HaLapid-Spring Summer 2019

scjs 2018 regional conference review
St. Augustine Conference
BY Rabbi Merrill Shapiro
The early morning rain made
for a cold and dreary trip to
World Golf Village
Renaissance St. Augustine Resort on
Sunday, December 9, 2018. But inside
the Legacy Conference Room there
was only brightness and luminance
as 75 participants gathered for a
conference designed to help tell the
“Story of Crypto-Jews in the
Southeast US,” a partnership of the
Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies and
the St. Augustine Jewish Historical
Society.
After a warm welcome from SCJS
president Debbie Wohl-Isard and
SAJHS president Merrill Shapiro,
participants were treated to a
presentation titled The Crypto-Jews
Who Helped to Shape the New World by
Cindy Seton-Rogers, PhD candidate
at the University of Texas; then
Sephardic Jews and the New Pirates of
the Caribbean by Dr. Sharonah
Fredrick, assistant professor, SUNY
Buffalo, and a presentation Crypto-
Jewish Narrative, Strategies and Identity
in America Southeast, 16th-21st Century
by SCJS board member, Dr. Seth Ward
of the University of Wyoming.
A brief review of the History of Florida
Jewish History was provided by Dr.
Marcia Zerivitz, founding director,
Rabbi Merrill Shapiro
Jewish Museum of Florida, followed
by a presentation Resources for The
Study of Florida Jewish History by
Dr. Rebecca Jefferson, director,
Price Library of Judaica, University
of Florida.
Following a sumptuous luncheon and
lots of opportunity for networking,
attendees were treated to a
presentation by SCJS board member
Dr. Seth Kunin, Curtin University,
Perth Australia, on Recent
Developments and Research in the Study
of Crypto-Judaism. Debbie Wohl-Isard
and Merrill Shapiro then each
reviewed recent developments in the
work of the Society for Crypto-Judaic
Studies and the St. Augustine Jewish
Historical Society.
The day was concluded with
presentations by Professor Jacob
Frisch, Wayne State University, on
Conversos at Santa Elena; by Albeyra
L. Rodriguez, Inter-America
University of Puerto Rico, titled The
Foreigners: Jews in Cartagena de Indias
1634-1660; and a striking
presentation by Dr. Lourdes
Arguelles, professor emeritus,
Claremont Graduate University,
Narratives of Reconnection, Conversion
and Renewal, striking because it raised
the question of Jewish ancestry
among those seeking entry to the
United States at its southern border.
The benefits of the networking alone
made the time, effort, energy and
attention lavished on this event well
worth the investment. But beyond
the connections and friendships
established, those in attendance have
become ambassadors and advocates
for the study of crypto-Judaica,
spokespersons for a point-of-view
that challenges an old orthodoxy that
says “American Jews are mostly
Ashkenazim from Central and
Eastern Europe whose ancestors
spoke Yiddish!”
Clearly, the echoes of this conference
will be heard for many years as
people in the Southeast US begin to
search for the Sephardic roots and
crypto-Jewish history in their
communities.
Telling
the
Story
of
Crypto-Jews
in the
Southeast
U.S.
Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies
St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society
Sunday • December 9, 2018
World Golf Village Renaissance
St. Augustine Resort
30 HaLapid - SPRING / SUMMER 2019 / 5780