Anusim: Responding to Erroneous Views

rambam442013

I just released my latest Kindle book titled the Jewish Conquistadors in the New World. I posted it in various Facebook groups that I’m a part of that specify they are for Bnei Anusim and received an unexpected response.

The critique centered on two points. The first was the claim that anusim were not Jews because they had converted to Christianity and because they violated many Jewish laws. The second part of the objection had to do with the fact that the person condemned the Conquistadors and eschewed any association of Jews with them.

This video is a brief answer to the critiques I received from one individual. A much lengthier response is available in my work titled The Conversó Dilemma: Halakhic Responsa and the Status of Forced Converts.

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Published by rambam442013

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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