Del Rio News Herald

Part 1 of 2

Today I have been thinking a great deal about the various articles that I have written in the last 18 months that may or may not have impacted your life in one way or another.

What value have my articles added to your life? Could it also be asked if my articles have taken something away from you or this community?

Can you envision our society; our children and our entire life being more productive had you known more about your ancestors?

Does knowing our family history add to who we are today and where we will go tomorrow? Is it possible that our ancestors have been waiting to be recognized for who they really were?

What harm was done by historians when they did not tell us the whole truth about our ancestors, about the people who fought for Texas Independence and about the fact that many of us are descendants of Sephardic Jews that came from the Iberian Peninsula to escape the Inquisition?

Is it important to know that many of our ancestors were Sephardic Jews and that some of these people married the Indigenous people? How do you feel knowing the possibility exists that you and your family not only have Indian, Mexican or another nationality, but also have Jewish blood?

I am astonished at the sincerity of people who admit that they did not believe a word I said about the Sephardic Jew being our ancestors until they went into the WEB and looked up all the key words I use. Bravo to the people who are endeavoring to find out the truth!

It takes your collective strength to make a difference in history, history making, as well as, history documentation!!! We need to stand up and be recognized. We need to make sure that our ancestors are given the place they earned in history. We must make sure that they are rightly given their place.

The appearance of the contributions and existence of the Sephardic Jew is now greatly publicized that it is difficult to side step this information.

Universities all over the United States are conducting their research and are publicizing the results.

Del Rio is getting attention as a small border town with remnants of the Sephardic Jew through the documentation and analysis of the customs, rituals, practices, language patterns and most importantly our, religious affiliation and traditions.

Once again we will go down memory lane and bring to mind many of the things we did without questioning their origin.

The presence all over the Spanish New World of descendents of Sephardic Jews (also called peninsular Jews) who were forced to convert to Catholicism is called ANUSIM in the Hebrew literature. This fact is well documented.

Church officials often complained that Mexico is inundated with Jews.

The Mexican Inquisition, in its zeal to rid the Spanish colony of all remnants of Judaism among these people and in its avarice for their possessions was established in 1571.

The first Mexican AUTO DE FE was held in 1526 and the last in 1815. The Inquisition was abolished with Mexico’s Independence in 1821, at which time the last person imprisoned for being a Jew was released!

We have documentary evidence for the secret preservation of Judaism in Mexico until the end of the eighteenth century. (S. C. Halevy, 1996).

Many Jews fled to the Northern parts of Mexico to avoid the wrath of the Inquisition in Mexico City. Del Rio, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas were the areas that these people migrated to and settle in with their families. Those men who were alone usually married their own kind but in many cases they wed the local Indian female.

That is one of the reasons that some of us are a little “browner” than others! That’s okay, “morenito” is gorgeous! My daddy was

“morenito!” Morenito means a ‘little brown.’ My daddy would say that his skin color developed brownish because he started drinking coffee at an early age! I bet your dad said the same thing to you!!

There is no doubt among scholars, intellectuals, historians, researchers, etc. that descendents of New Christians (Crypto Jews) populated and populate Texas and the Southwest; naturally, many New Christians have assimilated and intermarried with old Christians ‘Amerindians.’

I have come to believe that many of the people in the 19th 20th and 21st century whose ancestors can be found in the Northern part of Mexico and the Borderlands of Texas have Jewish extraction.

I believe that the origin exists in these areas as a true subculture whose identity has been preserved knowingly or unknowingly through the continued practice of Jewish culture, foods, etc.

I believe that family customs that can only be reasonably explained as of Jewish origin is what is of great value to me as a researcher of the Sephardic Jew along the Texas Borderlands.

I am constantly looking for customs that are combined with a sense of our cultural identity. I look for the practices that are traceable either to rabbinic law or Sephardic custom and which are not shared by other groups.

There are important indicators that give me the evidence I need to learn, integrate and then share with you. The Inquisition and Edicts of Faith dossiers especially from Mexico, give me potential sources of cultural evidence which in turn entices me to learn more about the traditional folklore songs, dichos, prayers, language etc. which I believe need further investigation.

Colorin, colorado, este cuento NO se ha acabado! The word “Colorado” is a Ladino word used by the Sephardic Jew. The Spaniard used ‘rojo.’

God’s favor is upon us. Be grateful and thank Him for his Grace.

For comments please

e-mail me at:

dszertuche(at)hotmail.com

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Serving Del Rio and Val Verde County since 1929

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