History of the Jews in Mexico
Encyclopedia
Jews
have lived in Mexico since the Spanish conquest. Today the community numbers around 68,000, concentrated primarily in Mexico City
. Other communities are found in the state of Jalisco
, mainly in Guadalajara
and surrounding cities, and in Monterrey
, Veracruz
, Culiacán
, and Tijuana
.
conquered the Aztecs, accompanied by several Conversos. Later, Jews arrived there to escape the Inquisition
. Some of these Spanish Jews were forced to convert to Catholicism
(Converso
Jews), but many maintained their Jewish religious practices in secret (for which many were killed in what is known as the Mexican Inquisition
). This is often referred to as Anusim
. However some Conversos and their progeny maintained the conversions to Christianity, and to continue to classify them as Jews one has to accept the racial definition of Jewishness.
Due to the power of the Catholic Church in Mexico, few Jews migrated there during the Spanish Colonial Period. In the 1860s, a large number of German Jews settled in Mexico as a result of invitations from Maximilian I of Mexico
. Beginning in the 1880s many Ashkenazic Jews fleeing pogrom
s in Russia and Romania came to Mexico. Another large wave of immigration occurred as the Ottoman Empire
collapsed, leading many Sephardic Jews from Turkey, Morocco
, and parts of France to flee. Finally, a wave of immigrants fled the increasing Nazi persecutions in Europe during World War II.
Today, there are around 40,000 Jews in Mexico; it is one of just a handful of countries whose Jewish population is projected to grow in the future. There are several sectors in the Jewish community in Mexico, the biggest of which are the Ashkenazi community. The Mizrahi community is mainly Syrian immigrants who attend the Maguén David and Monte Sinai congregations. Mexican Jews refer to the Mizrahim as "judíos árabes" or "Arab Jews". The Sephardic community is primarily made up of descendents of Turkish
immigrants, and also very old generations that descend from Spain.
While most Jews in Mexico are concentrated in Mexico City, there are substantial Jewish communities in Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Tijuana. Recently, a small group of Mexican Jewish families has immigrated to Cancún. There is a small group of implanted American Jews who have relocated to the retirement lake towns of Chapala
and Ajijic in the state of Jalisco
; they meet once a month for religious services and occasionally interact with their Mexican Jewish counterparts in close by Guadalajara
.
In 1938 The Central Committee for the Jewish Community of Mexico ('Comité central de la comunidad judía de México') emerged as the umbrella organization for the varying ethnic and religious Jewish communities in Mexico; its analysis and opinion agency is called the Tribuna Israelita.
and 31% in Mexico State; in central states a little more than 10%. One-tenth of the Jewish population lives in the State of Veracruz
or in the south-east, and the rest live in the northern states, with 8% living there.
Distribution of the Jewish population by federal entity, according to the INEGI 23rd general census (2000).INEGI Religious Diversity in Mexico Report
The vast majority of Mexican Jews reside in the capital, Mexico City. They have a vast network of synagogues, schools and other communal institutions. There are over 30 synagogues, most of them Orthodox. The majority of Mexico City's Jews send their children to Jewish schools which include secular as well as Haredi dayschools and Yeshivot. Several of the schools are named for school networks which existed in pre-war Europe, including the Zionist "Tarbut
", the modern Orthodox "Yavne" and the secular Folkish "Yiddische Schule" where Yiddish is still taught. The Jewish Community Center known as the "Centro Deportivo Israelita" is the largest of its kind in the Jewish diaspora and includes both sports and social activities.
Many Zionist youth organizations have branches in Mexico City, including Hanoar Hatzioni
, Bnei Akiva
, Habonim Dror
and Hashomer Hatzair
.
The community in Guadalajara is continually shrinking and has approximately 250 families. The community is made up of almost an equal number of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews. Originally the two groups had separate synagogues and did not intermarry; eventually the two groups united and almost all of today's younger families are made up of mixed Sephardic-Ashkenazi marriages. There is a community center — similar to that of a Jewish Community Center
in the United States — which is the center of Jewish life in the city. The center has a sports facility, a Jewish day school
, and also houses the synagogue. Because the Jews of Guadalajara rarely marry outside the Jewish community, most young adults who are interested in getting married are inclined to move to Mexico City, which has a larger Jewish population. This is the main cause of the diminishing population of the community.
In recent years the community became Modern Orthodox
, which caused a sizable part of the community to break off and form a new Conservative
temple and community center. This move to Modern Orthodox caused deep divisions within the community, splitting families between the two temples – intermarriage and conversions are the main issues causing the divide.
Among well known Jews from Guadalajara is actor, model, and singer Erick Elías
who has enjoyed rising fame in the Spanish-speaking world.
conversos who represented the first European settlers in the vast, hostile, Amerindian territories, initially called Nuevo León
by the new settlers. The most famous of these crypto-Jews who inhabited Monterrey is Luis de Carabajal y Cueva
; who along with his family was burned at the stake for practicing Judaism. He was the nephew of the Spanish founder of Monterrey. His memoirs suggest that, at the time, the majority of Spanish settlers in Monterrey were of Jewish descent.
The early twentieth century saw the arrival of Ashkenazi Jews
from Europe. There is a small organized Jewish community numbering less than a thousand with a community center that is the center of Jewish life which houses the only synagogue, day school, and sports facilities. Although the synagogue is Modern Orthodox
, most of the families adhere to a lifestyle most similar to that of the Conservative movement
. The community has remained relatively stable in its numbers with a low degree of assimilation.
, the lighting of candles
on Friday nights, and the use of a Jewish form of Spanish called Ladino
spoken among close friends or family.
The famous painter and Converso descendant Diego Rivera
wrote in 1935, "Jewishness is the dominant element in my life. From this has come my sympathy with the downtrodden masses which motivates all my work."
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
have lived in Mexico since the Spanish conquest. Today the community numbers around 68,000, concentrated primarily in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. Other communities are found in the state of Jalisco
Jalisco
Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...
, mainly in Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
and surrounding cities, and in Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
, Culiacán
Culiacán
Culiacán is a city in northwestern Mexico, the largest city in the state of Sinaloa as well as its capital and capital of the municipality of Culiacán. With 675,773 inhabitants in the city , and 858,638 in the municipality, it is the largest city in the state of Sinaloa...
, and Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
.
History
There have been Jews in Mexico since Hernán CortésHernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
conquered the Aztecs, accompanied by several Conversos. Later, Jews arrived there to escape the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
. Some of these Spanish Jews were forced to convert to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
(Converso
Converso
A converso and its feminine form conversa was a Jew or Muslim—or a descendant of Jews or Muslims—who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. Mass conversions once took place under significant government pressure...
Jews), but many maintained their Jewish religious practices in secret (for which many were killed in what is known as the Mexican Inquisition
Mexican Inquisition
The Mexican Inquisition was an extension of the Spanish Inquisition into the New World. The Spanish Conquest of Mexico was not only a political event for the Spanish, but a religious event as well. In the early 16th century, the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation and the Inquisition were in full...
). This is often referred to as Anusim
Anusim
Anusim is a legal category of Jews in halakha who were forced or coerced to abandon Judaism against their will, typically while forcibly converted to another religion...
. However some Conversos and their progeny maintained the conversions to Christianity, and to continue to classify them as Jews one has to accept the racial definition of Jewishness.
Due to the power of the Catholic Church in Mexico, few Jews migrated there during the Spanish Colonial Period. In the 1860s, a large number of German Jews settled in Mexico as a result of invitations from Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico on April 10, 1864, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists who sought to revive the Mexican monarchy...
. Beginning in the 1880s many Ashkenazic Jews fleeing pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
s in Russia and Romania came to Mexico. Another large wave of immigration occurred as the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
collapsed, leading many Sephardic Jews from Turkey, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and parts of France to flee. Finally, a wave of immigrants fled the increasing Nazi persecutions in Europe during World War II.
Today, there are around 40,000 Jews in Mexico; it is one of just a handful of countries whose Jewish population is projected to grow in the future. There are several sectors in the Jewish community in Mexico, the biggest of which are the Ashkenazi community. The Mizrahi community is mainly Syrian immigrants who attend the Maguén David and Monte Sinai congregations. Mexican Jews refer to the Mizrahim as "judíos árabes" or "Arab Jews". The Sephardic community is primarily made up of descendents of Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
immigrants, and also very old generations that descend from Spain.
While most Jews in Mexico are concentrated in Mexico City, there are substantial Jewish communities in Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Tijuana. Recently, a small group of Mexican Jewish families has immigrated to Cancún. There is a small group of implanted American Jews who have relocated to the retirement lake towns of Chapala
Chapala
Chapala is a city and municipality in the central Mexican state of Jalisco, located on the north shore of Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest freshwater lake. According to the 2005 census, its population is 43,345 for the municipality.-Geography:...
and Ajijic in the state of Jalisco
Jalisco
Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...
; they meet once a month for religious services and occasionally interact with their Mexican Jewish counterparts in close by Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
.
In 1938 The Central Committee for the Jewish Community of Mexico ('Comité central de la comunidad judía de México') emerged as the umbrella organization for the varying ethnic and religious Jewish communities in Mexico; its analysis and opinion agency is called the Tribuna Israelita.
Demographics
According to INEGI, data from the year 2000, there were 45,620 Jews in Mexico. More than 40% reside within the Federal DistrictMexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
and 31% in Mexico State; in central states a little more than 10%. One-tenth of the Jewish population lives in the State of Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
or in the south-east, and the rest live in the northern states, with 8% living there.
Distribution of the Jewish population by federal entity, according to the INEGI 23rd general census (2000).INEGI Religious Diversity in Mexico Report
| Federal Entity | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... |
45,260 | 67,476 |
| Aguascalientes Aguascalientes Aguascalientes is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 11 municipalities and its capital city is Aguascalientes.... |
58 | 113 |
| Baja California Baja California Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North... |
389 | 1,044 |
| Baja California Sur Baja California Sur Baja California Sur , is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state on October 8, 1974, the area was known as the South Territory of Baja California. It has an area of , or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises... |
51 | 159 |
| Campeche Campeche Campeche is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in Southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the states of Yucatán to the north east, Quintana Roo to the east, and Tabasco to the south west... |
47 | 155 |
| Coahuila Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico... |
153 | 306 |
| Colima Colima Colima is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima.... |
19 | 103 |
| Chiapas Chiapas Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las... |
178 | 513 |
| Chihuahua | 133 | 251 |
| Federal District Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... |
18,380 | 20,357 |
| Durango Durango Durango officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico. With a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja... |
17 | 80 |
| Guanajuato Guanajuato Guanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato.... |
317 | 574 |
| Guerrero Guerrero Guerrero officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guerrero is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo.... |
875 | 1,645 |
| Hidalgo | 391 | 631 |
| Jalisco Jalisco Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states... |
983 | 1,721 |
| Mexico State | 14,084 | 21,545 |
| Michoacán Michoacán Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia... |
226 | 567 |
| Morelos Morelos Morelos officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 33 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca.... |
1,788 | 3,013 |
| Nayarit Nayarit Nayarit officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.It is located in Western Mexico... |
72 | 216 |
| Nuevo León Nuevo León Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S... |
665 | 977 |
| Oaxaca Oaxaca Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions... |
1,199 | 2,458 |
| Puebla Puebla Puebla officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 217 municipalities and its capital city is Puebla.... |
2,251 | 4,993 |
| Querétaro Querétaro Querétaro officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro de Arteaga is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and its capital city is Santiago de Querétaro.... |
96 | 286 |
| Quintana Roo Quintana Roo Quintana Roo officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 10 municipalities and its capital city is Chetumal.... |
587 | 1,016 |
| San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí officially Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí.... |
57 | 176 |
| Sinaloa Sinaloa Sinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales.... |
75 | 146 |
| Sonora Sonora Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo.... |
56 | 183 |
| Tabasco Tabasco Tabasco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa.... |
114 | 135 |
| Tamaulipas Tamaulipas Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the... |
152 | 362 |
| Tlaxcala Tlaxcala Tlaxcala officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tlaxcala is one of the 31 states which along with the Federal District comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipalities and its capital city is Tlaxcala.... |
99 | 411 |
| Veracruz Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is... |
1,334 | 2,595 |
| Yucatán Yucatán Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida.... |
377 | 651 |
| Zacatecas Zacatecas Zacatecas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Zacatecas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas.... |
37 | 94 |
Mexico City
Tarbut
The Tarbut movement was a network of secular, Hebrew-language schools in parts of the former Jewish Pale of Settlement, specifically in Poland, Romania and Lithuania...
", the modern Orthodox "Yavne" and the secular Folkish "Yiddische Schule" where Yiddish is still taught. The Jewish Community Center known as the "Centro Deportivo Israelita" is the largest of its kind in the Jewish diaspora and includes both sports and social activities.
Many Zionist youth organizations have branches in Mexico City, including Hanoar Hatzioni
Hanoar Hatzioni
Hanoar Hatzioni is a youth movement established in 1926, with its head offices now in Israel. Its three main pillars are Judaism, Pluralism, and Zionism...
, Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 37 countries. It was established in Mandate Palestine in 1929.-History:...
, Habonim Dror
Habonim Dror
Habonim Dror is a Jewish Labour Zionist youth movement formed by the merger in 1982 of the Habonim and Dror youth movements. Habonim Dror's sister movement in Israel is Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed, the Working and Studying Youth.-Ideology:...
and Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
.
Guadalajara
The Jewish community of Guadalajara dates from the second decade of the 20th century. One of the first Jews in the city of Guadalajara, was Carlos Bross who migrated from Kiev. He is considered the founder of the Ashkenazi Jewish community in this city.The community in Guadalajara is continually shrinking and has approximately 250 families. The community is made up of almost an equal number of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews. Originally the two groups had separate synagogues and did not intermarry; eventually the two groups united and almost all of today's younger families are made up of mixed Sephardic-Ashkenazi marriages. There is a community center — similar to that of a Jewish Community Center
Jewish Community Center
A Jewish Community Center or Jewish Community Centre is a general recreational, social and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities...
in the United States — which is the center of Jewish life in the city. The center has a sports facility, a Jewish day school
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
, and also houses the synagogue. Because the Jews of Guadalajara rarely marry outside the Jewish community, most young adults who are interested in getting married are inclined to move to Mexico City, which has a larger Jewish population. This is the main cause of the diminishing population of the community.
In recent years the community became Modern Orthodox
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
, which caused a sizable part of the community to break off and form a new Conservative
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
temple and community center. This move to Modern Orthodox caused deep divisions within the community, splitting families between the two temples – intermarriage and conversions are the main issues causing the divide.
Among well known Jews from Guadalajara is actor, model, and singer Erick Elías
Erick Elias
Erick Elías is a Mexican actor, model and singer.Erick Elias began his studies in acting, music, dance, and modeling at a very young age. He moved to Mexico City, soon after graduating from high school...
who has enjoyed rising fame in the Spanish-speaking world.
Monterrey
Monterrey's founders were crypto-JewishCrypto-Judaism
Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews"...
conversos who represented the first European settlers in the vast, hostile, Amerindian territories, initially called Nuevo León
Nuevo León
Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...
by the new settlers. The most famous of these crypto-Jews who inhabited Monterrey is Luis de Carabajal y Cueva
Luis de Carabajal y Cueva
Luis de Carabajal y Cueva was a Spanish-Portuguese adventurer, slave-trader and governor of Nuevo León.-Background:...
; who along with his family was burned at the stake for practicing Judaism. He was the nephew of the Spanish founder of Monterrey. His memoirs suggest that, at the time, the majority of Spanish settlers in Monterrey were of Jewish descent.
The early twentieth century saw the arrival of Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
from Europe. There is a small organized Jewish community numbering less than a thousand with a community center that is the center of Jewish life which houses the only synagogue, day school, and sports facilities. Although the synagogue is Modern Orthodox
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
, most of the families adhere to a lifestyle most similar to that of the Conservative movement
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
. The community has remained relatively stable in its numbers with a low degree of assimilation.
Conversos
There are also some Mexicans who consider themselves descendants of Conversos, Jews who converted to Catholicism to escape the Inquisition, but retained some Jewish heritage. A few examples include the generational making of Pan de SemitaFlatbread
A flatbread is a simple bread made with flour, water, and salt and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened: made without yeast or sourdough culture: although some flatbread is made with yeast, such as pita bread....
, the lighting of candles
Shabbat candles
Shabbat candles are candles lit on Friday nights, 18 minutes before sunset, to usher in the Jewish Sabbath.Lighting Shabbat candles is a rabbinically mandated law. Candlelighting is traditionally done by the woman of the household, but in the absence of a woman, it may be done by man...
on Friday nights, and the use of a Jewish form of Spanish called Ladino
Judaeo-Spanish
Judaeo-Spanish , in Israel commonly referred to as Ladino, and known locally as Judezmo, Djudeo-Espanyol, Djudezmo, Djudeo-Kasteyano, Spaniolit and other names, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish...
spoken among close friends or family.
The famous painter and Converso descendant Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
wrote in 1935, "Jewishness is the dominant element in my life. From this has come my sympathy with the downtrodden masses which motivates all my work."
See also
- List of Mexican Jews
- Crypto-JudaismCrypto-JudaismCrypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews"...
- History of the Jews in Latin AmericaHistory of the Jews in Latin AmericaThe history of the Jews in Latin America dates, according to some interpretations, back to Christopher Columbus and his first cross-Atlantic voyage on August 3, 1492, when he left Spain and eventually discovered the New World...
- List of Latin American Jews