To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico | 
 enlarge | Author: Stanley M. Hordes
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Category: Book
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Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 337701
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 376
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 5.6 x 0.9
ISBN: 0231129378
Dewey Decimal Number: 296
EAN: 9780231129374
ASIN: 0231129378
Publication Date: March 17, 2008
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Product Description
Stanley M. Hordes explores the remarkable story of crypto-Jews and the tenuous preservation of Jewish rituals and traditions in Mexico and New Mexico over the past five hundred years. He follows the crypto-Jews from their origins in medieval Spain and Portugal to their efforts to escape persecution by migrating to the New World and settling in the far reaches of the northern Mexican frontier. Drawing on individual biographies, family histories, Inquisition records, letters, and other primary sources, Hordes provides a richly detailed account of the economic, social, and religious lives of crypto-Jews during the colonial period and after the annexation of New Mexico by the United States in 1846. He concludes with a discussion of the reemergence of crypto-Jewish culture and the reclamation of Jewish ancestry within the Hispano community.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 falls apart after a strong effort October 22, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm afraid I'm in the minority here, but I have to disagree about the final value of Dr. Hordes' treatise, "To The Ends of the Earth": a History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico".
Like the other reviewers, I congratulate Hordes on his scholarship, but in his effort to put the final dot on the 'i', he massively fell down.
I will reference one of the final statements which made me shudder - "Few people, save a handful of historians, are aware of the rich & dynamic interplay among Muslims, Catholics and Separdic Jews on the Iberian Peninsula from the eighth through the fifteenth century." pg 281, "Conclusions". Maria Rosa Menocal would take extreme exception to that comment. Menocal's "The Ornament of the World"; How Muslims, Jews & Christians created a culture of tolerance in medieval Spain,2002:is only one of many academics who have written extensively on this topic.
But prior to that above heart stopping statement, I was becoming disturbed by Hordes' increasing tendency to prove out his thesis with repetitive & non-scientific criteria. Endogamy aside, DNA data would be the conclusive information to prove out the continuum of the Crypto-Jewish thread in Hordes' thesis. Jewishness is passed thru the female line, and mitrocondial information would conclusively settle the question."Indications of Crypto-Judaism in Genealogy" would have been better served containing such data. Hordes does reference that such data began to be collected in 1997; certainly, results would have been available by publication of this book to better support this sub-text.
In all, I found the majority of the book valuable, however I must point out what I found to be serious flaws in Hordes' summation of his research. I will await a more thorough treatment of this very interesting subject.
Scholarly September 29, 2008
This book is line upon line fact upon fact just well researched and documented history, it is not a bunch of opinion nor speculation. If you know Dr. Hordes like I do you know that this is the kind of man and quality of work to be expected from him, I say this as a descendant of the crypto-Jews. Sincerly Perry Pena
Did Jews Settle New Mexico and Do They Remain June 21, 2006
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Thesis: Many of the Spanish settlers of New Mexico were either secretely practising Jews or recent converts. Through the ensuing centuries, some kept up tradition and practice of their Hebrew faith, in all or part.
I heard this hypothesis when I first moved to the Land of Enchantment in 1979. Most locals took it as likely. However, "studies" on the subject were mainly collections of anecdotes of familes that did not eat pork or that played with draedels in December but didn't know why.
Stanley Hordes has done scholarship a real service with his meticulous, well-documented, and systematic research, as presented in To The End of the Earth. Rather than rushing into anecdotes, he first gives a broad backdrop of the history of Judaism in Iberia and the political and religious upheavals there in the 13th through 16th centuries.
Having set the stage, Hordes then follows families of "new Christians" to Mexico. Through an examination of correspondence, records of the Holy Office (Inquisition) and other documents, he traces the likely practice of crypto-Judaism in Old Mexico.
Only then does he set forth north of the Rio Bravo to see the fate of some likely Jewish or formerly Jewish families, trace their practices, and scour for physical evidence among a group that was reticent to leave records of what was long an illegal practice.
Hordes wraps up nicely with not only the family stories but with DNA and blood protein studies. He falls short in actually finding evidence such as hidden synagogues or secret Torahs, but he certainly paints a compelling picture that many of the Hispano settlers of New Mexico were, at the very least, reluctant conversos.
This is an engrossing and well-referenced work for any serious scholar. While not light reading, it is also not too challenging for a non-anthropologist.
By all means, if the thesis is of interest to you, you should order this book.
 A good history of crypto Jews in New Mexico May 24, 2006
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
A couple of years ago I went to a lecture that Dr. Stanley Hordes presented to the New Mexico Genealogy Society. He discussed his then upcoming book about crypto-Jews in New Mexico titled "To the End of the Earth." What intrigued me about Dr. Hordes lecture was that he found proof that the colony of Nuevo Leon, Nuevo Espana ( present day Mexico) probably was populated with crypto-Jews. This same colony en masse tried to illegally colonize New Mexico in 1591, and a few of these people were also part of the official New Mexico colony in 1598. Dr. Hordes' makes a very good argument that there were crypto-Jews in New Mexico during the first years of colonization and that their descendants continued practicing Judaism up until the present day.
A crypto-Jew is a person who converted or whose ancestors converted to Christianity yet still secretly practices Judaism. As with many other Christian countries, Jews were persecuted in Spain during the Middle Ages. In 1390 many Jews converted to Christianity after an especially devastating pogrom. In 1492, after King Fernando and Queen Isabel conquered the last vestige of Muslim Spain in Granada, the Christian monarchs officially expelled the Jews from Spain. All who stayed in Spain were required to convert to Catholicism. Many went to Portugal where they too were forced to convert.
The Spanish Inquisition persecuted many of these New Christians as apostates and heretics. Many were accused of going back to their old religion. In order to avoid prosecution many New Christians went to the New World. Dr. Hordes shows how one such colony from Portugal under the leadership of Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva were almost definitely New Christians, and most likely crypto-Jews.
Carvajal was given permission by the King Philip II of Spain to found a colony in Nuevo Leon. The king gave specific instructions to officials not to question the ethnicity of the people in this colony. Dr. Hordes contends that these people were probably New Christians since at the time New Christians prohibited from going to the New World. The king's instructions would have made it easier for them to cross over to Mexico. As further proof Hordes notes that Carvajal's son was later prosecuted by the Inquisition. During the younger Carvajal's arrest Gaspar Castano de Sosa lead the entire colony to New Mexico. Hordes contends that he probably did this in order to escape being prosecuted himself as a judaizer. However Castano de Sosa was arrested anyway for trying to illegally colonize New Mexico.
Hordes uses church and government records to demonstrate the possibility that New Christians practiced Judaism throughout New Mexico history. His argument is strongest with the early years of the colony when Inquisition records documented investigations into possible judaizers. He also uses genealogy to show how certain assumed crypto-Jewish families intermarried within culture. However, his arguments are weaker when it comes to the present day. Although there is some proof that certain present day Hispano New Mexican families continue the practice of crypto-Judaism, there are questions as to whether certain evidence truly demonstrates this practice. Hordes does not completely dispel these questions, although he comes closer than others who have tried to prove this theory.
Dr. Hordes' book is well researched and was a fascinating read. Any person interested in Hispanic New Mexican history and genealogy should read this book. One then can make up his or her mind whether Dr. Hordes proves that crypto-Judaism indeed was practiced throughout New Mexico's history.
Scholarly but also deeply inspiring March 5, 2006
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
More than 700 footnotes add up to an extraordinary story well worth the telling: quite a few "manitos" of Northern New Mexico were probably crypto-Jews who preserved parts of their own culture through centuries of isolation. So we discover that Hispanos and Hebrews are both part of Chicano history in the American Southwest.
Since these individuals covered their tracks well and most are long dead, the trail was cold and neglected. However, Dr. Hordes did not take the easy, glamorous and lucrative route to selling their extraordinary history. Instead, he and his colleagues spent years and years pouring over thousands of documents. As one who has looked at a little of this "paleography," let me testify that a person can go blind staring at that terrible, ancient, blotched and blotted handwriting. I appreciate such careful scholarship; it lays out all possible evidence without overreaching.
Thanks to this book, a vast number of dots have been laid out on the map of New Mexican history. While each by itself is not conclusive, when I connect the dots I see the fascinating faces of religious dissidents who courageously preserved their own beliefs in the face of enormous social pressure. They went "To the Ends of the Earth" to preserve their integrity. I find their story inspiring.
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