A startling family revelation became a life-changing moment for Mesa Rabbi Yosef Garcia. A former altar boy raised in Panama, Garcia always took it for granted he and his family were Catholic. In 1987 an illuminating conversation at a family wedding turned his world upside down. “I was telling my great uncle Chi how amazed I was at the speed I was learning Hebrew, a language that always fascinated me since it was the language of the Bible,” he begins. “I told him it was as if we were Jewish. He looked at me and told me, ‘We are Jewish.’ You could have knocked me over at this point.” His uncle went on to explain that their family has been Jewish since the time of the Inquisition, when Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal. To save their lives, Jews outwardly assimilated but kept their religion secret. The lineage was passed on through the first-born sons. Looking back, Garcia realized he had subtle cues; they just never crystallized. For example, his grandmother, who wore a prayer shawl (mantilla), lit candles and said Hebrew prayers on Friday nights. “As a child, I assumed these were Catholic traditions, not knowing Hebrew,” he relates.
As Garcia gleaned more facts of the family history, his fascination grew as each new layer of the story revealed itself. His great uncle and some of his brothers belonged to a synagogue in Panama. “My grandfather chose to stay hidden,” he says. “My great uncles practiced Judaism openly even though there was still fear of prosecution. When I talked to the Orthodox rabbi in Panama, my wife and I were moved to tears.”
Almost as a precursor to his later discoveries, Garcia rebelled as a teen against the church that was the nucleus of his family’s life. While his mother and priests tried in vain to get him to conform to a life of Catholicism, Garcia relates the church never resonated with him. He was a spiritual maverick, full of penetrating and provocative questions for the priests and nuns. “I knew I wanted out of the church,” he relates. “I never believed in the tenets of Christianity and for six months I stayed away.” Eventually he capitulated when the pressure from his mother, priests and the community became too unbearable.
“The mailman and garbage man couldn’t find the house; when I returned (to church), their services miraculously resumed,” he laughs. “I stayed in the church till I was 19, when I left to become a deep sea fisherman. Even though I wasn’t a big fan of religion, I always believed in God and felt deeply connected to God.” Since that watershed moment of discovery at the wedding, Garcia has passionately embraced Judaism, becoming an ordained rabbi. He is currently the spiritual leader of Aveyda Torah Jayah in Mesa. He breathes new life into the Jewish community on a daily basis by bringing “hidden Jews” back into the fold through local and Internet classes.
Garcia has the distinction of being a co-founder of the Association of Crypto-Jews of the Americas, along with Rabbi Joshua Stampfer, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Neveh Shalom, Portland, OR. The two created the “Ceremony of Return,” which includes a Certificate of Return that is recognized by the Ministry of Interior of the State of Israel for purposes of making aliyah. In addition, Garcia travels to countries such as Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Ecuador to connect with hidden Jews who are eager to reclaim their religion.
Steve Weitzenkorn, a Phoenix business consultant and active member of the Jewish community, lauds the success Garcia has had with the Crypto-Jew movement. “The important part of his work is the nurturing and welcoming return to Judaism for a population than has not been accepted by mainstream Judaism,” he says. “Jewish affiliation is dwindling, and for that reason I feel we should encourage and embrace his mission. He is a real pioneer; he has taken on this lonely post. He has invested his own money and struggled with fundraising for this lonely mission. I have great admiration for him.”
Rabbi Garcia will be traveling to Brazil in fall of 2014 with Rabbi David Rosenberg (rabbi of Beth Emeth of Sun City and a signer of the “Right of Return” certificate) to help 375 Brazilian Jews. He will also be working with Rabbis Stampfer and Rosenberg to officiate a Ceremony of Return for 30 Crypto-Jews in Phoenix in July 2014.
