- At a Hanukkah celebration in 2018,
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the popular Puerto Rican
congresswoman from New York, surprised a small crowd
by announcing that she has Jewish ancestry.
- My family consisted of Sephardic Jews.
- Later that same week,
a groundbreaking study came out of Latin America.
After testing DNA samples from 6,000
randomly selected people across the region,
researchers found that 23% of them
had at least 5% of their DNA from Spanish Jewish heritage.
Back in 2015, the Spanish government announced
that they'd grant citizenship to any non-Spaniards
who could prove that they are descendants of Jews
who were expelled from the country in the 15th century.
By late 2019, Spain revealed
that they had received 127,000 applications.
The most popular countries?
Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia.
All this points to one big question;
why do so many Latin Americans have Jewish heritage?
To understand the answer,
we've got to go back to the year 1492.
Two huge historical events took place that year
and both had serious lasting consequences.
First, Spain started to colonize the Americas,
and second, back on their side of the Atlantic,
the Spanish government enacted the Alhambra Decree,
which forced Jews to either convert to Catholicism
or leave the country for good.
Spain had already been murdering
or forcibly converting Jews for over a century.
That was part of the Spanish Inquisition,
but this was the final nail in the coffin.
Now, Jews had only two options; get baptized or get out.
Nobody knows exactly how many Jews
chose the second option and fled.
Keeping a census of Jewish citizens
wasn't exactly a priority for medieval Spain.
On the low end, some historians think
it was tens of thousands, though others think
it could've been as many as one million.
Regardless, it seems that most of Spain's Jews
decided to stick around and agreed to become Catholics.
But not all Jews handled the transition the same way.
Some weren't very religious to start with,
so changing creeds wasn't such a hard choice
given the alternative.
These types of converts became known as New Catholics.
Others were determined to practice their Judaism in secret.
They were called Marranos, but today,
that's generally considered a derogatory term.
The phrase Crypto-Jews has become more popular.
In Hebrew, both groups are called Anusim,
which means "people who are forced to abandon their Judaism."
And in English they are known as Conversos,
literally "people who converted."
Regardless of the name, back in the 1400s,
the Spanish Inquisition
and later Spanish policies had one goal
when it came to Judaism; eliminate it.
At the same time, Spain ramped up
its colonization of the Americas.
Over the next four centuries, millions of Spaniards
arrived on the shores of the New World.
Even though the government tried to restrict the movement
of conversos, it was really difficult to keep track of them,
since they were, after all, Catholics now.
Many conversos wound up escaping to the Americas,
hoping to start a new life,
but the Spanish government caught on
and sent agents of the Inquisition
to the American colonies to locate undercover Jews.
When they found them, they burned them at the stake.
Despite the dangers,
lots of conversos held onto Jewish traditions in private.
Some lit candles on Friday nights,
others refused to eat leavened bread around Easter,
which always falls within a few days of Passover.
As generations passed, the descendants
of those original conversos began noticing
curious things about their families
like, why do we place stones on our family's graves?
How come mom never cooks pork like everyone else?
And why does Grandma refuse to travel on Saturdays?
Today, with DNA tests that are popular and affordable, more
and more Latin Americans, from the southern tip of Chile
to the deserts of New Mexico,
are discovering that they have Jewish ancestry.
Their reactions are diverse.
Some are happy with the Catholic faith
and the culture they were brought up in.
Others blend their Judaism with Christianity.
For example, the Adventist Church,
which has many Latin American members,
combines elements of Judaism into Christianity,
such as observing the Sabbath on Saturday.
But others choose to embrace their heritage.
Some even convert.
For those who do, their genealogy
can be a ticket to a new life.
On top of Spain's repatriation plans,
Israel has its own Law of Return,
which offers citizenship to Jews around the world.
The country's Ministry of the Diaspora is exploring ways
to make it easier for conversos to make aliyah.
What began as a tragedy in the 15th century could today
become a multicultural boon for the Jewish homeland.
It's also a testament to the strength of the Jewish identity
after hundreds of years of persecution.
Even though conversos haven't had it easy,
their story is a fascinating and important one.
With the rise of simple DNA tests
and a growing interest in heritage
and identity, more Latin Americans
and people around the world are learning just how complex
their identity and heritage really are.
Discovering our shared ancestry
can help us better understand history,
both on a personal and global scale.
And hopefully, with that knowledge,
we can overcome the intolerance
and prejudice that have divided religions
and cultures for thousands of years.
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