Religionניסן בן אברהם

Nissan Ben-Avraham

Nissan Ben-Avraham is a Spanish Sephardic rabbi descended from the Xueta, the forcibly converted Jews of Majorca.

born 1957Xueta descent from MajorcaRabbinic ordination as a Marrano descendantShavei Israel emissary in Spain

Born: 11 December 1957, Palma
Occupation: rabbi

Nissan Ben-Avraham was born in 1957 in Palma

Ben-Avraham was born Nicolau Aguiló in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, on December 11, 1957. His mother told him that their Catholic family had Jewish roots. He then began going to the small Conservative synagogue in Palma.

He went to Israel to learn about Judaism and Jewish history. In 1978 he converted to Judaism under the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. He went on to study at the Mercaz HaRav and Ateret Cohanim yeshivas.

He received rabbinic ordination in 1991. This was the first time in many centuries that a Marrano received it. In 2010 he returned to Spain as an emissary of Shavei Israel, a group that reaches out to descendants of Jews, to teach in Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Seville.

Ben-Avraham lives in the Israeli settlement of Shilo.