Join us for the first session in our series when we will visit the Jewish community of New Mexico.
The northern portion of New Mexico and southern part of Colorado became a refuge for Jews expelled from Spain beginning in 1492 with the Alhambra Decree. Many Jews, like our guide Esteban’s ancestor Alonso Rael de Aguilar (the ancestor from which all Raels descend), were able to hide for a while, but various waves of antisemitism and religious intolerance forced them to eventually leave Spain. Alonso lived as a Crypto Jew (a person who appears to be Catholic, but in reality is secretly practicing Judaism) in Spain as well as New Mexico, handing down traditions and customs to subsequent generations.
Some of these descendants know nothing of their Crypto Jewish background, some know of this background but are afraid to acknowledge this connection, some embrace this background and choose to combine Judaism and Catholicism in varying degrees, and some, like Esteban, have chosen to embrace Judaism as their sole religion. The constant feelings among all of the northern New Mexicans of Crypto Jewish descent are fear of being found out and an internalized antisemitism.
About our guide:
Esteban was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a place that his father’s people have called home for centuries on the Spanish Crypto Jews side and millennia on the indigenous American Native side. Esteban is honored to now be the director of his community, Congregation Nahalat Shalom in Albuquerque. He looks forward to exploring the internalized and generational fear of being discovered as Crypto Jews, and also the ways in which some Crypto Jews have come to accept their heritage and integrate this into their identity.
This series is made possible by a grant from the Congregation Ahabat Shalom Religious Fund and other generous donors.
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