HaLapid-Spring Summer 2019

FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Fostering research of
the worldwide history
of the crypto-Judaic
experience and
the emergence of
hidden descendants from
the Iberian Peninsula.
HaLapid is the biannual publication of
The Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies,
a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
www.cryptojews.com
Editor-in-Chief
Corinne Joy Brown • corinnejb@aol.com
Copy Editor
Schelly Talalay Dardashti
Poetry Editor
M. Miriam Herrera
Contributing Writers
Rabbi Barbara Aiello, Mark Bennett,
Corinne Joy Brown, Schelly Talalay Dardashti,
Graciela Serrano Fenn, Gail Gutierrez,
M.Miriam Herrera, Linda Katchen, Claudia Long,
Diane Mock, Shula Robin, Rabbi Merrill Shapiro,
Seth Ward, Debbie Wohl-Isard,
Contributing Photographers
Corinne Joy Brown, Chas. McNamara, Neal Paul
Graphic Designer
Jacqueline Hirsch • jrh@hirmon.com
HirMon & Associates, Inc. • Lakewood, Colorado
Printer
Update Printing • www.updateprinting.com
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Editorial Policy of HaLapid
Contributions from writers all over the world
are edited for grammar, spelling, typographical
errors, and length. Content embedded in family
memories may or may not be historically accurate;
we reserve the right to edit material and correct
obvious misstatements or historical errors. Opinions
expressed are not necessarily those of SCJS or
HaLapid. Articles from HaLapid may not be reprinted
without permission.
HaLapid is usually mailed in the Spring and Fall of
each year. Please send submissions to the editor-inchief
by March 1 and September 1.
With thanks to the generous support of the
Robin and Bennett
Greenspan Fund
at the
Houston Jewish
Community Foundation
Debbie Wohl-Isard
SCJS President
This time of year always fills me with anticipation.
With our annual meeting and conference around
the corner, I look forward to reconnecting with old
friends and the family reunion-like atmosphere of the
gathering. From the first minutes of each conference, the
family expands to embrace new friends whom we hope
we’ll see again at future conferences. The presentations
are so much more than panels and discussions — they
are a learning opportunity shared among researchers and
searchers, and those of us who feel ourselves pulled to the
crypto-Judaic mysteries that have survived for centuries.
This occasion allows me to talk about an ongoing dilemma that seems to challenge
our organization — the teetering balance between the academic who researches
the subject in which we all share an interest, and the individuals who live it, the
descendants themselves.
How can we hold in our hands the value of each? Clearly, if it were not for the
commitment of scholars to research the history, we would never know just how this
culture was persecuted and how it survived. Without the riveting stories of individuals
who have discovered their roots, reexamined their family’s customs and traced their
past through history, we would never feel the passion and pride they feel, having
learned what they now know. We could never understand the meaning of all this
research and what it feels like to stand in their shoes. Every newly-shared personal
story leads to further research and examination of history. And the circle continues.
In short, we cannot exist without them both, without all of us. Nowhere is this
confluence more stunning and more meaningful than at our annual conference.
Celebrate this diversity, essential and inherent in the study of the crypto-Judaic
phenomena. What happens at conference, doesn’t stay at conference! Every
connection grows another link in the crypto-Judaic narrative.
I hope to see you there.
Debbie Wohl-Isard
President
In case we run out of ways to describe SCJS, try this!
prosopography (pros-uh-PAH-gruh-fee)
MEANING: Noun: A study of people in a group, identifying patterns, connections, etc.:
a collective biography.
ETYMOLOGY: From German Prosopographie, from Latin prosopographia, from Greek
prosopon (face, mask), from pros- (facing) + ops (eye) + -graphy (writing). Earliest
documented use: 1577.
USAGE: “William Lubenow’s book examines the society’s first century via a
prosopography of its 255 members.”
Christopher Kent; Review; Canadian Journal of History (Toronto); Apr 2000.
The Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies, an international academic and secular association, fosters research,
networking of people and ideas, and the dissemination of information regarding the historical and contemporary
developments involving crypto-Jews of Iberian origins and other hidden Jewish communities around the world.
Membership dues fund the programs and publications of this non-profit organization 501(c)(3), open to any
and all individuals interested in learning more about this cultural phenomenon.
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