The Islam conquest of Spain began in 711 CE and would extend over parts of the Iberian Peninsula through the … More
Tag: Judaism
The Sabbatean Prophets
B”H Traveling on business can be difficult but one benefit is that it gives me the opportunity to read. I … More
13th Century Portrait of a Spanish Jew
The Jewish Journal reported that archaeologists in Spain have identified a drawing of a Jewish man on a pottery fragment from … More
Was Miguel de Cervantes a Crypto-Jew?
The debate regarding whether the great writer Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, had a Converso background and … More
The Expulsion of Jews in Spain and Portugal
The expulsion of Jews from Castile and Aragon in 1492 and from Portugal in 1497 was the culmination of a … More
Conversos in Bayonne: Circumcision, Mitzvot, and Dissimulation
Declining knowledge of Jewish practices increased the importance of circumcision among Conversos. Conversos attributed the same special role to circumcision … More
On Marranos and Sabbateans
Ezer Kahanoff wrote an interesting article on the relationship of the Sabbatean movement and former Conversos throughout Europe. Kahanoff discusses … More
Crypto-Judaism: Rabbi Isaac bar Sheshet
The following video tells the story of a little known Converso from Valencia. The individual in question is the famous … More
A Halakhic Teshuvah on the Descendants of Anusim
The awareness of a Crypto-Jewish background or family line has brought many individuals throughout Latin America to consider a return … More
Crypto-Judaism: A Review of a Jewish Renaissance in Fifteenth Century Spain
Mark Meyerson, a well known Jewish historian, discusses the fascinating story of the town of Morvedre. This town near Valencia … More