Secret Legacies: Preserving the Mosaic Religion among the Crypto-Jews of 17th-Century New Spain

Abstract

The crypto-Jews who arrived in New Spain fleeing from the Spanish Inquisition in the early 17th century continued to practice their Mosaic faith in secret. While carrying out their rituals in secrecy, the religion became domestic and familial, giving rise to spiritual guides, known as «dogmatists» (by the inquisitors), who took on the role of men in the liturgy to practice and perpetuate their faith. We understand that Judaism, beyond being a religion, is a tradition and a way of life that adapts to the circumstances of those who practice it. Therefore, in colonial Mexican society, its transmission was marked by peculiarities derived from censorship. Some of the paradoxes faced by crypto-Jews included: how did the ancient legacy of Judaism clandestinely merge with forced Christian practices? How to promote messianic hope when prohibition and fear prevailed? What were the most significant and meaningful rituals taught to children, and why? The goal of this work is to showcase some forms of «disguise» to transmit their Mosaic beliefs, both to children capable of keeping the secret and to newcomers to the New World who underwent a process of reversion to reclaim their religion. All this to demostrate that, despite fear and prohibition, the need for a sense of belonging, spiritual connection, and shared values formed an identity that defined them as individuals and as a community.