Semi Annual Journal of the Society for Crypto Judaic Studies
The Inquisition and Crypto Judaism in The Canaries
INKIZISION I KRIPTO-DJUDAIZMO EN CANARIAS SIGLOS XVII-XVIII reprinted by permission from Aki Yerushamayim (Translated from Ladino by Michele Greene) The reestablishment of Crypto Judaism in the Canary Islands dates from the first quarter of the Seventeenth Century. The peace achieved in 1604 between Spain and England greatly increased the trade of sugar and wine from [...]
Comparing DNA Patterns of Sephardi, Ashkenazi & Kurdish Jews
Considering the diverse origins of the Israelites, the large numbers of conversions into and out of the Jewish community, and major disasters which have befallen Jewish communities throughout history, what is the genetic composition of Jewish communities today? In the days before genetic testing, the famous Jewish anthropologist Raphael Patai used cephalic indexes and blood [...]
The Jewish Memory and the Catholic “Forgettery”:
Report from an Undocumented Jew From a paper presented at the Conference of the Society for Crypto Judaic Studies, Portland, Oregon, August 8-10, 2004 Unexpected News I stumbled sort of by accident into the knowledge that my mother’s family is of Crypto-Jewish origin. I am a Puerto Rican who grew up in Puerto Rico and [...]
Belmonte Museum Records History of Anusim
The Hebrews sojourned in the land of Egypt for nearly 430 years. The Bible tells us little more about that period in the life of our ancestors; as such, we know next to nothing about these four centuries in the history of the Israelites. There is another period of nearly 400 years during which the [...]
Alice Bache Gould -SCJS Member Honors Colombus Scholar
She was a remarkable scholar whose research documented the converso presence on Columbus’ first journey, yet she had been almost forgotten generations later. During more than six years of long distance negotiating, I initiated and carried through an international commemoration to Alice Bache Gould on the 50th anniversary of her death (born in Cambridge, MA, [...]
Porto Report: “Lively Scene for Marranos”
The presence of Marranos at the Kadoorie Mekor Haim Synagogue in Porto, Portugal has completely changed since the dedication of a new sefer Torah and the visit by grand rabbi Shlomo Amar in September 2004. Since then, there has been a full time rabbi in Porto paid for by the Israeli organization Shavei Israel. With [...]
The Long Journey of Gracia Mendes
Published by Central European University Press, Budapest-New York: 2003 Reviewed by Dolores Sloan It is easy to come under the spell of Gracia Nasi or Gracia Mendes, as Marianna Birnbaum prefers to call her. This figure from post-expulsion, sixteenth-century Sephardic history, inspirational and revered in her day by Jews and conversos alike, appeals to the [...]
Porto Synagogue, Built for Barros Basto’s Congregation, Comes Alive for Anusim Both Religious and Secular
On September 8 of 2005, the impressive Kadoorie synagogue (Mekor H’aim-fountain of life) in Porto, Portugal came alive with singing and dancing on the occasion of the dedication of a sefer torah donated by a rabbi whose grandfather was saved from the nazis by the then fledging anusim community founded by Captain Barros Basto in [...]
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