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Loading... Heretics or Daughters of Israel?: The Crypto-Jewish Women of Castileby Renee Levine Melammed
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Between 1391 and the end of the 15th century, numerous Spanish Jews converted to Christianity, most of them under duress. Before and after 1492, when the Jews were officially expelled from Spain, a significant number of these conversos maintained clandestine ties to Judaism, despite theiroutward conformity to Catholicism. Through the lens of the Inquisition's own records, this groundbreaking study focuses on the crypto-Jewish women of Castile, demonstrating their central role in the perpetuation of crypto-Jewish society in the absence of traditional Jewish institutions led by men.Renee Levine Melammed shows how many "conversas" acted with great courage and commitment to perpetuate their religious heritage, seeing themselves as true daughters of Israel. Her fascinating book sheds new light on the roles of women in the transmission of Jewish traditions and cultures. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)305.48Social sciences Social Sciences; Sociology and anthropology Groups of people Women Women by social groupLC ClassificationRatingAverage: No ratings.Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
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Wikipedia in English
The period addressed is post-Expulsion, after which there were no practicing Jews who could provide an example, and also in which access to supplies such as kosher meat and religious texts was cut off. But because women's role in Judaism is home-based (unlike men, for whom congregate settings of study and synagogue are primary), the conversa more easily continued, and transmitted, rituals.
Nevertheless, there remained the possibility that servants, or observant New Christians, or someone who just didn't like you, might denounce you. Melammed provides numerous examples of trials, and discusses the procedures by which an accused might defend herself. They were not what we would call fair. The accused was not provided with a list of prosecution witnesses, but had to guess, and provide reasons why the witnesses were not credible. In some case, the accused was successful, but more often not.
One difficulty with the book is that, because the evidence of judaizing was mostly the same in every case (wearing clean clothes on the Jewish Sabbath, burning a piece of dough when baking challah, etc.), it sometimes seems repetitious, as case after case is described in the same terms. So the most interesting chapter for me was that titled "The Inquisition and the Midwife", which concentrated on one case only, and showed clearly the Church's fear, not merely of judaizing, but of judaizing women and women's knowledge and power particularly.
I think the answer to the question raised in the title of Melammed's book is "both", depending on one's point of view. To the Catholic Church, these women were heretics; having once renounced their faith and converted to Catholicsm, any backsliding would be seen as heretical. But to fellow Jews, they were indeed "daughters of Israel", strong in their beliefs.