Manuel Martin and Otto Van-Troi Perozo Minaya will deliver a brief history of Spanish and Portuguese Crypto-Jews: their origin, persecution and survival until present day. From here, the group will explore the importance of their return to Judaism from a historical, Halachic and Talmudic point of view.

Registration requested, below. No cost for members; $5 for non-members.

Facilitators: As a teenager in Caceres, Spain, Manuel Isaias Martin Ramos became aware of his Jewish roots and since then has been studying the Spanish ‘juderia’ (Jews and Conversos). His mother’s family names, Ramos and Ciudad, are both ‘Converso’ names. Many of his family traditions point to Kohen origin. Otto Van-troi Perozo Minaya was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. His maternal family has been on the island of Hispaniola since the 1500s. He has traveled frequently to Spain and Portugal documenting Crypto-Jewish family heritage and lineage of early settlers in Hispaniola and the Caribbean. Manuel and Otto are currently researching Crypo-Jewish settlements from Caceres, Extremadura, Spain.