A Jewish boy was adopted by Argentina's president to prevent the him from turning into a werewolf.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchhner adopted Yair Tawil as her godson under a law that had been passed in the 1920s to protect families with seven sons (no daughters in between). According to the legend, the seventh son turns into a werewolf who can convert others with his bite. In the past, seventh sons were abandoned, given up for adoption or murdered by their families, according to JTA.
Per folklore, the werewolf transformation would occur on the first Friday after the boy's 13th birthday. The boy would turn into el lobison every full moon at midnight and feed on unbaptized babies, according to NY Daily News.
The law was formalized in 1973 President Juan Domingo Perón. Under law 20.843, "The Law of Presidential Godfathership," the adopted boys get presidential protection, a gold medal and a scholarship until their 21st birthday, according to The Telegraph. Tawil is the first Jewish son to be adopted since the law only applied to Catholic boys until 2009.
Fernandez and the family lit Hanukkah candles in her office after which, the president Tweeted about that "magical moment" with a "marvelous family." She also Tweeted that the Tawils "are a very special family. They have a sort of peace, happiness and a lot of love that is not common."
