8:00 pm - Shavuot Service from the Freedman Levit Sanctuary

8:30 pm - Discussion with “Children of the Inquisition” Film Maker Joseph Lovett and Doreen Carvajal, New York Times journalist, whose  story is featured in the film. 
Movie will be available beginning Wednesday, May 27th

9:30 pm - Discussion with Anna Guerra: "The Early Sephardic Presence in Northern Mexico, South Texas, and their Descendents"

Open to the community, but please register below to reserve your spot!

• The Shavuot service will begin at 8:00pm, with the movie discussion following at 8:30pm.  Both can be seen on our website at a special Shavuot viewing page:  https://www.bethyeshurun.org/shavuot-live-stream. 
• Once the service has ended, just refresh the screen at 8:30pm to see the movie discussion and presentation by Anna Guerra.
• On Wednesday, May 27th we will email you the sign in information to watch "Children of the Inquisition" before our discussion on Thursday.

Thank you to the Bennett and Robin Greenspan Charitable Foundation for making this event possible!

“Children of the Inquisition” is a fascinating reconsideration of history and identity as it unearths the long-hidden secrets of what happened to the people forced to convert or flee during the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions. Their stories are told through contemporary descendants, many of whom are just now discovering their once problematic Jewish roots.

“Children of the Inquisition” director Joseph Lovett’s career has spanned years at CBS, ABC, HBO, Discovery, Public Television, and independent filmmaking. Joe has been lauded for his groundbreaking investigative work on AIDS at 20/20 and the ABC network. He won the distinguished George Foster Peabody Award, an Emmy nomination and the Christopher Award for his “Cancer: Evolution to Revolution” produced for HBO.

Joe hopes that, in this era of unprecedented racial and ethnic divisiveness, “Children of the Inquisition” will show audiences just how arbitrary boundaries are and how our supposed differences often disguise the bonds we share. Joe now lives and works in New York’s Soho with his husband James Cottrell who is an executive producer of “Children of the Inquisition”.

Click here to watch the movie trailer

Presenter Anna Guerra, drawing upon her own ancestry which also exists in the backgrounds of many contemporary Tejanos, will trace how Sephardic people came to settle Northern Mexico in the century after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and subsequently, how their descendants came to colonize South Texas in the eighteen century.  The lecture includes the history of the Carvajal family, conversos, that include the first Governor of Nuevo Leon in Northern Mexico, conquistadores, Crypto-Jews, Jewish Martyrs, and converso priests.  

Originally from South Texas, Anna is a 9th generation Laredoan. She is a member of Congregation Beth Yeshurun and has lived in Houston for the past 28 years.  She works as a psychotherapist in private practice treating adults and couples.