Michael Freund

Former Deputy Communications Director for PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Veteran Jerusalem Post columnist. Founder & Chairman of Shavei Israel. Raised in NY, made Aliya over 20 years ago.

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About

Michael Freund served as Deputy Communications Director for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He is the Founder and Chairman of Shavei Israel (www.shavei.org), which assists Lost Tribes and hidden Jewish communities to return to the Jewish people. Freund is also a syndicated Jerusalem Post columnist. A graduate of Princeton, he also holds an MBA from Columbia.

Programs

From the ends of the earth: Lost Tribes and Hidden Jewish Communities

As Chairman of Shavei Israel, Michael Freund has spent over 15 years seeking out lost tribes and hidden Jews to help them reconnect with the Jewish people. He will discuss his globe-trotting work with various far-flung communities such as the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng, the Bnei Menashe of India and the Hidden Jews of Poland from the Holocaust, and what this says about Jewish memory and destiny.

Out of the Shadows: The Return of the Bnei Anousim ("Marranos")

500 years after their Spanish & Portuguese ancestors were forced to convert to Catholicism, a growing number of their descendants (known as Bnei Anousim or by the derogatory term "Marranos") are returning to the Jewish fold. Michael Freund has spent the past 15 years working with Bnei Anousim from Peru to Portugal and Brazil to Barcelona and will discuss this wave of return and its significance.

One Nation, Many Faces: Jewish Demography and Destiny

A traditional-style shiur (Torah class) using a range of Biblical, Talmudic and other rabbinic sources to tackle an age-old question: does the size of the Jewish people matter? And if so, what should we be doing about it? The answers may surprise you.

From Kaifeng to the Kotel: Chinese Jews return to Judaism

For over 1,000 years, a Jewish community flourished in the Chinese city of Kaifeng on the banks of the Yellow River. In the 19th century, assimilation & intermarriage took their toll, and the community nearly vanished. In recent years, Shavei Israel's Michael Freund has helped a growing number of young Chinese Jews to reclaim their roots and move to Israel. He will share their inspiring stories.

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