Registration Is Open!

Annual Conference in Colorado Springs,CO   

July 28-30, 2013

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Dear Reader,

This issue of La Granada will be brief.  We don't want to make you wait for CONFERENCE announcements.  We invite you to start planning NOW to attend the 2013 Annual Meeting and Conference of SCJS being held in Colorado Springs, CO during July 28-30, 2013 on the campus of University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (UCCS)!

Keynote speakers are:
 

 Dr. Jane Gerber

(CUNY-Graduate Center), author of "The Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience", 

Dr. Gretchen Starr-LeBeau   

(U. of Kentucky), author of "In the Shadow of the Virgin: Inquisitors, Friars, and Conversos in Guadalupe, Spain." 

 

In addition to offering these stimulating speakers, the conference will include presentations by members of the crypto-Jewish community, arts displays, music performances, and scholarly presentations.

   

 

 

  Click here to read conference details.  

  Meet Our Involved Members

I will have to credit the Internet for bringing the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies to my attention.   My first book, which included the long story, "La Esmeralda," was published in 1992. My second book, the novel "Spirits of the Ordinary," which expanded on that story, was published in 1997   I heard from a great many people, but not until 1999 or even 2000 did I learn about the Society. I sent off for their newsletters, and got up my nerve to attend a conference when it was held   in Pueblo, Colorado, in 2001. My in-laws lived in Colorado, so we flew into Denver, my husband dropped me off at the conference, and returned to Denver with our son.

After years of research in isolation, it was mind-blowing to spend an entire weekend with fellow seekers. Our stories were similar. Our methods varied. But everyone was so open and supportive, I did not feel like a stranger at all. I remember attending a Friday night service in the jewel-box of a synagogue, followed by a dinner served by the congregation. We walked all the way back to our motel in the warm night, elated by our common experience.

Readers of La Granada may recall that Kathleen's book review                 of "El Iluminado" was included in last month's online newsletter.                  The review can also be found in the Fall 2012/Winter 2013 print journal HaLapid.   Of the graphic novel, she writes, "For those not familiar with the history of the Crypto-Jews, 'El Iluminado' offers a good introduction, especially for a generation growing up in an age of internet transparency, who might be mystified by a time when keeping family secrets could spell the difference between life and death."