Research Catalog

Title

Secrecy and deceit : the religion of the Crypto-Jews / David M. Gitlitz ; introduction by Ilan Stavans.

Author

Gitlitz, David M. (David Martin)

Publication

Albuquerque, N.M. : University of New Mexico Press, c2002.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxi, 677 p. : ill.; 25 cm.

Summary

"Secrecy and Deceit documents the religious customs of the Iberian Jews who converted to Catholicism, largely under duress, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Although many of the converts quickly melded into the Catholic mainstream, thousands of others and their descendents strove to preserve their Jewish culture despite the efforts of the Inquisition to suppress them." "The book details crypto-Jewish culture in Spain, Portugal, and their American colonies, principally Mexico, Peru, and Brazil. The author uses Inquisition records, chronicles, rabbinical rulings, letters, eyewitness accounts, religious books, and other historical documents to give the most thorough and accurate picture of crypto-Jews ever cataloged. This book raises questions about living outside a Jewish community and what happens to religions of approximation."--BOOK JACKET.

Series Statement

Jewish Latin America

Uniform Title

Jewish Latin America

Subjects

• History
• Crypto-Jews > Iberian Peninsula > Religious life
• Spain > Ethnic relations
• Jews > Spain > History

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 629-651) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

• Converso Chronology -- Pt. I Historical Introduction -- Conversions and Conversos through 1492 -- Conversos after 1492 -- The Major Points of Controversy -- Pt. II The Religious Customs of the Crypto-Jews -- The Crypto-Jewish Belief System -- Attitudes toward Christian Beliefs -- Superstitions -- Birth Customs -- Education -- Marriage and Sex -- Ritual Purification and Hygiene
• Death and Funeral Customs -- Sabbath Customs -- Holidays -- Books -- Crypto-Jewish Ritual and Prayer -- Oaths -- Communal Organizations, Synagogues, Rabbis -- Clothing and Ceremonial Items -- Food and Dietary Laws -- Conversion -- The Social Contexts of Crypto-Judaism -- Edict of Faith.

ISBN

082632813X (pbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2001059015

OCLC

• 48551010
• SCSB-11228013

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library