Benito Juarez And The Spanish Inquisition

Mexico was a good choice for the Jews to act as a sort of safe-haven when they fled from the discrimination of Europe, based on how accepting they were and the equality they showed towards the Jewish refugees.

In the late 1800’s, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of spain issued an edict of expulsion of the Jews. This meant that any Jew had two options, convert or leave your home. A converso was a Jew which said to have converted to Christianity but continued to perform Jewish rituals. Along with this edict of expulsion, the inquisition begun in Spain. “The Inquisition” was a method of finding and punishing people who did not conform to the religious rules and restrictions that the Spanish government had put into place, such as conversos.

Many conversos (Jews who had converted to Christianity) came to Mexico together, mainly to avoid the strict laws, and anti-semitism that was common throughout most of Europe at that point.

An important factor for Jews when moving to Mexico, was that, in the 1860’s, there were two different leaders of Mexico, Maximilian I, and Benito Juarez who were both on the side of religious tolerance. In 1867 when Maximilian I was executed, Benito Juarez took presidency of Mexico and imposed a separation of church and state and secularized the nation. Most of the Jews that went to Mexico, went between the late 1800’s and 1939, in three distinct waves. The first wave of Mexican Jews started in 1882 when the Russian Tzar died, this first wave was accelerated in 1884 when the Mexican president invited twelve Jewish bankers to come help the economy of Mexico grow. The second wave of Jews that came to Mexico, the Sephardic Jews, came to Mexico as a result of the destruction of the Ottoman empire. The ending of the Ottoman empire, resulted in the end of relative Jewish tolerance in that area. Because the Sephardic Jews had spanish roots, and dark skin, it was easier for them to integrate into Mexican society. The third, and final wave of Jews that came to Mexico. (“Jewish Virtual Library:

Mexico”)

Today, there are approximately 40,000- 50,000 Jews in Mexico. Around 75% of Jews living in Mexico reside in Mexico City. Many openly Jewish people work and have worked in government positions in Mexico, such as Foreign Minister and Director of Social Security Institute. The most notable communities of Jewish people in Greater Mexico City exist in Colonia Hipódromo Condesa, Polanco, Lomas de Chapultepec, Santa Fe and Huixquilucan. There is a total of sixteen Jewish schools in Mexico, with twelve, or 75% of them, in Mexico City, reflecting the 75% of Mexican Jews living there. In addition to the fact that almost 80% of Mexican Jewish youth receives education at one of Mexico city’s twelve Jewish schools, an impressive 95% of Jewish families in mexico are members of a synagogue. Most Mexican Jews are relatively successful, being classified as middle to upper-class. (“Mexconnect: A brief history of the Jews in Mexico”)