2:00pm - 3:00pm: JewishGen Presentation: "Portuguese Jews: Names & History”
The case of the so-called "Portuguese" Jews (Western Sephardim) is exceptional in the Jewish history: a mass conversion to Christianity at the end of the 15th century and a gradual return to the religion of their ancestors generations later. The debate about the reasons of this return and the degree of "Jewishness" of members of these communities (primarily in such cities as Amsterdam, London, Hamburg, Livorno, Venice, Bordeaux, and Bayonne) never ceased. Considerations of certain authors are passionate and more closely related to ideological rather than scientific factors. The analysis of names used in these communities allows to shed some (ideologically neutral) light on these complex and fascinating pages of the Jewish history.
"Portuguese Jews: Names & History”
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