Secret Jews

The Complex Identity of Crypto-Jews and Crypto-Judaism

By: Dr. Juan Marcos Bejarano-Gutierrez

Narrated by: Caleb Ryan Brown

Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Chapter One, titled The Rise of the Converso Problem, provides the historical context for the mass conversions of 1391. It will do so by providing a survey of important events in the history of Iberian Jewry from the Late Roman Period until the massacres of1391.

The second chapter, titled Christian Attitudes Towards Conversos, surveys the range of Christian views towards Conversos during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The idea of super sessionism was critical to Christians' understanding of Jews. This idea that Christians had replaced the Jews as the chosen people of God was and remains a cornerstone of Christian thought.

The third chapter, titled Jewish Attitudes Towards Apostates, will review the social and theological challenges that apostasy posed for Jews. While most Jews understood the circumstances they faced, Conversos had technically adopted a pagan religion. This fact impacted various aspects of Jewish identity including marriage and divorce, and the permissibility of food and wine prepared by apostates. How relapsed converts were accepted and treated in the Jewish community is another point of interest. Chapter six will expand on this topic by providing greater detail on concrete examples of interaction between Jews and Conversos.

The fourth chapter, titled Types of Conversos, relates the major categories of Conversos which existed and the motivations for their conversions. It will be demonstrated that most converts were not sincere in their conversions and did so only to escape violence, crippling poverty, or judicial punishment. Others did so to break free of the social and economic limitations Jews had increasingly endured as a religious minority under Christian rule.

The fifth chapter, titled Skeptical Conversos, focuses on those Conversos who gave up on both religious traditions and endeavored to create a world where religious affiliations were no longer the determining factor in a person's life. The violence of 1391 had presented them with a choice of life or death. Their coerced adoption of Christianity and the anti-Converso sentiment that arose may have led them to conclude that all religious beliefs were pointless.

The sixth chapter, titled Jewish Attitudes Towards Conversos, will discuss the range of emotions and attitudes towards Conversos, which were held by unbaptized Jews. The continuing family bonds, which tied Jews and Conversos were an important factor in the relations between these two groups. Even those Jews not bound by blood were often supportive of Conversos and expressed this by providing them with kosher food, teaching them Hebrew, and giving them access to Jewish ritualitems. They risked their fortunes and lives in doing so.

The seventh chapter, titled Modern Day Conversos, will survey various accounts of modern Conversos ranging from Spain and Portugal to Latin America, and the American Southwest. Hundreds if not thousands of individuals, from Hispanic backgrounds, have claimed Converso ancestry and have acted to reintegrate themselves into the Jewish community in some form or fashion.

The last chapter, titled The Crypto-Jewish Controversy, discusses the scholarly debate over the veracity of Inquisitional records. The discussion is important since how the motivations of the Inquisition impacts how the subject of Crypto-Judaism is understood. A brief review of scholarship on the Inquisition and Crypto-Judaism is included.

©2016 Juan Marcos Gutierrez (P)2021 Juan Marcos Gutierrez

Great Book, Horrible Narration

The book was really well written and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but as a Spanish speaker it was difficult to listen to. The narrator had the worst Spanish pronunciation that I've ever heard in an Audible book, and there are a lot of Spanish words in this book, so I was constantly cringing at the horrible pronunciation. Additionally, the audio edits are sometimes bad, allowing me to hear when they spliced recordings. Not a big deal, but not up to the standards I expect from Audible.

If it weren't for the poor narration, I'd give this book five stars, but the narration really was that bad. Please get it fixed, Dr. Bejarano-Gutierrez!

Interesting book, unqualified narrator

Those who are interested in Jewish history will find this history of the secret Jews of Spain a valuable resource. Forced to convert to Christianity by violent pogroms, these people were then subjected to persecution because the sincerity of their conversion was doubted. It's a long and complex story. told with much detail (sometimes too much). A story definitely worth attention. Unfortunately, the narrator frequently has marked difficulty pronouncing the names of people and places. I have over a hundred titles from Audible. This is only the second time I have had to write that the poor choice narrator substantially affected my enjoyment of the book. I wanted to rate it zero stars for performance, but that isn't allowed.

secret jews

this is an excellent book on the fate of spanish Jewery. when I was a child in school I learned about Columbus sailing in 1492 but I never learned about anti-semitism. I never learned about the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492. this is a subject a lot of people don't know anything about and I found this book to be very informative. if you are interested in Jewish history you will learn a lot from this book

Fascinating historical review

Fantastic historical review of the experience of Jews in Iberia and how it plays out today. My only tip for improvement would have been for a Jewish narrator. For those difficult to enunciate Jewish religious terms.

Complex

A detailed and complete account of complex and difficult history., He explores many angles and takes an unbiased stance .

Comment

The reader of this book neglected to inform himself on how to pronounce the many Spanish words and names correctly. He also occasionally mispronounces English words. In his favor, I would say he has a very pleasant sounding voice.