In the context of crypto-Jewish individuals and communities, both in the Iberian Peninsula and in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies of the New World, as well as in India, the knowledge of and distinction between halakhah and minhag persisted. But as contact with established Jewish communities (in particular, in Spain before the expulsion), with rabbis, and with Jewish texts lessened, the overall knowledge of Jewish practice and beliefs diminished. By the close of the 17th century, the breach between what the average converso regarded as Jewish and what was normative Jewish practice was pronounced.

The Judaizing of most conversos was increasingly limited to a set of attitudes and ideas that undermined Catholic beliefs, as opposed to normative Jewish practices and thought. Included in such a rudimentary belief system was the rejection of Catholicism as a form of idolatry, a belief that the Jewish people served the only true God, that redemption would be seen with the coming of the true Messiah, and that personal salvation would be secured through observance of the Law of Moses rather than in faith in Christ.

This is not to say that many individuals, and, in fact, some communities of crypto-Jews, did not retain sophisticated levels of Jewish knowledge. But the fact that an open expression of Jewish spirituality was impossible meant that individuals and communities generally practiced less detailed levels of observance as compared to their counterparts living in open Jewish communities. This fact effectively transformed Jewish faith for conversos into matters of belief. In a parallel to Christian faith, it was for many conversos sufficient to believe in one’s heart that the Law of Moses was sufficient.

This short work explores the practices and beliefs that characterized the dual identity of crypto-Jews.