DNA Clears the Fog Over Latino Links to Judaism in New Mexico

[richlevy]

According to this story, DNA Clears the Fog Over Latino Links to Judaism (use www.bugmenot.com), a significant number of Latinos in parts of New Mexico and Texas may be descended from 'secret Jews' forced to hide their religion or covert by the Inquisition.

ALBUQUERQUE — As a boy, Father William Sanchez sensed he was different. His Catholic family spun tops on Christmas, shunned pork and whispered of a past in medieval Spain. If anyone knew the secret, they weren't telling, and Sanchez stopped asking.

Then three years ago, after watching a program on genealogy, Sanchez sent for a DNA kit that could help track a person's background through genetic footprinting. He soon got a call from Bennett Greenspan, owner of the Houston-based testing company.
"He said, 'Did you know you were Jewish?' "

I heard a similar story about a cab driver in Spain who became a cab driver in Israel after he found out.

In 1492, Jews in Spain where given the choice of conversion to Catholicism or expulsion. Many fled, but others faked conversions while practicing their faith in secret. These crypto-Jews were hounded throughout the Spanish Inquisition.

"In the 1530s and 1540s, you began to see converted Jews coming to Mexico City, where some converted back to Judaism," said Moshe Lazar, a professor of comparative literature at USC and an expert on Sephardic Jews, or those from Spain and Portugal. "The women preserved their tradition. They taught their daughters the religion. People began rediscovering their Jewishness, but remained Catholics."

But in 1571, the Inquisition came to Mexico. Authorities were given lists to help identify crypto-Jews, Lazar said. People who didn't eat pork, knelt imperfectly in church, rubbed water quickly off newly baptized babies or didn't work on Saturday were suspect. If arrested, they were sometimes burned at the stake.

Many fled to what is now northern New Mexico, and remained secretive even after the U.S. gained control of the area in 1848.

I am always amazed at the entire concept of forced conversion. IMO, a person can't have much real faith in their religion if they believe that the only way to get some people to accept it is by torture and intimidation.

Since discovering his past, Father Sanchez — who wears a Star of David around his neck — has traveled throughout the state giving talks on the history and genealogy of New Mexico. He also runs the Nuevo Mexico DNA Project and website that tells how people can take part.

Sanchez describes his Jewish history as "a beautiful thing" complementing, not conflicting with, his priestly life.

"I have always known I was Jewish; I can't explain it, but it was woven into who I was," he said.

After Mass one recent morning, a group of parishioners filed out of St. Edwin's. None had a problem with their priest's dueling religious traditions.

"He has taken us back to our roots," Robert Montoya said.

And Theresa Villagas smiled. "We are all children of God," she said. "I think this just adds richness to our lives."

It sounds like he has developed a really healthy attitude about it. Of course, it will be interesting to see what the Vatican thinks of his accomodation with his heritage when they read the article.

[Elspode]

Originally Posted by richlevy

I am always amazed at the entire concept of forced conversion. IMO, a person can't have much real faith in their religion if they believe that the only way to get some people to accept it is by torture and intimidation.

Torture and intimidation is the legacy of the Church. It was never about religion. It was about money, land and power. Period.

And in many cases...it still is.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Elspode

Torture and intimidation is the legacy of the Church. It was never about religion. It was about money, land and power. Period.

I'm not quite ready to believe that. Like many organizations, including our own government, you can find corrupt people at the top of many organized religions. However, IMO, there are a lot of good people trying to do their jobs throughout the hierarchy.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Elspode

Torture and intimidation is the legacy of the Church. It was never about religion. It was about money, land and power. Period.

At least by the time it was called "the Church" with a capital C...

[wolf]

One of my heroin users, with Hispanic first and last names, surprised me during an interview.

I was asking him the usual interview questions, and when I got to "highest level of education completed" instead of the usual, "I dropped out in 10th Grade and thought about getting a GED but never got around to it," he told me that he had a Masters. When I asked him "in what?" I learned that he was a rabbincal student ... couldn't speak a word of Spanish, but his Hebrew was perfect, at least according to our Israeli psychologist who spent a lot of time working with him. He's from an Orthodox Sephardic Jewish Family. Apparently Heroin is kosher.

He's still using heroin, but he has family bring him books on Kabbalah when he's inpatient.

[Cyber Wolf]

Originally Posted by richlevy

I'm not quite ready to believe that. Like many organizations, including our own government, you can find corrupt people at the top of many organized religions. However, IMO, there are a lot of good people trying to do their jobs throughout the hierarchy.

The people who didn't have power, money or land were most likely the ones with more actual religious faith than the ones with, like kings, emperors and popes and things. However, it's also those emperors and popes who tell the lower classes what to do and under the pretense of religious right. So, these lower classes would do X, Y and Z because Emperor PuffnStuff said so and since Emperor PuffNStuff is publicly of The True Religion™ then he must be moving with (insert Diety here)'s plan because he wouldn't have gotten to his supreme powerful position without being a chosen one of (aforementioned Diety), would he? And if they (publicly) didn't do it or (publicly) didn't follow the same religion Emperor PuffNStuff did, then they were forced to renounce, hunted, imprisoned, tortured, killed or worse... excommunicated.

All of the above can be applied to most of the major religions, not just Catholisicm or Christianity. It's kinda built in with the territory with religions that have heavy focus of having power, owning land and attaining material wealth in the name of a Diety.

[jaguar]

He's still using heroin, but he has family bring him books on Kabbalah when he's inpatient.

Isn't that some wierd quasi-cultish sect, kind of like those jehova's witness types?

[lookout123]

Originally Posted by jaguar

Isn't that some wierd quasi-cultish sect, kind of like those jehova's witness types?

ask madonna or just about any other trendy entertainer at this point. they're all wearing their strings.

[Elspode]

Christianity has an advantage that other religions lack - namely, the Evangelical Imperative. Christians must attempt to spread the word of Jesus so that people know they can be saved. This is what is known as "free will". Unfortunately, that free will is strictly an either/or proposition. There are only two choices, and only one is right.

That niftly little characteristic has been used as a front for imperialism, murder, rape, and wholesale theft of culture and entire continents. "Hi, we're from Europe. You should forget these Pagan gods of yours and worship our guy, Jesus. No? We'll have to kill you, then. Oh, look! Gold!" And so forth.

I suppose it doesn't really happen that way much anymore, but boy, back in the old days...

Nowadays, it just makes it really difficult to have a logical argument about religion, science, etc.

[jaguar]

ask madonna or just about any other trendy entertainer at this point. they're all wearing their strings.

'yes' would have sufficed

[OnyxCougar]

Q1.1 : What is Kabbalah?
Kabbalah is an aspect of Jewish mysticism. It consists of a large body of speculation on the nature of divinity, the creation, the origin and fate of the soul, and the role of human beings. It consists also of meditative, devotional, mystical and magical practices which were taught only to a select few and for this reason Kabbalah is regarded as an esoteric offshoot of Judaism. Some aspects of Kabbalah have been studied and used by non-Jews for several hundred years

According to Jewish tradition, the Torah (Torah - "Law" - the first five books of the Old Testament) was created prior to the world and she advised God on such weighty matters as the creation of human kind. When Moses received the written law from God, tradition has it that he also received the oral law, which was not written down, but passed from generation to generation. At times the oral law has been referred to as "Kabbalah" - the oral tradition.

The Torah was (and is) believed to be divine, and in the same way as the Torah was accompanied by an oral tradition, so there grew up a secret oral tradition which claimed to possess an initiated understanding of the Torah, its hidden meanings, and the divine power concealed within it. This is a principle root of the Kabbalistic tradition, a belief in the divinity of the Torah, and a belief that by studying this text one can unlock the secrets of the creation.

Another aspect of Jewish religion which influenced Kabbalah was the Biblical phenomenon of prophecy. The prophet was an individual chosen by God as a mouthpiece, and there was the implication that God, far from being a transcendental abstraction, was a being whom one could approach (albeit with enormous difficulty, risk, fear and trembling). Some Kabbalists believed that they were the inheritors of practical techniques handed down from the time of the Biblical prophets, and it is not impossible or improbable that this was in fact the case.

These two threads, one derived from the study of the Torah, the other derived from practical attempts to approach God, form the roots from which the Kabbalistic tradition developed.


Q1.5 Do I need to be Jewish to study Kabbalah?
Some aspects of traditional Kabbalah are so deeply intertwined with Jewish religious beliefs and practice that they are meaningless outside of this content. Other aspects of Kabbalah (what I refer to below as Hermetic Kabbalah) have been studied and practiced outside of Judaism for so long that they have a distinct identity in their own right, and no, you do not have to be Jewish to study them, any more than you need to be English to study the Law of Gravitation.

However, if you choose to study Kabbalah by name you should recognise that Kabbalah was and is a part of Judaism, and an important part of the history of Jewish people, and respect the beliefs which not only gave rise to Kabbalah, but which are still an essential part of Jewish faith..

Q1.6 : Is there an Obstacle to a Woman studying Kabbalah?
Within Judaism the answer is a resounding "Yes!": there are many obstacles. Perle Epstein relates some of her feelings on the subject in her book on Kabbalah (see the Reading List below).

The obstacles are largely grounded in traditional attitudes: it is less easy for a woman to find a Rabbi prepared to teach Kabbalah than it would be for a man. Persistence may reward (see below).

Outside of Judaism the answer is a resounding "No!": there are no obstacles. For the past one hundred years women have been active both in studying and in teaching Kabbalah.

~~taken from http://www.digital-brilliance.com/ka...WhatisKabbalah

[OnyxCougar]

I found this bit to be particularly interesting:

The term "the Great Work" has many definitions, and is not a term from traditional Kabbalah, but it has a modern usage among some Kabbalists. The quotation above, from a disciple of the Kabbalist R. Israel Baal Shem Tov, is a traditional Kabbalistic view: that the creation is in a damaged and imperfect state, and the Kabbalist, by virtue of his or her state of consciousness, can bring about a real healing. A name for this is "tikkun" (restoration). There are many traditional forms of tikkun, most of them prescriptions for essentially magical acts designed to bring about a healing in the creation.

[garnet]

I'm fascinated by other religions and had been wondering what Kabbalah was all about. Thanks for the explanation and link, OC!

[OnyxCougar]

I found this on the same site, and I'm struck by it's resemblance to some pagan rituals.

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
This ritual can be done to purify a room for further ritual work or meditation and can be used for protection. Its effects are primarily on the Astral (IMHO) though it uses the Earth pentagram. It also promotes a still mind, free of outside influenes which is a useful aid in meditation. It is therefore recommended that the ritual be used as part of a daily meditation work.

Stand facing East.
Perform the Qabalistic Cross
Touch forehead with first two (or index) fingers of right hand and visualizing a sphere of white light at that point, vibrate: Atah (translates roughly - Thou Art)
Lower hand to solar plexus and visualize a line extending down to your feet, vibrate: Malkuth (the Kingdom)
Raise hand and touch right shoulder visualizing a sphere of light there. Vibrate: Ve Geburah (and the power)
Extend the hand across the chest tracing a line of light and touch the left shoulder where another sphere of light forms. Vibrate: Ve Gedulah (and the glory).
Clasp hands in center of chest at crossing point of horizontal and vertical lines of light. Bow head and vibrate: Le Olam, Amen. (for ever - amen.)
Facing east, using either the extended fingers or a dagger, trace a large pentagram with the point up, starting at your left hip, up to just above your forehead, centered on your body, then down to your right hip, up and to your left shoulder, across to the right shoulder and down to the starting point in front of your left hip. Visualize the pentagram in blue flaming light. Stab you fingers or dagger into the center and vibrate: YHVH (Yod-heh-vahv-heh - which is the tetragrammaton translated into latin as Jehovah)
Turn to the south. Visualize that the blue flame follows you fingers or dagger, tracing a blue line from the east pentagram to the south. Repeat step three while facing South, except vibrate: Adonai (another name for god translated as Lord)
Turn to the West, tracing the blue flame from south to west. Repeat step 3, but vibrate: Eheieh (Eh-hay-yeah more or less - another name of God translated as I AM or I AM THAT I AM.) (Or "I will be" - Ed.)
Turn to the North, again tracing the blue flame from west to north. Repeat step 3, but vibrate: AGLA (Ah-gah-lah - a composite of Atah Gibor le olam Amen - see step 2)
Return again to the east, tracing the blue flame from North to East. Stab the fingers or dagger back again into the same spot as in step 3. You should now visualize that you are surrounded by four flaming pentagrams connected by a line of blue fire.
Extend your arms out to your sides, forming a cross. Vibrate (visualizing each Archangel standing guard at each station):
Before me RAPHAEL (rah-fah-yell)
Behind me GABRIEL (gah-bree-ell)
On my right hand, MICHAEL (mee-khah-ell)
On my left hand, AURIEL (sometimes URIEL aw-ree-ell or ooh-ree-ell) for about me flames the Pentagrams, and in the column stands the six-rayed star. (Alternatively the last two lines can be: before me flames the pentagram, behind me shines the six-rayed star)
Repeat the Qabalistic Cross (step 2). As can be seen, Raphael is in the East, Gabriel in the West, Michael in the South and Auriel/Uriel in the North.


For more detailed information I refer the reader to: The Practical Qabalah by Charles Fielding Ceremonial Magic by Israel Regardie, The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic also by Regardie The Golden Dawn as well by Regardie

Welcome for the link, Garnet. There is a WEALTH of information out there for the curious.

[jaguar]

Some interesting stuff here

Looks like it's been hijacked.