Har HaBait Jewish Sovereign for all Israel

 ChaBaD Jewish Calendar Monday, April 24, 2023 3 Iyar, 5783 Omer: Day 18 -  Netzach sheb'Tifferet Tonight Count 19 Torah Reading Acharei: Leviticus 16:1-17 Jewish History Ancona Boycott (1556) Following the Portuguese Expulsion in 1496 (see Jewish History for the  22nd of Tevet ) many Jews who chose to remain in Portugal became known as "Marranos," openly identified themselves as Christians, while secretly maintaining Jewish beliefs and traditions. Many of the secret Jews eventually migrated to other countries, where they once again openly professed their allegiance to Judaism. However, because they had been "baptized," their situation was often perilous. On the 3rd of Iyar in 1556, on the orders of Pope Paul IV, 25 of these hidden Jews were burnt at the stake in Ancona, Italy. Gracia Mendes Nasi was a very influential and wealthy woman; herself a Portuguese crypto Jew who relocated to the Ottoman Empire. In her past, she, too, had personally experienced persecu