Saturday, November 5, 2005

New Mexicans study their roots, begin to worship with eye to Sephardic past

Jane Moorman News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jmoorman@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas When the Roman Legions overran the Jewish nation, much of the Jewish population was sent into exile throughout the Roman Empire.

Many were sent to the Iberian peninsula. The area became know by the Hebrew word Sephard, meaning far away.

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The Jews in Spain and Portugal became known as Sephardim or Sephardi, and those things associated with the Sephardim, including names, customs, genealogy and religious rites, became know as Sephardic.

From the Web site of Dr. Seth Ward formerly of the Center of Judaic Studies at the University of Denver, www.du.edu/-sward/sephardim.html.

Perry Peña always wondered why his grandmother lit a candle on Friday evenings and not on other days.

He also wondered why his aunt kissed a statue of St. Jude on the doorframe as she entered her home.

It wasn't until he became interested in Judaism that he realized his family is descended from conversos, or New Christians, who hid their Jewish heritage during the Spanish Inquisition by becoming Catholics. Many conversos colonized in New Spain.

Research documentation is particularly strong about New Christian settlement in what later became northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.

"I always wondered about some of our family traditions," Peña said. "I have realized there are layers upon layers of Jewish customs in the northern New Mexico traditions, such as kissing of the door post, going to Mass on Saturday, covering mirrors when someone dies, throwing dirt into the grave, soaking a freshly butchered chicken in salt water before cooking it or bleeding a sheep and then burying the blood, and women sweeping the dirt into the center of the room before picking it up."

And now he also understands that his family's lighting of luminarias at Christmas was a Crypto-Judaism practice celebrating the Festival of Lights by Sephardic Jews.

Ralph Madina, from the age of 19, said he has kept the Jewish holy days even though his family was Christian. "I just always felt it was what I should do," he said.

Six years ago, after moving to New Mexico from New York City, Madina realized his family's roots in Barcelona, Spain, were also in Judaism. "I then understood my feelings," he said.

"Our family always says the blessing as we say good-bye. When I bought a car in New Mexico, the salesman gave me a blessing after our business was completed," Madina said. "I thought this is wonderful."

Whether said in Hebrew, Spanish or English, both Peña and Madina say the family practice of saying a blessing — "Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you. May the Lord bless you and keep upon your way and give you blessings" — is a Jewish tradition.

Joe Morse's awakening to his Sephardic Jewish heritage was a little different. He was raised as an Orthodox Jew in New York City since his grandparents came to the United States from the Ukraine.

"But I never looked like the other Ukrainian kids at synagogue," the 30-year resident of New Mexico said. "It wasn't until I learned that my ancestor went from Barcelona, Spain, to Kiev that I realized I was actually a Sephardic Jew and that I have Spanish features."

With the realization of their religious heritage, Morse, Madina and Peña have been drawn together to form a Sephardic Jewish synagogue in Valencia County.

"We are the Kahilah Ba-Midbar, congregation in the wilderness," said Morse, the congregation's leader. "When we first started gathering together, we'd meet in parks and in people's homes. Now we meet at the Village of Los Lunas Wellness Center, beside Heritage Park each Saturday at 10:30 a.m."

Madina is the congregation's elder, while Peña is the group's teacher.

"We are not Jews who worship Jesus, but rather we believe in the one God and his son, Yeshua, who was, is and will always be our messiah," Morse said.

Rather than calling Jesus by a Christian name, Morse says the group refers to him as Yeshua, which is Hebrew meaning salvation.

"Our goal is to reintroduce the lost House of Israel, the Sephardic Jews who have had to practice Crypto-Judaism, to their true heritage by teaching the Torah and Jewish lifestyle, including keeping of the Sabbath and holy days, through songs and prayers in our Hebrew language," Morse said.

"We are trying to go back to the pure practice in our belief of the Messiah. We will not forsake our true heritage. We are reclaiming our birthright."

"We are trying to evolve back to the original teachings of the first congregation of Yeshua by studying the meanings of the Hebrew words in the Torah to get the higher truth," said Madina. "Take the Hebrew for the phrase, God almighty, El Shadi, it actually is translated as God of the breast, or I feed you."

"We welcome all who want to study the Torah to seek Gods truth through the Messiah, Yeshua," Morse said.

He adds that, through this practice, he says group's members are changing to be more pleasing to God. "We are striving for salvation through the Messiah, to turn from sin and walk away."

The group also has future goals of establishing a Sephardic study center, Judaic store, deli and food coop.

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