Spanish-speaking Jews

The Jewish presence on the Iberian Peninsula is ancient and shaped the history of Spain until the expulsion of the Jews in the late fifteenth century. Many left for North Africa and the Mediterranean, carrying with them the Iberian language and memory, and some quietly made their way to the New World among the colonizers.

The organized Jewish communities of Latin America emerged mainly after the independence movements. Between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, waves of families from Eastern Europe fled poverty and persecution and settled in the region, some in agricultural colonies, mainly in Argentina. Jews from Syria and other lands of the Middle East arrived in countries such as Mexico in the early twentieth century. Their children studied in local schools and adopted Spanish as their own language.

Life revolves around family and community. The festivals of the Jewish calendar, such as the weekly Shabbat, Passover and Yom Kippur, gather several generations around the table, and synagogues also serve as social centers. Many families sustain Jewish schools, youth groups, aid associations and sports clubs that strengthen the bonds among them.

In working life, they are present in many fields, from commerce and industry to medicine, law, the university and the arts. Education is usually valued as a family inheritance. At home, the kitchen blends traditional Jewish dishes with Latin American flavors, and the Spanish language meets Hebrew words and Yiddish or Ladino ones, depending on the family’s origin. Marriage within the community is highly valued, and the concern to pass identity on to the children is constant.

The predominant religion is Judaism. There are Orthodox, Conservative and Reform communities, and practice varies a great deal from one family to another. For some, life revolves around the Torah, the Shabbat and the dietary laws. For others, faith is lived mainly in the great festivals and the rites of passage, such as birth, religious coming of age, marriage and mourning.

In many homes, being Jewish is as much a cultural and historical identity as a religious conviction. The memory of past persecutions and the bond with Israel are part of this sense of unity. For this reason, the idea of accepting Jesus as Messiah is often seen as a break with the people, and not merely a change of belief, which makes the subject delicate within the family and the community.

Spanish is the language of the heart for these Jews, and in it the complete Bible exists in several translations, along with audio resources, apps and internet programs. The difficulty, then, is not a lack of Scripture. Many have known the Torah and the Psalms since childhood, in Hebrew and in Spanish, but they tend to read the New Testament with suspicion, associating it with centuries of tension between Jews and Christians. Reading the Word of God alongside someone they trust, in an atmosphere of respect, can make a difference.

The main barrier is identity: for most, being Jewish and believing in Jesus seem incompatible, and whoever draws near to the gospel may be seen as someone who has abandoned family and people. The history of persecutions carried out in the name of Christianity, in Spain and beyond, has left deep wounds in the collective memory. The communities are close-knit and closed, so spontaneous contact with Christians is rare, and the gospel must be shared with sensitivity, respect and much friendship.

Like any community, they face real struggles: concern for safety in the face of incidents of antisemitism, economic crises in several countries of the region, the emigration of young people and the challenge of keeping faith and identity alive among the new generations. There are also those who feel distant from both religious practice and their own community.

Above all, they need to know the Messiah promised in the Scriptures they already love. They lack Christian friends who welcome them with honesty, and congregations that receive Jews who believe in Jesus without requiring them to renounce their heritage and their people.