The

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

of San Nicandro (also called San Nicandro Jews) are a small community of

gerim Gerim (Hebrew language, Hebrew plural: גרים "converts", singular masculine: גר "ger", singular feminine: גייורת "giyoret") also known as gerey tzedek (גְּיֵירֵי צֶדֶק righteous proselytes) are non-Jews who have convert ...

from San Nicandro Garganico,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The San Nicandro Jews are descended from local non-Jewish families from the 15th century. According to John A. Davis, professor of

Italian history Italy has been inhabited by humans Prehistoric Italy, since the Paleolithic. During antiquity, there were many ancient peoples of Italy, peoples in the Italian peninsula, including Etruscan civilization, Etruscans, Latins, Samnites, Umbri, Cisal ...

at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

, the Jews of San Nicandro represent "the only case of collective

conversion to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( or ) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Thus, by convertin ...

in Europe in modern times".

History

Beginning in the late 1920s, the Jewish community of San Nicandro developed as a result of the

of Donato Manduzio (1885–1948), a crippled

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

veteran who was inspired by his own reading of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. Donato was the son of Giuseppe Manduzio and Concetta Frascaria, poor

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

peasants from San Nicandro. He did not go to school but he learned reading and writing during World War I, while he was hospitalized in a military hospital in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

. After the war, he started to read extensively on religion and

Italian literature Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian, including ...

. He became a

folk healer A folk healer is an unlicensed person who practices the art of healing using traditional practices, herbal remedies and the power of suggestion. Origin The term "folk" was traditionally associated with medical and healing practices that were ...

and had encounters with some

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

(including

Pentecostals Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term ''Pentecostal'' is derived ...

and

Adventists Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Willi ...

) nearby his hometown. By 1930, he read the Bible and claimed to have had a

vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

, abandoned Christianity, and started to spread his message among the folk of San Nicandro, exhorting them to live according to the

Law of Moses The Law of Moses ( ), also called the Mosaic Law, is the law said to have been revealed to Moses by God. The term primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Terminology The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Heb ...

and follow a Jewish lifestyle. He soon converted several dozen of his neighbors, founding a small Jewish Sabbatarian sect. Later, he contacted the

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

of the Jewish community of Rome and organized the formal conversion of his followers to

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...

. By 1949, most of the San Nicandro Jews

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, where the majority of them settled in the cities of

Birya Birya (, also Biriya) is an agricultural village in northern Israel. Located in the Upper Galilee near Safed, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Merom HaGalil Regional Council. As of its population was . Biriya existed in the Classic Era, a ...

Michael Brenner
''A Short History of the Jews''
Princeton University Press (2010), p. 363. and

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

. Today the remaining Jews worship in the historic

Scolanova Synagogue The Scolanova Synagogue (English: ''New Synagogue'') is a Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Via Sinagoga 47, in the town of Trani, Puglia in Italy. Built by the Italian–Jewish community of Apulia during the Middle Ages, the build ...

, in the neighboring town of

Trani Trani () is a seaport of Apulia, Southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, by railway west-northwest of Bari. It is one of the capital cities of the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani (BAT). History Overview The city of ''Turenum'' appears for the ...

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

. The Jewish community of San Nicandro is featured in the documentary '' The Mystery of San Nicandro'', which began filming in Italy in 2011. The film is produced by

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

-based

Matter of Fact Media In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic parti ...

References

Bibliography

* Cassin, Elena: ''San Nicandro. Un paese del Gargano si converte all'ebraismo''. Corbaccio, Milan (1995), . * Colafemmina, Cesare: ''Mosè nelle nostre terre''. Schena Editore, Fasano (2006). * Davis, John A.: ''The Jews of San Nicandro'', Yale University Press (October 26, 2010), . * Lapide, Pinchas: ''The Prophet of San Nicandro''. NY: Beechurst Press, 1953. * Serfaty, Viviane: ''Donato Manduzio’s Diary, from Church to Synagogue''. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne (2017), . *

Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund The Bell Fund (formerly the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund) is an independent private Canadian fund that finances interactive digital content associated with Canadian television programs owned by Bell. These digital extensions can include thing ...

br>
press release regarding the funding of '' The Mystery of San Nicandro''.

External links

The Converts of San Nicandro
''

Time (magazine) ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published Weekly newspaper, weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first publishe ...

'' Posted Monday, Sep. 15, 1947.
UConn Annual Report for 2004– 2005 MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR & ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

The Mystery of San Nicandro documentary website
* https://forward.com/culture/132934/the-curious-case-of-the-san-nicandro-converts THE CURIOUS CASE OF SAN NICANDRO CONVERTS Interview with Jews of San Nicandro author John Davis] Converts to Judaism from Roman Catholicism, San Nicandro San Nicandro San Nicandro San Nicandro San Nicandro San Nicandro San Nicandro {{Jewish-hist-stub

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links