The following article was forwarded to me by a friend at the Society of Crypto Judaic Studies. It highlights the case of various individuals which have been accused of offering “fake” conversions to individuals claiming to be descendants of Anusim or Conversos.
In Mexico, fake rabbis sell conversions to Judaism
The article is very interesting but fails to note the potential motivation for many descendants of Conversos to seek such options. In a separate posting, I hope to elaborate on the matter and review the characteristics of Jewry of Latin America as a key issue in this problem.
In short, the key problem lies that as is the case in many countries in Latin America, conversions are largely unattainable or prohibited by the communities that dominate the major Jewish communities. The reasons for this are complicated but often include a concern over fomenting anti-Semitism, economic considerations, and perhaps and most disturbingly racism.
Posted by Rabbi Juan Bejarano-Gutierrez the director of the B’nei Anusim Center for Education and author of What is Kosher?
Thank you, Rabbi, for this important message. As a Reform rabbi, this disturbs me deeply.