Mexican Jews

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Mexican Jews are people of Jewish heritage or faith who were born in Mexico, reside in Mexico, or both.

Contents 1 History 2 Guadalajara 3 Monterrey 4 Conversos

[edit] History

See also: History of the Jews in Latin America

There have been Jews in Mexico dating back to 1492, when many Sephardic Jews fled Spain and settled in Mexico, escaping the Inquisition. Some of these Spanish Jews were forced to convert to Catholicism (Converso Jews), while other maintained their Jewish religious practices in secret (for which many were killed in what is known as the Mexican Inquisition. Due to the strong Catholic Church presence in Mexico, few Jews migrated there after the Spanish Conquest of Mexico until the late 1800s. Then, a number of German Jews settled in Mexico as a result of invitations from Maximilian I of Mexico, followed by a huge wave of Ashkenazic Jews fleeing pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe. A second large wave of immigration occurred as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, leading many Sephardic Jews from Turkey, Syria, Morocco, and parts of France to flee. Finally, a wave of immigrants fled the increasing Nazi persecutions in Europe during World War II.

Today, there are between 100,000 and 150,000 Mexican Jews. There are several sectors in the Jewish community in Mexico, the biggest of which are the Ashkenazi community, the Maguén David and Monte Sinai communities (descended from Syrian immigrants) and the Sephardic community (primarily descended from Turkish immigrants). While most Jews in Mexico are concentrated in Mexico City, there are substantial Jewish communities in Guadalajara, Monterrey and more recently in Tijuana and Cancún. The "Centro Deportivo Israelita" is a social, cultural and sporting institution which includes members from all Jewish communities. Jews are considered to be part of the elite white in Mexico and have enjoyed great economic success in the country.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Guadalajara

The Jewish community in Guadalajara is continually shrinking and has approximately 150 families. The community is made up of almost an equal number of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews. Originally the two groups had separate synagogues and didn’t intermarry; eventually the two groups united and almost all of the younger families are made up of mixed Sephardic-Ashkenazi marriages. There is a community center — similar to that of a Jewish Community Center in the United States — which is the center of Jewish life in the city. The center has a sports facility and a Jewish day school, and also houses the synagogue. Because the Jews of Guadalajara rarely marry outside the Jewish community, most young adults who are interested in getting married are inclined to move to Mexico City, which has a larger Jewish population.^{[citation needed]} This is the main cause of the diminishing population of the community.

In recent years the community became Modern Orthodox, which caused a sizeable part of the community to break off and form a new Conservative temple and community center. This move to Modern Orthodox caused deep divisions within the community, splitting families between the two temples – intermarriage and conversions are were the main issues causing the divide.^{[citation needed]}

Among well known Jews from Guadalajara is Erick Elias, an actor, model, and singer who has enjoyed rising fame in the Spanish speaking world.

[edit] Monterrey

The Jewish Community of Monterrey has many similarities to that of the Jewish community in Guadalajara. Monterrey’s founders were crypto-jewish conversos who represented the first European settlers in the vast, hostile, Amerindian territories, initially called Nuevo Leon by the new settlers. In recent times has seen the arrival of Ashkenazi communities from Europe. There is a community center that is the center of Jewish life, which houses the synagogue, day school, and sports facilities. Although the synagogue is Modern Orthodox, most of the families adhere to a lifestyle most similar to that of the Conservative movement. The community is currently facing shrinking numbers, although unlike Guadalajara no groups have broken off.

[edit] Conversos

There are also some Mexicans who consider themselves descendants of Conversos, Jews who converted to Catholicism to escape the Inquisition, but retained some Jewish heritage (like lighting candles on Friday nights). For example, the famous painter and Converso descendant Diego Rivera wrote in 1935, "Jewishness is the dominant element in my life. From this has come my sympathy with the downtrodden masses which motivates all my work."