Texas: UT Jewish studies receives $12 million

Jewish education is important. This is the second recent Jewish studies grant to a major university.

The University of Texas (Austin) will become a hub for Texas Jewish history education and programming via a multimillion-dollar challenge grant, initiated by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

The university has already raised $5.8 million of the $6 million needed on their part, and will receive $6 million from the Schusterman Foundation when the final $200,000 is raised by the end of December 2010, according to the story in the Jewish Herald Voice (Houston).

The Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies was established three years ago, and offers a multidisciplinary curriculum, with nearly 30 cross-listed courses, that explores Jewish life, culture and religion. Teaching professors come from a wide variety of fields. The new matching grant will result in expanded academic and cultural offerings as well as five new professorships.

A new Jewish studies professor will be added each year for the next five years.. Three have already been named: North American Jewish Studies, Jewish Arts & Culture, Zionism Studies/Israel & the Diaspora.

The goal is also to make UT the center for scholars and students interested in the Texas Jewish experience.

According to UT Professor Robert H. Abzug:

“The Texas Jewish community has accomplished more than many others. It has this history of small-town roots, in which Jews really took a part in modernizing Texas through commerce: going from being peddlers to becoming department store owners, to bringing modern infrastructure and institutions to rural, small-town communities,” he said.

“It’s also the most intermarried community I’ve ever come across. It’s both part of the broader world of Texas and a very real and solid community of its own,” he added.

“We’re drawing this focus not simply because we’re here in Texas. Rather, it’s because the national significance of Texas Jewish history is, as of yet, unminded and unrecognized,” he said.

The center is also discussing a lecture series with the UT Business School to spotlight Texas Jewish entrepreneurs. [Tracing the Tribe hopes Bennett Greenspan of FamilyTreeDNA.com is on their list!)

The center plans to fund a Texas Jewish History professorship and raise money for a research/outreach fund to support study. Abzur wants to create a short course in Texas Jewish history that could travel to a synagogue, community or Christian church that would help answer questions.

UT and SCJS also focuses on Israel, as it hosts Israeli writers, speakers and visiting scholars, and develops programming with partner organizations and institutions, in Jewish arts and culture.

SCJS is working with Texas Performing Arts to host a four-day conference on the music, art and fate of the people of Terezín, along with photo exhibits.

Other events on the calendar:

-- April, 2011:SCJS and Rice University's new Jewish studies program will hold an event in Austin.

-- August 2011: there will be the Early Modern Workshop in Jewish History, with the participation of top Jewish scholars.

--Spring 2012: Western Hemisphere Jewish Studies conference will feature major Canadian, US and Latin American scholars.

Read the complete article at the link above. For more information on SCJS, click here.

Texas: 'Our Jewish Ancestry,' Oct. 17'

The Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Genealogical Society will present "Our Jewish Ancestry," on Sunday, October 17.

The program takes place from 2-4pm, in the Harlingen Public Library auditorium, in Harlingen, Texas.

The speaker is Diana Sotelo-Zertuche, a journalist, author, historian and speaker. The flyer for the event shows the speaker with a bubble quote, "Hace mucho eramos Judios" (A long time ago we were Jews).

For more information, send an email.

Geneabloggers: 18 new geneablogs this week

Geneabloggers.com now includes 1,243 geneablogs, with the addition of 18 new ones discovered this week by Thomas MacEntee.

Many focus on individual family history, although the list also includes New Zealand, genealogy education, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and African-American.

Here is the name, link and type for each. Click here for Thomas' take on each one.

American Pomeroy Historic Genealogical Association
Individual family history, surname

Durham-Orange Genealogical Society
Genealogical society, North Carolina

Familypast Blog
Individual family history

For Your Family Story
Genealogy education (newbie-focused)

Genealogic Abounds
Genealogy education, individual family history

Genealogy Clues By The Ancestry Detector
Genealogy education

Genealogy New Zealand
New Zealand genealogy

Johnston Genes
Individual family history

MyBlood blog
Genealogy vendor

NEK Ramblings
Individual family history

Nodwell Genealogy Project
Individual family history

Quilt Stories by Sherry Ann
African-American genealogy, crafts, individual family history, Texas genealogy

Relating Our Past
Genealogy education, Tennessee genealogy

The Family Griot
African-American genealogy, individual family history

The Misadventures of a Genealogist
Individual family history

The William A. Earp Family of Lincoln Co., Oklahoma
Individual family history, Oklahoma genealogy

Timespanner
New Zealand genealogy

Read Thomas' complete post here.

Food: Genealogy of gefilte fish

When my Teheran-born husband first heard "gefilte fish," he thought the name was "filthy fish." He soon learned that putting enough chrein (horseradish) on it made it palatable.

The Dallas Observer's Hanna Raskin offers a great story on the genealogy of this quintessential Ashkenazi holiday fare. It is a variation on "tell us what you eat, we'll tell you where you're from."

Gefilte fish, perhaps the most maligned food on the traditional Jewish High Holiday table, encodes its maker's ancestry as surely as hand-me-down stories and immigration papers, a local fishmonger says.

Jon Alexis of TJ's Fresh Seafood Market in Preston Forest Village claims he can almost always pinpoint where a customer's forebears first settled in the United States based on which fish they ask him to grind for their gefilte fish preparation. Although Alexis is quick to clarify his theory is based on purely anecdotal evidence -- "I don't want to upset anyone," he says -- he believes most recipes reflect a generations-old preference for certain flavors.

"These recipes are heritage, so you have that Antiques Roadshow thing," Alexis says.

Learn about the various mixtures of fish - pike, carp, whitefish, buffalo, tilapia, saltwater snapper - with a geographical tinge. Learn about the concoction with and without sugar, and what that might mean.

Nearly 50 years ago, someone suggested there was a "gefilte fish line" running about 40 miles east of Warsaw. West of it, it was sweet with sugar; to the east, it was hotter with chrein and pepper. Well-known to many Jewish genealogists searching Poland, many sugar refineries in Poland were owned by Jews and that's suggested as a possible reason.

Interestingly, though, nobody wanted credit for the sugary gefilte fish. Polish gentiles called it "Jewish fish" and Polish Jews called it "Polish fish." Gefilte fish has never been stylish.

Read the complete story at the link above, learn what a "fish dork" is, and read the comments.

Texas: FamilyTreeDNA.com conference, Oct. 30-31

FamilyTreeDNA.com's annual genetic genealogy conference for group administrators is set for October 30-31 in Houston, Texas.

Tracing the Tribe attended a few years ago and it was one of the highpoints of my involvement in the field with two family projects and as co-founder and co administrator - with Judy Simon - of our fascinating IberianAshkenaz DNA Project.

The increasing popularity of genetic genealogy is seen at genealogy conferences, some of which even have program tracks dedicated to the numerous presentations.

This will be the company's sixth conference and will be held at the Sheraton North Houston.

Each year, world renowned experts in genetics and science present cutting-edge developments and exciting new applications at this two-day educational forum which draws attendees from Family Tree DNA's Group Administrators from around the world. This year's conference will focus on the new Family Finder test which allows customers to find relatives across all ancestral lines.

As most of us in the genetic genealogy community know, the company was founded in April 2000, and was the first company to develop the commercial application of DNA testing for genealogy. Until then, tests were only available for academic and scientific research.

Ten years later, it remains on the cutting-edge of the growing genetic genealogy field.

Importantly for those who believe in how DNA assists genealogists of all skill levels - confirming or disproving or providing more clues to follow in their quest - FamilyTreeDNA has the largest DNA database in the field. What this means is that those who test with the company have more probability of finding genetic matches for recent and distant ties. The database grows daily with more than 300,000 individual records, 95,000 surnames and some 6,000 lineage and geographic projects.

Since 2005, it has also been the designated testing company for the Genographic Project, run by National Geographic and IBM, to study mankind's migrations. It has processed more than 300,000 tests alone for that project.

The names of FamilyTreeDNA-associated researchers and scientists are known to many genealogists, such as Dr. Michael Hammer, Dr. Doron Behar, and Thomas Krahn.

For more information on the conference, click here.

San Antonio: Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies, Aug. 1-3

Tracing the Tribe cannot attend this year's 20th Conference of the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies in San Antonio, Texas, August 1-3.

Among the presenters at the Hilton Palacio del Rio will be Dr. Stanley Hordes ("Ends of the Earth"), of the University of New Mexico's Iberian Studies department.

For several years, he has been researching in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Jamaica, building on his previous book's focus on the Southwest.

His most recent research trip was to Puerto Rico, where he conducted investigations in Ponce, Juana Diaz, Mayaguez, San German, Hormigueros, Anasco, Aguada, Aguadilla, Moco, San Sebastian, Lares, Arecibo and Ciales. On an earlier trip, he studied microfilms at the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras, covering 16th-17th century records.

All Sephardic researchers should be interested in the new research, and I'm sorry I won't be there to hear about it.

The event includes speakers from England, Algeria, Mexico and the US, who will speak on Crypto-Judaism in Northern Mexico, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Spanish Caribbean, Spain, Portugal and North Africa.

Here's the tentative program (also included are meals, art gallery and more) received today by Tracing the Tribe from Stan Hordes, who adds that changes might still take place:

Sunday, August 1

Welcome
Seth Ward, University of Wyoming, Program Chair
Stanley M. Hordes, University of New Mexico, VP - Conferences
Kathleen J. Alcalá, Northwest Institute of Literary Arts, President

Keynote
Marie-Theresa Hernandez, University of Houston Presidential Fellow: "The Virgin of Guadalupe and the Secret Jews in the Mexican Church"

Monday, August 2

PANEL ONE:

David Ben Yosef, Spertus Institute: "Maimonides’ Letter on Apostasy and H. Solveichik’s critique"
Juan Marcos Bejaranno Gutierrez, Spertus Institute: "Samuel Usque’s Consolations: A Review"
Kathleen Alcalá, Northwest Institute of Literary Arts:"The Illegal Alien as Flaneur"

PANEL TWO
Martin J. Salvucci, University of Chicago: "Liberalism and Intolerance: Leo Strauss, Baruch Spinoza, and the Theoretical Foundations of Crypto-Judaism"
Abigail Seldin, Oxford: "Exploring Politics of Emergence in New Mexico: Work in Progress"

PANEL THREE Self and Image in the Converso Journey: Visual artists panel
Mercedes Gail Gutierrez (Nitzah Avigayil), Netanya, Israel and Davis, CA, Facilitator/panelist
Laura Cesana, Lisbon, Portugal, Panelist
Dan Riis Grife, Coupland, TX, Panelist

PANEL FOUR
Stanley M. Hordes, Latin American and Iberian Institute, University of New Mexico: "The Sephardic Legacy in the Spanish Caribbean: A History of the Crypto-Jews of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and pre-British Jamaica"
Abe Lavender, Florida International University: "The Secret Jews and New Christians of Brazil"

Tuesday, August 3

PANEL FIVE
Laura Cesana, Lisbon, Portugal: "An Artist's Journey: An Update of Judaism in Portugal"
Diana S. Zertuche, Del Rio, TX: "Nopalitos:The Crypto Jewish Remnants Along The Texas Borderlands"
M. Miriam Herrera, Malta, NY: "A Crypto-Jew Celebrates Her First Dia de los
Muertos (Day of the Dead): Poetry with Prose"

PANEL SIX: Publishing Fact And Fiction About Crypto Jews; Panel
Abe Lavender, Florida International University, Panelist: "Problems and Rewards of Publishing the Journal of Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian Crypto Jews"
Art Benveniste, HaLapid and the SCJS Website
Dolores Sloan, Mount St. Mary's College, Panelist: "Publishing Fact and Fiction: Assessing Achievements and framing future discussion"

For more information about the conference, click here.

El Paso: Deep in the heart of Texas

It's the stories that get to you.

The stories of people from Brazil, Argentina, New Mexico and right here in this corner of Texas. Some drive for hours to connect to the heritage of their ancestors - which is now theirs.

They come from all backgrounds and professions. They are artists, consultants, professionals, teachers, musicians, contractors - and even rabbis. Some have made a short journey, others have taken years to learn the secrets of their families. Each has accomplished this in his or her own way, with the support - or not - of their families.

The music of Judaism has aways drawn me, and these past few days have been filled with various traditions. The beautiful circular chapel of El Paso's Congregation B'nai Zion was the perfect setting for the Sephardic chanting of Rabbi Juan Mejia and the Ashkenazi tradition of Rabbi Stephen Leon, whose father was a hazzan. In addition to these two fascinating men, there were others who took on major portions of some services and those who read from the Torah.

The 7th Sephardic Bnai Anousim Conference has been an eye-opener for me, even though I've known these stories for a long time. Hearing, in person, the life stories of these people from many backgrounds who have returned to public Judaism is an inspiration - or should be - for all of us.

I've heard the experiences of those who began searching, of the reactions of their families, their encounters with messianic churches and with people who misled them along their return. I've heard the stories of a man - originally from Monterrey, Mexico - and asked about his siblings. There are six, they live in different places, and "we all know who we are."

Rabbi Juan Mejia, recently ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary, is an amazing guy. His journey - from Colombia and Catholicism and the family secrets to teaching via the internet and in person to an audience that could potentially number in the millions - is inspiring.

While many anousim - children of the forced (even though that force was centuries ago) - look for acceptance from mainstream Judaism, many of these individuals believe they must be more proactive and organize their own centers. Rabbi Juan described a congregation in South America that he visited. A beautiful facility, filled with the returned and returning. A flourishing congregation. When the Ashkenazi congregation in their city could not afford to retain their rabbi, this congregation hired him.

I'm still absorbing this weekend.

My talks on Jewish Genealogy 101 and Sephardic Research Trends elicited many questions. I distributed notes of my talks, urged attendees to write down what they know, to record their stories, so future generations will understand. I distributed MyHeritage.com software to help in the process. I've explained about DNA testing - Y-DNA, mtDNA and the new autosomal Family Finder - and what our IberianAshkenaz DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA.com has demonstrated.

A pilgrimage is on the books, as the 8th Sephardic Bnai Anousim Conference will be held in Israel in August 2011. The plan is to be in Jerusalem on Tisha b'Av.

The date is important as Rabbi Stephen Leon introduced a resolution to the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism's conference in December 2009. It was unanimously accepted by the organization that Tisha b'Av be recognized as a day of memorial for the victims of the Inquisition - and that bnai anousim be welcomed - at Conservative congregations. Outreach for this movement is also being conducted in the Reform, Reconstructionist and Orthodox communities.

The group is planning to build a learning center in El Paso to assist bnai anousim in their quest.

As part of the conference, we watched a production of "Parted Waters" which described one family's experience with the ancestral secret. If this is offered in your community, do see it.

This morning, I'm heading to Ruidoso, New Mexico, and will be back in time to attend Tisha b'Av services.

Jerusalem: 8th Sephardic Bnai Anousim conference, August 2011

Tracing the Tribe flies to El Paso on Friday to participate and speak at the 7th Sephardic Bnai Anousim Conference, from July 16-19.

I've been trying to participate for a few years, and finally the dates worked out. New Mexico glass artist Sonya Loya, who is very involved with the event, never gave up, stayed in contact, and I'm very happy to be participating this year. I will post about the event.

The 8th conference - in 2011 - will be held in Jerusalem around Tisha b'Av, which is August 8-9.

For more on this year's and next year's conference, read a Ruidoso (New Mexico) News story about Sonya Loya, who has become a leader in the movement.

When she walked into the B'Chol Lashon International Think Tank 2010 meeting in San Francisco last month, Sonya Loya's first thought was, "What am I doing here."

Invited to participate in the four-day session, she found herself sitting and mingling with professors with multiple doctorates, with researchers, sociologists and leaders of various impressive centers of study, with rabbis and educators.

"Everyone had Ph.D.s, plural, and they were from around the world, the Lemba tribe, the Abudaya, the Ethiopians, people from Brazil, Israel, Mexico and Washington D.C," she said. "What is a hillbilly from the mountains of New Mexico and a glass artist doing here?

"But Rabbi Denis Yabarri said they had been watching me closely for some years. After our shabbat midrash study, Rabbi Irwin Kula told me, 'You have fearless grace and that's what the Jewish people and the rest of the world needs.'"

Still, every time someone introduces her as a leader of a Crypto-Jewish community, it jars her. She doesn't consider herself a leader, only someone who is on a journey to rediscover herself and her Jewish faith and is willing to help others along the same path.

She works with with Rabbi Stephen A. Leon of Congregation Bnai Zion (El Paso) and with Rabbi Juan Mejia - a recent Jewish Theological Seminary rabbinical graduate with a converso background - who is the anousim director for B'chol Lashon.

Like many descendants of conversos, she was raised Roman Catholic but felt something missing. And like others, attended a messianic event where she learned of her possible Jewish heritage. But when she learned of the Sephardic Jewish movement, she began her return to Judaism.

Since 2003, she has been helping others on the same journey

"Crypto Jews number in the millions," she said. "I am contacted everyday by people asking for help. I received a few this morning. I'm fortunate to be able to help others learn about their heritage while leaning about my own. My art ties into the search. After I read 'Glassmakers, The Odyssey of the Jews,' I knew glass connected me to my ancestry."

She also helps to facilitate education in Jewish communities and to help those seeking to learn more about possible Jewish heritage.

In her quest for knowledge she discovered that her connection to glass artistry may have a long connection to her Judaism. Until 1492, the Iberian glassmaking industry was mostly Jewish, and members of Sephardic glassmaking families escaped the Inquisition as they traveled through Amsterdam to the Caribbean. Among them were the ROBLES (her maternal great-grandmother's family) and SALAS families. In the article by Samuel Kurinsky, these families were linked to the industry in Italy, Spain, France and Holland.

This year's conference, as have the past events, is being held at Rabbi Leon's congregation. Leon presented a resolution passed unanimously by more than 2,000 rabbis at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism's Rabbinical Assembly conference in December 2009. The resolution calls for member congregations to welcome bnai anousim to Judaism and also called for memorializing the victims of the Inquisition as part of Tisha b'Av observances.

In 2011, the conference in Jerusalem will bring descendants of Crypto-Jews to Israel to learn about their history.

For more information or to register for this year's conference, contact Loya.

Spain: Anti-Jewish riots began today in 1391

On this day, June 6, in 1391, anti-Jewish riots began in Seville, instigated by Ferrand Martiniz, and soon spread across the country, decimating the Jewish populations of major communities and resulting in mass forced conversions to Catholicism and massacres of those who refused.

Some 10,000 Jews are estimated to have been murdered, many more forcibly converted. Some communities were complete destroyed, such as the 400-year-old Barcelona community, others were re-established in some way. While thousands of individuals went underground and maintained secret Jewish lives, other families and individuals left for other geographic areas.

This was a precursor to the later Inquisition and the 1492 exile.

Click here to learn what else happened this day in Jewish history. Here are some important facts - the list goes through 2010!

1242: Two dozen wagonloads of Talmudic volumes and 200 other rabbinic manuscripts were burned at Paris.1247: Pope Innocent IV contacts the king of Navarre. In a dispatch he requested the king compel Christian debtors to pay off their debt to Jewish lenders.

1506: Birthdate of King John III of Portugal. Persecution of Marranos and Conversos intensified during his reign with the arrival of the Inquisition. On the other hand he met with David Reubeini in 1525 and the two negotiated over the possibility of the King supplying this adventurer with as many as eight ships to use in a fight against the Moslem leader, Selim I. Since much of the life of Reubeni is shrouded in myth and half truths, we cannot be sure as to the reason the negotiations failed.1539: The Inquisition was introduced into Mexico.

1808: Birthdate of Jacob Raphael De Cordova, Texas land agent and colonizer. A native of Jamaica, he settled in Philadelphia in the 1820’s with his father before moving to Texas in 1839. Jacob and his brother Phineas De Cordova operated one of the largest land agencies in Texas. Jacob was one of three men who helped lay out Waco in 1848. He passed away in 1868.

1855: Isaac Kaatz, Gottlieb Milhelm and Anton First were arrested today on charges of having been involved in the theft of eight cows from a farm belong to Colonel Lewis Morris. The three carcasses found in the possession of the accused all bore a mark indicating that they were Kosher.

1859: In Australia, Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales. By 1865, there were enough Jews living in the Queensland city of Brisbane that a congregation was formed that held services in a local Masonic hall until 1886 when a sanctuary with a seating capacity of 400. In 1879, the Jews of Toowoomba, Queensland, built a synagogue which, as the community shrunk in size, was only used on the High Holidays.

1875: Birthdate of Novelist Thomas Mann. Mann was not Jewish but in 1905 he married Katia Pringsheim, daughter of prominent family of Jewish intellectuals. They had six children. Mann left Nazi German in 1933, four years after having won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He lived in the United States for many years. He died in Switzerland in 1955, never having lived in his native land again.

1894: Governor Davis H. Waite ordered the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike. Famed financier Bernard Baruch was one of those who got his start in the “strike it rich” world of Cripple Creek. Arriving from the east, Baruch bought shares of stock in the San Francisco mine. During the day he worked as a “mucker” and at night he played at the roulette wheel in a local gambling joint where he was so successful that he was barred by the owners. Baruch took his winnings and headed back to New York where he gained fame and fortune. Sam Butcher, a Hungarian Jew, was one of the few Jews who actually made money in industrial mining in Cripple Creek. Because many of his fellow miners were blatant anti-Semites, Butcher “took pains to conceal his identity” until he had gained financial success. Sam and Bertha Flax were one of the first, if not the first Jewish couple to marry in Cripple Creek. They tied the knot in 1909. Sam was not much of a miner but he would prove be a successful restaurant owner in Denver, Colorado.

For more, visit This Day in Jewish History.

A busy schedule: Flying to the US

Tracing the Tribe wishes readers a happy holiday weekend with friends and family. Travel safely.

I'm off to Los Angeles in the early hours of Tuesday June 1, arrive the same day after a long flight, and jump right into a busy schedule. I'm looking forward to meeting Tracing the Tribe readers at every stop. Please make sure to come by and say hello.

• After a few days with good friend and fellow Mogilev researcher Hilary Henkin, I will be speaking on Sephardic research at the JGS of Conejo Valley (and Ventura County) at 1.30pm, Sunday June 6, at Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks.
• From June 11-13, I will be at the Southern California Genealogical Society's 41st Jamboree at the Burbank Marriott - always an amazing event - where I'll be on the advanced bloggers' panel and also speak on our IberianAshkenaz DNA Project from the administrators' viewpoint. I'm looking forward to seeing many of my Geneablogger colleagues, Tracing the Tribe readers and will be blogging away all weekend. I'll also be helping out at the MyHeritage booth, as I also write the MyHeritage Genealogy Blog.
• On June 13, as Jamboree ends, I go north to Los Altos to visit good friends Rosanne and Dan Leeson and hope to also see friends in San Jose and Monterrey.
• July 4th weekend is at the Association of Jewish Libraries' conference, July 4-7, at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel., Seattle There are several family history sessions this year: history of names (Jewish European names, 18th-19th Centuries), researching Sephardi Jews (including Yeshiva University's Sephardic collections, and using social media in relation to Sephardic studies), Jewish archives, Jewish social history, social media, Seattle's Sephardic history, Jewish business in the Far West, Yiddish culture, in addition to many others on archives, libraries and more.
• To Los Angeles on July 8 to get ready for JGSLA 2010's big international Jewish genealogy conference from July 11-16. I'll be presenting on the wonderful world of genealogy blogging, our IberianAshkenaz DNA Project and how to create your own DNA project, on Sephardic research, speaking with Thomas MacEntee and Lisa Louise Cooke at a social media expert's breakfast, and much more. I'll be blogging from there all week attempting to attend as many as possible of the 150+ speakers presenting 300+ programs.
• On July 16, just as JGSLA2010 ends, I'm off to El Paso, Texas for the 7th Bnai Anousim Sephardic Conference, July 16-19, at Congregation Bnai Zion, where I will be speaking on Genealogy 101 and Sephardic research.
• Then to Houston to enjoy a few days with FamilyTreeDNA.com's Bennett Greenspan and his family.
• New York City is next to see family and friends for a few weeks.

Sounds like a lot of work with all those conferences, but how can we possibly call genealogy-related activities "work"? We love it!

Vacations are great, breaks are necessary but, after this one, I'm sure I'll need another "real" vacation!

While I'm trying to schedule in as many Tracing the Tribe blog posts to automatically publish, there may be some slow days due to travel arrangements or other activities.

It's the summer and everyone needs to kick back a little.

I'm already working on a travel schedule for October. I'm hoping to again attend the Mont Juic Institute's October 18-20 conference (in Barcelona and Valencia) on Catalan-speaking Jews, and the FamilyTreeDNA administrator's conference October 30-31. An East Coast speaking tour may also be in the works.

DNA: Bennett Greenspan in Dallas, May 26

Discover Jewish history through the lens of DNA testing, with expert Bennett Greenspan, at the Dallas (Texas) Jewish Historical Society, at 7pm, Wednesday, May 26.

The program is part of the Society's Harold A. Pollman Lecture Series, at its annual meeting and elections at the Aaron Family JCC, 7900 Northaven Road, Dallas.

A familiar favorite at Jewish and general genealogy conferences, his talks always fill to capacity.

His presentation will demonstrate the overlap between Jewish DNA found in Ashkenazi/Mizrachi and Sephardic populations and will shed light on the amazing stories that non-Jews - who have found a Jewish ancestry - share with him weekly. He'll also discuss the newest test for finding Jewish relatives out to fourth or fifth cousins.

If you haven't tested yet, Bennett's presentation will inspire you to find out more about who you really are. A limited number of DNA testing kits will be available for purchase following his talk.

With more than 255,000 records, Family Tree DNA - founded in 2000 - has the largest database of its kind in the world. Importantly for Jewish researchers, it also includes the largest Jewish DNA database to test against.

An entrepreneur and life-long genealogy enthusiast - since elementary school - Bennett turned his hobby into a full-time vocation. His effort and innovation created the ever-expanding field of genetic genealogy and all its possibilities.

A native Nebraskan with a University of Texas BA, he has spent years investigating his maternal grandfather's family, an obsession which led to the founding of the company and its association with Arizona Research Labs, led by Dr. Michael Hammer, a world authority on Y-DNA genetics.

Founded in 2000, FTDNA is the largest non-medical DNA testing company in the world, and includes other cooperative ventures such as the National Geographic Society’s Genographic Project and AfricanDNA.com, and is now involved in DNATraits.com, a new medical genetic testing company

Admission is free and the program is open to the public. For reservations, call 214-239-7120 or send an email.

Click the Dallas Jewish Historical Society for more information on society holdings.

El Paso: 7th Sephardic Anousim Conference, July 16-19

The seventh Sephardic Anousim Conference - "Past, Present & Future: Identities of B’nai Anousim" - will take place at Congregation B'nai Zion, July 16-19, in El Paso, Texas. Rabbi Stephen Leon leads the congregation, where some 50 families have returned to Judaism.

Tracing the Tribe is delighted to have been invited to speak at this year's conference with a theme of such great personal interest. For several years, I've attempted to attend both the Sephardic Anousim and Crypto-Judaic Studies events, but they've always conflicted with the IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy. This year, fortunately, the dates worked out and I'll arrive directly from the 30th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy (July 11-16, in Los Angeles).

Rabbi Leon introduced a resolution at the December 2009 United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism biennial convention to honor and remember victims of the Spanish Inquisition on Tisha B’Av. The resolution passed unanimously, applies to Conservative congregations and honors Bnai Anousim who have returned to Judaism. Here's the text:

Resolution on the observance of Tisha B’av to be a day to commemorate the Spanish Inquistion and the return of the Anousim to Judaism

Whereas the holiday of Tisha B’av recalls the very day that the expulsion of the Jews from Spain took place in the year 1492; and

Whereas many Jews were forcibly converted to Christianity publicly, but continued to practice Judaism in secret; and Whereas many of the descendants of these Jews who are called B’nei Anousim have returned formally to Judaism today, and many are in the same process,

Now, therefore be it resolved that the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism calls upon all of its affiliated congregations to formally observe Tisha B’av on an annual basis as an occasion to educate its members about the history and events of the Spanish Inquisition regarding the Jewish people, and to inform its members of the return of the B’nei Anousim to Judaism today; and

Be it further resolved that the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism helps to provide programs, speakers, films, and other appropriate materials for such Spanish Inquisition and B’nai Anousim commemorations on Tisha B’av.

The fee is $118 per person (scholarships/subsidies available) and includes meals. Group hotel rates ($79/night including full breakfast) are available at the Holiday Inn, 900 Sunland Park Drive. Mention the B'nai Zion conference when making hotel reservations by June 23 for the special rate.

The Jewish Federation of El Paso provides generous financial assistance for this annual conference.

Payment and registration should be sent by July 1 to Congregation B’nai Zion, 805 Cherry Hill Lane, El Paso, Texas 79912. Contact Sonya Loya or Rabbi Stephen Leon for more information, for the registration form, or call the congregation, 915-833-2222.

Here's the program:

Friday, July 16
-- 6.15pm: Shabbat evening services, traditional Shabbat dinner; Keynote Speaker: Andree Aelion Brooks: “Portugal: Facing up to its Converso Heritage and the Impact upon our B’nai Anousim”

Saturday, July 17
-- 9.30am: Shabbat morning services, Kiddush lunch; Speaker: Andree A. Brooks: “Dona Gracia Nassi, Her Life and Times as a Role Model for Today;"; Speaker: Schelly Talalay Dardashti: “Genealogy 101 & Sephardic Research Trends"
-- Shabbat rest
-- 7pm Mincha; Seudah Shlisheet; Speaker: Rabbi Juan Mejia: “Moving Onward with the Anousim Movement”
-- Ma’ariv & Havdalah
-- Art Gala: Wine and hors d’oeuvres; Introduction by Sonya A. Loya,  presenting artists Elizabeth Genova, Dan Grife, artisan Sonya Loya and photographer Peter Svarzbein.

Sunday, July 18
-- 8.30am: Morning services, bagel breakfast; Speaker: Rabbi Stephen A. Leon: “Tisha B’Av: A Resolution Realized”
-- Panel discussion
-- 2.30pm: Play, "Parted Waters," by Robert Benjamin
-- 5pm:  Evening services

Monday, July 19
-- Tisha B'av speaker: Dennis Durfee, Portland, Oregon

For more information and the registration form, go to the Bnai Zion website or email Sonya Loya or Rabbi Stephen Leon at the links above.

FamilyTreeDNA.com: New Family Finder test officially launched

As of today, FamilyTreeDNA.com's new Family Finder test has been officially launched.

The new test connects family members across all ancestral lines, not only paternal or maternal. It represents a major advancement over earlier genetic genealogy tests. Everyone, regardless of gender, can now look for connections including grandparents, aunts and uncles, half siblings, and first, second, third and fourth cousins.

The company's database numbers more than 290,000 individual records – the largest DNA database in genetic genealogy. This makes FamilyTreeDNA the prime source for anyone researching recent and distant family ties.

Importantly, for Tracing the Tribe readers, that database also includes the largest Jewish DNA database. This means that if you're looking for genetic matches sharing your genetic heritage, you should test against the largest Jewish DNA database. The same holds true for everyone interested in genetic genealogy. One should to test against the largest database available for the best probability of finding matches.

According to today's official press release:

The test utilizes Affymetrix’ recently launched Axiom™ genotyping technology and the GeneTitan® System to confidently match a wide range of family relationships within five generations.

Said FamilyTreeDNA founder/CEO Bennett Greenspan, in Houston, Texas:

"This is the most exciting genetic genealogy breakthrough since 2000, when FamilyTreeDNA launched its Y-DNA test to uncover relatives in the direct paternal line." 

“The comprehensive, genome-wide coverage of Axiom Arrays enables us to offer consumers the most advanced genealogical test available at a price that is attractive to our customers. In addition, the automated GeneTitan System allows us to process hundreds of samples at a time with minimal hands-on time for maximum efficiency.”

Said Affymetrix president/CEO Kevin King, in Santa Clara, California:

“The Family Finder test represents a huge step forward for the direct-to-consumer genetic genealogy market and the application of microarray technology, Now anyone can utilize the power of the Axiom Genotyping Solution and the GeneTitan System to find and connect with a broader range of family members than ever before.”

How does it work?

The test analyzes the DNA of two individuals using Axiom Array Plates containing nearly 570,000 genetic markers, including many that are relevant to genealogy. Family Tree DNA then analyzes the resulting data with internally developed algorithms to determine the closeness of the relationship. The complete Axiom Genotyping Solution includes array plates, complete reagent kits, and an automated workflow that enables scientists to process more than 760 samples per week.

FamilyTreeDNA.com offers counseling services, tutorials and other helpful tools to assist in the genealogy and matching process. Importantly, it provides names and email addresses of matched individuals whenever possible for easy communication.

For more information about the new Family Finder test, click here; for Affymetrix, click here.

Food: Seasoning family history

Take a look at what our families eat at special occasions, holidays or lifecycle events.

We tend to recreate the "warm fuzzies" of our childhood customs and traditions which, in turn, were part of the everyday life of our immigrant ancestors.

In my grandmother's Brooklyn kitchen was a knife that always looked primitive to my American eyes, its large blade needed constant sharpening and it had a worn wooden handle. There were cast-iron frying pans, a dual chopper (today called a mezzaluna), a scarred wooden bowl (used with the chopper).

The knife, frying pans, chopper and wooden bowl found their way to my mother's kitchen and some of them wound up in my kitchen. The knife was made by my great-grandfather, and I heard other family stories about the provenance of other items. Lots of chopped liver was made in that wooden bowl with that mezzaluna. Blintzes came out of those blackened frying pans.

The Philadelphia Inquirer's "Food tells a family story" demonstrates how traditions keep family history alive through the generations.

It details the 1891 trip of the author's great-great-grandmother who arrived from Sweden with a suitcase and two children to join her husband in Missouri. In the suitcase were a knive and rolling pin.

The story quotes Dawn Orsak, a Texas food expert, on the importance of food history.

Almost 120 years later, the sturdy black-handled knife with razorlike teeth and the long, smooth rolling pin are still in use in my grandmother's kitchen, less than 40 miles from where her grandmother first unpacked them after the long journey.

"You don't see anything like it this day and age," my grandmother said of the knife. "It's never been sharpened. Doesn't need it. Only thing I ever use it for is to cut angel food cake and bread, of course." She went on to explain that her mother used the knife to cut coffeecake during Scandinavian club meetings she hosted in the 1930s.

My sister and I have old cookbooks with recipes and notes in our mother's handwriting. Just reading them brings back the memories. Some recipes were successes and family favorites, while others not so successful. One recipe not recorded - thank heaven for small miracles - was developed when my mother got a new kitchen gadget (a blender) and decided to make tuna fish salad in it. Not a good idea.

I do remember Mom adding lots of matzo meal and making tuna patties instead. They were pretty good. But the "tuna fish salad soup" was never attempted again.

"Some people are after recipes, but I'm after stories," says Orsak, who specializes in recording history through food traditions. From generation to generation, we pass down food traditions, habits, recipes, cookbooks, and even utensils that carry with them historical details as unique as our genetic code, but many of us don't think to record that history.

Food is a great starting point for preserving family history because it's so visceral, Orsak says. "Everybody likes talking about food, and it brings up memories you wouldn't think of otherwise."

My grandmother would visit us in the Bronx after a long subway ride from Brooklyn, laden with jars, boxes and shopping bags. I guess she thought we didn't have food in the wilds of the Bronx. Knaidlach, soup, chopped liver, stuffed cabbage and more came out of those bundles.

Of course, Tracing the Tribe is also guilty of the same thing.

When our daughter went off to Brown University, I visited her one weekend during her first year. My cross-country suitcases contained 10 pounds of frozen saffron-lemon-onion marinated broiled Persian jujeh kabob (breast meat chunks), a large container of frozen mosama bademjan (beef in an eggplant-tomato-cinnamon sauce), along with a large first-cut kosher brisket that I would cook that weekend in the Brown Hillel kitchen.

The airport porter asked if I had rocks in the suitcases. Well, yes, sort of.

What's that, you're saying? Providence, Rhode Island had food rationing? Well, there certainly wasn't a Persian restaurant and home-style kosher brisket wasn't anywhere I could see. She began eating the frozen kabob pieces from the bag and used a plastic spoon to scrape the tomato eggplant sauce, all while we were still in the taxi from the airport.

As a Jewish mother, I knew I had done the correct thing - my grandmother would have been proud.

Orsak says that if you are interested in your ethnic heritage, start with food as it is the longest-lasting cultural tradition. The favorite foods stay around long after a language or other traditions are lost.

She suggests that people prepare family cookbooks to distribute to relatives, including a favorite recipe and who used to prepare it. Bring family heritage to life by sharing important traditional dishes.

Who knows what will trigger an interest in genealogy and family history?

The link also provides a recipe for a nice coffeecake - so try it out.

Tex-Mex: Jewish food traditions

If one really wants to learn about how Jewish customs are manifested in a still-secret community, take a look at food traditions in southern Texas and northern Mexico.

In this article from the Harlingen News in Texas, read about how these customs - in food, oral traditions, culture and secret religious customs - are still part of the folklore, habits and practices of the early settlers' descendants in this geographical area.

In northern Mexico and what today is Texas, the Jews of Nuevo Leon and its capital, Monterrey, Mexico, lived without fear of harrasment from the Holy Office of the 1640’s and beyond.

Many of the leading non Jewish families today of that area are descended from secret Jewish ancestors, according to scholar, Richard G. Santos.

Santos states there are hundreds, if not thousands of descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jews living today in San Antonio, Texas, USA and throughout South Texas. Not all are aware of their Jewish heritage.

Santos is a renowned San Antonio, Texas scholar in ethnic studies of South Texas secret Spanish Jewry.

Back in 1973, when few people knew anything about this, he presented a paper to the Interfaith Institute at the Chapman Graduate Center of Trinity University on secret Sephardic Jewish customs in the same region.

Historically, most scholars accept that the founding families of Monterrey and the Mexican border area of Nuevo Reno de Leon are of Sephardic origin. The Diccionario Porrua de Historia Geografia y Biografia states that Luis de Carvajal y de a Cueva brought a shipload of Jews to settle his Mexican colony – with some Jews being converts to Catholicism from Judaism and others “openly addicted to their (Jewish) doctrine."

The late Seymour Liebman, a specialist on colonial Mexico's secret Jews, explained in his book (“Jews in New Spain”) that Jews settled in areas far from Mexico City to escape the 16th century Inquisition.

Conversos colonized the Mexican states of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Tamualipas and into what would become the stateof Texas, in the 1640s-1680s and later. Most of Texas’s Spanish-speaking immigrants came from Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, and Coahuila (the old Neuvo Reyno de Leon) from the 1680s.

Those who settled in today's southern Texas in the 17th century brought Jewish food customs, such as pan de semita or Semitic bread eaten around Passover and Lent.

According to Santos, the memories of delicious Jewish pastries eaten around the world in today's Sephardic Jewish communities today still live in Tex-Mex pastries, such as pan dulce, pan de semita, trenzas, cuernos, pan de hero and pan de los protestantes (Protestant’s bread).

Pan de semita is considered a 17th century recipe for unleavened matzoh, and it is never made with lard, forbidden by Jewish law. The article offered a quick recipe of 2 cups of flour, 1/2-2/3 cup water, a few tablespoons of butter or olive oil. Mix it together and bake it.

Today, according to the article, all Mexicans (regardless of religion) eat it in the geographical area detailed above.

Santos himself descends from colonial-era Conversos and he details a special kind of pan de semita - including raisins, pecans and vegetable oil - made only in Texas and along the border. This is another sign of Jewish dietary rules. According to Jewish dietary laws, pan de semita with butter couldn't be eaten with meat, but made with vegetable or olive oil, it could.

Santos' recipe: 2 cups flour, scant cup water, a handful (Note: Tracing the Tribe is not sure how to measure a handful of oil) olive oil, mixed with 1/2-2/3 cup each of raisins and pecans. Knead and bake at 350 until lightly browned and easy to chew.

In Guadalajara, semita de trigo substitutes milk for water. In Texas and in Guadalajara, there is semita de aniz (anise), but neither of these include raisins and pecans. Only olive oil or butter is used.

The article also covers the special method of chicken slaughter used today and in the 1640s.

Another Passover/Lent custom is eating cactus and egg omelets (nopalitos lampreados). The only bread eaten is the unleavened pan de semita.

In Texas, Mexican Americans throw a piece of bread dough into the fire before making tortillas or bread; a very Jewish custom. Some do not eat pork on Fridays or after sundown on Friday.

Capirotada is another food eaten around Lent and Passover. It is wheat bread with raw sugar, cinnamon, cheese, butter, pecans, peanuts and raisins.

The Inquisition preserved these ingredients and even recipes in its archives, so we know Conversos in the 1640s used them. (NOTE: In the old days, lard was the preferred fat to use in cooking and baking; olive oil and other vegetable oils were not as common. Only those people who needed to use these oils for religious dietary reasons would go out of their way to acquire them, when lard was all around. Anyone not using lard would be suspect!)

Mexican Americans eat meat on Fridays, even before the Catholic church relaxed the rule about not eating meat. Older women cover their hands while praying, a custom that may come from Jewish women covering their heads.

The Inquisition, according to the article, never was established in what is today's Texas, which encouraged settlement by Converso families.

Some 16 families from the Canary Island arrived in 1731 and founded San Fernando de Bexar township - today's San Antonio. Many Canary Islanders were Conversos.They married with families from Nuevo Reyno de Leon, many of whom were Spanish and Portuguese secret Jews who moved there because the Inquistion wasn't there.

Although not all Mexican Americans are of Sephardic origin, many continue to transmit oral Sephardic traditions.

Read the complete story at the link above.

Texas: A Sephardic New Year

In Texas, the Sephardic and Hispanic Jewish families celebrate the New Year with a Latin flavor.

The Houston Chronicle story focuses on families from Mexico, Cuba or South America as customs from their communities of origin are still celebrated.

Martin and Denise Yudovich have raised a brood of proud Texans who all speak perfect English, yet they remember their childhoods in Mexico by singing songs and saying prayers in English, Spanish, Hebrew and Yiddish at holiday celebrations.

“Yiddish was the language used by our parents and grandparents,” Denise Yudovich explains. “Back then prayers were said in Yiddish and Hebrew, and we kids all spoke Spanish.”

Of the 45,000 Jews in the Houston area, Lee Wunsch, executive director of the Jewish Federation, estimates Hispanic Jews make up as much as 2 percent of the population. In 1984, an influx of Jews from Mexico and South and Central American countries self-organized into a social network called Hebraica, which had a membership of 250 families at one time.

Among former Cubans are the Esquenazi and Halfon extended families.

When Fidel Castro came to power in 1960, Sara Esquenazi's parents, both physicians, left behind a good life to come to Houston. Esquenazi was 13 then, but she remembers much of her life in Cuba. She celebrates with her brother and sister-in-law Leon and Rebeca Halfon and cousins.

“When our great-great-grandparents were expelled from Spain, or our parents had to leave Cuba, it showed us that they would give up all their worldly possessions so they could keep their religion, because that was more important,” Esquenazi said.

Esquenazi keeps a worn set of papers with the instructions for the Sephardic seder for Rosh Hashanah, which few American Ashkenazim know anything about.

Every item on their table represents something significant as a wish for the coming year. The fish head reminds them that they “should always be a leader, and not a follower.” A pomegranate apple with its many seeds symbolizes abundance. Spinach is served to ward off evil. A lively discussion of the foods and prayers in Spanish commences when they sit at their holiday table.

Sylvia Fleischer and her sister Dori Yudelevich are from Santiago, Chile and came to Houston in 1973. They prepare the special foods and the ceremony is conducted in English and Spanish.

“We cook our vegetables and apples until they are soft and sweet for a sweet year,” Fleischer said. We eat dates for abundance and cook special tortillas with leeks to keep the bad away.”

Fleischer said the work of preparing all the special symbols is much like the work Jewish cooks do in preparing a Passover Seder.

“For us, this is not like a regular meal, and that gives our Rosh Hashana celebrations special meaning,” Fleischer said. “It's a lot of work, but we want to continue the traditions passed down from our grandparents to our parents, and from our parents to us.”

Among Sephardim of all origins (including Persians, Syrians, Iraqis, and others), some of these Rosh Hashanah traditions include:

- Fish head: Reminds them to be leaders (the head), not followers (the tail).
- Pomegranate: Its many seeds represent abundance.
- Spinach: Wards off evil.
- Dates: Represent abundance.
- Tortillas with leeks: Keep the “bad” away.

Read the complete article at the link above.

Honoring Inquisition victims, returnees

Not so long ago Tracing the Tribe wrote that, along with Holocaust Remembrance Day, there should be a day on which we honor the Inquisition's victims. Many people agreed with this concept.

We have learned that Rabbi Stephen Leon (El Paso, Texas) will introduce a resolution honoring the Inquisition's victims on Tisha B'Av at December's biennial convention of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

It will also honor those forcibly converted to Catholicism in Iberia and elsewhere so long ago who have now returned to open Judaism.

This is music to Tracing the Tribe's ears, if a blog can have such physical attributes. We also recommend that readers who are members of Conservative and other congregations should talk to their rabbis about the importance of this resolution and to the positive message it will send to millions of Converso/Bnai Anousim descendants who feel that mainstream Judaism ignores them.

Karen Primack also wrote the news in the Summer 2009 Kulanu Newsletter (Summer 2009).

This is the resolution's text:

Resolution on the observance of Tisha B’av to be a day to commemorate the Spanish Inquistion and the return of the Anousim to Judaism

Whereas the holiday of Tisha B’av recalls the very day that the expulsion of the Jews from Spain took place in the year 1492; and

Whereas many Jews were forcibly converted to Christianity publicly, but continued to practice Judaism in secret; and Whereas many of the descendants of these Jews who are called B’nei Anousim have returned formally to Judaism today, and many are in the same process,

Now, therefore be it resolved that the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism calls upon all of its affiliated congregations to formally observe Tisha B’av on an annual basis as an occasion to educate its members about the history and events of the Spanish Inquisition regarding the Jewish people, and to inform its members of the return of the B’nei Anousim to Judaism today; and Be it further resolved that the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism helps to provide programs, speakers, films, and other appropriate materials for such Spanish Inquisition and B’nai Anousim commemorations on Tisha B’av.

Rabbi Leon, who is actively involved in assisting conversos/bnai anousim in many ways, is spiritual leader of Congregation B’nai Zion, which will also receive an award at the convention for its annual Converso/Bnai Anousim conferences held for the past nine years, always held around Tisha B'Av.

Conferences have featured such speakers as Yaffa DaCosta, Sonya Loya, Art Benvenisti, Richard Santos, Rabbi Juan Meji, and Trudy Alexy z’’l (author, The Mezuzah in the Madonna’s Foot), and viewed films such as "The Longing" by Gloria Bohm, and about Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn’s work with Anousim in Latin America.

According to Rabbi Leon, “Tisha B’Av is the perfect time to mourn the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and to celebrate the return of their descendants, the Bnai Anousim of today.”

Tracing the Tribe supports this move and believes that the surrounding publicity in regard to this resolution and the award will raise awareness in Conservative congregations and among Conservative Judaism's clergy and lay leaders around the world and spur more welcoming outreach to our friends.

Thank you, Rabbi Leon.

El Paso: 6th Sephardic Anousim Conference, July 31-Aug. 2

The Sixth Sephardic Anousim Conference will take place July 31-August 2 at Congregation B'nai Zion (El Paso, Texas), headed by Rabbi Stephen A. Leon, and sponsored by the Bat-Tzion Hebrew Learning Center (Ruidoso, New Mexico).

Click here for the congregation's page on Crypto-Judaic stories and links.

The conference begins Friday, July 31, 6.15pm Shabbat evening service, followed by a traditional Shabbat dinner, with keynote speaker Dolores Sloan on "Honoring the Sacred Memories: In Praise of the Ancestors.”

A writer and speaker, Sloan is the communications vice president of the Society of Crypto-Judaic Studies. She teaches writing and public speaking at Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles

On Shabbat morning, August 1, services start at 9.30am, followed by lunch with speaker Professor Seth Kunin (see more here), “The Complex Nature of Crypto-Jewish Identities,” and Rabbi Peter Tarlow, "Peruvian Jews and Returnees in Huanuco.”

Rabbi Juan Mejia, a just-ordained graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary's Rabbinical School, has a Crypto-Jewish Colombian background himself. He will speak at the Seudah Shlishit, "The Death of Crypto-Judaism: Moving Forward and Creating a Jewish Future for Our Children”

On Sunday morning, August 2, there are services and a bagel breakfast where Aaron Rehberg will present “A Crypto-Jewish Account of Self-Realization.” There will be a panel discussion with speakers.

The fee of $110 payment deadline is noon, July 24. It includes the entire program, Shabbat dinner, Kiddush lunch, Seudah Shlishit, and Sunday bagel breakfast. Accommodations are at the La Quinta (N. Mesa and Bartlett); contact the hotel directly for the discounted price.

Send registration checks payable to "Bat-Tzion Hebrew Learning Center" to conference co-chair Sonya Loya, 2204 Sudderth Drive, Ruidoso, New Mexico 88345. For more information, email Sonya, or call Rabbi Leon at the congregation (915-833-2222).

This conference is immediately followed by the annual Society of Crypto-Judaic Studies conference in Denver, August 2-4 (see separate blog post).

Texas: Discovering Jewish roots

Rabbi Stephen Leon of Congregation B'nai Zion (El Paso, Texas) relates why he does what he does:

“God said to me, 'I cannot bring back the 6 million who were killed in the Holocaust, but there was another group before who are alive in much larger numbers than Holocaust survivors because it's been 500 years, generation after generation of generation," he said. "Their souls are still alive. … You have to do something about it.’”

The story of Hispanics with Jewish roots returning or searching in various ways to discover who and what their families really were so long ago is told in a story by Amy Klein here.

Three strange things happened to Rabbi Stephen Leon the first week he moved here in 1986 to lead Congregation B'nai Zion, the Conservative synagogue in this border city.

“Rabino,” said a Catholic man calling from Juarez, Mexico, about 30 minutes away. “I need to talk to you.”

Every Friday night from the time he was little, the man's grandmother took him into a room, lit candles and said some prayers in a private language he didn't understand. His grandmother had just died, and he asked his mother if she would continue the tradition. She told him to go find a rabbi.

Three days later, a Catholic woman from El Paso came to the rabbi after visiting a relative in mourning, where she noticed that all the mirrors were covered.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked her relatives. They said it was a Jewish custom.

Then the cable guy came, and the rabbi told him, “Shalom Y'all.” The man -- a Catholic Hispanic -- opened his shirt and showed his Jewish star necklace -- he had just found out about his Jewish roots.

“Three incidents in a week and a half?” Leon recalled. “There has to be something going on.”

Twenty-two years later that something is still going on: A steady trickle of Hispanics in the Southwest, from Juarez to Texas to New Mexico, are discovering Jewish roots.

Some people remember unusual customs (not eating pork or not working on Saturday) holiday traditions. For others, it's a word, a name, and they wonder who or what their family really was once upon a time and long ago.

There are several names for these people - such as Crypto-Jews. Anusim (Hebrew, child of the forced). Judios (Spanish, Jews). Conversos (Spanish, converts), as well as the insulting, pejorative Marrano that should never be used - it is an infuriating word to Hispanics with Jewish roots.

All the terms refer to Jews and their descendants whom the Inquisition forced to convert after Spain, Portugal, and later Sicily expelled non-Catholics, forcing Jews to convert to remain. They went underground, continuing to practice traditions in secret and even maintained certain customs after migrating to Europe and the New World, including the Southwest US.

Some are interested in genealogy but not returning to Judaism, some are messianics observing both Jewish and Christian customs. Some return to Judaism openly.

“Who do you count?” asked Stanley Hordes, one of the foremost experts on the Crypto-Jews and author of “To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico” (Columbia University Press, 2008).

“Chances are really good that many people have Jewish ancestors going back 500 years,” he said, estimating that after half of Spain's several hundred thousand Jews left the country, half converted to Catholicism -- half of those Jews converted willingly, assimilating and eventually blending into Catholic society.

“There were certain families that held onto ancestral Jewish faith and continued to practice,” he said. “Today, the overwhelming majority are perfectly content in their Protestantism and Catholicism. Only in a handful of cases people are exploring a relationship with mainstream Judaism.”

On Shavuot, some returnees will celebrate bnai mitzvot at B'nai Zion, a 400-family synagogue, where conversos number 10%. Leon quips that without the anousim, he might not have a minyan.

Blanca Carrasco, 43, returned to Judaism last year and is about to celebrate her bat mitzvah on Shavuot (this year it begins the evening of May 28). She has journeyed from Catholic child in Mexico, Evangelical Christian, a decade at a Messianic congregation, and finally she and her husband returned to Judaism.

Some members of Leon's congregation began their journey at El Paso's Messianic Center where they learned about Judaism, festivals, holidays and Crypto-Jews. Carrasco found some Converso names and that a grandmother spoke Ladino.

“Now we belong -- we are not longing anymore, we are here," Blanca Carrasco said. "We reached the place we were heading to.”

Leon has returned 50 anousim families to Judaism since arriving in El Paso. Previously he headed a New Jersey congregation for 22 years.

Disagreeing with Leon's approach is El Paso's Chabad Rabbi Yisrael Greenberg. He also receives calls from Hispanics who think they have Jewish roots, but he discourages conversion or return

“I think the Crypto-Jew is a real thing -- 500 years ago in the Inquisition hundreds of thousands of Jewish boys and girls disappeared from the Jewish community … Jews always disappeared from the Jewish community -- most of it by force,” Greenberg said.

But, he added, referring to the strong religious ties of Mexican families and the community, “We have to be careful -- we break families.”

“We should put our energy into the Jewish people rather than to try and bring anusim back,” Greenberg said. “If the anusim have a desire to understand Judaism, then let's teach them about their ancestors and let them have an understanding,” he added, implying that the best thing to do would be to leave it at that.

Another person quoted is "just curious." He's been researching his genealogy and considering DNA testing. He discovered Dr. Hordes' book and heard him speak at the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society in Taos, NM.

Leon helped start an anousim/Sephardic learning center and yeshiva in El Paso with Rabbi Juan Pablo Mejia (of converso background himself), a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary's Rabbinical School in New York, and Sonya Loya, director of Bat-Tzyion Hebrew Learning Center in Ruidoso, N.M.

The goal is to raise awareness in the Jewish and general community about the Inquisition and Crypto-Jews, on a par with Holocaust remembrance.

“The anusim will come back eventually; there is a yearning. There is a divine plan out there,” Leon said.

With Hispanics being the fastest-growing population and the Jews constantly concerned about their diminishing population, Leon says the Jewish community should welcome those Hispanics who want to explore their Jewish ancestry.

“I think the anusim are the only answer,” he said. “They are returning one way or another.”

Read the complete article at the link above, as well as other Tracing the Tribe posts on the various aspects of the Converso issue. There is a companion piece to this story, an interview with Dr. Stanley Hordes, "So You Think You're a Crypto-Jew?"

Texas: Oldest Jewish cemetery

Family historians looking for their Texas connections may find it in Houston. Established in 1844 - 165 years go - the city's oldest Jewish cemetery is the oldest Jewish burial ground in the state.

About 20 Jewish families joined in the 1840s to create the cemetery, about a decade prior to founding a congregation, according to this Houston Chronicle story.

The cemetery looks, presumably, better than it did in the 1800s, when one of its first capital improvement projects called for iron fences to keep out the wild hogs.

Congregation Beth Israel’s 1844 cemetery lies along West Dallas, in the shadow of downtown’s skyscrapers, between rows of newly built townhouses and the few remaining tenements that characterize much of the Fourth Ward.

On Sunday, marble headstones gleamed in the sun and a breeze ruffled kippahs as officials unveiled a plaque naming it a historic cemetery, certified by the Texas Historical Commission.

History buffs and members of the Beth Israel congregation reflected at the afternoon ceremony on the legacy of what is Texas’ oldest Jewish cemetery.

According to Jewish law, a new Jewish community must first organize a cemetery. Beth Israel Rabbi David Lyon said, "The reality was that death waits for no one."

Some of the names on the stones carry famous names: Westheimer, Sakowitz, Meyer.

“I just think it’s wonderful,” said Marsha Gilbert, a Beth Israel member who has four generations of relatives buried on the grounds. “We’ve got such a rich history, so many founders of Houston. People who immigrated from France and Germany, which I didn’t even know until I walked the grounds.”

She unlocked the door to the cool mausoleum, dimly lit by stained glass, which her great-grandparents had built in the 1930s, when her great-aunt died.

The oldest graves demonstrate how hard life was in early Houston, including yellow fever epidemics. An 1874 stone remembers a young mother, Nannie Raphael, 18, and her son Samuel, 5 months old.

Read the complete story at the link above.