In 1492 Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue. It was the beginning the Spanish Empire that began with Columbus and ran through 1763. The Spanish colonized present day Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, the Philippines and parts of the southwestern United States. The Spanish Inquisition began in 1480 when the Catholic Church in Spain started accumulating information about the religious practices of the Spanish Jews. By 1492 they were given an ultimatum: Convert them to Catholicism or leave the country.
Sephardic Ancestors
Sephardic Jews lived in Spain, Portugal, North Africa, and the Middle East. The word “Sephardic” comes from the Hebrew word for “Hispania” or “Iberia.” They speak Ladino which is a combination of Spanish, Hebrew, and Arabic. Many Spanish words used in New Mexico today are derived from Ladino. Ashkenazi Jews lived in Central and Eastern Europe, including Germany, Poland, and Russia. The word “Ashkenazi” comes from the Medieval Hebrew word for “Germany.” Many of them speak Yiddish which is German and Hebrew.
Just as the Native Americans were forced to convert to Christianity while secretly honoring their own spirituality, many of New Mexico’s early Spanish settlers also practiced a hidden faith. They were the Sephardic Jews who had eluded the Inquisition under the guise of being conversos, Jews who had converted to Catholicism. They became known as crypto-Jews because they practiced their Jewish faith secretly while presenting a different persona to the public. Of the 19 founding families of Santa Fe, 11 our believed to have been Jewish. Throughout New Mexico clues continue to be discovered that confirm the hidden spirituality of the crypto-Jews.
Cemetery Secrets
The mystery of why people put a Star of David with a Catholic cross on their gravestones is a complicated one. The grave marker is found in a Catholic cemetery in northern New Mexico. The altar at San Felipe de Neri Church in Albuquerque featured the Star of David. It worked as a reminder of the previous homeland of the Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain.