About the Institute for Sefardi and Anousim Studies (ISAS)

The last hundred years of Spanish Jewry spent on the Iberian Peninsula soil constitute a slippery slope that just got worse over time. In the 1391 riots, many were killed sanctifying God's name through death (the Jewish act of “Kiddush Hashem”), and tens of thousands were forced to convert to Christianity. The infamous Spanish Inquisition was meant to cast away the Marranos who were accused of remaining loyal to their Judaic roots and to ensure its members did not revert to Judaism. The Spanish Inquisition caused Spanish Jews to leave their homeland, whereas the Portuguese Inquisition targeted the Jews who were forced to convert from Judaism to Catholicism. This series of events brought about the end of the once-glorious Spanish Jewry and was one of the most significant milestones in the history of the people of Israel.

Today we are witnessing a renewed awareness among the descendants of the Marranos who have expressed a desire and determination to connect in a meaningful way to their ancestors’ heritage. The phenomenon, which encompasses most of the Western world, is growing in a way that cannot be ignored.

The study of the history of Spanish Jewry and its culture and the study of the Marranos or Anousim, their history, and the processes of their return to Judaism, form the basis of the establishment of the Institute for Sefardi and Anousim Studies (ISAS) at Netanya Academic College. 

Recognizing that it is a moral right to re-adopt the heritage from which their ancestors were torn, the Institute considers it its obligation to provide those interested with a cordial and friendly response. 

The Institute's Goals

• Historical research of Spanish Jewry and its cultural heritage. One of the Institute’s main areas of interest is the study of the history of the Marranos of the Iberian Peninsula and their dispersal, on the one hand, and the current situation of their descendants, on the other hand.
• Concentrating information on the Marranos’ descendants through the exposure of communities, families, and individuals with Jewish roots as well as providing services through the Institute’s Pedigree Research Unit to those interested.
• Creating educational assimilation in the Israeli public of the Spanish Jewry’s cultural heritage, and raising awareness of the Marranos in the past and to their descendants in the present.
• Developing the Institute’s Marranos Library as a rare research and reference library available to researchers and to the general public.

Public Management

Honorary President – The fifth President of the State of Israel, the late Mr. Yitzhak Navon

Mrs. Anna Shalit

Mr. Inacio Steinhardt

Advisory Board

Dr. David Altman

Mr. Shmuel Pinto, “Tzevah” Foundation

Prof. Abraham Gross 

Mr. Moshe Ortas

Mr. Jacque Ben Ezra

Mr. Neil Davis

Prof. Jacques Cohen

Mr. Shlomo Buzaglo, CEO- [email protected]

Mrs. Esti Fienriech, Coordinator on behalf of the college  09-8607785 , 054-6649442

An Israeli registered association: The Institute for Sefardi and Anousim Studies (ISAS) is registered as an association in Israel