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identify as Jews without the conversion requested by rabbinic authorities. In
some communities, Spanish speakers in Mexico and the United States have
chosen to identify with Messianic congregations, explaining their mixture
of Jewish and Christian beliefs and customs as reflecting their converso
heritage.
CONCLUSION
Recently, Latin American and Hispano-American identity has included
the “return” of Judaism. Studies by anthropologists and sociologists preserve
the anonymity of the statements of their subjects, so sometimes it is
difficult to assess the extent to which the attitudes and choices expressed in
the studies reflect a small number of respondents or the views of a larger
group. But there seems little doubt that many persons of Hispanic background
have been attracted to Jewish beliefs and practices, and in some
cases have undergone formal conversions, in others asserting that their families
have always been Jewish—and thus they identify as Jews and have
adopted lifestyles based on Judaism. Some communities have sought
rabbinic guidance, adopting practices more like those of mainstream Judaism.
Other communities adopted a crypto-Jewish tradition, reflecting primarily
practices reported in these communities, or have asserted an identity
they see as both Jewish and Christian by joining messianic congregations.
In many more cases, there is an openness to the element of Jewish and
Islamic heritage among Hispanics, even when this is not their primary religious
or community identity.
Half a century ago, persons of Hispanic heritage would have argued
that the Jewish and Muslim presence on the Iberian peninsula was an 800year
aberration. They might have acknowledged some mestizo or European
ancestors but would have made antisemitic statements. Today, it would
seem that many of those with an Hispanic heritage are proud of Jewish
contributions to Spain and value this contribution as part of their own heritage.
They openly identify themselves as descendants of conversos, in ways
unthinkable a generation or two ago.
*Seth Ward teaches in the religious studies at the University of Wyoming, Laramie.
He is a research associate of the Institute for the Study of Israel in the Middle East
at the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver, a Coolidge
Fellow at the Association for Religion and Intellectual Life, and vice president
for programs of the Society for Crypto Jewish Studies.