rationeel schreef op 4 augustus 2019 14:54:
SPANISH INQUISITION: 527 YEARS AGO, JEWS IN SPAIN MADE IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE
Today, some>>> 200 million >>>people may be descendant of the Spanish and Portuguese communities forced to convert to Christianity.
BY ILANIT CHERNICK
On July 31, 1492, practicing Jews living in Spain had to make a decision: Convert to Christianity or leave.
The>>> 1492>>> Edict of Expulsion was instituted mainly to eliminate the>>> influence>>> of practicing Jews on Spain’s large converso population and ensure they did >>>not revert>>> to Judaism.
The expulsion of the Jews brought an>>> end to the largest and most distinguished Jewish community in Europe.>>>
According>>> Ashley Perry (Perez)>>>, president of>>> Reconectar>>>, a project that focuses on >>>“facilitating the reconnection of descendants of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish communities with the Jewish people,”>>> there could be some>>> 200>>> million people today that have>>> Jewish DNA.>>>
Genetic research released earlier this year found that>>> 25%>>> – or one in four – of>>> Hispanics and Latinos>>> have Jewish DNA.
>>>Perry>>>, who is also the director-general of the >>>Knesset Caucus for the Reconnection with the Bnei Anousim>>>, told The Jerusalem Post that he would argue that the>>> expulsion of the Jews from Spain and later Portugal>>> “is the most >>>significant>>> Jewish date in history since the>>> fall of the Second Temple>>>. It was the game-changing moment.”>>>
He explained that it was>>> “one of the>>> longest-[lasting] >>>Jewish communities in the world, >>>certainly one of the>>> most powerful>>> and the most >>>influential>>> Jewish community possibly in history>>> outside of the Land of Israel.”>>>
“When you think of all that we do in Judaism today – Halacha, Zionism – >>>everything>>> came from the>>> Iberian Peninsula, from Spain>>>,” Perry continued. “As a>>> result>>> of the expulsion, so many different>>> trends>>> were put in place in >>>Zionism, >>>Hassidism and even leading up to the>>> Holocaust>>>. So many events in Jewish history have their>>> roots>>> in the>>> expulsion>>> of the Jews from Spain.”
He made it clear that something that needs to be remembered is that>>> not >>>everyone had the >>>choice>>> to leave or stay. “Those who had been>>> forcibly>>> converted, which is possibly up to>>> half>>> of the whole Jewish population, were not allowed to leave, they did not have that choice.”
Perry described the >>>day of the expulsion as the moment in which>>> half>>> of the Jewish community was >>>disconnected one from the other.>>>
“We are only now, over >>>500>>> years later, beginning to see a>>> trend to reverse>>> that, with all these people who are reconnecting with the Jewish people,” he said. “It’s a very significant day; it set the wheels in motion for some of the most important events over the last 500 years. I would argue that we wouldn’t be where we are today with Zionism and the establishment of Jewish sovereignty in our>>> ancestral indigenous>>> homeland without the influence of that day, and everything that came about because of that date.”
Perry stressed that the>>> major influential>>> Jewish communities>>> today in the>>> US>>>, the >>>UK>>> and>>> other Western countries>>> are all formed out of Jews running away from the >>>Inquisition and exiles.>>>
ASKED ABOUT Reconectar and its role,>>> Perry>>, who himself is a>>> descendant>>> of the Spanish Jewish community, told the Post that the idea of the organization is to>>> allow >>>any of these>>> 200 million>>> descendants of the Spanish and Portuguese communities>>> to connect >>>with the >>>Jews of Israel>>> in>>> any way they see fit.>>>
“There are>>> two extremes>>> that this >>>stretches across>>>: There is >>>one extreme >>>who are>>> not interested>>> in doing anything else apart from wanting to>>> learn>>> more about their [Jewish] ancestry, and then it goes all the way over to the other>>> extreme>>> to people who want to>>> rejoin the Jewish people>>> and even make aliyah,” he said.
He said that for descendants of these communities, the Inquisition is still very much a part of their culture and identity.
>>>“On Yom Kippur,>>> 150>>> years after the edict was abolished,” Jewish descendants from these communities “say a>>> prayer>>> before >>>Kol Nidre>>> for the>>> welfare>>> of our >>>brethren>>> who were>>> imprisoned>>> during the >>>Inquisition>>>, because for us it’s not just the fact that the Inquisition is>>> physically ended>>>, but the>>> effects>>> of it are still >>>around>>> us,” Perry said, adding that a lot of >>>“our tradition is still bound by these events.”>>>
He also highlighted that>>> Portugal>>> is the only country in the world that holds a >>>day to commemorate the Inquisition>>>, and he stressed that he believes>>> Israel should institute such a day.>>>
The Inquisition’s edict was officially>>> abolished on July 15, 1834>>>, by a royal decree signed by regent>>> Maria Cristina de Borbon>>> with the approval of the cabinet president>>> Francisco Martínez de la Rosa.>>>
www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Spanish-Inquis...