Welcome to Volume 3 of the...
Welcome to Volume 3 of the Journal of Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian Crypto Jews…
…a non-profit refereed academic journal published annually by the School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. JOSPIC-J’s goal is to encourage and publicize scholarly research about the crypto Jews of Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and their many descendants today. We publish peer-reviewed articles, research reports, book reviews, and other academic literature.
Much appreciation is expressed to Dr. Kenneth G. Furton, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. John F. Stack, Director, School of International and Public Affairs, Dr. Rod Neumann, Chair, Depart-ment of Global and Sociocultural Studies, and Dr. Zion Zohar, Director, President Navon Program for the Study of Sephardic and Oriental Jewry, for their academic support. A special appreciation also is ex-pressed to Martin Sosin and the Martin Sosin-Stratton-Petit Foundation of Santa Monica, California, for their generous support. JOSPIC-J is co-sponsored by the Society for Crypto Judaic Studies, and much appreciation is expressed to the Society for its support.
JOSPIC-J brings together, for the first time in a refereed academic journal, research on secret Jews in the three countries whose historic Jewish communities, each predating the Inquisition for centuries, suffered from the Inquisition. In also studying the descendants of these secret Jews, and the effects the Inquisition still has today on these descendants and others, JOSPIC-J is an international journal, covering descendants in many countries today. The crypto Jewish diaspora covers much of the globe, and we are pleased to be a part of Florida International University’s international global emphasis
In Volumes 1 and 2, we put emphasis on introducing readers to crypto-Jewish descendants in a number of locations including Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sao Tome, New Mexico and the American Southwest, the Caribbean, Brazil, and Peru.
In this Volume 3 we continue our goal of covering a wide geographical area of the Crypto-Jewish Diaspora. But, having laid that foundation, we now are expanding more coverage to specific individuals of different time periods and locations: Moses Maimonides, and Isaac Orobio de Castro, and briefly, Abraham Abulafia; Madre Sion and the Virgin of Guadalupe, Maria de Zarate, and more recently, Francisco Barrera Sanchez. We also honor Dr. Richard E. Greenleaf’s contributions of the last several decades. Presenting Dr. Greenleaf’s contributions to the study of the Inquisition continues our annual honoring of an early pioneer related to crypto-Judaic studies. Dr. Greenleaf’s contributions are voluminous, and we are pleased to honor him (and list some of his publications).
We also update data which was reported in Volume 1, showing how the changing use of various terms (Marranos, Conversos, Crypto Jews, Secret Jews, Hidden Jews, New Christians, or Anusim) continue to evolve and better define the area of crypto-Judaic studies.
We continue our attention to recent literature, with a review of Richard L. Kagen and Philip D. Morgan’s Atlantic Diaspora: Jews, Conversos, and Crypto-Jews in the Age of Mercantilism, 1500-1800. The article on Sicily uses various sources, but gives special attention to the recent major book by Nadia Zeldes, The Former Jews of This Kingdom: Sicilian Converts After the Expulsion, 1492-1516, and the article on the Caribbean gives special attention to Harry A. Ezratty’s 500 years in the Jewish Caribbean: The Spanish-Portuguese Jews in the Caribbean, Josette Capriles Goldish’s Once Jews: Stories of the Caribbean Sephardim, and Edward Kritzler’s Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean. Volume 2 gave special attention to Brazil, which probably has the largest number of crypto-Jewish descendants of any country in the world, and this volume gives a very brief update on Brazil.
We also continue our policy begun in Volume 2 of having at least one article in a language other than English. Last year we had an article in Portuguese, and this year we have an article in Spanish. In each case the article has been translated into English. This year we also have our first oral tradition narrative article (Carlos Larralde), illustrating how to produce an admirable combination of oral tradition and documented historical research.
We also express our appreciation to all of those who are helping JOSPIC-J to further its goal: the authors, the Editorial Board, the staff members, the outside referees, the donors, and other specific individuals, especially at Florida International University.
Welcome to an intellectual interchange involving secrecy, complexity, and controversy, a scholarly educational perspective for both academicians and non-academicians.
…a non-profit refereed academic journal published annually by the School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. JOSPIC-J’s goal is to encourage and publicize scholarly research about the crypto Jews of Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and their many descendants today. We publish peer-reviewed articles, research reports, book reviews, and other academic literature.
Much appreciation is expressed to Dr. Kenneth G. Furton, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. John F. Stack, Director, School of International and Public Affairs, Dr. Rod Neumann, Chair, Depart-ment of Global and Sociocultural Studies, and Dr. Zion Zohar, Director, President Navon Program for the Study of Sephardic and Oriental Jewry, for their academic support. A special appreciation also is ex-pressed to Martin Sosin and the Martin Sosin-Stratton-Petit Foundation of Santa Monica, California, for their generous support. JOSPIC-J is co-sponsored by the Society for Crypto Judaic Studies, and much appreciation is expressed to the Society for its support.
JOSPIC-J brings together, for the first time in a refereed academic journal, research on secret Jews in the three countries whose historic Jewish communities, each predating the Inquisition for centuries, suffered from the Inquisition. In also studying the descendants of these secret Jews, and the effects the Inquisition still has today on these descendants and others, JOSPIC-J is an international journal, covering descendants in many countries today. The crypto Jewish diaspora covers much of the globe, and we are pleased to be a part of Florida International University’s international global emphasis
In Volumes 1 and 2, we put emphasis on introducing readers to crypto-Jewish descendants in a number of locations including Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sao Tome, New Mexico and the American Southwest, the Caribbean, Brazil, and Peru.
In this Volume 3 we continue our goal of covering a wide geographical area of the Crypto-Jewish Diaspora. But, having laid that foundation, we now are expanding more coverage to specific individuals of different time periods and locations: Moses Maimonides, and Isaac Orobio de Castro, and briefly, Abraham Abulafia; Madre Sion and the Virgin of Guadalupe, Maria de Zarate, and more recently, Francisco Barrera Sanchez. We also honor Dr. Richard E. Greenleaf’s contributions of the last several decades. Presenting Dr. Greenleaf’s contributions to the study of the Inquisition continues our annual honoring of an early pioneer related to crypto-Judaic studies. Dr. Greenleaf’s contributions are voluminous, and we are pleased to honor him (and list some of his publications).
We also update data which was reported in Volume 1, showing how the changing use of various terms (Marranos, Conversos, Crypto Jews, Secret Jews, Hidden Jews, New Christians, or Anusim) continue to evolve and better define the area of crypto-Judaic studies.
We continue our attention to recent literature, with a review of Richard L. Kagen and Philip D. Morgan’s Atlantic Diaspora: Jews, Conversos, and Crypto-Jews in the Age of Mercantilism, 1500-1800. The article on Sicily uses various sources, but gives special attention to the recent major book by Nadia Zeldes, The Former Jews of This Kingdom: Sicilian Converts After the Expulsion, 1492-1516, and the article on the Caribbean gives special attention to Harry A. Ezratty’s 500 years in the Jewish Caribbean: The Spanish-Portuguese Jews in the Caribbean, Josette Capriles Goldish’s Once Jews: Stories of the Caribbean Sephardim, and Edward Kritzler’s Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean. Volume 2 gave special attention to Brazil, which probably has the largest number of crypto-Jewish descendants of any country in the world, and this volume gives a very brief update on Brazil.
We also continue our policy begun in Volume 2 of having at least one article in a language other than English. Last year we had an article in Portuguese, and this year we have an article in Spanish. In each case the article has been translated into English. This year we also have our first oral tradition narrative article (Carlos Larralde), illustrating how to produce an admirable combination of oral tradition and documented historical research.
We also express our appreciation to all of those who are helping JOSPIC-J to further its goal: the authors, the Editorial Board, the staff members, the outside referees, the donors, and other specific individuals, especially at Florida International University.
Welcome to an intellectual interchange involving secrecy, complexity, and controversy, a scholarly educational perspective for both academicians and non-academicians.
Welcome to Volume 2 of the…
Journal of Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian Crypto Jews (JOSPIC-J), a non-profit academic journal published annually by the School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. JOSPIC-J’s goal is to encourage and publicize scholarly research about the crypto Jews of Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and their many descendants today. We publish peer-reviewed articles, research reports, book reviews, and other academic literature.
Much appreciation is expressed to Dr. Kenneth G. Furton, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. John F. Stack, Director, School of International and Public Affairs, Dr. Rod Neumann, Chair, Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies, and Dr. Zion Zohar, Director, President Navon Program for the Study of Sephardic and Oriental Jewry, for their academic support. A special appreciation also is expressed to Martin Sosin of the Martin Sosin-Stratton-Petit Foundation of Santa Monica, California, for their generous support. JOSPIC-J is co-sponsored by the Society for Crypto Judaic Studies, and much appreciation is expressed to the Society for its support and cooperation.
JOSPIC-J brings together, for the first time in a refereed academic journal, research on secret Jews in the three countries whose historic Jewish communities, each predating the Inquisition for centuries, suffered from the Inquisition. In also studying the descendants of these secret Jews, and the effects the Inquisition had on folks, JOSPIC-J truly is an international journal, covering descendants in many countries today. In this Volume 2 alone, we have significant attention to Portugal, São Tomé, Puerto Rico, United States, Mexico, Brazil, and Peru, with comments on and references to a number of other parts of the world. Our nine authors were born and/or live in five different countries. The crypto Jewish diaspora covers much of the globe, and we are pleased to be a part of Florida International University’s international global emphasis.
In Volume 1, we gave special attention to Italy, including Italy in the title as an equal partner with Spain and Portugal, where it should have always been, and helping to correct a weakness for English readers. We also had an article on Italy. We were not the first to include Italy, but we were the first English language major academic journal to fully include Italy in both the title and major coverage.
With Volume 2, we give special attention to Brazil, another part of the crypto Jewish diaspora which has not received the attention it deserves from English language researchers and publications. As the fifth largest nation in the world, an emerging economic power, and with the largest number of descendants of crypto Jews in the world, it is important that Brazil receive more attention. Almost one third of this issue features Brazil, including one article in Portuguese.
We begin with two brief articles, one on the varying definitions of Jewishness, and one on the special problems of conducting research on people who had or have secret identities. The southwestern United States and Puerto Rico are used as examples of research problems. Then we analyze a conceptual issue of concern to crypto Jewish descendants, whether surnames have crypto Jewish meanings.
Next we move to a geographical perspective, first looking at one of the mother countries, Portugal, with an analysis of music in the lives of crypto Jewish women. We then go to São Tomé, recipient of seven hundred Jewish children who had been kidnapped from their parents in Portugal. Next we feature Brazil with three articles. These include an analysis of the scholarly disagreements on the numbers, past identities, and future identities of descendants of crypto Jews in Brazil, an ethnographic report on people currently returning to Judaism in Brazil, and an enumeration and discussion of Jewish influences found in Brazilian daily life today. We then move to Peru and look at the complicated life of Manuel Bautista Pérez as he tried to survive accusations of being a secret Jew.
As in each issue, we then honor an early pioneer of crypto Judaic studies. Last year we honored Cecil Roth. Now, we look at the contributions of Seymour B. Liebman, a prolific author who dedicated two decades to original research on crypto Jews in different locations, especially Mexico. Recognizing the growing interest and increasing number of books in the field of crypto Judaic studies, this year we initiate book reviews. We review four interesting books, about (1) the continuing question of whether Christopher Columbus was from a crypto Jewish family, (2) the crypto Jews of Spain, (3) the crypto Jews of New Mexico, and (4) Sephardic genealogy. In this last book, we see the difficult problem of trying to research ancestors who were trying to hide or change their identities in order to save their lives. Their belief was “Dum Spiro, Spero.” “While I breathe, I hope.”
Welcome to an intellectual interchange with secrecy, complexity, and controversy, a scholarly educational perspective for both academicians and non-academicians.
Journal of Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian Crypto Jews (JOSPIC-J), a non-profit academic journal published annually by the School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. JOSPIC-J’s goal is to encourage and publicize scholarly research about the crypto Jews of Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and their many descendants today. We publish peer-reviewed articles, research reports, book reviews, and other academic literature.
Much appreciation is expressed to Dr. Kenneth G. Furton, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. John F. Stack, Director, School of International and Public Affairs, Dr. Rod Neumann, Chair, Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies, and Dr. Zion Zohar, Director, President Navon Program for the Study of Sephardic and Oriental Jewry, for their academic support. A special appreciation also is expressed to Martin Sosin of the Martin Sosin-Stratton-Petit Foundation of Santa Monica, California, for their generous support. JOSPIC-J is co-sponsored by the Society for Crypto Judaic Studies, and much appreciation is expressed to the Society for its support and cooperation.
JOSPIC-J brings together, for the first time in a refereed academic journal, research on secret Jews in the three countries whose historic Jewish communities, each predating the Inquisition for centuries, suffered from the Inquisition. In also studying the descendants of these secret Jews, and the effects the Inquisition had on folks, JOSPIC-J truly is an international journal, covering descendants in many countries today. In this Volume 2 alone, we have significant attention to Portugal, São Tomé, Puerto Rico, United States, Mexico, Brazil, and Peru, with comments on and references to a number of other parts of the world. Our nine authors were born and/or live in five different countries. The crypto Jewish diaspora covers much of the globe, and we are pleased to be a part of Florida International University’s international global emphasis.
In Volume 1, we gave special attention to Italy, including Italy in the title as an equal partner with Spain and Portugal, where it should have always been, and helping to correct a weakness for English readers. We also had an article on Italy. We were not the first to include Italy, but we were the first English language major academic journal to fully include Italy in both the title and major coverage.
With Volume 2, we give special attention to Brazil, another part of the crypto Jewish diaspora which has not received the attention it deserves from English language researchers and publications. As the fifth largest nation in the world, an emerging economic power, and with the largest number of descendants of crypto Jews in the world, it is important that Brazil receive more attention. Almost one third of this issue features Brazil, including one article in Portuguese.
We begin with two brief articles, one on the varying definitions of Jewishness, and one on the special problems of conducting research on people who had or have secret identities. The southwestern United States and Puerto Rico are used as examples of research problems. Then we analyze a conceptual issue of concern to crypto Jewish descendants, whether surnames have crypto Jewish meanings.
Next we move to a geographical perspective, first looking at one of the mother countries, Portugal, with an analysis of music in the lives of crypto Jewish women. We then go to São Tomé, recipient of seven hundred Jewish children who had been kidnapped from their parents in Portugal. Next we feature Brazil with three articles. These include an analysis of the scholarly disagreements on the numbers, past identities, and future identities of descendants of crypto Jews in Brazil, an ethnographic report on people currently returning to Judaism in Brazil, and an enumeration and discussion of Jewish influences found in Brazilian daily life today. We then move to Peru and look at the complicated life of Manuel Bautista Pérez as he tried to survive accusations of being a secret Jew.
As in each issue, we then honor an early pioneer of crypto Judaic studies. Last year we honored Cecil Roth. Now, we look at the contributions of Seymour B. Liebman, a prolific author who dedicated two decades to original research on crypto Jews in different locations, especially Mexico. Recognizing the growing interest and increasing number of books in the field of crypto Judaic studies, this year we initiate book reviews. We review four interesting books, about (1) the continuing question of whether Christopher Columbus was from a crypto Jewish family, (2) the crypto Jews of Spain, (3) the crypto Jews of New Mexico, and (4) Sephardic genealogy. In this last book, we see the difficult problem of trying to research ancestors who were trying to hide or change their identities in order to save their lives. Their belief was “Dum Spiro, Spero.” “While I breathe, I hope.”
Welcome to an intellectual interchange with secrecy, complexity, and controversy, a scholarly educational perspective for both academicians and non-academicians.
Welcome!
Welcome to the Journal of Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian Crypto Jews (JOSPIC-J). It is our pleasure to introduce you to Volume 1 of the journal. On this website you will find the Table of Contents, listing the ten articles in Volume 1; the Editorial Page, listing the people whose work has made Volume 1 possible; Manuscript Submissions, explaining how to submit manuscripts for publication consideration; and Subscriptions/Single Issue Sales, giving all the information on how to purchase subscriptions or single issues.
In addition, to give an idea of the major issues in this fascinating and growing field of academic research, we include the entire first article in Volume 1, "The Secret Jews of Spain, Portugal, and Italy and Their Descendants Today: Major Issues in a Growing Field of Academic Research."
And, as an example of the many issues which are discussed in Volume 1, and will be discussed in succeeding issues of JOSPIC-J, for your information we also include a brief two-page concluding commentary from Volume 1, "Recent Research Articles: From Roth to DNA." This brief commentary discusses three recent published articles about Sephardic and Crypto Jewish DNA, a major growing field of research.
One of these articles documents, for example, that 20% of all contemporary Hispanic males, mostly Christian today, are actually Jewish genetically on the male line. How did these Jewish ancestral/genetic lines stop being Jewish? What are the identities experienced today among the descendants? For many people, the consequences of the Inquisition still live today, as we will see these consequences in this and future issues of JOSPIC-J. Sociology, history, religion, and other areas of study join together to analyze and explain these consequences. Crypto Jews lived in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and today their descendants live in a large number of countries, providing a fascinating international flavor to this area of study.
JOSPIC-J is published by the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), within the College of Arts and Sciences, at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. Appreciation is expressed to Dr. Kenneth G. Furton, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and to Dr. John F. Stack, Director of SIPA, for their support. Appreciation also is expressed to Dr. Richard S. Tardanico, Chair of the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies (Sociology, Anthropology, and Geography), and to Dr. Zion Zohar, Director of the President Navon Program for the Study of Sephardic and Oriental Jewry, for their many acts of support.
Much appreciation is also expressed to the Society for Crypto Judaic Studies for their co-sponsorship and support of JOSPIC-J. The Martin Sosin-Stratton-Petit Foundation of Santa Monica, California, has given generous financial and moral support, for which much appreciation is expressed.
In addition, to give an idea of the major issues in this fascinating and growing field of academic research, we include the entire first article in Volume 1, "The Secret Jews of Spain, Portugal, and Italy and Their Descendants Today: Major Issues in a Growing Field of Academic Research."
And, as an example of the many issues which are discussed in Volume 1, and will be discussed in succeeding issues of JOSPIC-J, for your information we also include a brief two-page concluding commentary from Volume 1, "Recent Research Articles: From Roth to DNA." This brief commentary discusses three recent published articles about Sephardic and Crypto Jewish DNA, a major growing field of research.
One of these articles documents, for example, that 20% of all contemporary Hispanic males, mostly Christian today, are actually Jewish genetically on the male line. How did these Jewish ancestral/genetic lines stop being Jewish? What are the identities experienced today among the descendants? For many people, the consequences of the Inquisition still live today, as we will see these consequences in this and future issues of JOSPIC-J. Sociology, history, religion, and other areas of study join together to analyze and explain these consequences. Crypto Jews lived in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and today their descendants live in a large number of countries, providing a fascinating international flavor to this area of study.
JOSPIC-J is published by the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), within the College of Arts and Sciences, at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. Appreciation is expressed to Dr. Kenneth G. Furton, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and to Dr. John F. Stack, Director of SIPA, for their support. Appreciation also is expressed to Dr. Richard S. Tardanico, Chair of the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies (Sociology, Anthropology, and Geography), and to Dr. Zion Zohar, Director of the President Navon Program for the Study of Sephardic and Oriental Jewry, for their many acts of support.
Much appreciation is also expressed to the Society for Crypto Judaic Studies for their co-sponsorship and support of JOSPIC-J. The Martin Sosin-Stratton-Petit Foundation of Santa Monica, California, has given generous financial and moral support, for which much appreciation is expressed.
