CONVERSO/ISRAEL INITIATIVE

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”It is vital to locate and reconnect with those who remain our brothers and sisters,”

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~Tenth President of the State of Israel, Reuven Rivlin

INTRODUCTION

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Israel and the Jewish People are at a critical juncture in history. Anti-Israeli sentiment and Anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise around the globe. The Jewish People are facing tremendous issues related to unity, demography and commitment to a shared vision.

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Beginning in the 14^th Century in Sefarad (Spain and Portugal), hundreds of thousands of Jews were forcibly disconnected from the Jewish People through forced conversions. Thanks to major advances in genealogy, DNA and simple online searches, tens of millions of people around the world are discovering and exploring their Jewish ancestry and seek a reconnection with the Jewish People and the State of Israel.

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Jewish Heritage Alliance has been centrally involved in helping the descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jewish communities, otherwise known as Anusim, Marranos, Conversos or crypto-Jews, reconnect with their heritage.

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This initiative will develop outreach programs to engage conversos communities and help them to connect and appreciate their ancestral Jewish heritage openly. 

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The Hispanic & Latino Connection to the Jewish People and Israel:

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BACKGROUND

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• 1 in 5 Spanish and Portuguese men are descendants of Sefarad (Jews of the Iberian Peninsula). Including women, the number of Conversos on the Iberian Peninsula is inevitably higher! (Adams et al., American Journal of Human Genetics, Dec. 2008)

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• 1 of every 4 Latinos has Sefardic Jewish Ancestry! (Chacón-Duque et al., Journal of Nature Communications, Dec. 2018)

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Ph.786.528.3154 | www.JewishHeritageAlliance.com | info@jewishheritagealliance.com

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Jewish Heritage Alliance is a global collaborative effort with a mission to promote the worldwide story of Sefarad and its profound present-day consequences.

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1 in 5 Spanish and Portuguese men are descended from Sefardic Jews. Including women, the number of Conversos on the Iberian Peninsula is inevitably higher! (Adams et al., American Journal of Human Genetics, Dec. 2008)

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1 of every 4 Latinos has Sefardic Jewish Ancestry! (Chacón-Duque et al., Journal of Nature Communications,

Dec. 2018)

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Accordingly, whereas there are only 16M Jews in the world, there are over 200M Conversos around the world!

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Jewish influence in the US and Western World is waning including dwindling Evangelical support. This creates an urgency to embrace the Converso community!

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CONVERSO/ISRAEL INITIATIVE

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THE CHALLENGE

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1. Accordingly, whereas there are only 16M Jews in the world, there are over 200M descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jewish communities around the world, many of whom are seeking a reconnection.

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• This creates a paradigm-changing global opportunity for the Jewish People, demographically, economically, diplomatically, politically and in terms of reenergizing dying Jewish communities around the world.

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• This issue needs to be near the top of the global Jewish agenda because there is no other issue or challenge with as many positive ramifications. It is simple a game-changing moment for the Jewish People that we dare not ignore.

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• Already the State of Israel has explored this issue intently through government committees, Knesset meetings and draft laws and recommendations. Global Jewish organizations are holding exploratory meetings and conferences on the subject. We are building an agenda supported by political, religious, academic, and Jewish organizational leaders.

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• We are creating unique and unprecedented programs and initiatives to assist in this reconnection, to build a network of people with Jewish ancestry to learn about their heritage and their deep ancestral ties with Israel and the Jewish People.

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SUMMARY

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There are an estimated 200 million converso descendants in the world today. While some return to their Jewish roots (convert back to Judaism) and some make Aliya, most stay Christian. However, upon discovering that they are descendants of conversos, they tend to embrace their Jewish heritage and become pro-Israel.

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Our hasbara tour programs are designed to create an emotional connection with Israel so that, upon returning to their communities, these descendants of conversos become “ambassadors of goodwill”, helping to promote positive information about Israel and the Jewish people.

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We produced two tour programs. One is for youth (16 to 27) and the other for adults (27 and older). We are hand-selecting the first groups to be our “showcase” proof of concept programs. These will be high profile visits with important dignitaries meeting the groups, with full coverage by press and to be filmed from beginning to end for promo videos. We are collaborating with numerous people in all sectors in Israel and through the diaspora (Brazil, Columbia, Honduras, USA, and parts of Europe). Subject to the Covid-19 restrictions, we have the adult program departing November 29, 2021, for a 7-day visit, and the youth program departing December 19, 2021, for a 10-day visit. Upon completion of the prototype programs, we expect to launch an ongoing series supported by major donors with active participation by the Government of Israel.

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TRANSFORMATIVE INITIATIVES

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Investing in the Jewish Heritage Alliance - The success of our mission is dependent on the investment of Individuals, Public and Private partnerships and Foundations. We are seeking funding of $903,000 as a springboard to launch key initiatives.

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ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE BUDGET $351,000

Thousands of dollars and hours have been invested to bring the organization to this critical juncture. An investment in Infrastructure will position the organization to execute the outlined strategic priorities. - LaunchBudget

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CONNECTING THE CONVERSO COMMUNITY WITH ISRAEL $230,000

The launch of an historic, paradigm changing series of special (hasbara) tour programs (for youth and adults) to connect the thousands and hopefully million converso communities with Israel.

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The first group is planned for November 2021 and will be met by leading Israeli officials in public/private sectors and press. The tour will be captured by professional videographers for promotional purposes to showcase to prospective investors.

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TRANSFORMATIVE INITIATIVES

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SEFARAD EXPERIENCE PORTAL $195,000

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The portal will allow the user to travel interactively throughout space and time and browse content and programs reflecting the history and culture of Sefarad Jewry through innovative online applications featuring content from Jewish museums, communal archives private collections, historical documents and more.

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The portal is also a social interactive platform providing research through personalization apps and tools that will enable individuals to track their genealogical lineage via comprehensive genealogical databases of the diaspora of the converso, descendants of Jews who converted to Christianity more than five centuries ago in Spain and Portugal.

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The platform will host a series of community and individual engagement programs to allow the converso community to share and exchange information and connect with each other. 

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WEBINAR SERIES $65,000

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Currently thousands of individuals have participated in our existing webinar series. We plan to grow our educational webinar offerings to engage thousands of individuals across the globe.

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UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI INITIATIVE $63,000

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1. Launch a unique academic-style educational webinar series based on “At the Crossroads of Sefarad, In the Footsteps of Crypto-Jews” mobile exhibit produced in partnership with ANU Museum of the Jewish People, previously Beit Hatfutsot, and the Portuguese Government. This webinar series is in collaboration with the University of Miami and Dahan Center at Bar Ilan University, Tel Aviv………………... $45,000

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• Symposium-style launch event featuring the mobile exhibit. First launch planned for Miami, other major global cities to follow…….$18,000

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Jewish Heritage Alliance is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization committed to the survival of Israel through the education and dissemination of The Story of Sefarad.

More information may be found on the JHA Website.

Ph.786.528.3154 | www.JewishHeritageAlliance.com | info@jewishheritagealliance.com

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