The Return Home.

Hazan Gavriel Ben David leads Shabbat services here in Amarillo—no rabbi for two hundred miles, just like back when the first Jews landed. We’re twenty thousand souls spread across the panhandle, and somehow Friday nights still smell like challah. Not because I’m ordained—I’m not—but because the word hazan never died; it just moved west. When they built Touro in 1763 they didn’t have rabbis either, just a guy who could chant Kiddush so loud it carried over the harbor. That’s all I do: turn on the lights, read the parsha, let the candles do the talking. People drive in from four counties, kids who think Orthodox is a Netflix plan. I don’t chase converts; I chase rhythm. If the Torah sounds like music to you, you’re already home.

The purpose of Jewish outreach is to bring the whole world closer to Hashem. Esnoga Beit HaShoavah’s soul purpose is to prove the Torah is true and can be proven through the Jewish people and our Torah.

We, the Jewish people, are the only people in history to claim that Hashem spoke to three million people at once. That Hashem spoke to us openly, and our ancestors, my great-grandfather Aaron the High Priest, was there.

AFTER 30 YEARS OF A RABBI’S DEVOTION TO AN INCREDIBLE PEOPLE, HIS STORY IS PUBLISHED IN AN INSPIRING BOOK OF MARVELOUS STORIES AND UNIQUE JOURNEYS WHICH WILL HAVE AN IMPACT AND A MESSAGE FOR READERS OF ALL FAITHS. RABBI STEPHEN LEON HAS BEEN THE TEACHER, MENTOR, CONSULTANT, AND ADVISER TO A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHOSE ANCESTORS WERE THE VICTIMS OF TORTURE, EXECUTION, AND EXPULSION DURING THE HORRIFIC TIME OF THE SPANISH INQUISITION 500 YEARS AGO AND WHO HAVE EXPRESSED A DESIRE TO LEARN, TO EXPLORE, AND EVEN TO RETURN TO THEIR HERITAGE. READ THE EMOTIONAL AND POIGNANT STORIES OF INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES RAISED AS CATHOLICS AND CURIOUS ABOUT THEIR JEWISH ROOTS. RABBI LEON’S MESSAGE ABOUT THE MEANING OF THE THIRD COMMANDMENT CAN AFFECT THE CLERGY AND LAY PEOPLE OF ALL RELIGIONS AND ATHEISTS AS WELL.

NAME OF THE BOOK: “THE THIRD COMMANDMENT AND THE RETURN OF THE ANUSIM, A RABBI’S MEMOIR OF AN INCREDIBLE PEOPLE. ”

AUTHOR: RABBI STEPHEN LEON, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE ANUSIM CENTER OF EL PASO, AND RABBI OF CONGREGATION B’NAI ZION, EL PASO, TEXAS, FOR OVER 30 YEARS

PUBLISHER: GAON BOOKS. SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, INCLUDING BOOK SIGNING, CONTACT: RABBI STEPHEN LEON, 915-526-3693; rabbisal@aol.com THE BOOK IS AVAILABLE ON amazon.com

Mayim Hayim Bet HaShoavah Sephardic Community

 My uncle Joe Diaz and Benny Diaz both tested positive as a Cohen match, and they tell their story about our hidden Jewish practices.

Archie Hunnicutt

My story of return is 17 years in the making.

I would like to submit this letter as a written record of my testimony concerning my return to Judaism. On 2001 September 11, 2001, I, Gavriel ben David, had a bat kol that instructed me to live as a Jew.

My ardent background began with being raised in a Baptist church by my great-grandmother on my father’s side, Pennsylvania Upchurch, and later I became an Altar Boy at the age of seven at St. Martin’s Catholic Church, where I served for 11 years. While in the military, I had changed my faith to non-denominational and considered myself no longer a Catholic. In 1988, I was baptized at Buchanan Baptist Church and attended there for several months. Because of a doctrinal discrepancy, I immediately left and attended a non-denominational church from 1988 to 2001, Trinity Fellowship Church in Amarillo, Texas.

September 11, 2001, My Return To The Tribe.

On September 11, 2001, an incredible change happened in my life; I was called to live as a Jew. I knew nothing of Judaism or what it meant to be Jewish, but I began my pursuit to ascertain what it meant to be Jewish.

One of the things I knew was that Jews did not eat pork, and so, I immediately stopped eating and removed all foods from my diet that were declared unclean and were prohibited by the Bible.

I also knew that Jews did not celebrate Christmas, and in 2001, I stopped celebrating Christmas. At that time in my life, things were challenging in my family because my wife, Christian, disagreed with my decision to end Christmas.

This was a challenging time in my life, when I felt very alone and alienated from the world. In my prayers, I asked God if I was crazy and if I was doing what he wanted me to do. The very first Shabbat I celebrated was Parsha Miektz.

The story of Joseph recognizing his brothers overwhelmed my heart, and I could not finish reading it because tears flowed from my eyes. I asked my wife to keep Shabbat with me that day, and it was then that her heart was touched, and she began to see that I was frank and determined to do what God had asked me to do.

And He Gathered Me IN.

It was not long after this that, while my daughter was in the hospital and the question was still on my mind about me imagining all these things happening in my life and questioning my sanity, I discovered a book while out getting a gift for my daughter.

Mixed among books on music, again God spoke to me, and there was a book called My Journey to Jewish Orthodoxy by David Klinghoffer. “The Lord Will Gather Me In.” As I began to read the book, my heart was touched, and I had received my answer: I was doing what God wanted me to do.

It was in March of 2002 that I began preparing for Passover when my mother asked me about what I was doing. I informed her that I was preparing for Passover, and that Jews prepare by cleaning all the drawers in the kitchen and behind the furniture, and by removing the leaven from the house.

My mother, with a strange look on her face, told me that every year around this time, her mother had all the children take everything out of the house and clean it. She said jokingly, “I thought she was punishing us.” I pondered what my mother had told me about my grandmother and how she had done the same thing I was now doing.

Several weeks had passed since that incident with my mother, and we invited her to celebrate Shabbat with us. My mother joined us for Shabbat, and my wife prepared to light the candles by covering her head with a scarf. Lisa and I then called our three children to kneel before us so that we could bless them as we welcomed the Shabbat, and it was then that my mother began to cry.

Lisa and I were confused and did not know why my mother was crying. I asked my mother, “What is wrong”? And her words changed my life forever. My mother said to me, “Thank you, Junior, and I asked her, “Thank me for what”? And my mother answered, “For letting me know who I am.” She said,“ I knew we weren’t Catholic; we did not do Catholic things.” My mother told me that every Friday night, her mother would close the curtains, light candles, and bless the kids, and she never knew why.

Since September 11, 2001, I have been trying to find proof of my Jewishness. At this time, I have no legitimate evidence outside my DNA and the testimony of my uncle, my aunt, and my mother, Lorina Diaz, concerning these traditions of lighting candles on Friday night and, also, the lighting of the Hanukkah candles.

I do have relatives who have said we are Jewish through oral tradition. Also, I have a fourth cousin who is a Cohen with a family genealogy and history. I am writing this letter as a record of the Jewish people and to my own family of the journey that I have been on for these 15 years of my life.

On January 12, 2017, I received the results of my uncle Yosef Diaz’s DNA test, and I discovered that he was a Cohen match by the Jewish DNA group FamilyTree.com. This would make my grandfather, Luz Diaz, a Cohen and confirm the oral tradition of my family and our history.

I am convinced in my heart, and my soul bears witness that I am connected to a land called Israel and to the Jewish people.  My grandfather was Luz Ramirez Diaz, and this is my uncle’s DNA.

Sincerely yours,
Hazan Gavriel Ben David.