To the End of the Earth - by Stanley Hordes (Paperback)

About the Book

Stanley M. Hordes explores the remarkable story of crypto-Jews and the tenuous preservation of Jewish rituals and traditions in Mexico and New Mexico over the past five hundred years. He follows the crypto-Jews from their origins in medieval Spain and Portugal to their efforts to escape persecution by migrating to the New World and settling in the far reaches of the northern Mexican frontier. Drawing on individual biographies, family histories, Inquisition records, letters, and other primary sources, Hordes provides a richly detailed account of the economic, social, and religious lives of crypto-Jews during the colonial period and after the annexation of New Mexico by the United States in 1846. He concludes with a discussion of the reemergence of crypto-Jewish culture and the reclamation of Jewish ancestry within the Hispano community.

Book Synopsis

In 1981, while working as New Mexico State Historian, Stanley M. Hordes began to hear stories of Hispanos who lit candles on Friday night and abstained from eating pork. Puzzling over the matter, Hordes realized that these practices might very well have been passed down through the centuries from early crypto-Jewish settlers in New Spain. After extensive research and hundreds of interviews, Hordes concluded that there was, in New Mexico and the Southwest, a Sephardic legacy derived from the converso community of Spanish Jews.

In To the End of the Earth, Hordes explores the remarkable story of crypto-Jews and the tenuous preservation of Jewish rituals and traditions in Mexico and New Mexico over the past five hundred years. He follows the crypto-Jews from their Jewish origins in medieval Spain and Portugal to their efforts to escape persecution by migrating to the New World and settling in the far reaches of the northern Mexican frontier.

Drawing on individual biographies (including those of colonial officials accused of secretly practicing Judaism), family histories, Inquisition records, letters, and other primary sources, Hordes provides a richly detailed account of the economic, social and religious lives of crypto-Jews during the colonial period and after the annexation of New Mexico by the United States in 1846. While the American government offered more religious freedom than had the Spanish colonial rulers, cultural assimilation into Anglo-American society weakened many elements of the crypto-Jewish tradition.

Hordes concludes with a discussion of the reemergence of crypto-Jewish culture and the reclamation of Jewish ancestry within the Hispano community in the late twentieth century. He examines the publicity surrounding the rediscovery of the crypto-Jewish community and explores the challenges inherent in a study that attempts to reconstruct the history of a people who tried to leave no documentary record.

Review Quotes

To the End of the Earth is a true magnum opus and a fitting conclusion to decades of research.--David Caffey "Prime Time"

[Hordes] reasons from past to present, and the present back to the past, constructing a message about the role of history in understanding how we see ourselves and how others see us.-- "El Palacio"

A compelling sociological study.--Bill Gladstone "AVOTAYNU"

Any scholar seriously interested in global history or putting the "American experience" in a global context would be well served to pick up a copy.--Paul Kahan "Religious Studies Review"

By both assembling the genealogical legacy of Judaism in New Mexico, and supplementing it with rich insight into the everyday practices of crypto-Jewish communities in New Spain, Hordes has made a remarkable contribution to the study of these people.--Kathleen Holscher "H-NewMexico"

For any reader interested in how culture survives, this book is an inspiring one.-- "New Mexico Magazine"

For those tracking... family histories, this may prove invaluable... For any reader interested in how culture survives, this book is an inspiring one.-- "New Mexico"

Hordes builds a compelling case that can not be easily dismissed.--Dr. Fred Reiss "The Midwest Book Review"

Hordes has made an important contribution to our understanding of the religious and ethnic diversity of the Southwest and of the force that the beliefs and practices he has brought to light continues to exert in the lives of the people of the region.--Thomas M. Cohen "The Americas"

Remarkable-even astonishing-though, that we have had to wait until 2005 for a book to appear on a topic that is so intrinsically interesting and that so directly links North American history with that of the Iberian Peninsula.-- "Hispanic American Historical Review"

The most extensively researched book on the subject to date... a compelling sociological study.--Ze'ev Glicenstein "The Canadian Jewish News"

This book, honestly researched and beautifully written, can enlarge understanding of the troubled road followed by our evolving Western civilization.--Marc Simmons "Santa Fe New Mexican"

This book's combination of traditional archival research and oral history makes it a valuable addition to syllabi.--Andrea Orzoff "The Public Historian"

This is a well told and stunningly researched detective story.--David J. Webber "Western Historical Quarterly"

About the Author

Stanley M. Hordes is adjunct research professor at the Latin American and Iberian Institute at the University of New Mexico. He earned his Ph.D. in Mexican History at Tulane University, where he received a Fulbright Dissertation Fellowship to perform research in Mexico and Spain. He is the author of numerous articles on the history of crypto-Judaism in Mexico and the U.S. Southwest.