Conditions among the Marranos in Portugal was the subject of a survey by the Pro-Marrano Committee here which published its findings in the “Paix et Droit,” the organ of the Alliance Israelite Universelle.There are two neo-Jewish communities in Portugal, it reports, one in Oporto and the other in Braganza. The community at Oporto has been presented with a Scroll of the Law by the Jewish Community of Leghorn. The Central Committee of American Rabbis is assisting the Braganza Community with an annual grant of $500.
A Marrano paper, “Ha-Lapid”. (The Torch”), is being published, as well as many religious books.
The Portugese Marranos Committee of London has set itself the task of lending a helping hand to Marranos in Portugal who desire to return publicly to the doctrines and practices of their Jewish forefathers. The London Committee has assisted financially in the establishment of a Jewish Community in Portugal, which, being nearest to the Marrano settlements in Northern Portugal, is regarded as likely to exercise the desired influence most effectively. The Oporto Synagogue was consecrated on July 1st, 1927. It serves not only as a house of worship for the Jewish residents in Oporto, but is attended by Marranos from other parts of the country who wish to become personally acquainted with various aspects of Judaism.
Braganra, where the second congregation is situated, has a population of seven to eight hundred crypto-Jews. Services have also been held at Vilarinho, whose five hundred inhabitants are nearly all crypto-Jews. “Ha-Lapid” serves as a link between the scattered Marranos and spreads among them a knowledge of Judaism and of the chief events of the present-day Jewish life. Its editor, Captain Barros Basto, has also published a Portugese translation of the prayer book, which is reintroducing among the Marranos the traditional Jewish prayers that have been lost to them during the centuries in which they have had to conceal their adherence to Judaism in fear of their lives. The Spanish and Portugese Congregation in London has presented the two Scrolls of the Law which are in use at Oporto.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
