SECOND LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Anywhere Spanish or Portuguese is spoken, there are large numbers of
descendents of the Jews who were forced to convert to Catholicism
during the Iberian persecutions of the 14th and 15th centuries. Many
of these "anusim" (Hebrew for "forced converts") have
maintained a distinct cultural identity and until this day bear
knowledge of their Sephardic origin and/or practice crypto-Jewish
traditions. Such individuals can be found in the mountains of
Portugal and in Manila, in Catalonia and in Goa, and throughout all
the Americas. Occasional reports have appeared in the media,
particularly about Belmonte, Portugal and New Mexico, but the
staggering dimensions and significance of this world-wide phenomenon
have yet to be recognized.
To remedy this situation, I am organizing a conference for
anusim that will bring together leading scholars in this field with
anusim having leadership potential and representing as many regions as
possible. Such a
meeting will serve to attain many important goals:
- to provide a public demonstration of the breadth of places of origin
and varied backgrounds of anusim who survive today;
- to encourage the study of crypto-Judaism as a widespread occurrence,
as opposed to the isolated reports and studies that have trickled out
so far;
- to join forces toward the development of a strategy to help those
who seek to bridge the gap of half a millennium of isolation from the
openly Jewish society and reintegrate into the modern Jewish
community;
- to create an opportunity for interchange among anusim from different
parts of the globe that will enable them to better understand their
subculture as part of a larger phenomenon;
- the ultimate outcome remains the training of new leadership from
among the anusim who will become resources in their respective
communities.
The past two years have witnessed a huge surge of interest and
openness among anusim, from metropolitan areas in the U.S. to rural
areas in South America. There is great excitement among people who
are very eager to see this conference take place now and wish to
participate in it; the leadership potential has been greatly enhanced
and is anxious to start leading. Hence, the time is ripe for a
larger, more international meeting, with representatives of the many
diasporas of the secret "sefarditos."
Since the shrouds of secrecy are becoming less necessary, especially
among the emerging leadership, the upcoming conference will be public,
with some private sessions for anusim to share experiences and
resources among themselves. We have leaders who can help their
companions, and a number of people were able to successfully re-enter
the modern community. The conference will serve as an educational
tool for the normative Jewish community, and as an opportunity to
build bridges of friendship and understanding. Whereas the first
meeting hosted only a handful anusim, since there were few ready for
potential leadership, I hope to have 25-30 participants from the
anusim attend the next meeting.
A date has not been set and depends on the securing of financial support.