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‘New Christian’ was used for recent converts in Portugal and Spain to distinguish
them from ‘Old Christians’ who had ‘heritage’. |
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Many groups have traditions about the hidden existence or future public return of the lost tribes. This is a subject based upon written religious tradition and partially upon speculation. There is a vast amount of literature on the Lost Tribes though no specific source can be relied upon for a complete answer.
The Southern Kingdom ended with the fall of Jerusalem in ca586 but its population forms the basis of modern Jewry. |
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Paul Johnson’s epic history (A History of the Jews, 1988) covers 4,000 years of Jewish history starting with a Prologue explaining why he, a Christian, decided to write this epic and concludes with an Epilogue of what he found out.
Throughout history two topics stand out that need debating. The summaries to start this debate given here are
Why has Christendom attacked the Jews? (from The Book of Jewish Knowledge by Nathan Ausubel)
(from Project Aladdin a multi-faceted cultural initiative launched in March 2009 under the patronage of UNESCO with the aim of countering Holocaust denial and all forms of racism and intolerance, while promoting intercultural dialogue, particularly among Muslims and Jews)
The Expulsion of the Jews from Muslim Countries, 1920-1970 Between 1920 and 1970, 900,000 Jews were expelled from Arab and other Muslim countries. The 1940s were a turning point in this tragedy; of those expelled, 600,000 settled in the new state of Israel, and 300,000 in France and the United States. Today, they and their descendents form the majority of the French Jewish community and a large part of Israel's population.
The Treatment of Jews in Arab/Islamic Countries
Morisco
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Spain was divided between the Christians and Muslims for 780 years from 711 to 1492. The capture of the last Muslim territory, Granada, in 1492 saw Spain become a totally Christian state under monarchs who had united it through marriage (arranged by a Jew!). Today, the Spanish language has many Arabic words, its grammar an Arabic influence and music an Arabic tone. Some Muslims stayed as ‘secret Muslims’ or Moriscos until 1612 when they where expelled and vanished from the Spanish political scene (Note in colonial Spanish America, morisco was also used as a term for the child of a mulatto and Spaniard)
1492 also saw the change in status of the Jews and Muslims.
Jews wishing to stay had to convert to Catholicism or leave Spain within a few months. How many left is disputed. For example Martin Gilbert in ‘The Illustrated Atlas of Jewish Civilisation’ estimates that of the 230,000 in Spain 50,000 were baptised and remained, 20,000 died en route so 160,000 emigrated. Max Dimont in ‘Jews, God and History p228’ estimates that 150,000 Jews were in Spain of whom 50,000 were baptised and remained, 10,000 died en route so 90,000 emigrated. What is important is that there expulsion saw the creation of a new diaspora in Europe, Turkey, North Africa and (eventually) America.
While having to convert to Christianity the status of Muslims was more complex. Muslim converts to Christianity were known as Moriscos, while Muslims who submitted to Christian rule but retained the Muslim faith were called Mudéjars. However, many Moriscos continued to remain crypto-Muslims, just as many Jewish conversos secretly continued to practice Judaism. Some, wh The Moriscos were expelled in 1609-10. A substantial number remained in Spain, camouflaged among the Christian population. Some, whose conversion to Christianity was genuine, stayed on for religious reasons, others mainly for economic reasons or as a matter of convenience. It is estimated that, in the kingdom of Granada alone, between 10,000 and 15,000 Moriscos remained Life under the Christian Catholic Church can be divided into one with periodic pogroms usually caused by hatred of non-Catholics and the clerical zeal for conversion and one following the creation of the Inquisition who acted as an anti-heretical police force with the power to emprison, torture, recommend death and seize assets. It was abolished in 1834.
The Jewish Spanish community is now mainly from Northern Africa, especially the former Spanish colonies and Argentina. There are over 50,000 Spanish Jews with the largest communities in Barcelona and Madrid each with around 3,500 members. Smaller communities include Alicante, Málaga, Tenerife, Granada, Valencia,Benidorm, Cadiz, Murcia. Sefarad 92 marked the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. The principal event was President Chaim Herzog of Israel and Spain's King, Juan Carlos, praying together in Madrid’s Beth Yaakov synagogue to symbolise their reconciliation.
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In 1496 the King issued a decree ordering Jews to leave Portugal by the end of October 1497. Then, deciding expulsion would remove an important segment of the middle class he compelled all Jews to convert to Christianity. They were known as ‘New Christians’. In time he hoped they would lose their Jewish identity Instead a strong sense of identity was retained which still exists, five hundred years later. They formed a new social class in Portugal and Christian countries where they settled and played a major role in the culture and economy. Those practising Judaism in secret became known as Marranos
Emigration was led by the wealthier Jews who usually reverted to Judaism. For example, in Holland they formed an important community and sent delegates to England to form an English community while others went to South America
Eventually attitudes changed and the first post-Inquisition synagogue was built in Lisbon in 1902. In the 20th century two events occurred
In 1916 Jews in Belmonte who thought they were the only remaining Jews where found by a Swiss engineer and rejoined the world Jewish community. A Portuguese army officer called Captain Barros Basto converted from a Marrano to a Jew who saw his mission as reviving Judaism in Portugal. Lisbon now has memorials where the 1506 massacre occurred. |
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For more than 300 years no Jew, officially, existed in the country. It was not until Charles I was beheaded that the Jews felt safe to return. Then, in 1656 a Dutch Jew named Menasseh ben Israel, petitioned Oliver Cromwell to allow his people to return. Cromwell (the Lord Protector on the execution of Charles 1) dissolved the meeting and gave the rich Jews of Amsterdam permission to come to London and transfer their vital trade interests with the Spanish Main from Holland to England. So, in the middle of the 17th century, around 300 Marano merchants - Spanish and Portuguese Jews - settled in London. In 1701 they erected the country's first purpose-built synagogue, Bevis Marks, the only building in Europe where Jewish worship has continued without interruption for more than 300 years. In 1846 the Religious Opinions Relief Act removed a certain number of minor disabilities which affected the Jews of England as well as other dissenters from the Established Church, and the only portal which still remained closed to the Jews was that of Parliament. In 1858, Lionel de Rothschild took the oath, substituting "so help me, Jehovah" for the ordinary form of oath, and thereupon took his seat as the first Jewish member of Parliament; David Salomons was re-elected for Greenwich in a by-election and took his seat in early 1859. Two years later a more general form of oath for all members of Parliament was introduced, which freed the Jews from all cause of exclusion. |
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Later, Jews settled in the new Spanish and Portuguese colonies in South and Central America and the Caribbean hoping they would be safe from the Inquisition. Some took part in the conquest of the "New World,". By the mid-17th century, the largest Jewish communities in the Western Hemisphere were located in Suriname and Brazil. Today, there are more than 500,000 Jews in Latin America, mostly in Argentina and Brazil.
Many Portuguese immigrants from Spain were "New Christians", or "Marranos", for they had officially converted to Catholicism rather than be banished or killed. The first officially sanctioned Marrano group was given license in 1502 to settle in Brazil and export the brazil wood back to Portugal. The Marranos began farming, and it is believed that the first sugar cane was brought by a Jewish farmer from Madeira to Brazil in 1532. Sugar cane became the foundation of the Caribbean economy for several centuries. The Marranos became rich plantation owners, businessmen, importers, even writers and teachers. |
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