Crypto-Jewish Women

Not all conversas were Crypto-Jews. Those women who chose to identify with the Jewish people instead of the Catholic Church faced considerable risks. Following the establishment of the Inquisition, Jewish observance by New Christians became dangerous as well as difficult. Even the woman's domain was no longer a safe refuge since every home had servants who were potential informants.

Once the Jewish community had been expelled, however, the home became the only remaining institution where observance was possible. Women's roles were magnified in importance as they became teachers as well as practitioners of Judaism. The Inquisition was aware of the centrality of women in maintaining Crypto-Judaism and arrested and tried numerous conversas. The most frequent accusations against women which appear in trial transcripts concern observance of the Sabbath and the dietary laws.

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It’s easy. Just click “Edit Text” or double click me to add your own content and make changes to the font.These Jewish practices would be easily noticed, especially by anyone working in the household. In addition, many conversas observed the fast of Yom Kippur in the hope of attaining salvation. Fasting on Mondays and Thursdays was revived during the messianic fervor between 1497 and 1503 when Inés, a young woman from Herrera, had visions of redemption. She, along with two other converso prophets, spread messianic expectation among the conversos of Extremadura.Other holiday observances preserved in secret included Passover, although the traditional seder disappeared from most homes in Spain fairly quickly. Prior to 1492, maẓẓah was obtained from Jews; afterwards, numerous Judaizing women baked it. The most outstanding example of women baking maẓẓah can be found in the community of Belmonte in Portugal where the women dressed in white and recited lengthy prayers as they ceremonially prepared the maẓẓah while the men stood guard outside. Birth and purity rituals were also observed in secret. One unique ritual was the hadas, a celebration including singing on the eighth night after the birth of a male or female child; the infant was dressed in white and a collation was served. In some homes, the de-baptism ritual was another Crypto-Jewish creative addition. On a more traditional note, many women bathed after childbirth and after menstruation, in place of the required visit to the mikveh. Death and burial rituals also played a substantial role in Crypto-Jewish life; while they ranged from the halakhic to the superstitious, all were based on past Jewish practices. These customs reflect some of the Crypto-Jewish women's observances; others may emerge from the tens of thousands of trials, especially in the archives of Portugal, that have not yet been read and analyzed. In addition, there were Judaizing conversas in the New World including women from the *Carvajal family in Mexico.

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