Rabbi Moises el-Mescany, 37, is one of two rabbis serving nearly 600 remaining Jewish families in the Brazilian Amazon. Rabbi Moises, who trained in Jerusalem, grew up in Belem, one of the two large state capitals in the Brazilian Amazon. Both of the rabbi’s parents were born in Obidos, deep in the Amazon interior. Rabbi Moises remembers fondly his childhood vacations spent at his grandparents’ in Obidos. "They all taught me the Jewish traditions," he reflects, "lighting candles and saying kiddush on Shabbat, making Seders on Pesach, building sukkot, fasting on Yom Kippur. It was difficult because my grandmother sometimes felt alone in the jungle."

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