Donald Trump is rounding up folks of Jewish descent

One fact that is continuously being ignored, is that Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) is rounding up individuals and putting them into concentration camps — which do not have the capabilities of treating his captives humanely. 

The vast majority of Americans never learned in school that starting in 1492, during the Spanish inquisition many Jews fled both Portugal and Spain and got on ships for The America’s (the Caribbean Islands, North, Central and Latin America).

No one really knows how many Jews fled Spain and Portugal for the America’s in hopes of staying alive and obtaining religious freedom.  What we do know is that according to reports, around twenty five percent of people from Latin America have ancestors of Jewish origins.  

Sadly, soon after Jews started arriving in “the new world”, the Spanish Conquistadors followed; and once again gave Jews the choice of converting to Catholicism, or be beaten, raped, tortured and murdered, just as the conquistadors did to the indigenous people of  Turtle Island (AKA: The America’s). 

Those who actually converted to Catholicism were referred to as Converso Jews.  At one time these individuals were also referred to as Marrano (which translates to pig).

There were also groups of Jews who pretended to convert to Christianity to stay alive, yet continued practicing Judaism in secret. This group of Jews were considered Crypto-Jews.

What I found fascinating is that many Jews from the days of the inquisition fled south and Central America, into Mexico and for short periods of time found refuge in what is now known as Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Southern Colorado. 

Over the years archaeologists found statues of Mary attached to doorposts with a mezuzah inside.  To the neighbors of Crypto Jews, it looked like these hidden Jews were kissing a statue of Mary as they entered their homes — yet in reality they were following Jewish tradition and kissing a mezuzah inside the figurines.

Over the centuries both Crypto-Jews and Converso’s held on to some Jewish traditions, without knowing what they were doing.  Like from other cultures, individuals from Latin America had family traditions passed down from one generation to the next, many unknowingly carry on Jewish tradition’s,  along with carrying their Judaism in their DNA.

During my time living in the southwest, when several people learned I was Jewish, they started sharing some family traditions that were kept secret.  They wanted to know if these traditions could be Jewish.

One person shared how there was a week once a year in the spring her family didn’t eat bread.

Another friend talked about Friday nights having a special cup to drink wine from and had a secret recipe to make a special bread.  A third shared that her family never ate pork or shell fish, being told those foods were poisonous to their family’s soul.  

When I heard these stories I would refer my new friends to various organizations I found that assist individual’s to discover if their ancestry was Jewish or not.  

Considering the fact that twenty five percent of those living in Latin America carry Jewish DNA, we must be aware that twenty five percent of those rounded up by Trump may be Jewish. 

It’s important to remember The poem “First They Came”, by Pastor Martin Niemöller:

First they came for the Communists,
– but I was not a communist so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists,
– but I was neither, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Jews,
– but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.