Crypto-Judaism

"Janet Jacobs enters fearlessly into the house of mirrors that is Jewish-Hispanic identity, where nothing is what it appears to be. Her ethnography is about the uses of silence and the excuses of memory."--Ilan Stavans, author of "On Borrowed Words: A Memoir of Language

"Janet Jacobs's book is a beautifully written, compelling account of the experiences of contemporary crypto-Jews who are struggling to locate the meanings of their various identities. I know of no other works that cover this material, and Jacobs does so in a rich finely nuanced way in which she deals with issue of family, memory, community, and belonging. I love the way she draws on such a wide variety of materials to explore this topic in a wide-ranging and impressive way."--Lynn Davidman, author of "Tradition in a Rootless World

Cyrptojudaism and the Spanish Inquisition explores Spanish secret Judaism and the Inquisition, which strove to uproot the "Judaizing heresy" among baptized Jews and their descendants. Even in the 18th-century, Cryptojudaism was still prevalent, but the Inquisition finally triumphed. This book describes the private lives of the cyrpto-Jew, as revealed in their confessions, together with their fate in prison and at the auto defeat at which they abjured their Judaism and were reconciled to the Church or, if not, burnt at the stake.

Between 1391 and the end of the 15th century, numerous Spanish Jews converted to Christianity, most of them under duress. Before and after 1492, when the Jews were officially expelled from Spain, a significant number of these conversos maintained clandestine ties to Judaism, despite their outward conformity to Catholicism. Through the lens of the Inquisition's own records, this groundbreaking study focuses on the crypto-Jewish women of Castile, demonstrating their central role in the perpetuation of crypto-Jewish society in the absence of traditional Jewish institutions led by men. Renée Levine Melammed shows how many "conversas" acted with great courage and commitment to perpetuate their religious heritage, seeing themselves as true daughters of Israel. Her fascinating book sheds new light on the roles of women in the transmission of Jewish traditions and cultures.

MacDonald develops a theory of anti-Semitism based on an evolutionary interpretation of social identity theory. Historical examples of anti-Semitism are analyzed as scientifically comprehensible gentile responses to a distinctive, segregated group. Anti-Semitism has historically been exacerbated by resource competition between Jews and gentiles. Jews have engaged in a wide range of strategies to try to combat it. These strategies include: crypsis, political activity, writing religious and intellectual apologia directed at both ingroup and outgroup members, and engaging in self-deception regarding both the nature of Judaism and gentile responses to Judaism.