He also excoriated one writer who advocated martyrdom for "long-winded foolish babbling and nonsense" and for misleading and hurting the Jews. In his Epistle on Martyrdom, however, Maimonides suggested that the persecuted Jew should publicly adopt Islam while maintaining crypto-Judaism and not seek martyrdom unless forced to transgress Jewish commandments in public. Role of Maimonides Īs one of the towering figures in Judaism and the author of the Mishneh Torah commentary on the Talmud, Maimonides also issued a landmark doctrinal response to the forced conversions of Jews in the Iberian peninsula by the Almohads: Some now profess Orthodox Judaism, although many still retain their centuries-old traditions. Their rich Sephardic tradition of crypto-Judaism is unique. They and their practices were discovered only in the 20th century. A whole community survived in secrecy by maintaining a tradition of endogamous marriage and hiding all external signs of their faith. The " Belmonte Jews" of Portugal, dating from the 12th century, maintained strong secret traditions for centuries. Since the end of Communism, many people in former Soviet states, including descendants of Jews, have publicly taken up the faith of their ancestors again. Some faiths were allowed to continue under strict supervision by the regime. The government, which included secular Communist Jews, did not force Jews to convert to the Russian Orthodox Church but regarded the practice of any religion as undesirable. Later followers of Jacob Frank ( Frankists) formally converted to Christianity but maintained aspects of practice of their versions of Judaism.Ĭrypto-Jews persisted in Russia and Eastern European countries influenced by the Soviet Union after the rise of Communism with the Russian Revolution of 1917. Some of the Jewish followers of Sabbatai Zevi ( Sabbateans) formally converted to Islam and were known as Dönmeh. They are among the most widely known and documented crypto-Jews.Ĭrypto-Judaism existed also in earlier periods, whenever Jews were forced or pressured to convert to the majority religion by the rulers of places where they resided. The entry requirements to the Portuguese colony of Brazil were more lax and also less rigorously enforced.ĭespite the dangers of the Inquisition in Spain and its franchises in the Americas, many conversos continued to secretly and discreetly practice Jewish rituals in the home, such as the Festival of Santa Esterica, a disguised version of Purim to celebrate the Jewish Queen Esther with a fictional “Catholic” Saint Esterica.Īfter the Alhambra decree of 1492, numerous conversos, also called Xueta (or Chueta) in the Balearic Islands ruled by Spain, publicly professed Roman Catholicism but privately adhered to Judaism, even through the Spanish Inquisition. Spain and Portugal passed legislation restricting their rights in the mother countries of Spain and Portugal and their Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas.Īlthough only Cristianos Viejos (Old Christians) who could prove limpieza de sangre (cleanliness of blood) descent from Christian Iberian European ancestry only, without tainting of any Jewish ancestry or Muslim Berber/Arab ancestry, were allowed to officially migrate to the New World Spanish colonies, many Jewish-origin Christian conversos nevertheless ventured directly to the Spanish colonies on forged limpieza de sangre documents, or they entered the Spanish colonies via Brazil. Officially, Jews who converted in Spain during the 14th and 15th centuries were known as Cristianos Nuevos (New Christians), but were commonly called conversos (converts ). The phenomenon is especially associated with Renaissance Spain, following the Massacre of 1391 and the expulsion of the Jews in 1492. The term is especially applied historically to Spanish Jews who outwardly professed Catholicism, also known as Conversos, Marranos, or the Anusim. Judaica (clockwise from top): Shabbat candlesticks, handwashing cup, Chumash and Tanakh, Torah pointer, shofar, and etrog box.Ĭrypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek kryptos – κρυπτός, 'hidden').
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