In the spring of 1996, my (Dell F. Sanchez’) father told me of the family secret that had been kept from him until his 77th birthday. This well-kept secret was that my Dad’s father had told his family that he had been given up for adoption by a high-ranking officer in the Mexican Military in the mid-late 1800’s. After Dad inquired of his older cousins he discovered that this secret had been preserved by the Sanchez daughters and passed on to their eldest daughters who knew portions of the family secret all along. This launched my wife, Helen and me into a lifetime of impassioned research.
In fact, prior to our marriage, Helen declared to me that she had Jewish roots on her mother’s side. However, I had never heard of people with Spanish surnames having any kind of Jewish heritage and I certainly had no concept of what it meant to be Sephardic either. Her mother’s maiden name is Martinez and her father’s surname is Ancira. Now, had it been Martinestein and Anciraberg, maybe I would have believed it because I was only familiar with Ashkenazic surnames not Sephardic.
Immediately, we began to visit libraries all across the Southwest of the USA in search of truth that might support this Sephardic secret among our people. Among the institutions we probed were libraries and archive centers in Texas, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Mexico, Spain and Israel. We also checked out the special archive collection in the University of Arizona at Tucson and the LDS genealogy center in Salt Lake City.
Within the first year of our discovery, I traveled to Israel armed with a professional cameraman as we crisscrossed Israel in search for answers to our roots. We have continued traveling to Israel at least twice each year, particularly during the High Holy Days every fall. During our visits to Israel, we have gone where few Americans dare not go with the single question, Hablas Español, ("Do you speak Spanish?”); and interviewing as many Israelis as possible in this quest for truth. We figured that if we could find Spanish-speaking Jews in the Promised Land, it would be very likely that they were Sephardic or of Spanish descent, and they were.
As a result, we have produced over sixty teaching videos on the history, prophecy and destiny of Sephardic Anusim. The overarching question is why and how Jews got to Spain from Israel and from Spain all the way to the Americas. We have also published four books on this subject both in English, Spanish, and one in German. My first book is a classic, one-of-a kind titled, – “The Last Exodus” with its Spanish counterpart, “El Ultimo Exodo.” The second book is the sequel titled, “Aliyah! The Exodus Continues” and its Spanish companion, “Aliá! El Exodo Continua.” My third book was published with the thought, “Now that we think that we know who we are—where to from here?” This book’s title is, “Sephardic Destiny” and in Spanish, “Destino del Sefardim.” The fourth book is a historical novel titled, “Obadiah-the despised prophet of Sephardim” and in Spanish, “Abdias-el profeta despreciado del Sefardim.” The first three books are historical and the fourth one is a historical novel based on the true text of the Bible’s book named Obadiah.
For the last decade, Helen and I have enjoyed doing conferences and seminars all across America, Mexico, parts of Europe and also Israel. These presentations are the synthesis of all my books, television broadcasts and DVDs. The amazing thing is that I have discovered that these presentations stir up the soul of my fellow Sephardic Hispanic/Latinos so deeply that they are moved to undergo a major change in their lives. I have been interviewed on numerous radio and TV programs that are syndicated nationally and internationally. Meantime, I have also published a host of articles for various magazines and a column that’s published in La Prensa, a local bilingual newspaper with an international audience.
During the last few years Helen and I have been feverishly involved in establishing a community in the Negev of Israel for the Aliyah of Sephardic Anusim among Hispanic/Latinos of the Americas. We have made incredible progress in every facet of this huge endeavor. One of many positive results is that we now have an office in the Ramat Ha-Negev Regional Council which is in the heart of the Negev. If you want to pioneer with us in building this incredible community for my people, please click on the following link for more details and information. It’s Time to Arise & Build Now!