New Mexico
New Mexico’s Conversos and Crypto-Jews
Program No. 11007RJ
Learn the history and experience the unique culture of conversos and Crypto-Jews — Spain’s Jewish citizens who were forced to leave their country for not converting to Christianity.
Enroll with Confidence
We want your Road Scholar learning adventure to be something to look forward to—not worry about. Learn more
Protecting the Environment
We offset a portion of the emissions created by your travel. Learn more
Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone?
800-454-5768
Select your type of room
Price will update based on selection
Prices displayed below are based on per person,doubleoccupancy.
DATES
& starting prices
PRICES
DATES
& starting prices
PRICES
Sep 8 - Sep 13, 2024
Starting at
1,839Oct 20 - Oct 25, 2024
Starting at
1,839Nov 3 - Nov 8, 2024
Starting at
1,739Not seeing the date you're looking for?
To be notified if dates of this program become available, click the button below.
6 days
5 nights
13 meals
5B 4L 4D
1
Check-in, Registration, Orientation, Welcome Dinner
Albuquerque, NM
2
Converso and Crypto-Jewish History, Synagogue, Columbus
Albuquerque, NM
3
Crypto-Jews in NM, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Old Town
Albuquerque, NM
4
History lecture, Hispanic Cultural Center, Holocaust Museum
Albuquerque, NM
5
All-Day Field Trip to Santa Fe
Albuquerque, NM
6
Program Concludes
Albuquerque, NM
At a Glance
In 1492, the Alhambra Decree forced Spain’s Jewish citizens to make an unthinkable decision: convert to Christianity or leave the country. Over the next 500 years, the saga of the conversos and Crypto-Jews — who practiced their faith in secrecy — brought them to the New World and finally to New Mexico, where their traditions melded with those of the peoples of the Southwest. In this land of canyons and desert, trace the struggle of New Mexico’s conversos and Crypto-Jews, and consider how their traditions have managed to survive against the odds.
Activity Level
On Your Feet
Walking up to 3 miles over uneven terrain; standing up to one hour, some stairs. Elevation up to 7000 feet. Due to the elevations during this program, physical activity may be more fatiguing than at sea level.
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.
What You'll Learn
- Meet New Mexico conversos for personal insight.
- Visit Santa Fe and Museum Hill.
- Enjoy field trips to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
General Notes
Select dates are designated for small groups and are limited to 24 participants or less. For a more active version of this program, please see "New Mexico’s Conversos and Crypto-Jews in Santa Fe" (#22854). It includes similar and complementary educational content, but is based in Santa Fe.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Christopher Gibson
Christopher Gibson is an award-winning artist, writer, and arts educator who makes his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work includes the Cuentos del Camino series on lower Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe and mixed-media installations at numerous museums in New Mexico and California. Over the years, he has written several articles on Hispanic arts and culture for the magazines "Tradición Revista" and "Imagen."
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Christopher Gibson
View biography
Christopher Gibson is an award-winning artist, writer, and arts educator who makes his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work includes the Cuentos del Camino series on lower Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe and mixed-media installations at numerous museums in New Mexico and California. Over the years, he has written several articles on Hispanic arts and culture for the magazines "Tradición Revista" and "Imagen."
Maria Apodaca
View biography
Maria Apodaca’s family arrived in what is today's New Mexico in 1598. She is a descendant of the B'nai Anusim, Spanish and Portuguese Jews who were forced to convert to Catholicism in the 15th century. Maria is a member of Congregation Albert; a founder and board member of the Sephardic Heritage Institute New Mexico; a board member, Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies; and a board member, Jewish Genealogical Society of New Mexico.
Schelly Talalay Dardashti
View biography
Schelly Talalay Dardashti, a native New Yorker, has lived in Teheran, Tel Aviv, New Mexico. She is the US Genealogy Advisor for MyHeritage, and has traced her Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi families across Iran, Spain, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. An early proponent of DNA for genealogy, she created the award-winning "Tracing the Tribe - Jewish Genealogy on Facebook." She is a Board member of the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies; founding member, Sephardic Heritage Institute New Mexico; and President, Jewish Genealogical Society of New Mexico.
Sherry Moon
View biography
Sherry Moon is a certified interpreter for the profession of heritage interpretation and an experienced group leader. She has a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications and has taught communication and art. For nearly 20 years, she has been a group leader specializing in the Southwest and Alaska/Yukon. As president of the Rocky Mountain Guides Association, she is regarded as a local expert. Her interests include the arts, history, heritage, geology, reading, outdoor activities, and socializing with friends.
Deborah Brin
View biography
Rabbi Deborah Brin is an author, Jewish ambassador, and community builder. She is ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and received her master’s in pastoral counseling from LaSalle University. With a long career in rabbinic, pastoral, and chaplaincy positions, Rabbi Brin led a thriving congregation in Albuquerque for over a decade. She now enjoys interfaith work, teaching about Judaism, and helping Jews find their own gateways back to their heritage while welcoming their non-Jewish partners, friends, and extended family.
Beth Cohen
View biography
Beth Cohen, a well-known vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and music educator in New Mexico, earned both her bachelor’s and master's degrees in music from the University of New Mexico. Since 1995, she has been serving as the musical director and cantor at Congregation Nahalat Shalom. Beth has enjoyed exploring, studying, teaching, singing, and performing a variety of Jewish liturgical music and folk music. Some of her favorite music comes from the Sephardi folk traditions in the Ladino language, as well as in Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, and Turkish.
Suggested Reading List
(6 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
New Mexico’s Conversos and Crypto-Jews
Program Number: 11007
Crypto-Jews: The Long Journey
The crypto-Jewish experience has been shrouded in mystery for a past that might have been and the imagined future that could be. In the American Southwest and in parts of Latin America there is a movement to reclaim Jewish identity, and people are describing remnants of Jewish life in their families even though their ancestors renounced Jewishness long ago. People want to learn about the Sepharad of their ancestors, the Spain of the Jews. Many ask, "What is our place in that heritage." Others simply say, "Somos Judios." We are Jews.
Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of the Secret Jews
The Sephardic Jews of Spain and Portugal: Survival of an Imperiled Culture in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century
This work traces the history of the Sephardic Jews from their golden age to their post-Columbian diaspora. Several significant Sephardic Jews are profiled in detail, and later chapters explore the increasing restrictions on Jews prior to expulsion, the divergent fates of two diaspora communities (in Brazil and the Ottoman Empire), and the enduring legacy of Sephardic history.
To the End of the Earth
After encountering New Mexicans who abstained from eating pork and lit candles on Friday night, Hordes realized these practices were passed down from the early crypto-Jewish settlers. He follows the legacy of the crypto-Jews from their origins in medieval Spain and Portugal through their settlement in New Spain and current reemergence of their culture and practices within the Hispano community.
The Jews of Spain
A straightforward, readable history of Jewish life in Spain. The book covers life in Spain up to the expulsion of the Jews in 1492, and continues with chapters on the Sephardic diaspora.
New Mexico's Crypto-Jews: Image and Memory
A photographic tribute to the New Mexican descendants of the Crypto-Jews, a subsect of Europeans who were forced to convert to Catholicism during the Spanish Inquisition. Though publically they were Catholic, the Crypto-Jews continued to privately practice their Jewish faiths. Black-and-white photos are supplemented with essays.