Relation to other Sephardi communities The term Sephardi means "Spanish" or "Hispanic" and is derived from
Sepharad, a biblical location. The location of the biblical Sepharad is disputed, but later Jews identified the Sepharad as
Hispania, that is, the
Iberian Peninsula, which includes Portugal. Sepharad still means "Spain" in
modern Hebrew. The common feature among Western Sephardim, Sephardic Bnei Anusim, and Neo-Western Sephardim is that all three are descended in part from
conversos. "Western Sephardim" are descendants of ex-conversos from earlier centuries; "Sephardic Bnei Anusim" are nominally Christian descendants of conversos, or secret Jews; and "Neo-Western Sephardim" refers to individuals among the Sephardic Bnei Anusim population who are converting to Judaism in order to return to the origin of some of their ancestors. The distinguishing factor between "Western Sephardim" and the nascent "Neo-Western Sephardim" is the time frame of the reversions to Judaism (in the present day, usually formal conversions, or reversions, are required because of the time from the original force conversion), the location of the reversions, and the religious and legal circumstances surrounding their reversions (including impediments and persecutions). The converso descendants who became the Western Sephardim had reverted to Judaism between the 16th and 18th centuries. They did so after migrating out of the Iberian cultural sphere and before the abolition of the Inquisition in the 19th century. Conversely, the converso descendants who are today becoming the Neo-Western Sephardim have been reverting to Judaism since the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Because the Inquisition had been abolished, these later converts did not have to leave the Iberian cultural sphere.
Differentiating Anusim and Bnei Anusim The Sephardic
Anusim ("forced [converts]") were the Jewish conversos to Catholicism and their second and third, fourth, and up to fifth generation converso descendants (the maximum acceptable generational distance depended on the particular
Jewish responsa being followed by the receiving Jewish community). The Sephardic
Bnei Anusim ("[later] children [of the] coerced [converts]"), on the other hand, were any subsequent generations of descendants of the Sephardic Anusim, living anywhere in the world. These descendants, the Sephardic Bnei Ansuim, have remained hidden mainly in Iberia and
Ibero-America - but they also live today all over European countries, Scandinavia, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Malta, the Balkans, the Middle East countries, North African Countries, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines and Indonesia. Their ancestors were subject to the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions in the Iberian Peninsula and its Inquisition franchises exported to the New World, and would have been persecuted as Jews. However, intermarriage and other generations of practice also meant that many descendants began to live as assimilated Christians in a Latin world. The converso descendants of Sephardic Anusim in the Hispanosphere became the Sephardic Bnei Anusim. Conversely, those Sephardic Anusim who migrated to other countries (such as the Netherlands and Italy, among other places) tended to revert to Judaism. However, many still live as secret Jews to this day. They have since been classified as the
Western Sephardim. At least some Sephardic Anusim in the
Hispanosphere (both in Iberia and their colonies in Ibero-America) had tried to maintain crypto-Jewish practices in privacy. Those who migrated to Ibero-America, especially, had initially also tried to revert to Judaism outright. Such choice was not feasible long-term in that Hispanic environment, as Judaizing conversos in Iberia and Ibero-America were subject to being persecuted, prosecuted, and liable to conviction and execution under the Inquisition. The Inquisition was not formally disbanded until the 19th century. The last known
auto de fe (burning at the stake) was executed in Mexico City in 1820. But Crypto-Judaism (Secret Judaism) continued to survive into the present day. In the early 20th century, there was a move to encourage the secret Jews of Portugal to come out of hiding (by a man named Barros Basto, called the Portuguese Dreyfus). But then they saw what was happening to the Jews from the Nazis, so they continued to remain in hiding.
Past and present customs and practices Among descendants of Sephardic Bnei Anusim, some maintained crypto-Judaism. Today, people in Spain, Portugal, and throughout Latin America (and other countries where they had migrated) have recognized that they retain familial
customs of Jewish origins, and we know this because of publicity about research and DNA analysis showing Jewish ancestry. The specifics and origin of these practices within families are sometimes no longer known, or were only passed down in portions of the family, and then, at times, the knowledge of the origin of the customs is vague. In some families, Jewish customs and traditions were passed down mainly by the women, but not the Jewish identity of the ancestors (to keep the children protected). The Jewish identity (knowledge of the Jewishness of ancestors) was passed down along the male line. And in practically all of these families, the children were taught a great fear of outsiders to the family. And that no one outside the family could be trusted. This is one of the most common themes of Crypto-Judaism. This has somewhat impaired those helping people with such fears, except when the helpers are from the same ancestry. Some of these communities in Iberia and throughout Latin America have only recently (in the late 20th century) begun to acknowledge their family's Jewish practices. Groups of Bnei Anusim in Latin America and Iberia congregate and associate as functional communities of
Judaizers. Such practice was particularly persecuted under the
Spanish and
Portuguese inquisitions, which were finally abolished in the 19th century. Under the Inquisition, the penalty for "Judaizing" by Jewish converts to Christianity (and their Christian-born descendants) was usually
death by burning. Members of modern-day organized groups of Sephardic Bnei Anusim who have openly and publicly come back to the faith and traditions of their ancestors have either formally converted or made a formal "return" through Beit Din. The Israeli government called these groups "emerging communities" in a report published in 2017 by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs (based on research done by a committee, also under the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs between 2015 and 2017).
Old and New World inquisitions and migrations The Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions in the Iberian Peninsula, their persecution of
New Christians of Jewish origin, and the virulent racial anti-Semitism are well known. The traditional Jewish holiday of
Purim was celebrated disguised as the feast day of a fictional
Christian saint, the "
Festival of Santa Esterica"—based on the story of Queen Esther in Persia. Other Jewish festivals were also celebrated in hiding and disguised as something else. However, the Spanish Inquisition branches in the Americas were established initially due to the complaints made by Spanish conquerors and settlers of Old Christian backgrounds to the Crown. They had noticed a significant illegal influx of New Christians of Sephardi origin into their colonies, many coming in via the Portuguese colony of Brazil. Only Spaniards of Old Christian backgrounds were legally allowed passage into the Spanish colonies as
conquistadors and
settlers. Many Spanish "New Christians" (secret Jews) falsified their pedigree documents, or obtained
perjured witness statements attesting
pureza de sangre (purity of blood) from other New Christians who had entered the colonies and built up "Old Christian" identities. Others evaded the screening process through influence from family, friends, community connections, and acquaintances who were already
passing as Old Christians. Some immigrants became members of ships' crews and assistants of conquistadors, lowly positions that did not require evidence of "pureza de sangre". (Later, even persons seeking these positions were more closely scrutinized.) There was a land grant given by the Spanish King for the areas in Mexico known as Nuevo Reino de Leon (the New Kingdom of Leon), which specified that the people did not have to have pure Christian blood. Today, the city of Monterrey, Mexico (in this region of Nuevo Leon) has many descendants of the Secret Jews living there. On the other hand, Portuguese New Christians settled in the Portuguese colonies (like the Azores Islands, Madeira, and São Tomé) and later migrated to New England (especially New Bedford, Fall River, and Gloucester, MA). And a major migration to South America via Brazil. From there, some entered the Spanish colonies. Brazil was laxer in enforcing the Sephardic New Christian immigrant passage prohibition. Between 1580 and 1640, when the Spanish Crown annexed the Kingdom of Portugal, the influx of Portuguese conversos into the Spanish colonies in
South America became such that by the early 1600s the term
"portugués" had become synonymous with "Jewish" in the Spanish colonies. The Old Christian majority among the Portuguese in Portugal and Brazil complained that they were being denigrated by such association. To this day, Portuguese surnames are among the many descendants of these people in Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas. Many Hispanicized their surnames to fit Spanish orthography, hiding their "Portuguese" (i.e., Jewish) origin. To this day, Portuguese Bnei Anousim are some of the staunchest promoters of coming back to Sephardi Judaism (through conversion, or formal "return"). In Brazil alone, over 50 of these communities have also created a Federation.
Reverting to Judaism Only a small number of people of colonial-era Sephardic descent in Spain, Portugal,
Hispanic America, or Brazil are
reverting to Judaism. Generally, formal or officially sanctioned or sponsored conversions by Jewish religious institutions, including the Israeli
rabbinate, require individuals to undergo a formal conversion process to be accepted as Jews. There are Rabbis today, however, in Europe, the USA, and Latin America who are addressing this "injustice" of the ban on "returnees" from being members of the mainstream Jewish communities in Latin American countries, and we see this trend growing. Since the early 21st century there has been a steady growth in the number of descendants indicating interest in a return to mainstream Judaism. Many Sephardic Bnei Anusim have accepted their historical Jewish ancestry and generations of intermarriage, and a contemporary Christian
affiliation, along with their modern national identities as Spaniards, Portuguese, and Latin Americans of various nations. The Bnei Anousim Return Movement is alive and well and growing every year. Whereas Conversos (those whose families did not preserve Jewish customs and traditions) have begun to
syncretize their Christian religious identities and ethnic identities with an ethnic Jewish
secular identity, without seeking reversion to Judaism. Among these are some who have shifted toward adopting
Messianic Judaism (that is, Jewish-emphasizing forms of
Christianity). Messianic Jewish congregations (styled less like churches and more like synagogues) have been sprouting up around Latin America in the last several years, and are mainly composed of Sephardic Bnei Anusim. Members of these congregations often call their congregation a
sinagoga (Spanish for "synagogue"),
Beit Knesset (Hebrew for "synagogue"), or
Kehilah (Hebrew for "congregation"). The fact that Conversos leans towards Messianic "Jewish" forms of Christianity rather than reverting to Judaism itself is suggested as a
paradigm resulting from factors in Latin America. There are various factors that contribute to the fact that Conversos and for the Bnei Anousim do not return to mainstream Judaism.
Impeding factors Internal reluctance due to habitual tradition Sephardic Bnei Anusim and Conversos are sometimes reluctant to fully abandon a Christian faith (or living secretly as Jews) within which they and their immediate ancestors have lived. It has been a tradition in their families for centuries now. And it may also be the case that some individuals want to make a comeback to Judaism, while other family members are against it. And it is sometimes the case that other family members are even reluctant for it to be known that they were originally Jewish (the fears because of anti-Semitism and the history of persecutions still haunt some of them to this day). In many cases, the mainstream Jewish world does not welcome them back.
Targeting by Messianic Judaism In addition, many Sephardic Bnei Anusim and Conversos resent being targeted and proselytized by Messianic Jewish organizations since there has been more publicity about the ancient, partially Jewish communities. Such Messianic Jewish organizations have been accused of discouraging Sephardic Bnei Anusim from rejoining mainstream Judaism, suggesting their faith as a form to integrate their complex ancestries.
Takkanah prohibition on conversions in Latin America However, the major factor impeding reversions stems from a
takkanah, or Jewish religious community edict, which was decreed in 1927 in Argentina and later adopted by almost all the mainstream Jewish communities in Latin America. This was done at the request of recently arrived immigrant
Eastern Sephardim from Syria. The mainstream
Jewish community in Argentina (composed of a Syrian Sephardim minority and a European Ashkenazim majority, who were made up of 20th-century immigrants) ruled in the takkanah that, to combat the high rate of
assimilation of the relatively newly formed Argentine Jewish community of that time, and their intermarriage with to gentiles, the local mainstream Jewish communities would not support conversion of gentile spouses, suspicious that they were insincere. Conversions in Argentina were prohibited "until the end of time". The takkanah was directed against gentiles of no historical Jewish ancestry. But the takkanah has been applied to all conversions, and thus has prevented any of the Sephardic Bnei Anusim in Argentina (and later in other countries in Latin America) who may want to convert (or return) to Judaism formally. The takkanah was intended to combat what some of the community and rabbinate considered high rates of insincere
conversions being performed solely to enable
intermarriages of Jews to gentiles. Because sometimes such converts and their children did not fully embrace Judaism, there were net losses to the Jewish population. The takkanah later had influence throughout the rest of
Latin America. Most local mainstream Jewish communities have continued prohibiting all conversions/reversions on the continent.
New York City's Syrian Jewish community also adopted this prohibition, although in theory it was limited to conversions to be performed for the sake of marriage. As implemented in 1935, the takkanah in New York has been amended to say that "no future Rabbinic Court will have the right or authority to convert non-Jews who seek to marry into our [Syrian Jewish] community." The takkanah in New York City holds no force among the overwhelmingly Ashkenazi Jewish population of the city and North America in general. Because of the takkanah, Sephardic Bnei Anusim have accused mainstream Jewish communities in Latin America of
classism,
racism, and outright discrimination, as many of their members have African and Native American or indigenous ancestry in addition to European. In Latin America, the Jewish communities are predominantly made up of European Ashkenazim. On the other hand, members of mainstream Jewish communities have argued that it is best for converts and returnees to form their own communities where they all share that experience of conversion (or return) and will be accepted by their own kind. These are the communities that the Israeli government calls "emerging communities" and they are banned (by the Ministry of Interior) from making
aliyah. And so for their part, the local Jewish communities (whether Ashkenazi or Syrian Sephardi) have insisted that the
status quo of non-conversions/reversions in Latin America by local Jewish communities, and their isolated and insular natures in Latin America, is due to the historical anti-assimilationist needs for the Jewish community to survive. Often, the Syrian Sephardim and European Ashkenazim were isolated from each other, as they came from different cultural spheres and tended to settle with others of their kind. They were not united across such barriers by Judaism. But in the 21st century, the Ashkenazim and Sephardim have melded mainly into a single communal identity in Latin America.
Local Jewish desire to avoid accusations of proselytizing In addition, the local Jewish communities did not want to be accused of
proselytizing Judaism to Christian people. Latin American Catholics of non-Jewish background said that the Jews were "stealing souls" from the
Catholic Church. This is no longer the case, however. Since 1965, with the 2nd Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church decided that it would no longer blame ALL Jews for ALL time for the killing of their Christian Messiah. In 1968, influenced by Vatican II, the civil government of Spain finally (and formally) revoked the Alhambra Decree (also known as the edict of expulsion from Spain in 1492). More recently, both Spain and Portugal have invited the descendants of the exiled Sephardi Jews to return as citizens of Spain and Portugal, once they could demonstrate their Sephardi ancestry. Because of these factors, the limited number of recent reversions/conversions to Judaism performed in Latin America (especially South America) have generally been conducted by visiting religious emissaries from either
North American Ashkenazi Jewish communities or Sephardi Rabbis in America or delegated by the Israeli Rabbinate. The conversions/reversions have been based on a formal conversion process. In contrast, some individuals have gone through a "return" process. Prospective converts have to undergo at least one year of online Jewish religious study with the sponsoring foreign Jewish religious organization or authority. They must complete the physical requirements of reversion/conversion for the individual or small group, which are performed by a delegation sent by the foreign sponsoring Jewish religious organization. Some individual Latin Americans have also reverted/converted to Judaism abroad. Other Batei Din (of mainly Sephardi and some Ashkenazi Rabbis) require for "returnees" documentation of their "evidence" of the mother's female line of secretly Jewish women, plus some amount of time in learning the basics of Judaism (halakha) and a basic level of observance. In the late 20th century, a group of people in
Iquitos,
Peru, who believed they were descendants of 19th-century male Jewish traders and their indigenous wives, began to study Judaism seriously. They were aided by a rabbi from
Brooklyn, New York. They were allowed to make
aliyah to Israel. There, they had to undergo formal conversion as overseen and conducted by Orthodox authorities in order to be accepted as Jewish. Their Jewish ancestors had been among Moroccan immigrants to Iquitos during the rubber boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Foreign Jewish outreach programs Several foreign Jewish outreach organizations are appealing to Sephardic Bnei Anusim. Among these is
Shavei Israel, which operates in Spain, Portugal, and throughout Latin America, and has its headquarters in Israel. They deal with Sephardi-descended Spaniards, Portuguese, and Latin Americans who are seeking a formal conversion to the Jewish people, after centuries of separation. Their Rabbis typically do not work with "returnees" who want to present "evidence" to the Beit Din of their secretly Jewish ancestors. Other organizations working to reach out to and/or reconnect the Sephardic Bnei Anusim include Sephardim Hope International and Reconectar. Lastly, Ezra L'Anousim is an Israeli non-profit (since 2005). They are the only non-profit made up of all volunteers, most of whom are also from the Bnei Anousim ancestry. They are helping the Bnei Anousim (both converts and returnees) on a global basis and have an international social media team for their outreach. They work with European Bnei Anousim, Bnei Anousim in all the Americas and Caribbean, Bnei Anousim from M.E.N.A. (Middle East and North Africa), and Bnei Anousim individuals who live as far away as Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Indonesia Ezra L'Anousim. == Settlements and concentrations ==