Conversos and the Theology of Redemption
Many years ago, Rabbi Dr. Ronald Brauner encouraged me to devote greater scholarly attention to the history and experience of the Conversos. “Speak to it,” he advised. At the time, I was uncertain whether I wished to pursue such a specialized field of study. My academic interests were broad, and I wondered whether focusing on the descendants of the Jews of Spain and Portugal who had been compelled to embrace Christianity would unnecessarily narrow my scholarly horizons. As the years passed, however, I came to realize that the Converso experience occupies a unique place not only in Jewish history but also in Jewish theology. More importantly, I became convinced that the descendants of the Conversos possess a unique potential to enrich the Jewish world in ways that are only beginning to be appreciated.
During the 1990s, the Jerusalem Post estimated that approximately thirty-five million descendants of Crypto-Jews lived throughout Latin America. That number is almost certainly higher today. Even if only a small percentage were to rediscover their Jewish heritage and return to Jewish communal life, the demographic implications alone would be significant. Yet their importance extends beyond numbers. The descendants of Conversos frequently possess a unique familiarity with both Jewish and Christian traditions. This dual historical experience, born from centuries of persecution and religious ambiguity, provides an unusual perspective from which meaningful dialogue with the Christian world can emerge. At a time when antisemitism has again become a global concern, this perspective deserves serious consideration.
This possibility finds an important historical precedent in the writings of Don Isaac Abravanel. Long before modern discussions concerning Jewish identity and interfaith relations, Don Isaac Abravanel developed a remarkable theological understanding of the Conversos that extended far beyond their immediate historical circumstances. This article argues that Abravanel viewed the Conversos not merely as tragic victims of persecution, but as participants in the unfolding Divine plan of redemption. His interpretation offers an important theological framework through which both the historical experience of the Conversos and the contemporary significance of their descendants may be understood.
Whether Conversos were sincere converts to Christianity or clandestine practitioners of Judaism appears not to have been the decisive issue in Abravanel’s understanding of their role within Jewish history. While the responsa literature addressed practical halakhic questions concerning levirate marriage, testimony, kashrut, and numerous other legal matters affecting Conversos, Abravanel approached the subject from a different perspective. He sought to understand how the existence of the Conversos fit into the providential unfolding of history and how they themselves might understand their place within God’s redemptive purposes. Whatever explanation one adopts regarding the motivations behind conversion, Abravanel assigned the Conversos extraordinary theological significance. As Ram Ben-Shalom observes succinctly, “Abravanel assigns the conversos a central role in the Redemption.”[1]
Abravanel’s interpretation of Obadiah 1:20 illustrates this perspective. Prior to the expulsions from Spain and Portugal, he understood the prophet’s words as referring to the continued presence of Jews throughout the Iberian Peninsula. The expulsions of 1492 and 1497 presented an obvious theological challenge. If the Jewish communities had largely disappeared, how could the prophecy remain meaningful? Abravanel resolved this difficulty by identifying the remaining Conversos and Crypto-Jews as those through whom the prophecy might yet be fulfilled. He wrote that the prophecy perhaps referred to those “who no longer practiced their religion as a result of the persecutions and destructions… They would return to worship their God, as some are doing today, and by doing so the prophecy will be fulfilled.” [2]
Abravanel understood the immense pressures under which conversion had occurred. He explained:
“Because of the miseries, the condemnations, and the massacres by the enemies, they left the totality of the Law, and they thought to become like one of the people of the land.” [3]
At the same time, Abravanel observed that many had never become fully committed to Christianity. He observed that “they don’t observe the religion of the Gentiles, because they don’t believe in their religion.” [4] Those who remained skeptical of Christian doctrine questioned the veneration of images, the cult of saints, and traditional methods of biblical interpretation—questions that would later emerge prominently during the Protestant Reformation. Whether they secretly observed Judaism or sincerely attempted to embrace Christianity, Conversos nevertheless remained vulnerable to inquisitorial persecution. As Abravanel observed, “Those who believe in their faith, like those without belief, both are burned.” [5]
For Abravanel, these realities reflected more than personal tragedy. They formed part of a broader providential drama. Ram Ben-Shalom has suggested that Abravanel viewed history as the gradual unfolding of humanity’s understanding of the Divine, in which even false religions could unintentionally contribute to God’s ultimate purposes. The widespread religious corruption of his own day therefore became evidence that history was moving toward its consummation. Drawing upon the Talmudic teaching that the Messiah would not come until “the entire kingdom” had become afflicted with heresy, Abravanel saw contemporary Europe—including the corruption of the Christian clergy—as confirmation that this process had already begun.
Abravanel’s understanding of the Conversos also influenced his interpretation of Scripture. One of his most remarkable biblical expositions concerns Rabshakeh, the Assyrian official who attempted to persuade Jerusalem to surrender during the reign of King Hezekiah. The Talmud had already suggested that Rabshakeh was an apostate Israelite, and Rashi elaborated that he had deserted Judaism while retaining familiarity with Israel’s faith. Abravanel, however, offered an interpretation that moved beyond the earlier commentators.
According to Abravanel, Hezekiah’s ministers did not ask Rabshakeh to speak Aramaic because they feared the effect of his words upon the people. Rather, they sought to protect Rabshakeh himself. By speaking Hebrew publicly and displaying familiarity with the God of Israel, he risked exposing his own Jewish identity before the Assyrian authorities. In Abravanel’s reading, the concern centered not upon military strategy but upon the personal danger faced by one who outwardly belonged to another people while inwardly remaining connected to Israel. [6]
This interpretation becomes even more striking when read against the historical circumstances of the Conversos. Like Rabshakeh, many Conversos occupied positions within Christian society while remaining vulnerable to accusations of divided loyalties. Historical figures such as Diego Arias Dávila and Pedro de la Caballería illustrate this dilemma vividly. Both men rose to positions of considerable prominence while simultaneously facing inquisitorial suspicion because of their continued association with Jews, their knowledge of Hebrew, or their participation in Jewish practices. Their lives provide compelling historical parallels to the biblical pattern that Abravanel discerned.
The biblical parallels extend even further. The Hebrew Bible repeatedly presents situations in which concealment of identity serves a providential purpose. Queen Esther concealed her Jewish identity until the appropriate moment, ultimately using her position to preserve the Jewish people. Abraham and Isaac each concealed aspects of their identities in foreign lands for the sake of survival. Naaman acknowledged the God of Israel while requesting permission to continue accompanying his master into an idolatrous temple because of the obligations of his public office. In each instance, external appearances masked a deeper loyalty. Abravanel appears to have recognized a similar dynamic within the experience of the Conversos.
Perhaps nowhere is Abravanel’s perspective expressed more poignantly than in the story of the converted Jewish sage who observed that while he had once worshiped the invisible God who always saw him, after embracing Christianity he now saw God daily in religious images while that god no longer saw him.[7] Ram Ben-Shalom rightly characterizes such individuals as expert witnesses whose experiences allowed them to testify concerning the strengths and weaknesses of both religious worlds. Their lives occupied the difficult boundary between two civilizations.
Abravanel’s theology of the Conversos remains remarkable precisely because it refuses to reduce them to simple historical categories. He neither idealized them as secret saints nor dismissed them as apostates. Instead, he understood them as participants in a larger providential drama whose significance extended beyond their own generation. Their divided lives, painful as they were, became part of the unfolding story of redemption.
Modern scholarship has often concentrated on the legal status, social integration, or religious sincerity of the Conversos. These questions remain important. Yet Abravanel reminds us that theology also shapes the way history is understood. His interpretation invites us to view the Conversos not merely through the lens of persecution or assimilation, but through the broader framework of Jewish hope. Whether one accepts his messianic expectations or not, his vision challenges us to recognize the descendants of the Conversos not simply as heirs to a tragic past, but as individuals capable of making unique contributions to the future of the Jewish people. In that respect, Abravanel’s voice continues to speak with surprising relevance to our own generation.
Returning to the present day, the return of descendants of Conversos to Judaism creates a unique opportunity at a moment when it is desperately needed. In the world after October 7th, we have witnessed increasing antisemitism, even in circles where many Christians have historically supported the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Descendants of Conversos who return to Judaism therefore occupy a distinctive position. They may understandably carry resentment toward Christianity because of what their ancestors endured. Yet they may also recognize that their return to Judaism provides an opportunity to serve as bridges between two religious worlds that, particularly in the American experience, have often stood in support of one another. Those who dismiss the return of the descendants of Crypto-Jews as inconsequential risk overlooking both the depth of their historical experience and the power their story may hold for the complicated times in which we live.
[1] Ram Ben-Shalom, “The Converso as Subversive: Jewish Traditions or Christian Libel?” Journal of Jewish Studies 50:2 (1999): 259-283.
[2] Isaac Abravanel, Commentary on Obadiah 1, 20 in Commentary on the Prophets (Tel Aviv, 1960), p 117 cited in Ram Ben-Shalom, “The Converso as Subversive: Jewish Traditions or Christian Libel?” Journal of Jewish Studies 50:2 (1999): 259-283.
[3] Abravanel’s Commentary on Ezekiel 5:6. Cited in Jose Faur, Four Classes of Conversos: A Typological Study, Revue des Etudes Juives, CXLIX (1-3), Janiver-Juin 1990, pp. 113-124. While these were immediate reasons, scholars look to understand why Spanish Jews converted in such large numbers in contrast to other Jewish communities faced with desperate circumstances. Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi notes the following: “Will we ever know how many Jews were lost over the years? Amongst the Jews who were lost must be counted not only those who were the victims of massacres and martyrdoms, but equally those who went over to the other side or converted. And these Jews were lost not because- as the most simplistic explanation would have it- they were seduced by purely secular ambitions or material benefits; they were conquered by a real, a genuine despair; they feared that the Jewish people had no future.” Yerushalmi quoted in Pierre Birnbaum, “Exile, Assimilation, and Identity: from Moses to Joseph,” in Carlebach, et al. Jewish History and Jewish Memory: Essays in Honor of Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, 1998.
[4] Jose Faur, In the Shadow of History: Jews and Conversos at the Dawn of Modernity, (New York: SUNY, 1992), p. 50.
[5] Isaac Abravanel, Ma’ayannei ha-Yeshu-ah (Wells of Salvation) (Stettin, 1860), 12, 5, p. 57b. See also Ram Ben-Shalom,” The Typology of the Converso in Isaac Abravanel’s Biblical Exegesis,” Jewish History 23:9 (2009): 283-292.
[6] Abravanel, Interpretation of II Kings 18:26, Interpretation of the Former Prophets, p. 656.Cited in Ram Ben-Shalom,” The Typology of the Converso in Isaac Abravanel’s Biblical Exegesis,” Jewish History 23:9 (2009): 284.
[7] Abravanel, Commentary to Isaiah 45: 15, p.222 cited in Ram Ben-Shalom,” The Typology of the Converso in Isaac Abravanel’s Biblical Exegesis,” Jewish History 23:9 (2009): 287-288.
