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The New Mexican Inquisition

Aug. 22 2016

As early as the 16th century, Iberian Jews who had converted to Catholicism in order to escape persecution or expulsion came to Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the New World where they hoped to be free of stigma. But soon the Inquisition followed them, seeking out those who continued to practice Jewish rituals in secret. A new exhibit at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe tells what happened to some of these crypto-Jews. Rich Tenorio writes:

Fractured Faiths: Spanish Judaism, the Inquisition, and New World Identities is on display . . . through December 31. In this comprehensive exhibition, viewers can see artifacts borrowed from over twenty institutions from Europe and the Americas—many brought together for the first time. . . .

Established in Spain in 1478, the Inquisition began active investigations in 1480. The next 40 years would see a wave of persecution of crypto-Jews. . . . in Spain and to some extent in the Americas. . . .

In Mexico City during the 1590s, a second wave of persecutions arose, stretching over a decade. Its victims included Don Luis de Carvajal, a colonial governor of New Mexico, and his family.

Read more at Times of Israel

More about: American Jewish History, History & Ideas, Inquisition, Museums, Sephardim

The Summary: 10/7/20

Two extraordinary events demonstrate something important about Israel’s most fervent adversaries. One was a speech given at something called The People’s Forum (funded generously by Goldman Sachs), which stated, “When the state of Israel is finally destroyed and erased from history, that will be the single most important blow we can give to destroying capitalism and imperialism.”

The suggestion that this tiny state is the linchpin of a global, centuries-old phenomenon like capitalism goes well beyond anything resembling rational criticism. Even if Israel were guilty of genocide, apartheid, and oppression—which of course it is not—it would not follow that its destruction would help end capitalism or imperialism.

The other was an anti-Israel protest that took place in front of New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, deemed “complicit” in Israel’s evils. At organizers’ urging, participants shouted their slogans at kids in the cancer ward, who were watching from the windows. Given Hamas’s indifference toward the lives of Gazan children, such callousness toward non-Palestinian children from Hamas’s Western allies shouldn’t be surprising. The protest—like the abovementioned speech—deliberately conveyed the message that Israel is the ultimate evil and its destruction the ultimate good, cancer patients be damned.

The fact that Israel’s adversaries are almost comically perverse does not mean that they can be dismissed. If its allies fail to understand the obsessive and irrational hatred that it faces, they cannot effectively help it defend itself.

Read more at Mosaic