To any observer, they appear Catholic: they go to mass and confession, send their eldest sons to the priesthood, and celebrate Easter and Christmas.
But these “crypto-Jews” in the American southwest secretly practice the traditions of Judaism in the privacy of their own homes.
Daniel Pesikoff '99 discovered the crypto-Jews when writing a paper about his own ancestors, who settled in New Mexico in the 1800s. He returned to the topic for his senior thesis under the supervision of Teresa Meade, associate professor of history.
The crypto-Jews can trace their heritage to fourteenth-century Spain, when the Holy Office of the Inquisition demanded that all Jews in Spain either convert to Christianity or leave the country. “About half of the 300,000 Jews fled, and the other half remained in Spain and Portugal,” Pesikoff explains. “While some of them converted to Catholicism, others continued to practice Jewish traditions within their homes while openly practicing Catholicism.”
With the discovery of the New World, many of these Spanish Jews had new hopes of religious freedom in New Spain. “But the Church was no less stringent than it was in Spain and continued to try heretics in Mexico,” Pesikoff says.
Over time, the some Jews migrated northward into New Mexico, Arizona, and southern Colorado, hoping to find greater religious freedom in less populated areas. But the grasp of the Catholic Church was still strong, and these crypto-Jews had to continue to practice their religion secretly.
Crypto-Jews still live in these areas, Pesikoff says. “In every type of public exposure, they appear to be Catholic,” Pesikoff says. “They go to mass. They go to confession. They are buried in Catholic cemeteries. But they also observe the Sabbath on Friday nights by lighting candles and by resting Saturday. They cover mirrors in their homes during time of mourning and celebrate the Festival of St. Esther. While their traditions are clearly nontraditional for a Christian society, neither are they the practices of mainstream Judaism.
“What has made them distinct is that their secrecy was initially required to hide their religion; presently, the secrecy is part of their religion,” he continues.
Since the crypto-Jews still maintain their secrecy, Pesikoff relied on interviews with people in areas where they are thought to live as well as transcripts of interviews with crypto-Jews who have decided to break their silence. The College's Internal Education Fund supported his trips to Mexico City, Tucson, and Denver, where he interviewed rabbis and historians, pored over documents in libraries, and scoured graveyards.
His thesis focuses not only on the history of the crypto-Jews but also on the circumstances that compel them to keep their religion a secret. “The crypto-Jews live in communities that are still very Catholic,” he says. “It would be scandalous for these people to reveal themselves as Jews. All of their neighbors think that they are Catholic.”
Pesikoff was particularly struck by a discovery he made during the recent spring break. While traveling in communities in New Mexico that were said to include crypto-Jews, he found Catholic cemeteries that also held the graves of crypto-Jews. “These are Catholic cemeteries, but if you look closely at some of the tombstones, you can see the Star of David or the Hebrew letter 'shesh,' which is the symbol for the 'Shema,' the holiest prayer in Judaism,” he explains. “I remember one tombstone included etchings of flowers. If you looked closely at the pistil of the flower, you could recognize the letter shesh. It made it all very real.”
With only thirty to forty crypto-Jewish families still remaining, Pesikoff predicts that the sect may disappear. In his thesis, he concludes:
“Crypto-Jews are in a difficult position and one that threatens the life of their tradition. They still live in fear of the Church, their communities, and now mainstream Judaism. However, with each generation, they are losing to acculturation. The children do not have the same sense of family tradition and, like many other American Jews, are not tied to the same beliefs. In crytpo-Judaism and normative Judaism, there are many intermarriages that endanger the traditions. It is difficult to determine how much longer crytpo-Judaism will remain. Since the age of Columbus, crypto-Judaism has survived out of necessity to protect Judaism. Today, secrecy may threaten the continuation of this practice.”