HaLapid Fall 2010/Winter 2011

Letter from the Editor

There is an old Jewish story told about a grandfather and a e~ grandson making preparations for an upcoming holiday. The grandson, a recent bar mitzvah, is to experience his first purifying ritual bath in a mikvah (pool). He and his grandfather journey to a nearby lake so that the grandson can perform the ritual immersion. The grandson strips down and in anticipation he sticks his toe into the lake to test the water. “Ohhh…It’s sooo cold! Do I really have to go in all the way?” he asks. His grandfather nods and encourages him to proceed further. Within a few moments, the boy has completely immersed himself. When he has finished and is back on land drying himself off, the boy exclaims, “Ahhh…I feel so clean and refreshed. So good!” The grandfather turns to his grandson and says, “In Judaism, as in life, moments of “Ohhh” should always be followed by moments of “Ahhh.” The bitter should be followed by the sweet. If it’s the other way around then we know we’re in trouble!”

The contents of this double volume of HaLapid have been arranged with the “Ohhh…Ahhh story” in mind. In the first section of the journal you will find the Conference Reports. For conference attendees as well as those members who wished they could have been there, Rachel Bortnick has provided a detailed conference summary of the 2010 SCJS Annual Conference held this past August 1 to 3 in San Antonio, Texas. Kathleen Alcala, President of the SCJS, provides a brief overview of the business meeting, which included board members as well as conference attendees; it took place on the last day of the conference.

In the Historical Notes section Art Benveniste provides insight into the history of the original HaLapid publication. Included in this section are articles by Arthur Carlos Barros Basto, original founder of Ha-Lapid, and Inacio Steinhardt, Portuguese biographer of Barros Basto. In the Member Close Ups section Art Benveniste and Dolores Sloan remember fellow SCJS member and crypto-Jew Flavio Montoya, who died this past August. Montoya’s memorial is followed by a contribution from a new SCJS member, Arnold

Trujillo, who writes about his journey to discovering his own converso ancestry, which dates back to the 1300s. The Review of Literature features Norma Libman’s survey of a sample of articles published in the popular press on the portrayal of the descendants of crypto-Jews in the American Southwest. She gives a brief overview of the variety of coverage that appears in the popular media.

In the Poetic, Artistic, and Literary Expressions section novelist Marcia Fine contributes an excerpt from her novel The Blind Eye, which is preceded by an accompanying article outlining the historical background of her work, writing process, and research methods. Fine’s story captures the more traumatic aspects of Sephardic history. The following piece by poetess Miriam Herrara is a personal account of how a crypto-Jewish returnee comes to terms with components her cultural identity. Artist Dan Riis Grife contributes the final article in this section. In this piece Riis explains how uncovering his crypto-Jewish roots has inspired not only his artistic creations but his artistic process as well.

The Book Review section includes reviews of Marie Theresa Hernandez’s book Delirio: The Fantastic, the Demonic and the Reel, and Barbara Kessel’s book, Suddenly Jewish: Jews Raised as Gentiles Discover Their Jewish Roots. Alcala has collected a few facts on San Diego, in anticipation of Next Year’s Annual Conference to be held there. Lastly, David M. Gitlitz and Linda Davidson have provided a Historical Recipe in the form of bimuelos; the authors outline the historical relevance of this delicious treat to Sephardic cuisine and the sweet’s connection to Hanukah.
Pleasant reading!

Lillooet Nordlinger McDonnell

Editor-in-Chief

P.S. Questions, comments, complaints?

Please address them to: halapid.editor@gmail.com