Sunday, February 10, 2008

Searching for what?

In putting together the outline for my paper I continue to bump into this need to search for more... be it our searching our family roots, our search for a safer or better life, our search within ourselves for some completion. I have immigrated to Israel and here everyone seems to be or have been involved in this need to find out more about themselves, their place on earth or their understanding of it. I know that not all people seek these things. Why is that? So, I am looking at the lives of the Carvajals, El Mozo and El Viejo y Las Senoras, and of my ancestors through that context or lens. And I want to talk about what it is to immigrate, to leave a known world, comfortable or not, to seek something better. The question of "should we stay or should we go" reveals a lot about the people, the crypto-jews, we are studying.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I too am searching for what I call 'Sociological Echoes' of Judaism in New Spain. I am building a database from the various mission records prior to 1790 in the borderlands region. I expect that some interesting patterns will emerge that slowly dampen off as time passes. The challenge is to connect the families strongly associated with the sociological patterns to known Sephardic trading families in the Carribean basin. I am looking forward to getting some advice in this endeavour especially with respect to what port and business records are still extant.

Anonymous said...

I am a cryptojew born at the Texas/Mexico border. Both my parents descend from crypto jews but in my mother's side, they almost exclusively intermarried only certain other borderland families. I am VERY excited at the possibility of learning more about this part of our culture that remains hidden hundred of years later.


Diana
TEXAS

Anonymous said...

You write very well.