SUNDAY AUGUST 13, 2023
PRE-CONFERENCE
1:00 PM-2:45 GENEALOGY WORKSHOP
Records in Mexico: Collections and Repositories
Arturo Cuellar
Abstract: The goal of this conference workshop will be to know and identify the major genealogical collections and repositories in Mexico. The primary collections to look for in Mexico are the civil registration and Catholic Church records. Additionally, I will recommend two significant other collections, depending on the place and date we are looking for, as well as knowing if your ancestor traveled to the United States. Significant other resources include university archives and censuses, court records, military records, emigration lists and land ownership records. A handout with sources and contact information will be included for starting a person’s own search.
Bio: Arturo Cuellar is a genealogical researcher and lecturer with 30+ years of research experience. He works in the Family Search History Library as a Latin America research specialist. He is an accredited genealogist specializing in Argentina, Mexico, Colombia-Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Also, he has a bachelor’s degree in Family History. Currently, he is working towards an MA in Latin American Studies. He has researched over 20 Latin America and Spain archives and record repositories.
Rare finds in archival material
Genie Milgrom
Hatul72@aol.com
Abstract: Having spent the greater part of the last 15 years searching for my own Crypto-Jewish genealogy in the archives of Spain and Portugal, most of the documentation located was expected. Birth, Marriage and death Church records until 1545 then farther back notarial deeds, land sales, last wills and testaments and finally the Procesos or Inquisition Judgements. I was finally able to find not only an unbroken lineage to 22 grandmothers and 1405 Pre-Inquisition Spain and Portugal but I was able to prove, with Primary sources, that 28 of the 32 lines of my ascendants were Crypto-Jews.
This was a cut and dried type of research once you get the systematic research take over yet I was always looking, yearning, and determined to find the Jewish surname of any branch of my family as all I had in those thousands of relatives were converso names as New Christians.
I was finally ready to give up and move on when I came upon several documents written in Hebrew hidden inside an Inquisition judgement from Portugal and a 19th maternal grandfather. Never had any archivist I consulted seen anything like it and had probably been placed there to further prove that the ancestor was a Jew.
The writing was Hebrew but the language wasn’t. This fascinating find led me back to three Rabbis on my tree and their original Jewish Names in 1400. The historical significance of those documents will be showcased in this talk.
Bio: Genie Milgrom is an author and Crypto-Jewish researcher. Having descended from a long ancestry of hidden Jews from Spain and Portugal, she was able to document an unbroken maternal lineage going back to 1405 and 22 grandmothers in a row . She was b hooded by Netanya Academic College for her work as well as numerous recognitions . a documentary on her work and life will be released in early 2024.
THE 33RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR CRYPTO-JUDAIC STUDIES
SUNDAY, AUGUST 13
3-3:15 PM CONFERENCE OPENING
Blanca Carrasco, Marina Rosa Siegel, Introductory comments
Isaac Amon, M.C.
3:15-5:15 PANEL 1: THE EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE
A Spotlight on the 1720s Persecution of Crypto-Judaism in Spain
Professor (Emeritus) Abraham Gross
agross@bgu.ac.il
Abstract: The frantic activity of the Spanish Inquisition 1720s, directed primarily against New Christians, constitutes, possibly, the fiercest attack against individuals and enclaves of judaizing since its first decade of activity in the 1480s. Ordered and orchestrated by the Suprema in Madrid, it involved all of the tribunals in Spain. Historians have termed it “The Final Suppression of Crypto-Judaism in Spain” (Jonathan Israel); “La ultima ofensiva contra los Judios” (Egido); “La ultima gran persecucíon inquisitorial contra criptojudaismo” (Rafael de Lera García).
Unlike the Portuguese Inquisitorial archives, most of the processos of the Spanish Tribunals did not survive. However, there remained short relaciones and alegaciones fiscales which hold basic information about the autos de fé and the victims. I have been working in collaboration with Prof. Michael Alpert of London on a database which will be easy to use for scholars and for laymen alike, allowing searches and statistics of all kinds. This lecture will show the possibilities that such a database will enable, namely, more specific and more precise results, comparative possibilities, as well as going beyond previous scholarship on a wide range of issues.
Bio: Professor Gross earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University, and is Emeritus at the Dept. of Jewish History in the Ben Gurion University of the Negev. His research fields include the Cultural history of Iberian Jewry and its diaspora, history of New Christians, and the history of Jewish Martyrdom.
Portuguese and Amsterdam’s Sephardic Merchants and the Tobacco Trade
Yda Schreuder
ydas@udel.edu
Abstract: In the seventeenth century, Amsterdam became one of the world’s chief tobacco markets. In her latest book.: Portuguese and Amsterdam’s Sephardic Merchants in the Tobacco Trade, Yda Schreuder reveals the key role played in this development by Portuguese Jews. These recent immigrants, who collaborated with fellow merchants in the Iberian Peninsula, obtained much of their tobacco through smuggling in Spanish America.
Little known materials from the Engel Sluiter Historical Documents Collection at UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library, allowed her to shed new light on the early seventeenth century development and expansion of the tobacco trade from Tierra Firme and Hispaniola through contraband, smuggling, bribery, and fraud, in which the trade in the “Devils Weed” flourished.
The deep involvement of Portuguese New Christians (Conversos and/or Crypto Jews) and Sephardic Jews in the Transatlantic tobacco trade illustrate the entangled nature of trade relationships that brought together diverse groups in illicit trade networks with merchants of the Portuguese Nation with merchants from Amsterdam.
Bio: Yda Schreuder is Professor Emerita of Geography at the University of Delaware and Research Associate at the Hagley Museum and Library, USA. She previously published a monograph on Amsterdam's Sephardic merchants and the Atlantic sugar trade in the seventeenth century.
I, Teresa de Lucena: The Portrait of a Conversa who Stayed
Ellen Kanner
eskanner@comcast.net
Abstract: Teresa de Lucena was born into a prominent converso family in Toledo, Spain in 1467— a violent year in a tumultuous century. In 1485, shortly after the Spanish Inquisition arrived in Toledo, Teresa, seventeen, and her sister Leonor, eighteen, made identical confessions: an aunt in Sevilla had taught them to practice Jewish rituals when they were young. Inquisitors pardoned them both without penalty or punishment.
Not long afterward, Leonor fled to Portugal.
Teresa refused to go. She stayed in Toledo, surrounded by converso friends and family until 1530, when she was arrested by the Inquisition. After a lengthy trial, she was found guilty of heresy on several counts including Judaizing and communicating with a known heretic: her sister. Saved by her wits, Teresa survived.
As an independent scholar, I have transcribed, translated and closely studied the original documents in Teresa’s dossier for over thirty years. In this presentation, I will offer a rare portrait of a conversa who stayed; the identities of the witnesses who offered testimony against her; how she and her relatives defied the Inquisition by communicating in secret; and the bargain she struck that saved her life.
Bio: Ellen Kanner is an independent scholar who has lived and studied in Spain for many years. In 2022, she and artist Annie Zeybekoglu published I, Teresa de Lucena: Reflections on the Trial of a Conversa, an intimate look at the life of a woman who faced the Spanish Inquisition twice. The book weaves Ellen’s translations of archival documents from the Archivo Histórico Nacional in Madrid, Spain with her research and reflections, accompanied by original illustrations by the artist.
Discovering and Tracing the Sephardic Roots of Jewish Baroque Composers
Carla Sciaky
cpsciaky@gmail.com
Abstract: As a baroque violinist preparing a program of 16th-18th century European composers who had Jewish heritage or connections, the research journey took me to surprising places. I stumbled on stories that sound more like a mystery novel than history, revealing new evidence that is still being researched and theories being explored even today. Once I compiled the complete repertoire for our 2016 concert, which we performed again in 2019, I came to realize that all but one of the composers were Sephardic, though they had lived and worked in Italy, England, the Netherlands, and Belgium. This was not the first time that putting a musical program together had given me an intimate glance into an era or a culture, but it was the first time that it was actually interconnected with my own heritage. I will describe the stories of the composers, illustrate the magnitude and richness of their contributions to European music history, and share how this deepened my own family story for me. I can also share samples of a few of the beautiful melodies my quartet performed in those two concerts.
Bio: Carla Sciaky is a multi-instrumentalist based in Lakewood, Colorado. She plays baroque violin with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado (www.bcocolorado.org) and with her quartet Sémplice (www.semplicebaroque.com) . She is also known for her concurrent five-decade career as a folksinger/songwriter, including a recent induction into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame with the group the Mother Folkers. She has won awards and accolades for her songwriting and performances on stages throughout the US and Europe that range from elementary school classrooms to folk clubs to churches and synagogues to Carnegie Recital Hall, and has an extensive discography of solo and ensemble albums. Outside of music, Carla is deeply committed to the world of alternative medicine, is certified in several energy and holistic health modalities, and has a coaching and healing practice called Doorway to Healing. She is presently writing a book based on her musical journey and the healing it has brought into her life. (www.carlasciaky.com)
5:15-6:15 COCKTAIL RECEPTION AND MARIACHI FIESTA
Note: A Minyan will be available for those who wish to participate at 6:30-6:50
6:45-7:45 BANQUET DINNER
Welcoming Honored Guests and Comments:
Mauricio Ibarra Ponce de Leon, Consul General of Mexico, and
Martha Vera, Honorary Consul of Spain
7:45-8:45 STANLEY M. HORDES DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR LECTURE
Moderator: Seth Ward
Rafael Gil Rodríguez and the Decline of The Inquisition: New Spain, 18th Century
Silvia Hamui Sutton
EMAIL
ABSTRACT
MONDAY, AUGUST 14
8-9:30 PANEL 2: ISSUES IN ANCESTRY
Chair: Rabbi Barbara Cohen, Cong. Ahavath Sholom, Gt. Barrington MA (Provisional)
Identity and Culture of Sephardic Jews in the New World
Nancy Katz
nancy@comkatz.com
Abstract: Looking at ideas of culture and identity in the context of Jewishness, this paper is a methodological approach to the idea that Crypto-Jews of New Spain went to New Spain out of an Iberian/Spanish identity. Engaging in identifying the issue of defining Jewishness, this paper seeks to construct ways to use culture and identity theory to define “What is a Jew” both in the past and in the present. Sephardic Jewishness is one of many identifiers that resulted from the Diaspora following the destruction of the Second Temple and the expulsion of Jews from their homeland by the Romans. Using Clifford Geertz's culture theory, I analyze the sources regarding Spanish Jews who migrated to New Spain. Identity theory examines people's social interactions and looks at the development of racial formation theory and scientific racism in anthropology to further define the ideas on Jewishness and other identities.
Bringing this research into the current time, I am also conducting oral histories of these descendants and looking at the ramifications of the 2015 Spanish law bestowing citizenship on these people.ultimately, identity in the decision to immigrate to New Spain. When it comes to Crypto-Jews, the notion that Spanish culture was a prominent influence has received just a cursory examination in earlier publications on the subject. The fact that the Jewish people of Spain had been a part of numerous transformations in their society while still maintaining a Spanish identity points to the impact of culture on this subgroup of the population. The argument of this dissertation is that the many Jewish people in Spain, after being expelled, chose to go to New Spain due to their cultural identity as Spanish. This chapter offers an analysis of theory and scientific evidence regarding Sephardic Jews that support the idea that they chose to stay within the realm of Spanish power, due to their identity.
Bio: Nancy Katz is a Ph.D. student at the University of Houston, pursuing studies in the Early Modern Atlantic world, emphasizing Jewish connections in that world.
Which Came First: The Discovery or the Return?
Madison Jackson
madison.jackson@chatham.edu
Abstract: Due to the traumatizing effects of the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust and communism, throughout the years many individuals originally from the Iberian Peninsula and eastern Europe hid their identities for safety and did not tell their children that they were Jewish. Yet, over the last ten to 30 years many individuals in the American Southwest, and in or from eastern Europe, have discovered unknown Jewish roots and made a return to practicing Judaism in some way. Through interviews turned into creative non-fiction essays, this paper puts the two experiences in conversation with each other and examines the diverse ways individuals learned about their Jewish identities in the American Southwest and eastern Europe. The results of this research demonstrate that many individuals once impacted by the Spanish Inquisition often return to Judaism before knowing about their Jewish roots, while individuals from eastern Europe frequently return to Judaism because of discovering Jewish roots. This presentation will include reading some of the stories worked on as part of a larger project which highlights this stark difference in a return to Judaism.
Bio: Madison Jackson is currently finishing her Master of Fine Arts degree in creative nonfiction writing, with a concentration in travel writing, at Chatham University. She is passionate about global Jewish life and lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her thesis, a collection of essays titled When We Realized: Narratives of Returning to Jewish Roots, compares the experience of individuals from central and eastern Europe who found out they were Jewish later in life and returned to Judaism in some way, with the experience of crypto-Jews in the American Southwest.
Certificate of Sephardic Ancestry:
From Dream to Reality
Genie Milgrom
Hatul72@aol.com
Abstract: As Director of the emerging communities of Latin America for Kulanu, I am in Central America or Mexico several times a year, working hand in hand to help them build mikvahs, cemeteries and obtain kosher food and much more. They are serious communities embracing the Jewish people and some of those have 200 or more members.
With that said, they are rejected by the traditional communities and through their joy, the sadness overwhelms them. My dream was to give them a reason to stand tall and proud and embrace their ancestry.
With the backing of The American Sephardic Federation Institute of Jewish Experience and Reconectar, a Certificate of Sephardic Ancestry was produced that is a cultural acknowledgement of their ancestry. After producing adequate documentation and family trees a determination is made as to their eligibility.
These many descendants of the Crypto-Jews display this proudly and give testimony to their family histories. A full circle, dream come true.
Bio: Genie Milgrom is an author and Crypto-Jewish researcher. Having descended from a long ancestry of hidden Jews from Spain and Portugal, she was able to document an unbroken maternal lineage going back to 1405 and 22 grandmothers in a row . She was b hooded by Netanya Academic College for her work as well as numerous recognitions . a documentary on her work and life will be released in early 2024.
9:45-11:45 PANEL 3: NEW SPAIN—MEXICO AND NEW MEXICO
Chair: Marla Cohen, El Paso Federation (provisional)
The New Mexico Frontier: A Crypto-Jewish Haven or New World Hell?
Amy I. Aronson, Ph.D.
aaronson@valdosta.edu
Abstract: Many scholars support the thesis that the northern frontier of the Spanish empire in the Americas served as a refuge for those fleeing the authority of the Mexican Inquisition. In the case of the Crypto-Jews, who had fled their homes in Spain and Portugal and arrived to New Spain, the northern Mexican frontier provided these secret Jews a relatively safe haven and respite from persecution. The commonly held idea being that the further one was from the metropolis of central Mexico, the greater the sense of tolerance and safety. In fact, it appears that the distant outpost of New Mexico was considered "the zone of refuge from the zone of refuge," as one Crypto-Jew at the time is quoted as having stated. However, evidence abounds to contradict this commonly held belief. This paper will propose that the northern frontier of New Spain was hardly a haven for Crypto-Jews of the time but rather a living, western, New World hell.
Bio: Amy I. Aronson teaches at Valdosta State University in Georgia. She received her Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics and Medieval Spanish Literature from Temple University. Aronson is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship to Chile and Argentina, and directs Valdosta’s Peru Study Abroad Program. Her publications include Marginal Voices: Studies in Converso Literature of Medieval and Renaissance Spain (Brill, 2012).
Gitlitz and Silverado: A review and discussion of David's book, the subject of lectures given in prior SCJS meetings
Seth Ward
sward@uwyo.edu
Abstract: Living in Silverado was the last book written by David Gitlitz (1942-2020); the hardcover appeared in 2019 with the paperback edition in 2022. I had the privilege of hearing Professor Gitlitz lecture about three of the large and extended families he covered for the book several times, most recently in 2019, when his book was just finished. His 2019 lecture was entitled Twenty Generations of Conversos and the Transmission of Jewish Identity.
Living in Silverado uses detailed inquisition records to trace as much as can be known of the personal lives, family relationships, observances, thoughts, even food and clothing of 16th century Spanish-Portuguese individuals of Jewish heritage in New Spain, many of whom were related to one another. Some of them spoke at length to Inquisitors, providing hundreds of pages of recorded testimony. The book focuses on families involved in mining, with a largely solitary existence and children often brought up by non-Jewish wives and a much more attenuated attitude to Judaism than the vibrant Judaizing community in Mexico City. Professor Gitlitz also examines the well-known Carvajal family and those who came to Mexico with them and transformed Jewish identity there, at least for a while.
The scope and detail of the study are quickly evident from lists of the name, town of origin, birthdate, date and residence in Mexico, and profession or status of over 100 16th-century individuals mentioned in this book, details known about observances of Yom Kippur, Purim and Passover in general, and the names of those who attended 23 Jewish holiday observances of of Manuel de Lucena and Catalina Enrriquez.
Gitlitz concluded that the frequency of observance of Jewish customs such as holidays and kosher diet reduced substantially with each generation, but rarely occurred past the early 17th century. He describes an active social and religious life of the Judaizing community at the Cárcel Perpétua (Permanent Prison) in Mexico City. But especially in the mining towns, few if any made a concerted effort to transmit actual Jewish practices past the generation of those who had come from Spain.
Finally, we examine whether Gitlitz’ depiction of these individuals and communities helps explain key elements of what is often called crypto-Jewish identity as it emerged in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, especially among persons of Mexican heritage in what is today the Southwestern United States.
Bio: Seth Ward retired last summer from the University of Wyoming. He has been on the Board of Directors of the SCJS for about two decades, and has frequntly served as Program Chair, which is the case this syummer.
Escaping Rumor in the Mexican Inquisition
Daria Berman
b.daria@wustl.edu
Abstract: The last major activity by the Mexican Inquisition ended in the 1640s. The trials culminated in the Grand Auto de Fe, in which inquisitors arrested over one-hundred Portuguese conversos for allegedly practicing Judaism. I research the lesser known cases of ordinary Portuguese converso solider-merchants and soldier-farmers who faced accusations of political conspiracy at the time of Portugal’s independence war from Spain, or, the Portuguese Restoration War (1640-1668). While researchers tend to focus on famous cases in this period that showed exceptional cases of crypto-Judaism, the lesser known cases demonstrate that the overwhelming majority of the conversos were not crypto-Jews but individuals who engaged in a hybrid of Jewish-Catholic and indigenous religious traditions. These Portuguese conversos immigrated to the Spanish Empire, especially Mexico, in hopes of escaping persecution and religious violence in Portugal. However, they suffered from renewed Spanish Inquisition persecution because of their Jewish ancestry and ethnically Portuguese identities. Portuguese immigrants in particular became vulnerable targets of the inquisition because the Portuguese Restoration War generated suspicion of the Portuguese as political spies. These lesser known cases are critical to unraveling the mystery of the last major Inquisition activity against conversos in Mexico
Bio: Daria Berman is a second year PhD student in the Department of History at Washington University in St. Louis and a graduate affiliate of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity. Her research focuses on the Spanish and Mexican Inquisition in the seventeenth century, with a particular focus on the Grand Auto de Fe of the 1640s. By analyzing Inquisition trials in relation to the popular literature, medical treatises, and polemical writings of the time period, she engages with a range of methodologies to rebuild the various cultures of worship that formed converso communities in the metropole and in the colonies of Mexico. She currently is a contributor to the EarlyPrint digital humanities project that builds a digital library for British writings spanning from the fifteenth to eighteen centuries
Discovering the Poetry in Mexican Inquisition Trial Transcripts
Mark Schneegurt
mark.schneegurt@wichita.edu
Abstract: CryptoJews from the Carvajal clan living in Mexico in the 16th Century followed the Laws of Moses in hiding. Eventually they were discovered, arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and many murdered as part of the Catholic Inquisition. This included Luis de Carvajal, El Mozo, his mother Francisca, his companion Justa Méndez, his sisters Leonor, Marianna, Anica, and Isabel, friend Manuel de Lucena, and grandniece Leonor de Cáceres, among others. During lengthy trials, they were compelled to recite cultic poems and songs with religious meaning for their community, having lost much of their Portuguese Jewish heritage. Fragments of poems were recorded in trial transcripts that now reside in special collections of rare document libraries. The current project served to identify religious poetry in original trial transcripts, mainly related to the auto de fé of 1596, and create paleographic transcriptions. Poems were ultimately translated into English and published to proliferate the historic words of these Jewish martyrs. The rare trial transcripts were found in libraries from Berkeley to New York to New Orleans. This talk will tell the story of how the documents were obtained and the challenges of locating and transcribing the poems buried in handwritten trial transcripts from 400 years ago.
Bio: Mark A. Schneegurt is an author, educator, scientist, and entrepreneur. His books range from scholarly works on science, religion, and literature to popular books on The Beatles. He has authored 80+ publications and has made 200+ public presentations of his works. Recipient of awards for teaching and research, Dr. Schneegurt holds degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Brown University, with professional appointments at Purdue University, University of Notre Dame, and Wichita State University.
12:45-1:45 MARTIN
SOSIN-PETIT ADDRESS TO ADVANCE SCHOLARSHIP IN THE CRYPTO-JUDAIC ARTS
Moderator: Corinne Brown
Jillian Glantz, Filmmaker: “Remember My Soul”—Jews of the Borderlands
ABSTRACT
BIO
1:45-3:15 Panel 4: THE CONVERSA EXPERIENCE THROUGH A GENDERED LENS
Panel Organizer and Chair: Rebecca Wartell
Mary, Esther, Deborah, Judith: Veneration of the Divine Feminine in Crypto-Judaism
Rebecca Wartell
Rebecca.Wartell@Colorado.edu
Abstract: Often described as a matrilineal religion, women have historically served as the keepers of crypto-Judaism as a private, domestic tradition. Whereas conversos participate in Catholic observance in overtly public arenas of faith and communal affiliation, the veneration of female saints can be understood as a mirror of the feminine underpinnings of hidden Jewish traditions. This paper will explore the repeated invocation of the Shekhinah, the divine feminine, in Jewish texts and the parallel cultic venerations of female saints as expressions of the specifically matrilineal essence of crypto-Judaism. In broader terms, the experience of exile, physical and spiritual, takes on gendered layers of meaning in Jewish and Christian experience.
Bio: Rebecca Wartell, PhD is a Teaching Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder in the Program in Jewish Studies. Her research focuses on Sephardic and conversa women of the early modern period, both in Mediterranean and cross-Atlantic colonial contexts. Her current book project draws primarily from Hebrew rabbinic texts that highlight the experiences of women as refugees and religious converts in the sixteenth century.
Hija kerida, la guardadora de secretos: Inherited Cultural Memory and Conversa Identity on the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands
Teresita Lozano
Teresita.Lozano@utrgv.edu
Abstract: Growing up in El Paso, Texas as the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, I was no stranger to the experiences of transnational identity formation, particularly in cultural and religious contexts. However, as a child, I always knew something was different about my Mexican family, especially when seated next to others at a Catholic Mass. Where other necks were adorned with crosses, my grandmother and my father donned something special – a silver star with six points, which they often kept hidden beneath their shirt collar. One day, my father explained, I would also wear such a star, perhaps accompanied by a medallion of the Virgen de Guadalupe. Such a juxtaposition of two powerful symbols, at times accompanied by other strong female saints, reflected a long lineage of inherited cultural memory and conversa femininity that would be transferred to me by my paternal grandmother, who had no daughters of her own. My receiving such symbols of my crypto-Judaic and mestiza heritage, initiated an ongoing journey as keeper of secrets, codified in gestures, traditions, foodways, and songs. This paper explores experiences of crypto-Judaic and conversa womanhood, analyzing the role of liminality, memory, and music in the shaping of identity on the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands.
Bio: Dr. Teresita Lozano is an Assistant Professor of Musicology and Ethnomusicology at the
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. A daughter of Mexican immigrants and native of the
U.S.-Mexico border, Dr. Lozano engages in research that explores the relationship between
music, migration, religion, and identity. Her scholarly interests were directly influenced by her
own complex Mexican heritage, framed by intersecting indigenous and post-colonial histories,
including crypto-Judaic conversos in west-central Mexico. Dr. Lozano is currently working on a
monograph that analyzes the musical testimonies of undocumented immigrants and their
transborder encounters with miraculous religious apparitions
Queen Esther: A Model of Resistance For Crypto-Jews
Ronit Treatman
ronit.treatman18@gmail.com
Abstract: Queen Esther has played a very important role for the crypto-Jews of Iberia and Latin America. I will explore the symbolic resonance that Queen Esther, and her hidden identity, had for these communities. I will discuss how syncretism transformed Queen Esther into Saint Esther, and Purim into the Fast and Feast of Saint Esther. I will review evidence of the observance of the Fast and Feast of Saint Esther in the Inquisition files of Mallorca in an actual case study. I will also review my field research into the current existence of the phenomenon of Saint Esther in the Southwest United States and the still present tradition of santeros making retablos of Saint Esther, including actual pieces of artwork
Bio: Ronit Treatman was born in Israel, and grew up in Ethiopia and Venezuela. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces' Foreign Liaison Division, she studied International Business Administration in the United States. She was the president of The Philadelphia Jewish Voice. In 2013 she began to volunteer with Reconectar, a platform that strengthens and reconnects descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Communities. After several years of corresponding with people curious about their Jewish roots, she wrote Hands-On Jewish Holidays, dedicated to this community. It is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan.
3:45-5:45 PANEL 5: EL PASO HERITAGE
Chair: _______
El Paso Heritage: documenting crypto-Jews
Peter Shvarzbein
Abstract: This presenttion opens the "El Paso Heritage" panel with some photos from Shvarzbein's crypto-collection and a talk about his lifelong obsession of documenting crypto-Jews.
My practice is focused on exploring notions of
history and identity in La Frontera/ the border. Whether it has been shedding light on
emerging Crypto-Jews to a larger Jewish or Latino community or representing the
unique relationship between Cd. Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas through the
El Paso Transnational Trolley Project, my belief is that art can function as a
vehicle for dialog and change.
Over the past 30 years, there has been a
resurgence of Jewish conversions of
“Crypto-Jews” or Anusim. A Minyan
to a Million constitutes a nearly 20 year exploration of returning
Crypto-Jewish communities of the Southwest and Latin America.
This ongoing project has utilized different formats to document these returning Latino families to normative Judaism. Of the different mediums the most successful has been through an evolving food and an art installation entitled Conversos y Tacos Kosher Gourmet Trucks est. 1492. Art is a universal language but food is the ultimate unifier. Food is love, care, connection and sustenance, holding a special meaning in both Jewish and Hispanic/Latino cultures. By mixing humor with socially relevant issues in public installations, my work aims to inspire and break down borders, whether cultural, aesthetic or geographic.
Bio: Peter
Svarzbein is a photographer, curator and disruptive media specialist. Graduate
of the renowned Eddie Adams Photojournalism Workshop, Svarzbein earned his MFA
from the School of Visual Arts in New York. During graduate school at the SVA,
Svarzbein created the El Paso Transnational Trolley Project. This self-created activist/artist project is
the impetus for Svarzbein’s public service. His work advocating with community
leaders resulted in TXDOT committing $97 million to construct a trolley route
and refurbish the original streetcars that ran between El Paso and Juarez. Svarzbein’s art led him to a run for public
office in 2015, where he completed two
full terms on El Paso’s City Council as city councilman and Mayor Pro Tempore.
Svarzbein has exhibited work both nationally and internationally including a video installation in the Guggenheim's "Still-Spotting NYC" exhibition, at UTEP's Rubin Gallery in a bi-national exhibition "El Flow" and in the "Puro Border" exhibition at the INBA Museum of Fine Art in Cd. Juarez, Mex. Of note was his interactive installation "Conversos Y Tacos Kosher Gourmet Trucks est. 1492" which was funded through a grant with the National Endowment for the Arts and featured on NPR's "Here and Now".
An Incredible Family History Unearthed: How A Search for the Past Can Redefine the Present and Future
Blanca (Garza Enriquez) Carrasco
Blanca Carrasco <epjf.bcarrasco@gmail.com>
Abstract: My name is Blanca Monica Marina Garza Enriquez Espinoza Perez Crispin Tijerina Cortez Salinas and I've been practicing Judaism for over 25 years. In some ways my journey to El Paso reflects that of other Hispanics who are referred to as “Mexican Americans” with one difference: I am a converso, a Jew by choice.
I was told my many last names might have Sephardic and/or crypto-Jewish origin and wanted to learn more. The resulting search for my roots has been a life-changing experience that took me from the Catholic Church to Judaism, a religion that originally seemed distant and foreign. My passion for understanding led me to an evangelical and messianic movement, until, in 2007, my husband and I sought Rabbi Stephen Leon in El Paso to help us convert.
This presentation dares ask: “How does one truly identify ethnicity?” How do we claim our heritage? In short, the question “How did I get here?” is as important as “Who am I? “
In 2017, I decided to research my biological father in Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico where I was born. I discovered he was a descendant of Marcos Alonso de La Garza y del Arcon, co-founder of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, a center for crypto-Jews since Spanish Colonial times. In his lineage, I found Constanza de la Garza, a crypto-Jew who was tried by the Spanish Inquisition and died in house-arrest, possibly my 9th grandmother.
Finding this ancestry has strengthened my spiritual and community commitment and sense of connection. With the help of a genealogist and my own determination, I learned that finding one’s roots can shape a person’s sense of self and their life choices. I've been practicing Judaism for over 25 years, not knowing about my family's Jewish roots but longing to find out about my passion to embrace Judaism, a religion that seemed to be distant from my family’s experience.
In 2017 to my amazement, I found out that my biological father was a descendant of Marcos Alonso de La Garza y del Arcon, co-founder of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, an important center for conversos and crypto-Jews in Mexico since the time of Luis Carvajal and Diego de Montemayor. In his lineage, I found someone who stroke a chord in me as crypto-Jew: Constanza de la Garza who was tried by the Spanish Inquisition and died in house arrest who may be my 13th grandmother. Her bones and effigy were burned in an “Acto de Fe” in Las Palmas de Gran Canarias alongside her brother Alonso, who was burned alive with three other people. All of them atoned for their religious crimes in a bonfire in 1624.
This information has enriched my life and have made me finally understand my spiritual connection with Judaism.
Bio: Blanca Carrasco, born in Torreón, Mexico, has lived in El Paso, Texas for over 30 years. She is a direct descendant of Marcos Alonso de la Garza y del Arcon, co-founder of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, an area known for conversos and crypto-Jews in New Spain. She shares her “journey” as a descendant of crypto-Jews and as a “Conversa”, reaching out to people interested in learning about their Jewish roots, especially at the Anusim Center & Synagogue.
"Capital of the Cryptos"
David Mariscal Varela
alerav31@yahoo.com; dvarela@destinationelpaso.com
Abstract: Presentation will cover personal story about encountering this part of my lineage not only on my father's side but also on my mother's side. I would explain the small details and encounters in my life. Growing up I believed us to be Catholic only later as an adult to come to realize when discovering this about my family that our customs were not Catholic at all.
Cultural parallels include many cross over details between Latin America, Judaism and Jewish culture that are often overlooked in our region. Cross-cultural parallels and connections between the converso traditions and many presently-practiced traditions are still alive and well within this community. Examples include food, dress, animal slaughter, funerary customs and language to name a few.
The objective of this paper is to show that the plethora of micro details that make up our largely Latin community have very profound Judaic roots.
Bio: BIO
The Past, Present and Future of the Crypto-Jewish Influence in the El Paso ,Sunland Park and Juarez Communities
Rabbi Stephen Leon
rabbisal@aol.com
Abstract: Historical documentation, DNA studies, published reference books and current articles all provide sufficient evidence to validate the existance and presence of a significant community of Crypto-Jews who reside in El Paso, Texas, Sunland Park, New Mexico and Juarez, Mexico. Through the efforts and activities of the Anusim Center and Synagogue including conventions, conferences, concerts, guest speakers, cultural presentations, the publication of a bilingual newsletter, and offering services and community festival activities in Hebrew, Spanish, English and Ladino,information and educational material has been made available to the public at large from 1986 to the present day.
In addition to the successful local programming as described above, organized cultural visits to Israel with more than 50 members of the Crypto-Jewish community in attendance have included visits to the Dona Gracia Museum in Tiberias, the Diaspora Museum of Tel Aviv University and lectures by Rabbi Nisan ben Avraham of Shilo on the West Bank, a former Chueta from Majorca, who made Aliya, became a scholar, scribe and professional tourist guide over 3 decades ago. These past programs and activities, together with current events and educational opportunities and the planning of future classes, informational visits to Israel and services will ensure that the recognition, the validation and the positive influence of the B'nai Anusim and Crypto-Jews will be known throughout the Jewish, the general and the academic world for many generations to come.
Bio: Rabbi Stephen Leon has served as the rabbi of the Elmwood Park Jewish Center in New Jersey from 1971 to 1986, and the rabbi and rabbi emeritus of Congregation B'nai Zion, El Paso from 1986 to the present. He is the founder, director and currently the rabbi of the Anusim Center and Synagogue. He is a graduate of Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Rabbi Leon received his rabbinic ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York in 1971. Rabbi Leon was on the faculty of the Academy for Jewish Religion from 1971 to 1986 and the Dean of the Academy for Jewish Religion from 1974 to 1986. He also was a member of the faculty of the Univetsity of Texas at El Paso from 1993 to 2017. Rabbi Leon has been the scholar-in -residence and guest speaker in the following communities: Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, Netanya, London, Capetown, Budapest, Toronto, Montreal, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Mexico and California. Rabbi Leon's book "The Third Commandment and the Anusim; A Rabbi's Memoir on an Incredible People" was published by Gaon Press in 2017.
7:30-8:30 JUDY FRANKEL MEMORIAL CONCERT
Moderator: Debbie Wohl Isard
Robyn Helzner, “A Key to the Casa – Celebrating Jewish Life in Sephardic
Spain”
TUESDAY AUG 15
8:15-8:45 AM GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Rosa Marina Siegel, SCJS President
Agenda items include
8:45-10:15 PANEL 6: FREEDOM, HISTORY, AND THE MODERN WORLD
Chair: ______ ,
In the Crosshairs- How HaLapid Preserves Crypto-Judaic History
Corinne Joy Brown
corinnejb@aol.com
Abstract: As the phenomenon of crypto-Judaic awareness blossoms around the world, research is disseminated via conferences and Face Book groups. In addition, the SCJS long term commitment to print our news in the form of our publication HaLapid has a rich history, stemming from the first publication in 1927 by the Portuguese military commander, Artur Carlos Barros-Basto. He is a legend in the story of the Portuguese crypto-Judaic revival.
Basto knew he was a descendant. Following World War I, he returned to Judaism and committed to awakening his countrymen, building a synagogue in Porto and publishing a newsletter for the anusim, other returnees like himself. The paper was called O Facho, the Portuguese translation of the word torch in Hebrew. (HaLapid).
Today, this remarkable tradition continues and our journal is proudly collected by the Library of Congress, Princeton, Harvard and others, along with EBSCO, a worldwide resource of educational media for academic research. As editor/publisher, it's a privilege and an honor to sift through the submissions and realize we are in the crosshairs of this remarkable cultural shift. This paper will focus on a few select highlights from past issues, reinforcing how media both unites and educates those who often feel so separate.
Bio: Corinne Brown is an award-winning journalist and multi-published author, former president of the Denver Woman's Press Club, a Fellow of the University of Colorado history department at Colorado Springs, and editor of Halapid. She was the 2nd place winner of the Latino-Literary Award in Historical Fiction and winner of the new Mexico-Arizona book award in Historical Fiction. She was also the 2019 SCJS Conference chair in Denver.
“Almighty God Hath Created The Mind Free:”
Religious Freedom, the Inquisition, and the USA
Isaac Amon
isaacamonlaw@gmail.com
Abstract: In 1791, the Bill of Rights – the first 10 Amendments – officially became part of the United States Constitution. The First Amendment enshrined liberty of conscience in America’s nascent governing framework. Yet, this astonishing moment in human affairs was the culmination of centuries of struggle for genuine religious freedom. The arrival and presence in North America of Spanish & Portuguese Jews (including conversos) had changed the course of history. The Founders of the American Republic invoked the Inquisition in their correspondence and in debates over procedural protections afforded to criminal suspects. Their famous letters to S&P synagogues assuring Jews of religious freedom may be contextualized as contrasting with the Inquisition, which was in operation into the 19th century. Leading figures in S&P synagogues on the Eastern Seaboard in New York; Newport, Rhode Island; Savannah, Georgia; and other places had directly experienced the Inquisition. In New Orleans, Isaac Monsanto was expelled from the city by the Spanish in the 1760s for being a hidden Jew whilst religious freedom was not unavailable there until the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Experiences of the Inquisition’s persecution of conversos across time and space helped to enshrine the core principle of religious liberty in the United States.
Bio: Dr. Isaac Amon, an attorney and counselor at law, is Director of Academic Research at Jewish Heritage Alliance, a cultural and historical nonprofit dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of Sefarad (Jews of the Iberian Peninsula). He obtained a J. D., LL.M in negotiation & dispute resolution and J.S.D. (PhD in Law) from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. He was a Legal Fellow at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague and was Legislative Director at the Missouri Department of Corrections. A descendant of Sephardic Jews who fled Spain in 1492, he writes and speaks on comparative law, legal history, and criminal procedure. He has an abiding interest in identity, memory, and legacy.
The Sephardi Political Tradition and Converso Politics on the Frontiers of the Modern World
Reid Heller
reidheller@gmail.com
Abstract: This talk will survey representative 16th century Converso political efforts influenced by an amalgam of Graeco-Arabic political philosophy and Jewish tradition that I call the Sephardi Political Tradition (“SPT”). The SPT emerged in 10th century Umayyad court circles. It achieved its apex following the Almohad mass conversions of the 1140s and innovated a form of Jewish education and political action devoted to the reconstitution of a Jewish Kingdom. The SPT did not disappear from Iberia in the 12th century. It re-emerged following the Christian Reconquista as Jewish elites took up political life again in service of Christian kingdoms. Nor did it disappear following the trauma of 1492. It was carried abroad by Jewish exiles but also cultivated at home and in colonial Spain in crypto-Jewish circles, primarily descendants of Portuguese Jews whose families endured the forcible mass conversions of 1497. Most importantly, the SPT served as a blueprint for political action by Sephardim and Converso elites throughout the 16th century. I will address three outstanding examples of Converso political action influenced by the SPT and conclude with observations on SPT’s reception by 19th European Jews and its role in the founding of modern Israel.
Bio: Reid Heller is an independent researcher in Jewish texts and Jewish history with a special interest in political philosophy. He has written and taught on Southwestern Converso history and is the author of the HaLapid article and talk: “Song From a Withered Limb”. Reid and his wife, Karen Heller, have two married daughters, Ilana Nishli, of Los Angeles, and Naomi George, of Dallas. At the time of writing, he and Karen are the grandparents of five. (The sixth grandchild is due in late August, during the week of the SCJS meeting.) He has lived and practiced law in Dallas, Texas for more than four decades.
10:30-12:00 PANEL 7: THE WIDE WORLD: CRYPTO-JEWISH PHENOMENA IN UNEXPECTED PLACES
Chair: ________
Anusim in the Spice Islands – The Historical Origins
Rabbi David A. Kunin
rabbikunin@gmail.com
Abstract: Indonesia is a new frontier within the world of emerging Jewish Communities. Kehilot are now found from Sumatra to Papua, with many origin traditions. The returning Jews of Ambon and Sarum Island in the Spice Islands have a five-hundred-year-old tradition as Anusim, maintaining many Jewish customs and beliefs. How and why did Anusim flee to such isolated islands, far from Europe? Like Anusim in the New World, these Jews fled the Church, in the guise of the Goa Inquisition. Coming to India from Portugal in relative safety, feeling even the freedom to practice Judaism openly, these Anusim soon came under vicious attack and fled to the very peripheries of Empire. This paper will examine the historical sources charting the movement from Portugal to Goa, and then to smaller outposts beyond the reach of either the King or Church.
Bio: Rabbi David Kunin has researched Crypto Judaism for more than 20 years, focusing most recently on the re-emerging communities of Indonesia. He has been the mentoring rabbi of this dispersed community for more than 10 years and has spent more than four months visiting and working with these kehilot. Trained as a historian, he has been an adjunct professor at SUNY Cortland and at the University of Alberta. Currently (as of July) he is the senior rabbi at Congregation Beth David in Saratoga CA.
The Torah in the Tarot de Marseille
Stav Appel
stav.appel@gmail.com
Abstract: The Torah in the Tarot presents the lens shattering thesis that the original Tarot de Marseille, the artistic ancestor of contemporary Tarot cards, served as a tool for clandestine Jewish education during the centuries long exile of Jews from French public life.
When the oldest known version of the Tarot de Marseille – the Jean Noblet of 1650 Paris – is viewed through a Judaic lens of understanding, it is revealed to be a secret vessel for Hebrew letters, Torah stories, Judaic ritual objects and Jewish Holy Days.
The comprehensive and systematic depiction of Judaica in the Jean Noblet Tarot reveals the oldest known version of the Tarot de Marseille to be an artifact of Crypto-Judaism and an unrecognized masterpiece of cryptography and world religious art.
The recognition of intentional Judaic imagery in the oldest known version of the Tarot de Marseille refutes the popular understanding that the numeric resonance between the Tarot’s 22 illustrated images and the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet is mere coincidence, as claimed in Michael Dummett’s The Game of Tarot and Stuart Kaplan’s The Encyclopedia of Tarot. Furthermore it suggests that the entire genre of Tarot history may be suffering from a Judaic blind spot.
Bio: Stav Appel is a Data Scientist who manages an independent consulting firm which helps business clients find actionable insights concealed in large data sets. He has an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA from SUNY Binghamton. He is the author of the short self-published work ‘The Torah in the Tarot’ and is a frequent speaker at community centers, bookstores, and Synagogues about the lost and forgotten Judaica of the Tarot de Marseille. He maintains a popular Instagram account @torah.tarot with over 23 K followers. More information can be found at: www.TorahTarot.com and https://www.torahtarot.com/media
The Jewish Waldensian Connection Continued
Lillian Jacumin Modak
lmodak@burke.k12.nc.us,
Abstract: There is a connection between the Sephardim and the Waldensian peoples of Northern Italy. The Waldensian Church is a pre-reformation Protestant group living in the Italian Alps on the border of France since the 12th century. Oswaldo Coisson’s book on the documented Waldensian families lists many families as refugees. As we know, the Sephardic diaspora made refugees of exiled families. The Waldensians made a safe place for marginalized peoples persecuted by their religious beliefs. About 43% of the Waldensian family names are also documented Sephardic names. The Waldensians called their churches temples and were known by their critics as keeping the Sabbath in “the way of the Jews” from the 12th century to the 1600s.
This paper addresses similarities and adds DNA evidence and genealogy research supporting assimilation of Sephardic Jews into the group. Y Dna testing shows 12 marker matches to persons claiming descent from the Kimhi rabbinic line to men of Waldensian descent. Waldensian family names such as Jacomin were documented in civil records of King Louis XIV as being Hebrew in origin. The Waldensians translated the Bible into common languages and spread their message throughout Europe. A presentation will reveal more insight and will inspire further research.
Bio: Lillian Jacumin Modak is a past contributor to HaLapid Magazine. She is a high school counselor who loves to research. She is of Waldensian ancestry and began tracing Jewish roots after reading an article about the Sephardic Diaspora. She has been married to Ken Modak for 32 years and is the mother of two adult children; Marielle Modak Hoadley and Thomas Modak.
12:45-2:45 PANEL 8: THE CRYPTO-JEWISH EXPERIENCE: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Chair: _________,
Stories From My Mother's Childhood: Am I Seeing Things That Aren’t Actually There?
Ricardo Villarreal De Silva
rvillarreal10@hotmail.com
Abstract: In “Stories From My Mother’s Childhood: Am I Seeing Things That Aren’t Actually There?” the presenter recounts anecdotes from his mother’s upbringing in South Texas. The anecdotes focus on customs and traditions in the context of death, in-house and outdoor practices. The stories were collected as part of the author’s pursuit of dual citizenship with Spain and Portugal. The narrative describes the presenter’s maternal-line family practices in three general areas: death, within the home practices, and outdoor practices. Specifically, the presenter describes some common and unique rituals surrounding death in general and in the context of the death of a specific family member. In-house customs include a specific method of sweeping, the importance of Fridays and the activities performed, sharing Bible stories, and consuming particular foods during common religious events. The outdoor practice described is uniquely related to rainstorms. The presentation will include photos of the presenter’s maternal line and a handmade needlepoint that may be symbolic.
Bio: Ricardo Villarreal De Silva received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He’s an associate Professor or marketing at the University of San Francisco’s School of Management. He’s an expert in multicultural marketing, where his theory of ethnicity provided great insight into understanding U.S. Hispanics’ consumer behavior. Recently, his work has focused on applying sophisticated statistical approaches to understanding media behavior, advertising, and e-retailing.
Flamenco: Flamboyant Vestiges of our Spanish Converso Past
Maria-Luisa Ornelas-June
marialuisa.june@gmail.com
Abstract: In Laredo, TX in the 1970’s, niñas de familias buenas took ballet. But, we also took Spanish dance classes…castanuelas, zapateados, flouncy skirts, palmas...essentially flamenco. When I went to law school in San Francisco and the Californios tested my Chicano credentials, flamenco delegitimized my credentials despite thinking of myself as Mexican-American. So, like much of our converso background, I hid the flamenco part of my culture.
In 2019, I applied for Spanish citizenship. In 2020, as I started reading about my converso ancestry, I started getting Facebook ads for online flamenco classes from Ballet Hispanico. I signed up for the class and then began reexamining why in Laredo, in the 1970s, we were doing flamenco.
After the Spanish Civil War, flamenco dancers fled Franco to Mexico City. María Luisa Marulanda took classes with them and opened a studio in Laredo, TX in the late 1940s.
The origins of flamenco mark the passage of our converso ancestors from the Middle East through the Levant to Andalusia. Marginalization of Jewish, Muslims and the Roma further mixed these cultures into flamenco. The refugees of the Spanish Civil War found a home among converso compatriots from prior centuries.
Bio: I am an independent scholar studying Tejano culture with a focus on the converso perspective and I am writing a book that incorporates this history and culture. I attended UT Austin and got my law degree from SF College of Law (formerly known as Hastings College of the Law). I spent 20 years as a trailing spouse raising three children in The Netherlands, Singapore, and India. Although I was born and raised in Laredo, TX, I now reside in Houston. As a result of my ancestry, I received my Spanish citizenship in 2021.
Doña Gracia and Don Luis de Carvajal in my Personal Journey
Rosalinda Méndez-Carrasco
mendez.rosal@gmail.com
Abstract: My childhood and youth were spent growing up in Ysleta, Texas with summers in Chihuahua, Mexico, the land of my parents. We were raised Roman Catholic, but with traditions that years later I came to learn were crypto-Judaic. In the mid-1960s we moved to California, where I was thrust into the growing Civil Rights Movement, Chicano Movement, anti-Vietnam War movement and became a radical and atheist in college. Years later, in searching to understand the roots of Mexican-American culture, I discovered that we were likely from Sephardic Jewish descent, from the Conversos, and upon being lent a copy of the life of Doña Gracia Méndes Nasi by Cecil Roth, I was deeply drawn to her and her life. In 1966, the San Diego Opera was preparing for the world premiere of The Conquistador, an opera on the life of Don Luis de Carvajal. I was drawn into this endeavor, and in the process of preparing a slide lecture on the life of Doña Gracia for the opera, my soul became deeply drawn toward the Torah and Judaism.
This is a presentation on the deep-seated inquietudes and unexplainable co-incidences that brought me back to what I believe are my family’s roots.
Bio: Rosalinda Méndez-Carrasco is a Professor Emeritus of History. Born and raised in the El Paso Texas area, she earned her Ph.D. at the University of California at Irvine. She has created a “Mini-Museum of Mexican American History” for Hispanic Heritage Month and organized conferences on “Searching for Our Roots: The Multi-Cultural Heritage of Mexican Americans.”