Bidspirit auction | Halachic Status of Descendants of

Halachic Status of Descendants of Anusim of Spain and Portugal Lengthy Teshuvah by Rabbi Meir Shapira of Lublin Piotrków, c. 1925 . * A handwritten and autographed lengthy halachic teshuvah consisting of five pages discussing the permissibility of allowing the descendants of the Anusim (forced converts) of Spain and Portugal to marry into the Jewish community. The teshuva was authored by Rabbi Meir Shapira of Lublin, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin and founder of the Daf Yomi. After a comprehensive and thorough halachic analysis showcasing extraordinary mastery of the teshuvos penned by Sephardic sages of the sixteenth century on this topic, Rabbi Meir Shapira decisively rules that they are to be accepted and embraced with love. He concludes his words with the heartfelt emotion of a true Gadol b'Yisrael: ”It is permitted for them to marry into the community and it is a mitzvah to bring them under the wings of the Shechinah, for they are the descendants of Yaakov, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh… and now they yearn to return to the Jewish faith… Let them come to us and bear the yoke of Torah and mitzvos like all kosher Jews.” The Question of the Anusim of Portugal In the October Revolution of 1910, the monarchy in Portugal, which had ruled for nearly 800 years, was abolished. Toward the end of World War I, voices began to call for religious freedom for the descendants of the Anusim, whose traces had nearly vanished over the generations. Among those active in this endeavor were the renowned Polish-Jewish mining engineer Samuel Schwarz, who had settled in Lisbon, and the Portuguese officer descended from Anusim who converted, Artur Carlos de Barros Basto - known by his Jewish name Avraham Yisrael Ben Rosh. They called upon the Anusim to return to their ancestral roots and openly embrace Jewish practice. As a result of this awakening, the question was brought to the leaders of Agudas Yisrael, who in turn approached the Gedolei Yisrael to clarify their status according to halachah. This is the subject of the teshuva by Rabbi Meir Shapira, addressed to “The Leaders of the Worldwide Agudas Yisrael in the City of Vienna.” In 1929, the matter was presented at the Second Knessiah HaGedolah in Vienna, where a ”unanimous decision was reached to permit [the Anusim to join the Jewish community]” (see Shu”t Ma'archei Lev by Rabbi Y.L. Tzirilson, Kishinev 1932, Even Ha’ezer §71). Piotrków, c. 1925. Page count: Three leaves (five pages) on official stationery. Page size: 23×29 cm. Condition: Minor tears in margins, no loss. This teshuvah was printed from the present manuscript in Kovetz Kol Torah, Issue 58 (Adar 2005), pp. 110–113.