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Approved translation from Hebrew of the 5 Elul, 5785 (8 Sep 2024) statement:

Sanhedrin - The Great Court of 71
Secretary: Rabbi Amnon Hever Tel: 054-9400909 b.d.hartzion@gmail.com

Letter from the Sanhedrin to the Crypto Jews

At the court we have sat together.

To the holy children of Israel who were forced to convert to Christianity, Islam, or become Atheists. May G-d always be with you.

You are our brothers and sisters, our own flesh and blood. Whoever has a Jewish mother is a Jew forever and ever. So, whatever the other nations did to you, and forced you or your ancestors to do, it did not and will never separate us. We love you deeply, and praise you for observing Jewish traditions, commandments and customs, secretly, to the best of your ability and for many years. And we commend the Crypto Jews who already made the brave move of returning to the Tora openly, despite the hardships and obstacles. We also call for the return of all those who didn't return yet, to the Tora, to the people of Israel, and eventually to the holy land of Israel.

What did G-d promise?

The prophecies of G-d came true and are still coming true. From the Exodus from Egypt, through the exile to Babylon, the return, the second exile, and the gathering of exiles that has recently begun, and is still ongoing today.

G-d has promised to the people of Israel in the Tora (Deuteronomy 30:3-4): “Then, the Lord, your God, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations, where the Lord, your God, had dispersed you. Even if your exiles are at the end of the heavens, the Lord, your God, will gather you from there, and He will take you from there.”

He also promised through the Prophets (Ovadia 1:20): “And this exiled host of the children of Israel who are with the Canaanites as far as France and the exile of Jerusalem which is in Spain (Sepharad) shall inherit the cities of the southland.”

He also promised us in Psalms (68:23): “The Lord said, "I shall restore from Bashan; I shall restore from the depths of the sea.”

No matter how many difficulties there will be on the way, we know for certain that you will overcome all of them, and return to us soon.

The end of the exile

There are two classes of exiles: 1) the physical exile of the Jews being expelled from the land of Israel, and 2) the identity exile of Jews losing their Jewish identity and losing their belonging to the people of Israel.

Thousands of years of murders, threats, compulsion and oppression caused a lot of Jews to lose their identity. We request of anyone who knows he is from the descendants of the Crypto Jews, based on his traditions in the family and the Jewish commandments and customs they practiced, to begin as fast as possible the process of returning to the people of Israel and the Tora. And to join a Jewish community, whether classical or one of Crypto Jews, who had already returned.

Why is it difficult to return to the people of Israel?

Any one of the Crypto Jews who returns now to the people of Israel is paving the way for all the Crypto Jews that will do so after him. Like Nahshon, son of Aminadhav, who got into the Red Sea first and paved the way for all the people of Israel. It is worthy and important to return to Judaism and to not give up, because it is a great deed that will bring blessings to millions of Jews. When people are building a railroad, they work hard, and because of their effort, anyone who wants to use the train can travel very quickly and effortlessly. The same is true for the Crypto Jews who return to Judaism now.

What about a person who isn't a Crypto Jew but wants to become Jewish?

Unlike other religions, we don't believe that the entire human race should become Jewish. A non-Jew can sanctify himself without converting to Judaism by observing the commandments that were given to Noah, and that apply to the entire human race. As they used to say in the school of Prophet Eliyahu (Eliyahu Raba 9): “Regardless of a person's gender, social status, or him being Jewish or not, the Holy Spirit is bestowed upon him solely based on the righteousness of his deeds.”

That said, anyone who wants to become a Jew because he believes in the Tora and wants to accept it and practice all the commandments that were given to the people of Israel, with no exception, can learn and convert, like many did before him. And the Jews are obligated to accept him with open arms.

If a non-Jew can be holy, then what is special about the people of Israel?

There are many things that are special about the people of Israel, but we would like to focus on one of them – the people of Israel as witnesses. On Mount Sinai, G-d gave the commandments to the people of Israel, and one of them is the commandment of being a witness. If a person saw something, or knows something to be true, he must testify if his testimony is required.

Prophet Yeshaaya wrote (43:10): “You are My witnesses, says the Lord, and My servant whom I chose, in order that you know and believe Me, and understand that I am He; before Me no god was formed and after Me none shall be.”

The people of Israel were chosen to testify that there is a Creator. That He is one, not three nor any other number. That He doesn't have a physical image. That He is good and merciful, and spoke to millions of Israelis, our own ancestors, on Mount Sinai. Our ancestors heard Him speak with their own ears and saw with their own eyes all the miracles in Egypt, on the Red Sea, in the desert and in the conquest of the land of Israel.

Because our people witnessed all those great things we must testify to the existence of the Creator, and guide the whole world on how a person can, and should, reach holiness. We therefore call upon all of you to continue, together with us, the testimony of our ancestors, and bring closer the eternal happiness of a full redemption.

The classical Jews around the world and especially in South America

It is important for us to say that we are not okay with the way you are being treated by many Jewish communities. In the Talmud it is said (Sota 37) that each Jew is responsible for the practice of commandments of all other Jews. It is therefore the responsibility of any Jew in the world who can help you, to return to Judaism, to do so.

And in the Tora it is said (Leviticus 19:18) “And you shall love your friend like you love yourself”. Any Jew who has the ability to help, must do so, just like he would want other Jews to help him if he were in a similar situation.

It is also said in the Tora (Deuteronomy 22:1) “If you see the bull or the donkey of your brothers you must not ignore them, you shall return them to your brother.” This is the commandment to return possessions lost to the owner. If we are commanded to return physical objects that were lost to a brother, we obviously must return souls that were lost, or more accurately, stolen, from the entire nation of Israel.

It is therefore highly forbidden to reject you and to alienate from your communities. It is mandatory for any Jew that was raised Jewish, and it is of highest importance, by the commanded of the almighty G-d Himself, by the written and oral Tora, to help you return to Judaism and to fully accept and embrace you once you do so.

We intend to write a separate letter to the Jewish communities where we will explain the seriousness and evilness of what they are doing, in the hope that they will abandon their evil attitude towards you and will begin accepting you with the love that you deserve.

And it shall come to pass that on that day, the Lord shall continue to apply His hand a second time to acquire the rest of His people, that will remain from Assyria and from Egypt and from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam and from Sumeria and from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. And He shall raise a banner to the nations, and He shall gather the lost of Israel, and the scattered ones of Judah. He shall gather from the four corners of the earth (Yeshayahu 11:11-12).

Sanhedrin for the Dispersed of Israel.

The Semikha was reinstated in the year 5764 (2004) and the Big Sanhedrin was formed with Rabi Adin Steinsaltz the elected president and Rabi Yoel Shwartz the head of the court. Today there are about one thousand Semukhim. The Big Sanhedrin appointed the “Sanhedrin for the dispersed of Israel” to specialize in dispersed communities and to help bring all the dispersed back to the Tora, to the people of Israel, and to the holy land of Israel.

Click here to see the PDF version

Click here to see the Hebrew version

This ruling in the news

• Sanhedrin calls for Crypto-Jews to return from exile israel365news (30/9/2024)