Mexican Jews - Crypto-Jewish Resurgence

Crypto-Jewish Resurgence

The Mexican Inquisition succeeded in eliminating all vestiges of open Judaism in Mexico but there are an estimated 20,000 Mexicans with Jewish ancestry. While the Crypto-Jews were assimilated into the general populace, there are families that practice what appear to be Jewish rituals and customs, knowing or not knowing where these come from in both Mexico and the southwest United States. For those claiming Crypto-Jewish heritage one or more of three lines of evidence are usually presented, the existence of Jewish rituals in the family, the existence of Inquisition records with Jewish family names and the oral history of the family. It also generally includes strong secrecy about family history and rituals. For some descendants, the discovery of Crypto-Jewish heritage leads them to reclaiming all or some of the Sephardic Jewish faith, often by adopting a number of rituals and customs.

In 1880, Bonifacio Laureano Moyar worked to find and organize the descendants of Conversos or Crypto-Jews with the aim of restoring full Jewish worship among them. These efforts to the establishment of the Kahal Kadosh Bnej Elohim in Venta Prieta, Hidalgo in 1920. There is also a small community of Conversos practicing Judaism in the Vallejo neighborhood of Mexico City, but the main immigrant Jewish organizations do not recognize them.

Efforts to find Jewish descendants have continued. Texas Rabbi Samuel Lerer, influenced by the Venta Prieta experience, began working with those of Jewish heritage starting in 1968, mostly working in Veracruz and Puebla A number of these converts have migrated to Israel. Starting in the 1990s, a group called Kulanu, a Hebrew word meaning “all of us” began exploring other aspects of Judaism, such as Jewish ancestry in Mexico, especially that of the Conversos. They have sought out descendants of Conversos, without permission of the Rabbinate, and converted them to Judaism. They have not only worked with those who know of their Jewish ancestry, but also have reached out to families who observe certain Jewish rituals, such as separating meat and dairy, without knowing why. Although Kulanu is based in the United States, it has worked in Mexico to have these converts recognized by other Jewish communities in Mexico.

However, there has been resistance to these efforts for various reasons. First is that many of those descended from Jewish ancestry do not want to abandon the Catholic faith. The goal of finding and converting Crypto-Jews is controversial. Established immigrant Jewish communities are resistant because they do not want problems from the Catholic majority and because Orthodox Jews, the dominant group in Mexico, do not proselytize. They insist only those of a Jewish mother are Jewish. The Jewish committee’s numbers do not include converts of Crypto-Jews as the two groups do not have contact.

In addition to Crypto-Jews in modern Mexico, the history of colonial Mexico extends to the claims of families in the Southwest United States to be descended from Sephardic Jews escaping the Mexican Inquisition with some making a connection to the Crypto-Jewish settlers of the New Kingdom of León. There claims are controversial with academic both supporting and debunking these claims.