By Michael Freund
August 7, 2002
Originally published in The Jerusalem Post, August 7, 2002.
Sporting a black velvet yarmulke which he instinctively adjusts from time to time, Joseph Mont can barely conceal the emotion in his voice when he says that he wants to reclaim his long-lost Jewish heritage.
Sitting in a kosher restaurant in Orlando, Florida, the bearded and bespectacled Mont could easily be mistaken for a rabbi, as he passionately addresses issues of theology and philosophy. Quoting from an extensive range of ancient and modern sources, he insists that "The Torah is G-d's truth," and that his sole aim in life is to live as a Jew in accordance with its dictates.
Who would have guessed that just a year ago, the Cuban-born Mont was head of a Christian missionary group aimed at persuading Spanish-speaking residents of northern Florida to believe in Jesus?
But now, driven by his conviction regarding the truth of Judaism, as well as his own extraordinary personal story, Mont is at the forefront of a nascent spiritual revolution, one which the Jewish world would do well to cultivate, rather than ignore.
Like the majority of his 40 followers, Mont is descended from Jews who were forcibly converted to Catholicism over five centuries ago, when Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella persecuted their Jewish citizens, converting some and expelling the rest in 1492.
They refer to themselves by the Hebrew term "anousim", which means "those who were coerced" into abandoning Judaism and adopting Christianity. Despite the passage of over five centuries, many have somehow managed to preserve the memory of their ancestral faith, which they now wish to reclaim as their own.
Iris, a member of Mont's group, vividly recalls how her mother would light candles on Friday evenings, keep separate sets of pots and pans as well as cover the mirrors in their house after a person had died. When Iris would question these practices, insisting on understanding the reason for them, her mother would say only that they were "old family customs," though she could neither explain nor rationalize them.
Micki, another of Mont's followers, recalls her uncles and aunts occasionally peppering their Spanish with unfamiliar words and phrases, which she later learned were from Ladino, a Judeo-Spanish dialect. Micki's mother would make her clean the house thoroughly every Friday after school, insisting - without knowing precisely why - that it had to be completed before the onset of dark.
As incredible as these stories might sound, they are growing increasingly common throughout Spanish-speaking communities in the United States. As many immigrants to the U.S. from Cuba and Central and South America are exposed to Jews or Judaism for the first time, they suddenly discover the roots of their family's previously inexplicable practices.
If ever there was proof of the existence of a "pintele Yid", or a Jewish spark that survives throughout the centuries, it can be found in Orlando, among Joseph Mont and his congregants.
For Mont, the journey to Judaism began at the age of 12, when he snuck into his grandfather's room and discovered an odd-looking candelabra with many branches that had been hidden away for safe-keeping. Years later, he learned that it was a menorah, and that it was a symbol of Jewish pride and survival.
On his deathbed, Mont's grandfather made him promise to leave Cuba and to "reunite yourself with your people." This sparked a long and often painful quest, one which led him to join a so-called Messianic Jewish group in Florida that preaches partial ritual observance together with a belief in Jesus. But the more he delved into the Bible, the more Mont felt uncomfortable with the contradictions that he found between the New Testament and the Torah.
In March of this year, after giving up his belief in Jesus and Christianity, Mont resigned his position as a preacher. Together with friends and followers who left the church with him, Mont formed Kehilat Beit Israel, the "Community of the House of Israel," with the goal of reaching out to other descendants of anousim who wish to return to Judaism (their address on the web is: http://www.gacetaanusim.com).
Working with an Orthodox rabbi in Atlanta, the members of the community have taken the first, tentative steps towards adopting Jewish study and practice, and they hope to one day undergo formal conversion to Judaism.
Sadly, rather than being welcomed with open arms by the Jewish community, Mont and his followers have been met largely with suspicion and even scorn. Many Jews, it seems, have grown so cynical that they cannot fathom why anyone would want to voluntarily join the "tribe."
The time has come for that to change. We Jews need to be proud of who we are and of what we have given the world. We don't need to go out and proselytize, because Jewish law discourages such an approach. But when genuine and devoted souls such as Joseph Mont seek to become Jews, we need to do what we can to help them.
"I want to convert and join the Jewish people," one of Mont's followers told me, adding, "The Spanish Inquisition robbed my ancestors of our faith, and now I want to take it back. I will do whatever it takes to become a Jew, because I want to serve Hashem [G-d] and live according to His Torah," he said, his eyes welling up with tears.
Overwhelmed by his sincerity, I turned away for a moment, moved by his deep-seated faith and conviction. At a time when so many young Jews have abandoned Judaism, here before me stood a group of former churchgoers enthusiastically embracing the Jewish faith, lovingly fulfilling its commandments and affectionately imbibing its wisdom.
If only more Jews would learn from their example.
Views expressed by the author do not
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