The following video tells the story of a little known Converso from Valencia. The individual in question is the famous Rabbi Isaac bar Sheshet. He never mentions this in his own writings, but court documents from the city of Valencia indicate that he converted under duress in 1391.
After a year and half, he managed to escape to North Africa. He wrote extensively on the subject of Conversos in a number of responsa.
Rabbi Juan Marcos Bejarano-Gutierrez is a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas where he earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering. He studied at the Siegal College of Judaic Studies in Cleveland and received a Master of Arts Degree with Distinction in Judaic Studies.
He completed his doctoral studies at the Spertus Institute of Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago in 2015. His doctoral dissertation is titled “Complex Identities: Christian and Jewish Attitudes Towards Conversos” and was accepted in September 2015.
He also studied at the American Seminary for Contemporary Judaism and received rabbinic ordination in 2011 from Yeshivat Mesilat Yesharim.
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B'nei Anusim Center for Education 