'nai B'rith International Vice President Daniel Mariaschin, who is on the CVJHP honorary board, participated. Cape Verdean Ambassador to the U.S. Fatima Veiga and Portuguese Ambasssador Joao de Vallera were also present. Jacinto and Carmen Benros, descendants of the Jewish Benros family that hails from Tangier, drove from Providence, RI to celebrate CVJHP which honors their ancestors. We received ample press coverage from the Jewish Telegraph Agency, The Forward, Washington Jewish Week and the Diplomat On-Line. We raised some needed funds and hope to garner more in the weeks and months ahead from special friends of the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project.

VISITS TO CAPE VERDEAN COMMUNITIES AND CAPE VERDE

Last year, I made trips to New York City, Providence, Rhode Island; Boston, Massachusetts and Los Angeles to meet with Cape Verdean - American and Jewish communities and inform them about the goals of CVJHP. Thanks to a generous grant from the Stanley and Marion Bergman Family Charitable Fund and to the Cape Verdean Airline, TACV, I was able to travel to Cape Verde in December 2008 to visit and assess the state of the Jewish cemeteries. I also met with local officials and descendants of the Jewish families who vowed to resuscitate AMICAEL--the Cape Verde-Israel Friendship Society in an effort to assist with all aspects of the Project in Cape Verde. During that trip, I also established relationships between CVJHP and the mayors of the islands where the cemeteries are located. They pledged strong cooperation and support. Prime Minister Jose Neves, Minister of Culture Emanuel Veiga and Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Brito as well as other officials, reiterated their commitment to the Project.