Targeting Jews and Latinos: Perspectives on the War of Ideologies and the Rhetoric of Antisemitism on Returnees to Judaism Presentation. Delivered on August 11th 2025 as part of the Finding Your Voice panel at 35th SCJS conference.

In this week show we feature two presentations from the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies Conference. As we study the modern phenomenon of the descendants of the Anusim reclaiming their Sephardic Jewish heritage, we must point out that Jews and Latinos have a lot in common. For instance, in contemporary American culture Jews are still being maligned as the scary other, suspicious chameleon or enemies of Christianity (I will cite specific examples at the end of this document). At the same time, Latinos are often dismissed as invaders, illegitimate members of society and are seen as possible criminal elements infiltrating North American society. In my research on the subject I have found that the challenges faced by both Latin American immigrants and those who found out about their Jewish heritage are intertwined. Currently Jews have lost the admiration of the public and Latinos are often underrepresented in popular culture. There is also the depiction of Jews as an eternal boogeyman and in the Jewish community the concept of the “marrano” is used as a stand-in for a “bad Jew.” Ashkenasi Jews speak of Crypto-Jews similarly to the Spanish term “inadaptado;” someone who does not work well with others and can’t find their place in the world. Growing up in Mexico I was shocked when I found out that the term ladino commonly used as a synonym for scoundrel was connected to the Sephardic language used in the Mediterranean.

Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 10 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…