Stanley M. Hordes. To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. 376 pp. $24.50, paper, ISBN 978-0-231-12937-4.
Reviewed by Kathleen Holscher
Published on H-NewMexico (August, 2009)
Commissioned by Tomas Jaehn (Special Collections/Center for Southwest Research)
New Mexico's history as a frontier, represent‐ cate a Jewish heritage, descended from Sephardic ing during diferent epochs the outer reaches of conversos (forced converts to Catholicism) ex‐ Spanish, Mexican, and American political and cul‐ pelled from Inquisition-era Spain. Hordes sup‐ tural infuence, has left a strong imprint on reli‐ ports the assertion that the Sephardic tradition gion in the state. The variety that characterizes re‐ survived in New Mexico, and his book aims to ligious life in New Mexico today is a legacy of dis‐ demonstrate its endurance: "It is a logical--indeed, parate traditions, native and European, that met compelling--endeavor to ascertain the existence and mingled during its frontier eras. The region's and nature of a crypto-Jewish presence in New religion also bears the marks of people attracted Mexico over ... the past four centuries" (p. 9). The to New Mexico because it was a frontier. Geo‐ history Hordes assembles to this end is generally graphic remoteness and the separation from polit‐ persuasive. To the End of the Earth ofers a well- ical and ecclesiastic authority have always held a researched and clearly presented case for the con‐ special appeal for persecuted religious communi‐ tinuation of concealed Jewish traditions over ties. Historian Stanley M. Hordes ofers an ac‐ time, and for their eventual relocation to New count of one such community--the crypto-Jews--in Mexico. his book To the End of the Earth. Hordes's story begins on the Iberian Peninsu‐ Hordes's book is a historical contribution to a la where, in the shadow of the Reconquista, debate over the provenance of present-day prac‐ Spain's Jews were coerced into adopting Roman tices, family stories, and genetic traits asserted Catholicism. The conversions that resulted, how‐ among some twenty-frst-century Hispano New ever, neither ended the practice of Judaism Mexicans, and labeled collectively by scholars as among the population nor allayed the suspicion of "crypto-Jewish." Since the 1980s, scholarly debate civil and church authorities toward these New has raged over whether these characteristics indi‐ Christians. When the Holy Ofce of the Inquisi‐ H-Net Reviews tion convened in Spain in the late ffteenth centu‐ 1656 told her confessor that "she observed the ry, tens of thousands of alleged judaizantes faced Law of Moses with exquisite rites and cere‐ penance, punishment, and eventual expulsion monies" (p. 142). He ofers, too, the provocative if from the kingdom. Within decades, conversos less-conclusive story of a former governor and his feeing to neighboring Portugal found similarly wife, arrested on allegations of observing Friday dire conditions. In this climate, some New Chris‐ cleansing rituals in anticipation of the Sabbath. In tian families relocated farther afeld. Conversos, this instance, the couple was eventually cleared like the wealthy merchant Simón Váez Sevilla, of judaizante activities--a reminder to readers of recognized in New Spain the opportunities of a the disputability of even the most "revealing" In‐ young mercantile economy, well removed from quisition documents. Nevertheless, the totality of the intolerance of the peninsula. Hordes traces evidence Hordes provides is compelling; consid‐ the movement of these conversos through the sev‐ ered as a whole, it indicates a distinct, crypto-Jew‐ enteenth century, and he ofers strong evidence of ish community in seventeenth-century New Mexi‐ their collectively maintained--if publicly con‐ co. cealed--Jewish identity. Crypto-Judaism in New In the book's fnal chapters, Hordes extends Spain was lived through close-knit patronage and his narrative of crypto-Jewish survival from the commercial networks; ethnocentric residential Spanish period to the present. In the absence of and marriage practices; and wide adherence to Inquisition records for this later period, he does religious rituals, including Sabbath observances his best to assemble a history from the scarce and male circumcision. sources he has at hand. He traces bloodlines ex‐ Despite New Spain's "atmosphere of relative tensively; identifes "characteristically Jewish oc‐ toleration," the Inquisition eventually arrived in cupations"; and points to the use of Jewish biblical that corner of Christendom as well (p. 33). By names, like Abraham and Benjamin, in nine‐ 1642, even the powerful Vaéz Sevilla found him‐ teenth-century New Mexico (p. 192). That said, self arrested as a judaizante and imprisoned sev‐ here he lacks the details of religious behavior and en years before being expelled back to Spain. self-recognition that make his portrait of crypto- Hordes argues that the Inquisition's escalation in Judaism in earlier eras so compelling. Hordes the New World, and the threat of punishment it does make a convincing case for the survival of brought with it, prompted many Spanish crypto- Jewish families over this long period, and even for Jews to remove yet again--traveling north this the scattered remnants of Judaic tradition. The time with the expanding frontier. He identifes reader is left less sure, however, of the fate of a converso descendents in the vanguard of Spanish coherent crypto-Judaism. While additional evi‐ ventures to present-day New Mexico. Many mem‐ dence (should it ever surface) might prove reveal‐ bers of Juan de Oñate's 1598 expedition, for exam‐ ing in this regard, something further is needed to ple, came from Jewish families. Having estab‐ fully understand this period--a clarifcation of the lished a lineage, Hordes then turns his attention defnition of "crypto-Judaism" itself. What charac‐ to demonstrating a coherent crypto-Jewish identi‐ teristics are essential to crypto-Judaism and nec‐ ty among New Mexico's early settlers. Here, he of‐ essary for its survival? Hordes's work demon‐ fers strong circumstantial evidence, such as ties to strates genealogical survival defnitively. His re‐ active crypto-Jewish communities in Spain or search shows that some twenty-frst-century New Mexico City and endogamous marriage patterns, Mexicans do have Sephardic ancestry. He leaves punctuated by more revealing moments, again some questions about cultural survival, however, drawn from Inquisition records. Hordes recalls, partially unanswered. To what extent--and for for example, the words of a Santa Fe girl, who in how long--did Catholic ancestors of the
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Sephardim continue to participate in a meaning‐ ful Jewish religious world? And, on a related note, how are we to make sense of the less-than-coher‐ ent legacy of Judaism in New Mexico today? Hordes's own evidence suggests complicated answers to these questions. He points out, for ex‐ ample, that by the early twentieth century crypto- Jews were converting to Protestantism, some with apparent enthusiasm. Today, most New Mexicans who engage in "Jewish" practices do so as loyal Catholics or Protestants, with no awareness of the origins of their actions. Facts like these test the ap‐ plicability of the category of "crypto-Jew"--or at least point to the drastic change in its meaning over time. For descendents of crypto-Jews, as for many frontier people, religious identity changed, morphed, and hybridized. The gradual movement of conversos and their descendents out of a coher‐ ent Jewish world, and their halting entry into a Christian one, suggests that the category of "cryp‐ to-Jew" (with all its secretive, intentional reso‐ nance) might not accurately describe later genera‐ tions of converso families. Genealogical continu‐ ity is only one step in understanding the dynamic cultural history of people descended from Sephardic Jews. That said, by both assembling the genealogical legacy of Judaism in New Mexico, and supplementing it with rich insight into the ev‐ eryday practices of crypto-Jewish communities in New Spain, Hordes has made a remarkable con‐ tribution to the study of these people.
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Citation: Kathleen Holscher. Review of Hordes, Stanley M. To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico. H-NewMexico, H-Net Reviews. August, 2009.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=23916
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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