
Cache of Crypto-Jewish Recipes Dating to Inquisition Found in Miami Kitchen - Vigier
https://www.timesofisrael.com/cache-of-crypto-jewish-recipes-dating-to-inquisition-found-in-miami-kitchen
======
repiret
From Wikipedia [1]

> Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing
> to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews"
> (origin from Greek kryptos – κρυπτός, 'hidden').

> The term is especially applied historically to Spanish Jews who outwardly
> professed Catholicism, also known as Anusim or Marranos. The phenomenon is
> especially associated with renaissance Spain, following the 6 June, 1391,
> Anti-Jewish pogroms and the expulsion of the Jews in 1492.

[1]: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto-
Judaism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto-Judaism)

~~~
narag
There were many jews that, more or less sincerely, converted to stay. We that
have a family name that references an animal, like Lobo, León or Aguilar, are
probably descendents of jews.

Crypto-judaism was a damning suspicion for a long time. A prime minister from
my hometown changed his name from Méndez to Mendizábal. Former sounds jew,
while the later sounds basque. Also he didn't mention where he was from.
Actually, almost nobody in my hometown knows he was a local, though it also
might be because he confiscated most properties of Catholic Church:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_%C3%81lvarez_Mendiz%C3%A1...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_%C3%81lvarez_Mendiz%C3%A1bal)

~~~
andrepd
>We that have a family name that references an animal, like Lobo, León or
Aguilar, are probably descendents of jews.

If I remember correctly, that is an popular myth. Why should it be the case?

~~~
narag
I heard it from my History teacher [1]. Where did he hear from, no idea. But
someone seems to think it's not so outrageous:

[https://bloodandfrogs.com/2011/05/animals-and-name-pairs-
in-...](https://bloodandfrogs.com/2011/05/animals-and-name-pairs-in-jewish-
given.html)

Edit: I forgot to say that true jew names would have been impossible to keep.
They had to change names when they converted, choosing sometimes an "old
christian" name to blend in, or maybe something with some cultural meaning for
them.

There are lists with names compiled from _Santo Oficio_ trial records, that
include those names indeed, but also other very common, just for the reasons I
mentioned. I still believe the animal hint is true because most of these names
are unusual.

[1] His name is Aguilar, but he's a communist with very little sympathy for
anything Israel, so I doubt he was trying to spread "jewish propaganda" like
other commenter said.

------
bcherny
Fun read. I’ve never heard the term “crypto Jews” before — I’ve just used the
special case “Marranos”.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrano](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrano)

~~~
shmerl
That's a derogative term though. Jewish term is anusim.

~~~
lordgrenville
("anusim" being Hebrew for "forced"/"under duress")

~~~
chaosite
It does mean "forced" or "under duress" in this sense, but in a very strong
sense. It shares the same root as "raped".

------
taneq
That title reminds me of "The Jewish-Japanese Sex & Cook Book and How to Raise
Wolves" ([https://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Japanese-Cook-Book-Raise-
Wolve...](https://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Japanese-Cook-Book-Raise-
Wolves/dp/0399110437))

------
slim
What's even more interesting is that women of this family knew how to write
for 15 generations.

~~~
Udik
Even more interesting is that the article claims this person managed to trace
back her maternal lineage for 22 generations (!), and found out that it was an
unbroken Jewish maternal lineage. What a curious combination for someone who
previously "felt drawn to Judaism and converted to Modern Orthodox Judaism".

Of course, 22 generations means thousands of ancestors, who moreover,
according to the article, have been living as Catholics for more than three
hundred years. It's dumbfounding what kind of ethno-sectarian reasoning must
be behind the claim that she's Crypto-Jewish.

~~~
toasterlovin
> and found out that it was an unbroken Jewish maternal lineage.

But I think any female who has a female ancestor who is Jewish would also have
an “unbroken Jewish maternal lineage”, right? Or am I misunderstanding that?

~~~
Udik
No, if the female ancestor is, for example, your grandmother on your father's
side, the maternal lineage is broken. Basically Jewishness is in the
mitochondrial DNA.

~~~
toasterlovin
Sorry, I was unclear. What I meant is: if a female has a Jewish female
ancestor as part of the female only lineage from which they get their
mitochondria, then they definitionally have an “unbroken Jewish maternal
lineage”, because it could be no other way. But it’s not really an interesting
observation, since it’s true of most Jewish women that this line reaches
extremely far back in time (since Jews generally don’t seek converts and, so,
being Jewish is mostly a genetic matter, in practice).

------
nubianwarrior
¡Munchas! Descendent of Marranos (cryptojews) here, AMA.

------
david-cako
This headline sounds like a Metal Gear mission brief.

------
koonsolo
Oh man, as a non native English speaker, this title was the hardest to ever
read! I had trouble figuring out what is was about. Caching? Caching of
cryptocurrency? Some Jewish cryptocurrency? Recipies? Jewish recipies stored
in cryptocurrency? Dating? Dating for Jews? A recipe for dating, stored in
cryptocurrency targeted at Jews? Jews dating during the inquisision?

And that was not even considering the Miami Kitchen.

~~~
INTPenis
Swede who has only been in London once here and the only thing that I don't
understand is "Crypto-Jewish". A cache of items is a quite common word or
phrase to use. Like cache of weapons, something you'd learn just by playhing
modern video games. Or reading scifi.

I assume crypto-jewish has something to do with mythical, as in cryptozoology.

~~~
thaumasiotes
> I assume crypto-jewish has something to do with mythical, as in
> cryptozoology.

The definition was already mentioned elsewhere in the comments -- crypto-Jews
are (in the Inquisition context) Jews claiming to be Christians.

~~~
eecc
Aka as “marrano”
([https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrano](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrano))
I’ve been told a telltale sign you might have such ancestry is having a
surname named from a city.

