Portugal's Jewish People Becoming the "Anusim"

 Nadene Goldfoot                                        

What is remembered about the Jews of Portugal is the 1492 Spanish Inquisition where the Jews were told to leave the country or convert.  Many left, moving to Portugal, the nearest other country.

What we didn't know was this:   Galicia (Spain) and Northern Portugal are deeply connected historically, culturally, and linguistically, sharing roots in the Roman province of Gallaecia, leading to a common Galician-Portuguese linguistic base and a strong cross-border identity, formalized today in the Galicia-North Portugal Euroregion. While they are now separate political entities (Galicia in Spain, Portugal a country), their shared past as a united realm under the Kingdom of Galicia and ongoing cultural exchange make them feel like close neighbors, with easy movement and mutual understanding.   Galicia is not another name for Spain; it's a distinct, historic region and an autonomous community in the northwest of Spain, known for its unique Celtic culture, language (Galician), and traditions, differing from the broader Spanish national identity. Think of it like Texas within the USA – a part, but with its own character. 

Nowhere are the ties between Spain and Portugal stronger than between Galicia and Northern Portugal. The two regions share a border, history, culture, language, and an economy. ​(Source: Real Instituto elcano Royal Institute.)Galicia is an autonomous community of Spain that was once known as the Kingdom of Galicia. It was at one time part of Portugal, causing the people of Galicia to have mixed Spanish and Portuguese ancestry. The region Galicia and northern Portugal incredibly also shares a language called Galician-Portuguese.

Christopher Columbus between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa (The Republic of Genoa was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in both the Mediterranean and Black Sea) who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.  

He is misunderstood by our Native Americans as his role brought the downfall of their world, allowing white man to invade.  (Columbus Day and Thanksgiving are not their happy times). 

However,  Columbus did have seamen on board  who were Jews getting out of town, so to speak. Jews on Columbus's voyage included Luis de Torres, a converso (forced convert) who served as interpreter, and other Jewish-stock members like surgeon Rodrigo Sanchez and physician Maestre Bernal, most fleeing the 1492 Spanish Inquisition, with some serving vital roles due to their skills in Hebrew/Arabic, while Jewish financiers and navigators like Abraham Zacuto also provided crucial support for the expedition.  Crew Composition: While not the majority, a significant portion (some estimate 10-20%) of the crew had Jewish backgrounds, including diverse backgrounds like Moors, Irish, and Genoese.                      

                                      Earlier Days    

                      A Berber man                            Arabs, primarily Berber and Arab forces, began ruling parts of what is now Portugal from around 711 AD, following the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, and this "Moorish" rule lasted for roughly five centuries,                                     

 ending with the Christian Reconquista in the south (Algarve) by 1249, though Muslim communities lived on until their final expulsion in 1496, marking nearly 800 years of significant Islamic presence. 

During this period from 711 to 1249, Jews had established themselves in the land of Portugal.  When the Christian state was formed, there were communities in Lisbon, Beja, and Santa-rem.  Little is known of themuntil the 13th century (1200s.) Conditions were generally tranquil, exceptriots in Lisbon in 1373 and Portugal escaped the wave of massacres thatengulfed Spain in 1391.               

The community was closely organized by Alfonso III King of Portugal (1248-1279) in his own elaborate code, with a  chief rabbi (Arrabi Mor).  Afonso III of Portugal (reigned 1248–1279) generally fostered a period of relative tolerance for Jews, integrating them into the developing Portuguese society and economy, unlike later monarchs like Manuel I, who expelled them; Afonso III's reign saw charters (like in 1276 for Monsaraz) organizing Jewish communities and recognizing their presence within the growing kingdom, marking an era where Jewish populations contributed to administration and urban life before later persecutions. 

In 1492, King John II (João II) was ruling Portugal; he reigned from 1481 until his death in 1495, known for strengthening the monarchy, boosting the economy, and continuing Portuguese exploration for a sea route to India.  King John II of Portugal rejected Christopher Columbus's proposal for a westward voyage to Asia around 1484 and again in 1488, primarily because his expert advisors found Columbus's estimates for the Earth's circumference and distance to the Indies wildly inaccurate, while Portugal was successfully pursuing the eastern route around Africa. Despite this rejection and Columbus later finding Spanish backing, some historians, like Mascarenhas Barreto, theorize Columbus was a Portuguese agent, potentially even Portuguese himself, sent to mislead Spain, though this remains a debated theory.    Columbus was a hidden Jew, first spoken about in Jewish Digest. He wrote letters to his son in Hebrew.

 King João II, of Portugal, allowed Jews to enter. He was preparing for war against the Moors and he needed the taxes collected from these Jews to finance that war. He also was aware of the great talent of the Jews in many fields including the mechanics of arms making, which he hoped he would call upon and he did not want that talent to be available to the Moors. But his welcome was not complete. His bride to be would not have it.                                

Manuel I (European Portuguese: 31 May 1469 – 13 December 1521), known as the Fortunate  was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521.

After Jews were expulsed in 1492 from Spain, large numbers of the exileswere allowed to enter Portugal on payment of a poll-tax but many were subsequently detained in the county and sold as slaves.  Manuel I, the King of Portugal in 1496 was Manuel I (the Fortunate), who reigned from 1495 to 1521, succeeding his cousin John II and overseeing a significant period of Portuguese exploration and empire-building, including the decree for the expulsion of Jews and Muslims that year. King Manuel I of Portugal, seeking to marry a Spanish princess and align with Spain's policies, decreed in 1496 that all Jews convert to Catholicism or leave Portugal; however, he then forcibly baptized them in 1497, preventing their departure and creating "New Christians" (Marranos), marking the end of open Jewish life in Portugal and paving the way for the brutal Portuguese Inquisition and persecution of these secret or suspected Jews for centuries.   

The story is that he  ordered the expulsion of the Jews from hisdominion on October 1496 in order to secure the hand of the Spanish Infanta but later changed hismind  and had almost had the entire community converted by force in 1497.  

• The Event: When Jews gathered at Lisbon's port to leave, they were met by priests and forcibly baptized en masse, rather than being allowed to depart freely.
• The Aftermath: Those who converted (the "New Christians") now Anusim, faced intense scrutiny and persecution from the Portuguese Inquisition for centuries, with many tortured or executed for secretly practicing Judaism.

Thus, a large body of (Marranos) was created in Portugal. Marranos were Spanish and Portuguese Jews who, facing forced conversion to Christianity (especially after 1492), outwardly became Catholic but secretly maintained Jewish beliefs and practices, becoming Crypto-Jews, a term often preferred as "Marrano" is derogatory, meaning "pig". They faced intense scrutiny from the Inquisition, practicing Judaism in secret for centuries, with descendants preserving traditions, often becoming a distinct cultural group, and some later returning to Judaism, notes Britannica and EBSCO.  The newer, more respectful term used by many Jews for "Marrano" (a derogatory word for forced Iberian converts who practiced Judaism secretly) is Anusim (Hebrew for "forced ones") or Crypto-Jews, while Converso (neutral/academic for "convert") or New Christians are also common, but "Marrano" itself, meaning "swine," is largely avoided as it's insulting. 

The Spanish Inquisition was introduced in the 16th century  and the refugees who fled to escape it formed the "Portuguese" synagogues in London, AmsterdamNew York, etc, in  the 16-17th centuries.  At the close of the 18th century,Jews from Gibraltar and North Africa established themselves in  Lisbon,though freedom of worship was permitted only after the Revolution of1910.  

Askenazi immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe have arrived inrecent years.  There was also for a time, a tiny community at Faro.Marranos with strong Jewish sympathies are still numerous in northernPortugal.  A movement to rescue them was started in 1925, and in 1938,a synagogue was built as their religious center in Oporto.  A large groupwas found in Belmonte, some of whom are returning to Judaism.  Apartfrom the Anusim (Marranos) the Jewish population of Portugal was 300 (1990_mostly in Lisbon.  

While exact numbers vary, Portugal's Jewish population is estimated to be around a few thousand, with recent reports suggesting figures from 3,000 to 6,000 people, primarily concentrated in Lisbon and Porto, experiencing growth due to the Sephardic citizenship law. The community, once very small after expulsions and the 1974 revolution, has seen an influx of descendants and others drawn by heritage and lifestyle, making it a growing, though still small, presence. 

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-expulsion-from-portugal/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Jews_and_Muslims_by_Manuel_I_of_Portugal#:~:text=Article,victoria%20contra%20infideles%20habita%2C%201507

https://porturicans.weebly.com/galicia.html#:~:text=Galicia%20is%20an%20autonomous%20community,a%20language%20called%20Galician%2DPortuguese.

Earth: Divided Between East and West--Two Different Worlds

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                

The earth's population is divided between the East and the West.  It's like night and day.  Approximately 300,000 years ago, the first Homo sapiens — anatomically modern humans — arose alongside our other hominid relatives.  Somewhere along the way, we are able to read about Abraham, who lived much later, in the 2nd millenniium BCE, born in about 1948 BCE in Ur of the Chaldees.  It was a highly developed civilization in what we call Mesopotamia and it was south of Babylon on the Euphrates River.  That area is in today's Iraq.  

                                                                              

As we already know, Abraham and his family migrated Westward to Canaan, a far more primitive area and set up their tents-used for camping as they had come from sturdy homes.  Abraham was spoken to by G-d and told that there was but one G-d, not a whole pantheon of gods as other people were believing, and that set in motion his descendants who followed his beliefs.  Abraham was quite a modern man as far as time goes.  

 Egypt had also been a civilized land.  Their pre-dynastic period of existence started in 5,000 BCE to 3100 BCE.  For almost 30 centuries—from its unification around 3100 B.C.E to its conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.—ancient Egypt was the preeminent civilization in the Mediterranean world.                                         

Next came Moses born in 1391 BCE  with a set of laws pertaining towards justice and the explanation of the beginnings of science, explaining their origins and where they were. He, an Israelite, was brought up by an Egyptian princess and received the same education as the royal family.  He introduced on the Exodus from Egypt to Canaan a set of moral values that pertained to justice for their society.   They were taught that there was only one G-d, the same god that Abraham had believed in. They were from Abraham's family.  

Rome invaded Jerusalem at the end of the 2nd century BCE, and in this act, tried to force the people away from their Jewish beliefs and accept polytheistic gods as theirs.  By then end of the 1st century BCE, some Jews in Bethlehem and Jerusalem became followers of a Jew, Jesus,  who they felt was the Messiah hoped for,, especially during troubling times like they were in at that time.  He would come and bring peace.  However, it was Rome who brought nothing but trouble by burning down the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.  People were starved to death, killed and then taken as slaves to be sold in Rome for the games-a fate ending in horrid death.                                                        

As for the city, the Romans  used the Temple as a center of military activity and was destroyed by these conquering Romans.  After 70 CE when they destroyed the Jewish Temple,, they later built a Roman temple on the site, and since the Moslem Period, a mosque was built over the Roman temple, and that is the Mosque of Omar.                                                        

The Arch of Titus; Rome' s own recording of Jewish slaves from Jerusalem entering Rome bearing the goods from the Temple of gold and silver shortly after 70 CE.  

With the affects of 70 CE, Jews were slaves taken to Rome, where free Jews had settled earlier being part of trading and selling and living in many ports as they became part of the West.  They became the Ashkenazim Jews.  Their history remains in the West as those that survived  later spread out.  Others, fleeing from Jerusalem and the Roman restrictions, went to Iberia (Spain and closer cities in Mesopotamia where they felt safe from the Romans.)  They became the Sephardim and Mizrachim Jews.    

It took till Mohammad was born  (570-632) and taught that their was but one G-d that other descendants of Abraham came to accept the realization of one God with Mohammad's death.  Then his followers spread his knowledge, but with the sword. 

                                                                 

The Blue Mosque in Afghanistan, Islam in Afghanistan began to be practiced after the Arab Islamic conquest of Afghanistan from the 7th to the 10th centuries, with the last holdouts to conversion submitting in the late 19th century. Islam is the official state religion of Afghanistan, with approximately 99.7% of the Afghan population being Muslim. Roughly 90% practice Sunni Islam, while around 10% are Shias. Most Shians belong to the Twelver branch and only a smaller number follow Ismailism.

 They went into Europe forcing their religion upon others. Islam gained its first genuine foothold in continental Europe from 711 onward, with the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The Arabs renamed the land Al-Andalus, which expanded to include the larger parts of what is now Portugal and Spain, excluding the northern highlands. Muhammad brought a different set of values and his own idea of justice, said to have come to him by the angel, Gabriel, that was part of the Jewish history.  Sharia Law was the Islamic version, not the Mosaic Law of the Jews, though a few ideas match each other; and the main one is that of the belief in one G-d only, and the need for justice in both groups.                                                                                           

       Spain under Muslim Rule in 711, Muslim forces invaded Spain. In seven years they conquered much of the Iberian peninsula. Under Muslim rule, Spain became one of the great Muslim civilizations. It reached its peak under the 10th-century, Cordoba-based Umayyad caliphate. Muslim rule declined after that and ended in 1492 when Christian Spaniards completed their Reconquista and claimed Granada, the last Muslim territory in Spain. The heartland of Muslim rule was in Andulusia in southern and southeastern Spain. [Source: BBC |::|]  Notice that it was in 1492 that Columbus sailed the ocean blue-meaning that the Spanish Inquisition  was in full bloom and Jews had been told that they had to convert to Christianity or leave the land.                                                 

     Islamic architecture in Europe:  An Initiative Recommendation 1162 on “The Contribution of the Islamic Civilization to the European Culture”, issued by the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council in September 19^th, 1991. This initiative was promoted by FUNCI, in collaboration with the European Council, the Commission of the European Communities (today the European Union), and UNESCO, and counted with the support of the Spanish socialist group. The project took form through an international colloquium under the same name, previously launched in Paris, in the UNESCO and Institut du Monde Arabe’s headquarters, with the goal of informing the European Members of Parliament of the contribution of the Islamic civilization to the shaping of the European culture, certainly showing up in architecture.  

Islam entered Southern Europe through the expansion after Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the 8th–10th centuries; Muslim political entities existed firmly in what is today Spain, Portugal, Sicily, and Malta for several centuries. The Muslim community in these territories was converted or expelled by the end of the 15th century by Christian polities (see Reconquista). Islam expanded into the Caucasus through the Muslim conquest of Persia in the 7th century. The Ottoman Empire expanded into southeastern Europe, invading and conquering huge portions of the Serbian Empire, Bulgarian Empire, and all the remaining Byzantine Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries.   

Over the centuries, the Ottoman Empire gradually lost almost all of its European territories, until it was defeated and eventually collapsed in 1922. Islam spread in Eastern Europe via the conversion of the Volga Bulgars, Cuman-Kipchaks, and later the Golden Horde and its successor khanates, with its various Muslim peoples called "Tatars" by the Russians.

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, large numbers of Muslims immigrated to Western Europe. By 2010, an estimated 44 million Muslims were living in Europe (6%), including an estimated 19 million in the EU (3.8%). They are projected to comprise 8% or 58 million by 2030. They are often the subject of intense discussion and political controversy created by events such as Islamic terrorist attacks in European countries, the cartoons affair in Denmark, debates over Islamic dress, and ongoing support for right-wing populist parties that view Muslims as a threat to European culture.  Such events have also fueled growing debate regarding the topic of Islamophobia, attitudes toward Muslims, and the populist right.

                                                

The Moors were a part of the division of East and West.  The term Moor is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. The Moors initially were the indigenous Maghrebine Berbers. The name was later also applied to Arabs and Arabized Iberians.  Moorish architecture, like all Islamic architecture, has distinctive motifs: rounded arches, Arabic calligraphy, vegetative design, and decorative tiles. There are many motifs, or repeated patterns, in Moorish architecture. The Moors were Muslim and influenced by the Islamic architecture that developed in the Middle East. 

                                            

  Although mosques are the most common examples of Moorish architecture, motifs spread to the design of homes and places of businesses. One of the most famous examples of Moorish architecture, the Mezquita or Grand Mosque of Cordoba, Spain, is today the region's Catholic cathedral.

The difference that matters in the East and West is that Israel sticks out like a sore thumb among their counterparts who also believe in one G-d only.  They stick out because they had been forced to lived in Europe where they were exposed to a new way of life and a lot of education for their active minds.  They brought back to their ancient land of Israel, now under the name the Romans had given it as Palestine and in the 1880s returned and started using the science they had gained.  Their religion had remained the same, but now was being monitored by Rabbis and not the Temple that had been destroyed.  Instead of the Temple, centers had been built called synagogues.  They were not accepted by the population; a  population of descendants of Abraham, their 1st cousins many many many times removed.    

British soldiers-Europe holding anti-Semitism, keeping Jews out of the country from 1290 to 1655. 

                                                               

                           Fighters against Jews in Middle East
 

The Jews had returned hoping for a chance to observe their religion in peace, but instead were greeted by war.  The enigma is that they were picked on and hated in Europe  for their religion that did not elevate Jesus, a Jew, in the manner that his followers had wanted and expected.  If these Jews would not accept him, they were  to be hated and killed, as many were told to believe.  Then they were hated and killed in Palestine by Muslim leaders such as the Sherif of Jerusalem for being different, bringing Western ways, they said, into their Eastern-believing land.  

Another point just learned, the East observes and follows the act of circumcision, but the West barely does.  The % of circumcized males in Europe is very low, but in the East, is almost 100% for both cousins, Jews and Arabs.  Abraham did make an impression on both descendants.  It is the mark of a man who believes in one G-d though many Westerners may not realize it.  

                                              

The Taliban, who bring Sharia law to their people and are most strict about it, are trying to bring justice.  They are made up mostly of Pashtuns, who are most likely from the Lost 10 tribes of Jacob/Israel, taken away from their homeland in 721 BCE.    According to Gravitas, a WION production shown on Youtube, they have set up judges, something that the Israelites had set up after Joshua had died and before the days of King David.  I saw an example of a judging of 3 men who had broken the law.  It was brilliant.  I could imagine that Deborah or Othniel was judging.  If this were a normal example of how they worked, it was brilliant.  The judging was  logical and fair and the 3 men accepted the ruling.  I agreed silently. 

 That may be the only good thing the Taliban is doing as they are interfering with every aspect of the people's lives.  There is no such thing as freedom in their towns.  They are trying to make people into something like robots; obeying every smidgeon of laws coming out their imaginations.  They have laws that they haven't even shared as yet with the Afghanis and had expected them to obey.  

So much of the East is undeveloped, more like it was back in the 1st century CE.  The West is fully developed in every way technically, more like what was dreamed about in the 1940s in science fiction, and we are now living in it, while the east is just being introduced to it with cell phones and ammunition.        

  Nearly half the Afghan children don't go to school, with girls disproportionally affected.  This is the way it has been up to last year.  Will it now improve?   Have the Taliban seen the light?  Conflict, poverty, child marriage and discrimination against girls are reportedly the main reasons of not attending.  

The East, or most of the people, have the equivalent of a 2nd grade education, and this the Taliban seem to realize.  Their education for girls consists of their religion and math. Their math lesson was absolutely foreign to me as well as the symbols, so I hope the children are learning.  What I saw was a method that dodged memorizing the times tables that escapes me.  The girls, sitting on the floor with their tablets and pencils, were quiet and had a man for a teacher that was a brave step for the Taliban.  Of course, this was what was filmed; to make a hit with the West.   Their people have been well-versed, even to the point of memorizing the Koran, but were not educated in reading, writing, or much arithmetic as most of the West has been.  

                                              

The Taliban says it doesn't want any ties with Israel. 

How will the two halves blend in peace?  The Taliban in the numbers of Core strength - 45,000 (2001 est.) 11,000 (2008 est.) 36,000 (2010 est.) 60,000 (2014 est.) 60,000 (2017 est. excluding 90,000 local militia and 50,000 support elements) 75,000 (2021 est.)

Talibans have fought off the Russians and the Americans with some modern weapons and their ancient knowledge of fighting for their beliefs.  They had more self assurance in themselves than their enemies did.  Those they were fighting when the Americans withdrew were their neighbors and relatives who just backed down quickly.  They knew their enemy and could not fight them.  Most on both sides were Pashtuns.  The USA should have taken this into account.  

                                          

It's amazing that the religion, Islam, that once brought beautiful architecture to Europe along with their modern-type religion, so new, but lately all the terrorists have brought is death with their interpretation of  Sharia Law.  They have receded mentally and morally  instead of advancing. 

 

Resource:

https://www.wionews.com/gravitas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEGUFAr-acY  from GRAVITAS, a WION production, I believe out of India.  

https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/05/15/what-was-it-like-when-the-first-humans-arose-on-earth/?sh=43810a4f6997

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Europe

https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-egypt

https://funci.org/the-influence-of-the-islamic-civilization-in-europe/?lang=en

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/who-were-moors#:~:text=%E2%80%9CMoor%E2%80%9D%20came%20to%20mean%20anyone,Othello%2C%20the%20Moor%20of%20Venice.