Neo-Western Sephardim

Neo-Western Sephardim refers to a small but growing population among the Sephardic Bnei Anusim in Iberia and Ibero-America who in the late 20th and early 21st centuries have recently begun returning to Judaism.

Descended from Sephardi Jews, some of these organized groups now operate as functional communities of public Judaizers. These communities consist of various groups categorised by Jewish religious status, which include:

History

A nascent community, their history is still currently in evolution and is presently intertwined with the history of the Sephardic Bnei Anusim. For more information, please also see that article.

In the last 5 to 10 years, a growing number "of [Sephardic] Benei Anusim have been established in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and in Sefarad [Iberia] itself" as "organized groups,"[1] some of whom have formally reverted to Judaism.

Relation to other Sephardi communities

The term Sephardi means "Spanish" or "Hispanic", and is derived from Sepharad, a Biblical location. The location of the biblical Sepharad is disputed, but Sepharad was identified by later Jews as Hispania, that is, the Iberian Peninsula. Sepharad still means "Spain" in modern Hebrew.

The relationship between Sephardi-descended communities is illustrated in the following diagram:

 
 
 
 
 
 
Pre-Expulsion Sephardi Jewish Population of Iberia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Spanish Alhambra Decree of 1492, Portuguese Decree of 1497
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Iberian Exile in the late 15th century
 
Conversion to Catholicism up to the late 15th century
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
North African Sephardim
 
Eastern Sephardim
 
Sephardic Anusim
 
 
Those Jews fleeing from Iberia as Jews in the late 15th century at the issuance of Spain and Portugal's decrees of expulsion. Initially settled in North Africa.
 
Those Jews fleeing from Iberia as Jews in the late 15th century at the issuance of Spain and Portugal's decrees of expulsion. Initially settled in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond.
 
Those Jews in Spain and Portugal who, in an effort to delay or avoid their expulsion (and in most cases in Portugal, in an effort by Manuel I of Portugal to prevent the Jews from choosing the option of exile), are forced or coerced to convert to Catholicism up until the late 15th century, at the expiration of the deadline for their expulsion, conversion, or execution as set out in the decrees. Became conversos/New Christians in Iberia. As Christians, were under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church and subject to the Inquisition.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Migration of Conversos from the 16th to 18th centuries
 
Clandestine migration of conversos to Ibero-America and their settlement during colonization from the 16th to 18th centuries
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reversion to Judaism from the 16th to 18th centuries
 
Extension of the Inquisition to Ibero-America in the 16th century
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Western Sephardim
 
Sephardic Bnei Anusim
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The first few generations of descendants of Sephardic Anusim who migrated as conversos out of Iberia (to regions beyond the Iberian cultural sphere) between the 16th to 18th centuries where they then reverted to Judaism. Initially settled in the Netherlands, London, Italy, etc.
 
The later generation descendants of Sephardic Anusim who remained, as conversos, in Iberia or moved to the Iberian colonial possessions across various Latin American countries during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Subject to the Inquisition until its abolition in the 19th century
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Abolition of the Inquisition in the 19th century
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reversion to Judaism in the 20th to 21st centuries
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Neo-Western Sephardim
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The nascent and growing population of returnees to Judaism among the Sephardic Bnei Anusim population whose recent return began in the late 20th and early 21st centuries in Iberia and Ibero-America.
 

The common feature between Western Sephardim, Sephardic Bnei Anusim, and Neo-Western Sephardim is that all three are descended from conversos. "Western Sephardim" are descendents of ex-conversos from earlier centuries; "Sephardic Bnei Anusim" are the still nominally Christian descendants of conversos; and "Neo-Western Sephardim" are the increasing in number modern-day ex-conversos returning to Judaism from among the Sephardic Bnei Anusim population.

The distinguishing factor between "Western Sephardim" and the nascent "Neo-Western Sephardim" is the time frame of the reversions to Judaism, the location of the reversions, and the precarious religious and legal circumstances surrounding their reversions (including impediments and persecutions). Thus, the converso descendants who became the Western Sephardim had reverted to Judaism between the 16th and 18th centuries, they did so at a time before the abolition of the Inquisition in the 19th century, and this time frame necessitated their migration out of the Iberian cultural sphere. Conversely, the converso descendants who are today becoming the nascent Neo-Western Sephardim have been reverting to Judaism between the late 20th and early 21st centuries, they have been doing so at a time after the abolition of the Inquisition in the 19th century, and this time frame has not necessitated their migration out of the Iberian cultural sphere.

Neo-Western Sephardic communities

In Iberia, practicing Jews of modern returnee Sephardic origins were re-established in the 20th century and early 21st centuries.

One such community's history, the Jewish community of Oporto, was initially founded by a campaign of outreach to Oporto's crypto-Jews of Sephardic Bnei Anusim origins. As such, those among the Oporto community's members who are modern-day Portuguese returnees to Judaism are among the first, if not the first, community which may be regarded as being Neo-Western Sephardim. Although currently, the community is guided by the philosophy of Chabad Lubavitch and also counts among its members Jews of various other origins such as Poland, Egypt, the United States, India, Russia, Israel, Spain, and England, the Oporto community's members who descend from recent Portuguese returnees would constitute the delineating point between Western Sephardim and Neo-Westerm Sephardim, being that they are clearly distinguishable from the returnees to Judaism of earlier centuries (who became the Western Sephardim) by the fact that the emergence of the returnee Jews of Oporto as open practicing Jew was a result of their return to Judaism occurring: 1) in the modern era, 2) after the abolition of the Inquisition, 3) within the Spanish/Portuguese world itself, and 4) from among the population of Sephardic Bnei Anusim.

The Oporto community's return to Judaism was led by the returnee to Judaism Captain Artur Carlos de Barros Basto (1887–1961), known also as the "apostle of the Marranos". In 1921, realizing that there were less than twenty Ashkenazi Jews living in Porto, and that recent returnees to Judaism like himself were not organized and had to travel to Lisbon for religious purposes whenever necessary, Barros Basto began to think about building a synagogue and took initiative in 1923 to officially register the Jewish Community of Porto and the Israelite Theological Center in the City Council of Porto.

More recent examples of Neo-Western Sephardic communities include the Belmonte Jews in Portugal, whose public reemergence as an open practicing Jewish community dates back to the 1970's after crypto-Jews were rediscovered in 1917 by a Polish Jewish mining engineer named Samuel Schwarz.

Even more recently the Xuetes of Spain also constitute the single largest community of recognised Neo-Western Sephardim after the entire community of Sephardic Bnei Anusim in the island of Majorca was extended a blanket recognition as official Jews in 2011 by Rabbinical authorities in Israel due to their particular historical circumstances on the island (as opposed to other Sephardic Bnei Anusim) which effectively resulted in a strict social isolation of the Xuetes imposed upon them by their non-Jewish-descended neighors up until modern times.[2]

Beyond these mentioned communities, in the last five to ten years, a growing number "of [Sephardic] Benei Anusim have been established in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and in Sefarad [Iberia] itself" as "organized groups."[3] Some members of these communities have formally reverted to Judaism, adding to the numbers of Neo-Western Sephardim.

Many recent Portuguese returnees to Judaism have chosen to join the Lisbon Masorti (Conservative) community Beit Israel, which uses the Ashkenazi rite, rather than the older Orthodox Sephardic communities, as the latter have raised more difficulties about their religious status.[4] It is unknown to what extent crypto-Judaism still exists in Spain and Portugal.

Language

Neo-Western Sephardim, as with Sephardic Bnei Anusim, traditionally speak Modern Spanish and Modern Portuguese. In most cases these varieties have incorporated loanwords from the indigenous languages of the Americas introduced following the Spanish conquest.

This is in contrast to the traditional languages spoken by the earlier ex-converso Western Sephardim, which although was also both Spanish and Portuguese, it was in the Early Modern Spanish and Early Modern Portuguese forms — including in a mixture of the two, and used even liturgically.

It also differs from the language traditionally spoken by Eastern Sephardim and North African Sephardim, which were even older archaic Old Spanish-derived Judaeo-Spanish dialects of Ladino and Haketia (a mixture of Old Spanish, Hebrew, and Aramaic, plus various other languages depending on the area of their settlement).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Moshe, ben Levi (2012). La Yeshivá Benei Anusim: El Manual de Estudios Para Entender las Diferencias Entre el Cristianismo y el Judaismo. Palibrio. p. 20. ISBN 9781463327064.
  2. ↑ "Chuetas of Majorca recognized as Jewish"; Jerusalem Post 07/12/2011
  3. ↑ Moshe, ben Levi (2012). La Yeshivá Benei Anusim: El Manual de Estudios Para Entender las Diferencias Entre el Cristianismo y el Judaismo. Palibrio. p. 20. ISBN 9781463327064.
  4. ↑ http://www.masortiworld.org/molami/kehilla/por1. See also Jules Harlow.
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