Eduardo Mayone
Dias Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese U. C. L. A. Los Angeles,
California 90024
http://www.lusa
web.com/comunidades/rituals.html
The following is an incomplete list of practices that may be
indicative of Jewish origin among anusim in the New World today ...
- Told one is Jewish explicitly by parents, grandparents, or other
relatives.
- Having Jewish family names: Duran, Lopez, etc. Coming from
predominantly anusim villages in Neuvo Reyno de Leon, Santa Fe, San
Elisario, etc. Married los muestros. Speaking Ladino.
- Secret synagogues; secret prayer groups. Saying: "Hashem
(Tetragrammaton) es mi dio" "El Sabado see el dia la gloria"
Avoiding church. Churches without icons.
- Lighting candles on Friday night. Clean house and clothes for
Shabbat. Not allowed to do anything Friday night (not even wash
hair). El Dia Puro (Yom Kippur). Celebrating a spring holiday.
Fasts: 3 days of Taanit Esther; every Monday and Thursday.
Venerating Jewish saints, with celebrations: Santa Esterika, Santo
Moises, etc. Eight candles for Christmas.
- Circumcision; consecration on eighth day (avoiding circumcision
because that would bind child to the laws of Moses). Biblical first
names, like Esther. Women taught Tanakh and ruled on questions.
Married under "huppah." Rending of garments; burial within one day;
covering mirrors; spigots in cemeteries. Seven days, then one year,
of mourning. Tombstones bearing Hebrew names and Jewish symbols.
- Possessing talit and tefillin, mezuzot, Tanakh, siddurim, other
Jewish objects. Sweeping the floor away from the door. Possessing
kabbalistic knowledge and practices.
- Ritual slaughter (special knives, tested on hair or nails);
covering blood; removing sinew. Purging, soaking, salting meat.
Avoiding pork (called "unclean" "marrano") and shellfish. Avoiding
blood; throwing out eggs with bloodspots. Avoiding red meat in
general. Waiting between meat and milk. Ate only food prepared by
mother of maternal grandmother.
BIRTH RITUALS
- To place a rooster's head over the door of the room where the
birth will occur.
- After the birth the mother must not uncover herself or change
clothes for 30 days.
- To throw a silver coin in the baby's first bath water.
- To say a prayer eight days after birth in which the baby's name
is included.
WEDDING RITUALS
- To fast on the wedding day (both bride and groom, as well as two
male friends of the groom and two female friends of the bride.
- To bind the bride and groom's hands with a white cloth while a
prayer is said.
- To follow the wedding ceremony with a light meal consisting of a
glass of wine, salt, bitter herbs, honey, an apple, and unleavened
bread.
- At the wedding ceremony bride and groom eat and drink out of the
same plate and glass.
FUNERAL RITUALS
- To have ritual meals to which a beggar is invited and serve the
food the deceased liked best.
- To throw away all water in the home of the deceased.
- To go to the deceased's room for eight days and say: "May God
give you a good night. You were once like us, we will be like you."
- Not to shave for 30 days after the death of a relative.
- Not to eat meat for one week after a death in the family, then
fast on the third and eighth day andonce every three months for one
year.
- To make the deceased's bed with fresh linen and to burn a light
by it for one year.
- To keep the deceased's room lit for one week.
- To place flour and food around the deceased's bed.
- To keep the deceased's place at the table, fill his or her plate
and give the food to a beggar.
- To purify, (desintreflar, from treph) the house
after a death (presumably after a priest had entered it for the last
rites).
- Female relatives cover their heads with a scarf and hide their
faces with a shawl.
- Say the following prayer: May God save you now that you passed
away You were alive as we were, We will be like you. To heaven
where you now are, Pray to the Lord for us, In this valley of
tears, We will pray to the Lord for you.
- To wash the body with water brought from the fountain in a new
container and to dress it in white clothes.
- To pass a gold or silver coin over the mouth of the deceased, and
then give the coin to a beggar.
- To pass a coin and piece of bread over the eyes of the deceased.
- To clip the deceased's nails (or at least a couple of them) as
well as a few hairs and wrap everything in a piece of paper or cloth.
- To place a piece of bread on the deceased's bed and say: "Take
it, leave the deceased's soul alone while it crosses the Jordan
River."
- To give alms at every corner before the funeral procession
reaches the cemetery.
- To give a beggar a complete suit of clothes and a meal at least
during the Sabbath for one year.
- To have several lights lit on Yom Kippur eve in memory of the
deceased.
DIETARY PRACTICES
- A boy should fast for 24 hours before initiation at age seven.
- To kiss any piece of bread that falls on the floor.