Talk:Crypto-Judaism

"Messianic Jews" are Christians, not Jews

The articles about the Messianic sects are somewhat out of place on this page. Messianic jews are considered jews only by they themselves. I'm not familiar enough with the issue to remove it from the article, but someone better informed on Wikipedia's policy on religious identification should do so (Are Messianics jews because they claim to be, or are they not because no one else thinks they are, is the base question here and I imagine WP has a consistent policy on the patter). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.215.176.107 (talk) 06:11, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

Meaning of Crypto-Judaism

One thing is to be descended from Jews (i.e. to have Jewish ancestry) and another thing is to be a Crypto-Jew. A Crypto-Jew (from the Greek kruptós, which means "hidden")is someone who secretly believes in the Jewish religion while practicing in public another religion. For example the Jews in Belmonte. I've deleted the names of Fidel Castro and Baruch Spinoza because they aren't (or weren't) "secret believers of the Jewish faith". Fidel Castro is/was atheist and Baruch Spinoza made clear that he did NOT adhere to Judaism. --82.108.214.211 17:24, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

I've restored them, as they were descended from crypto-Jews; do we want to include descendants? And Spinoza was unquestionably raised as a Jew, whatever his beliefs as an adult.--Runcorn 22:56, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

I've added another meaning that is missing, it also includes people that try to hide their background by claiming other ethnicities for various reasons. This would adhere to the meaning of "hidden" as well and the term does not need to apply only to someone who secretly practices the religion, as Judiasm is more of an ethnic background than a religion, really. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.97.195.2 (talk) 21:37, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

In Spain? I remember hearing about Mexico (OK, it was in Cryptonomicon), though. -- Error

Yeah, small communities of Jewish origin that maintain certain customs and tend to marry only among themselves. Ben Zvi wrote about them in the 1950s. Danny

Some recent discussions on National Public Radio about some families who have lived in New Mexico for a long time, too. -- Zoe

I added the second paragraph to add the more common modern definition of this term and examples. Please offer feedback if you agree or disagree and have any comments. Thanks. - U. Jones —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.97.195.2 (talk) 19:03, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Why was my addition deleted? This term has a different meaning today which is no doubt worth mentioning. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.97.195.2 (talk) 21:17, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana is allegedly descended from Crypto-Jews, although I don't think he currently practices Judaism. It would be nice to mention this in the article if it can be substantiated. --Viriditas | Talk 12:54, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC)

"Pretend" conversions

Conversions in any institutionalised religion are overseen and officiated by authorised clergy to validate and, more importantly, certify the conversion.

To use "pretend" in this context is ambiguous at best, since one cannot "pretend" to convert because indeed it has to be (as stated above) overseen and officiated by an authorised clergy member of that particular religious institution.

The Sephardim who became crypto-Jews couldn't "pretend" to convert to Catholicism any more than a modern-day Catholic can pretend to convert to Judaism. Without the authority of the Beit Din, it is not a conversion. One either converts, or one doesn't. If it isn't officiated, then it isn't a conversion.

The Spanish Inquisition weeded out those Jews who had converted and were still secretly practising Judaism. Those Jews who hadn't converted, and hadn't already left, were simply expelled since church paperwork would clearly indicated they hadn't converted, no matter how much they "pretended". Nothing "cryptic" about that. Al-Andalus 12:53, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC).

Your claim makes little sense. The Jews pretended to convert to Christianity so that the authorities were fooled, but in fact did not accept the faith upon themselves. Also, your continued reversions of the paragraph in question are to a version which makes little sense gramatically. Your other changes either introduce dubious claims not found in the source, or add too many qualifiers to a perfectly understandable sentence. I'm going to try to get a third opinion on this. Jayjg ^(talk) 16:56, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The term "crypto" literally means covert or secret. While Crypto Jews were certainly insincere converts, I think "pretend" gives a better sense that there was specific intention to give a false appearance by going through all the motions of conversion, properly officiated, in order to keep their identity as Jews secret. --MPerel^{( talk | contrib)} 18:36, Apr 11, 2005 (UTC)

I understand the reasoning as MPerel has explained, but the use of the word "pretend" in imdeiate continuity with the word "convert" is extremely ambiguos. It should be at least clarified that they DID convert, and that the "pretention" wasn't the conversion itself (as this had to have been official) but rather their adoption of the identity as Christians. They were pretending to be Christians, but there was nothing to pretend about the conversion istelf. It's quite a simple concept. Al-Andalus 23:48, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC).

To further my argument as to why "pretend" shouldn't be used I'll examine the structure in which it is written:

"The original Crypto-Jews were Sephardi Jews who pretended to convert to Catholicism..."

This tell us that "they pretended the conversion". Thus the verb is "pretend" and the subject is "convert". Yet this is not the case, though I do understand what you are saying when you came to the defense of Jayjg, but his use of the word is VERY ambiguos. I'm reverting it back to propper clear English structure where ambiguity is avoided. Al-Andalus 05:54, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC).

I hear what you're saying. How about a different approach that may resolve this? Since the conversion aspect is actually covered nicely in the Marranos article, how about if we restructure the sentence to refer to the other article. Also, the Sephardi converts of the Spanish Inquisition were actually not the first crypto-Jews, though they are the most well-known. I'm going to go ahead and make the following replacement in the article, but feel free to modify and further discuss: Marranos who publicly professed Catholicism but privately adhered to Judaism during the Spanish Inquisition are the most widely known crypto-Jews. However, the phenomenon of crypto-Judaism dates back to earlier times as Jews forced or pressured to convert by their sovereign hosts secretly kept Jewish rites. For example the father of Maimonides purportedly nominally embraced Islam during the Almohad persecutions in Spain in 1146. --MPerel^{( talk | contrib)} 10:50, Apr 12, 2005 (UTC)

Great wording. Jayjg ^(talk) 17:01, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

There is a whole other meaning here that has been missed, which I added. Yes, crypto means hidden and this term also describes those who hide their Jewish ethnic background by claiming other nationalities and races for various reasons. This is a more common use of the term and phenomenon of modern society. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.97.195.2 (talk) 21:49, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Belmonte, Portugal

Someone wanna write an article about Belmonte? All I know about it is it's a town in northern portugal that's supposedly about half crypto-Jews and half not. It is mentioned in one of the Jewish languages articles, Judæo-Portuguese. Tomer ^TALK 17:18, Apr 12, 2005 (UTC)

crypto vs. open jewish communities

anyone have information on what if anything happened when jewish communities were established (or expanded) in the late 30's and early 40's in mexico and south america as a result of WWII related mass migrations? did any putative communities of crypto-jews out themselves to join jewish communities practicing openly? i have never heard of any such event but it begs the question, why would a community remain practicing in secret when there are others who for decades have been practicing openly. info on this topic would give great historical context to this article. uri budnik 10:06, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

After many generations of crypto-jewish traditions much of the ancestral religion is irretrievably lost. Modern crypto-jewish traditions do not constitute normative Judaism. The only accepted re-entry into Judaism is conversion to normative Judaism. 24.48.182.26 02:07, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

References

To those looking for references on Xuetas, check Los judíos en España, Joseph Pérez. Marcial Pons. Madrid (2005). --Error 01:16, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Fiction

As anyone considered a section on fictional or hoax "Crypto-Jews?" There had to be a few?--V. Joe 01:28, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Deleted names

I have restored some deletions. The article lists people who have credibly been proposed as crypto-Jews; in the case of Columbus, the proposal is credible enough to be in Encyclopaedia Britannica, so should certainly be listed.--Brownlee 10:16, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

True, they are both suspected of having converso roots, but my greivance now is that Crypto-Jews are only the conversos who still secretly practiced Judaism. Where is the evidence to support that Columbus, Rivera, Cervantes, and most of these people still practiced Judaism in secret? Thats the key difference between a plain-old converso and a crypto-Jew. If you can find sources that speculate they still practiced Judaism then its ok to leave them on here. Otherwise we have a new "definition" concern. LaGrange 12:48, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Depends what definition you have of "practised Judaism". The contention of some scholars is that their Jewishness is manifest by its effect on their behaviour and writings.--Brownlee 15:07, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; people who practice crypto-Judaism are referred to as "crypto-Jews".

Therefore crypto-Jews would need to be conversos who still secretly practiced Judaism. Do we have sources that state that Fernando de Rojas, Diego Rivera, and Cervantes may have still practiced Judaism in secret? Some are certainly conversos, but not Crypto-Jews. Marranos are those who still practiced Judaism in secret. And so the only people who seem to qualify is Castro and Spinoza. As for Borges, we have citations of him having "Jewish" ancestry but nothing about it being "converso" and in addition to that we need one that says he still practiced Judaism (or one that suspects he still practiced Judaism) because this is what defines a crypto-jew LaGrange 04:19, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

The term marrano is especially used to refer to Crypto-Jews, i.e. those who secretly continued to practise Judaism.

If we can find sources calling them marranos (conversos who still practiced Judaism) or stating they practiced Judaism in secret, then they can be re-added. We need citations:

• Fernando de Rojas novelist

He was a converso but was he a marrano who still practiced Judaism?

• Diego Rivera, painter, married Frida Kahlo

He was descended from conversos but did he still practice Judaism or rather did his ancestors still practice Judaism in secret?

• Miguel Cervantes has long been suspected of being a very "nuevo cristiano" [1];Encyclopaedia Judaica.

He "may have had converso ancestors." Does anything state they were marranos?

• Christopher Columbus: Encyclopaedia Judaica, Encyclopaedia Britannica

Same. Anything about possibly marranos ancestry?

These are the citations we need. LaGrange 04:31, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Can we please not invent new definitions; it's a violation of WP:NOR.--Newport 12:15, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Have you bothered to read this article? Do you have a definition of a crypto-jew that differs from the one present on this article? A crypto-jew is not synonymous with a converso.

From Crypto-Jew:

Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; people who practice crypto-Judaism are referred to as "crypto-Jews". The many Marranos (in the Balearic Islands, Chuetas), who publicly professed Catholicism but privately adhered to Judaism during the Spanish Inquisition, and particularly after the Alhambra decree of 1492, are the most widely known crypto-Jews.

From Marranos:

Many Marranos maintained their ancestral traditions as crypto-Jews, by publicly professing Catholicism but secretly adhering to Judaism.

"Famous Crypto-Jews" is not the same thing as "Famous Conversos". We need sources stating those people were either "Marranos" and/or professed Judaism in secret. That simple. LaGrange 15:48, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

David Ben Gurion was born in Poland, not Turkey. I deleted this misinformation.

Fidel Castro

Please edit entry of Castro's alleged "marrano" ancestry. Consult his daughter's biography. His maternal grandfather was a secular Jew from the Ottoman Empire who emigrated to Cuba. Though of Sefaedite ancestry Castro is not descended from "marranos", as the anusim were called by the Christian Spaniards. Fidel Castro and his sister living in Miami both deny that she is Castro's daughter which casts doubt on any reliability there.

Turkey

The statements about Ataturk are baseless and not supporetd by any kind of evidence. Just because there is an allegation in a book about this statement, does not make it a fact. There are also books which claims Adolf Hitler was jewish!

On the other hand Sabetayist movement and community in Ottoman Empire and in modern Turkey can be considered as a form of crypto-judaism. Isatay 07:31, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Why the insulting use of Marrano?

If Marrano is an insulting term, why is it so prominent in the article when Jews used other terms, eg., new christian? I'm not suggesting it not be used, but shouldn't the preferred terms of the Jews be used rather than the insult of their tormentors? 4.233.200.135 06:31, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

"half a century ago" ?

"... there still remain a number of Jews known as the "Jedid al-Islam," who were converted to Islam half a century ago ("Il Vessillo Israelitico," April, 1884)."

Half a century before what date? If the source is from 1884, that's more than a full century before the current date (see timestamp @ sig below).

This should be clarified. --Davecampbell 23:40, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

Eva Longoria

I think I found someone to add to your list, this is only my speculation,It is possible that Eva Longoria could be a descendent of the Conversos, here are some reasons why this could be possible. 1. Eva longoria's parents were fron the brooks county in south texas. many of the hispanic or mexican american people from south texas were descendents of the Crypto-Jews. 2. "In the New World of the 1600s, my ancestor, Lorenzo Suares de Longoria, an old Christian, who lived in Nuevo León, established a relationship with a woman from Nuevo León who was a descendant of Conversos." Frank Longoria in article Frank Longoria's story. [[2]]

  "Raul Longoria traces this distinguished family’s descent from Lorenzo Suarez de Longoria" Eva Longoria:

The Roots of a Desperate Housewife [[3]] the first quote by Frank longoria (Frank and Eva are not related, but in the same clan) who confirmed he was a converso. He said that his ancestor Lorenzo Suarez de Longoria who was an Old Christian who was also the ancestor of Eva Longoria, had a relationship with a converso woman from Nuevo Leon.We cannot be sure that Lorenzo Suarez de Longoria did marry the converso woman, if he did marry the woman, Eva definately has Jewish routes. I am not saying that Eva Longoria is definatly a Converso, but what I am saying is that it is possible that Eva Longoria could has some converso ancestors. If you want more information click on the internet links I placed in this discussion on Eva Longoria. --Bad Inquisitor 16:40, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

I am fixing some wrong assumptions regarding the numbers, location and actual existence! of so-called crypto-Jews in the Iberian Peninsula. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Laocoont (talk • contribs) 07:48, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

This message about Eva Longoria was actually from me and i wonder if anyone could plese sent me a message about if Eva is of Marrano descent or not. thanks La convivencia (talk) 18:49, 16 November 2008 (UTC)

I wonder if Evan Longoria can be included?  :) Unless it's published publicly, per WP:BLP, we can't say anything. Anyways, even if she is descended from Marrano's or Conversos, she probably doesn't practice crypto-Judaism. OrangeMarlin ^{Talk• Contributions} 21:39, 16 November 2008 (UTC)

I think someone should email Eva Longoria or her Parents and ask them if they are descended of Spanish or Portuguese Marranos La convivencia (talk) 21:14, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Use in conspiracy theories

That would be an interesting topic. 94.222.176.154 (talk) 12:32, 26 February 2012 (UTC)