Crypto-Jews Face a Rise in Anti-Semitism
by Norma Libman
Imagine you’d been told for most of your life that your family has a Jewish history but it isn’t safe to tell people about it. In recent years, even though you’re a practicing Catholic, or a Protestant, you’ve been curious about Judaism and why you aren’t allowed to talk about your connection to it. You’ve been asking questions. Maybe you’ve done some DNA research. You’ve heard about Crypto-Jews and Conversos and wonder if that’s what you and your family are. Maybe you’ve even decided you’d like to study a little, maybe return to Judaism. Possibly you already have returned to Judaism but you haven’t told your family yet. And then October 7th happens and, along with it, a startling rise in anti-Semitic incidents world-wide. You start to look at the whole story in a brand-new way.
When I first began to research the history of the Crypto-Jews I knew practically nothing about the subject. And much of what little I thought I knew was not even correct. My interest in the story came about quite by accident as people who knew my work for the Chicago Tribune and other publications started telling me that this was a story I should look into. They thought I was a good “fit” for this type of story.
As I child I’d attended Hebrew School, which in those days consisted of four afternoons of classes after regular school and another couple hours on Sunday morning. In all those years of study I’d never heard of this. To tell the truth, I’d not learned much about Sephardic Jewish history at all. Everything was geared toward the Holocaust and Ashkenazi history and culture.
So I had a steep learning curve. But within a few years I was living in New Mexico and, with the guidance of a number of rabbis and scholars, most notably the late Rabbi Isaac Celnik and the former New Mexico State Historian, Dr. Stanley Hordes, I was meeting and interviewing members of the Converso/Crypto-Jewish community in Albuquerque and other parts of New Mexico. I am very grateful for their mentorship. (A Converso is anyone who has converted to Christianity during the Spanish Inquisition, whether sincerely or not, or the descendant of such a person. A Crypto-Jew is a Converso who is actively practicing Judaism in secret while openly practicing Christianity.) The question I asked most often was: Why are you still keeping the secret? What are you still afraid of? The answer was always some form of “You have to be careful. It’s still not safe. It’s never safe.”
But during the almost thirty years that I have been doing this research, many of these same people have become open about their Jewish histories. Some have even returned to the open practice of Judaism.
Which brings me to the question I have for Conversos and Crypto-Jews today: In a post-October 7th world, with the frightening spread of anti-Semitism, what are you thinking now? Do you feel safe? I was curious about how these people who had so slowly begun to feel safe enough to publically admit to their Jewish ancestry, felt about the current major increase in anti-Semitic events. I have now asked this question of Conversos and Crypto-Jews who have become open about their family history, and some who have never publicly acknowledged their family’s Jewish past. They are folks I’ve known for a long time, and some have become friends.
I have assured them all that I would not use their names or identify the origin of any quotes I might use in any lecture I give or any article I write. That has been my policy since I began my research and it feels more important now than ever.
I spoke to a half dozen people. Admittedly this is a small sample. I’m not claiming it’s a scientific study. It’s just me talking to friends about how they feel. They come from different walks of life, different educational directions, and different family situations. And what have I learned? To put it mildly: they are scared.
Some said they thought they were safe in America. Now they know better. One said that after being openly Jewish for many years, they now understand why their grandmother cautioned. “We don’t talk about it.” Two people brought up the possibility of deportation, which I hadn’t really thought of. But they are Spanish, even if their families have been here since the sixteenth century in many cases. “They did it to us in Spain. Of course it could happen again,” one said.
It’s worth noting that with any Jews I’ve spoken to on this matter – be they Converso descendants or descendants of Holocaust survivors – there is a level of fear. And anger. And disgust. Some admit to their fears outright. Some try to hide them. But they are there. How could they not be? We know our history.
Will we all have to become Crypto-Jews before this is over? Will it ever be over? For answers to these questions, and many more, I recommend the book A Convenient Hatred: The History of Antisemitism by Phyllis Goldstein.
One of my friends said that until last year they were becoming more and more open about their family’s Jewish history and their own return to Judaism. But that has changed. “Now I am a Crypto-Jew again,” they said.
Norma Libman is an award-winning author, journalist and educator who has published three books, more than 500 articles in newspapers, magazines and journals nationwide, and lectures regularly at Oasis, UNM Continuing Ed/Osher and other venues. For more information visit her website at www.normalibman.com.
Her books include The Story of the Story: What I Wrote and Why, Hannah's Day at School and Lonely River Village: A Novel of Secret Stories.
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