Alumni
Welcome Austin Jewish Academy Alumni! We are so happy you have stopped by to visit. We will soon have new information on ways to stay connected to AJA and all of the friends and family you have made here!

Alumni Updates:


Rachel Harif, a Class of 2006 grad, and an IB student at Westwood High School, does her part for Tikkun Olam by speaking to 1,000 folks at an anti-coal plant rally at the Capitol.

Rachel Miller-Crews is a Class of 2003 AJA graduate who is spending a year in Israel as a participant in the Young Judaea Year Course Olami program. This is a new program which takes participants to several locations throughout the world during their year course. Below are some of Rachel's impressions concerning her first stop - Portugal.

As I was trying to figure out how to pack for a year, while keeping in mind that I was also going to spend a week in Portugal, I was not aware of the connection I was about to make with a country that I hadn't given much thought to. When I signed up for Olami 2, I was more excited about traveling to India, Uganda, and South Africa, than to Portugal. But once the educational part of our journey into the history of the Portuguese Jews began, I realized that what I learned in a few days would have a huge impact on how I view Jewry worldwide.

Our journey began when we met a Marano Jew in her early twenties who had recently made the "return" or conversion back to Judaism. The reason she was called a Marano Jew was because during the Spanish inquisition many Jews that were forced to convert to Christianity secretly kept some Jewish traditions alive, and have only recently come out of hiding. This young woman's grandparents were siblings and her parents were first cousins in order to keep Judaism within the family. This was shocking to hear because I had no idea things like this that are illegal and looked down upon in my society were still being practiced around the world in order to keep a religion alive. I have always had an easy time being Jewish, I have a community in Austin, Texas that supports me and that loves me, and I have never had to be afraid or fight for being Jewish. Although my family was directly affected by the Holocaust, I was amazed that this girl and her family were still dealing with the repercussions from something that happened centuries ago.

The day before I left the country my grandmother called to wish me luck and send me her love. Then she surprised me by telling me that during WWII when she was seven her family fled to Portugal and lived in Porto for six months waiting for a visa. According to my grandmother, the ship that my family boarded was the last one to leave Lisbon before the United States joined the war. This information was astonishing for two reasons, the first was that I had no idea that my family had spent any time in the country that I was about to explore, and the second, which I thought about after hearing the stories from the Inquisition, was that for my family Portugal was a safe-haven, but for Jews centuries before, Portugal was a land of widespread misery and hidden miracles.

After a few days of learning about the Marano Jews, we were given a taste of what Jewish life is like for Portuguese Jews whose families were not in hiding. We listened to a panel of kids our age talk about how it is hard to be Jewish in Portugal because the country lacks a strong community. There was an obvious separation between the Marano Jews in the community and the other Jews from countries around the world who ended up in Portugal.

After an exciting week in Portugal I was excited and nervous for my new adventure to the land that Jews from all over the world, whether Marano, hidden, struggling, or lucky like I was, are all connected to through Judaism. As I begin self-exploration in the Holy land, I will always keep in mind the struggle that many Jews from around the globe have had to stay connected to an important religion that I too often take for granted.