A major tenet of liberation is having the freedom to define oneself and not be defined by others. This includes the ability to live freely, unencumbered by a society’s hegemonic attitudes of who “deserves” to be accorded rights and privileges based primarily on social identities or adherence to dominant ideologies.
Societies construct isolated and often dangerous places – referred to as “closets” in some cases – for those who are marginalized because they do not conform to social mandates.
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Individuals and organizations have employed “religion” to justify the marginalization, harassment, denial of rights, persecution, oppression, and murder of entire groups of people based on their social identities.
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At various historical periods, people have applied religious texts to establish and maintain hierarchical positions of power, domination, and privilege over certain individuals and groups.
We have seen this throughout the Christian world, from Roman Emperors Constantine I and Theodosius to the Spanish Inquisition to Queen Elizabeth I of England to Colonial America to Nazi Germany to the present.
Living openly and proudly as a queer Ashkenazi Jew (one of eastern European heritage), I am aware of my minoritized social status in the United States both from personal experience and from my understanding of history – and also through what author Shelby Steele refers to as “enemy memory” or “oppression mentality,” an intense awareness by traditionally marginalized peoples that this oppression can surface again at any time, regardless of how “good” conditions may appear at any given moment in history.
Each year for a series of eight nights, as I light the candles on my Hanukkah menorah, an image of another time comes to mind: a photo of a menorah at a window with a view of a Nazi flag waving across the road. Taken by Rachel Posner, wife of Rabbi Akiva Posner, in Kiel, Germany in 1931, the picture portends the eventual destruction of European Jewry.
According to Jewish tradition, we place our menorahs in the window to share publicly the light and hope of the holiday and to symbolically reenact the miracle of light. It shows a declaration of our faith to wider communities.
The menorah holds significant historical roots dating back to ancient times. Deriving from the Temple in Jerusalem, the menorah is a multi-branched candelabrum used for ceremonial purposes and not only during Hanukkah.
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. During this joyous remembrance, families gather to light the menorah, adding one candle each night for eight consecutive nights.
Just over one year after Rachel Posner snapped her iconic picture, the Nazi Party won a majority of seats in the German Reichstag (Parliament) by a plurality of votes, and Adolf Hitler became Chancellor. He then took the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934.
Increasingly throughout Germany, and eventually within its conquered occupied territories, the Nazi regime took many rights from Jews, including the right to safely display their faith through their cherished symbols like menorahs. The Nazis extinguished this traditional beacon of resilience, hope, faith, and the triumph of light over darkness.
Looking over the enormously expansive history of anti-Jewish oppression – “the longest hatred,” as writer Robert S. Wistrich calls it – a recurring pattern emerges from conversion (you cannot live among us as Jews), to expulsion (you cannot live among us), to extermination (you cannot live).
We see this cycle clearly in Medieval Spain. The Catholic Church forced all Jews to convert in 1391 c.e. These converted baptized Jews were referred to as “Marranos” (meaning “swine”). The Church accused them of secretly remaining true to their Jewish faith and practicing their traditions underground, including lighting their sacred menorahs.
Spanish Christian theologians devised the doctrine of Limpieza de Sangre (purity of the blood), whereby baptized Jews remained Jewish in the view of the Church and therefore were considered a danger to society.
Thereafter, the Church forbade baptized Jews from practicing medicine, surgery, or pharmacy because they believed they would attempt to murder Christians.
In 1412 in Spain, Bishop Pablo de Santa Maria introduced the Laws of Valladolid, where he decreed that Jewish districts were to be enclosed and placed under strict control. Jews were forced to wear certain patches on their clothing distinguishing them as Jews.
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition (Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición) was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. Thomas de Torquemada was the Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition.
The Church saw the Marranos as a problem, and it burned many to death in what the Church justified as an auto da fé. The auto da fé (in Medieval Spanish, “act of faith”) represented the ritual of public penance of condemned heretics and apostates during the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions.
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella drove the last Jews from Spain and Portugal since Jews were no longer needed for the economic roles they once filled. Jews were expelled from Spain on July 31, 1492, when the Alhambra Decree took effect.
Christopher Columbus departed from the port of Palos rather than the port of Cadiz, which was filled with ships evacuating Jews from Spain. Much of the funding for his voyage was money the Spanish monarchy confiscated from the Jews.
In Spanish-controlled Mexico, historians found 61 volumes of manuscript records on Inquisition trials. One trial involved Miguel Hernandez de Almeida on the charge of “Judaising Heresy” in 1590. Another involvedMariana de Carabejal, who was accused and convicted of “Judaising Heresy,” and burned in an auto da fé.
Historians have located more than 9,000 trials of “Judaising Heresy” brought against so-called “Marranos” between 1500 and 1700. Many of the accused were found guilty and burned.
As a side note: the term “heresy” is taken from the Greek αἵρεσις, εως, ἡ (hairesis)meaning “choice.” It was used in the early Roman Christian Church as a crime against the empire, and a “heretic” was a person who opposed established beliefs or customs.
Today, I have the privilege of safety to forthrightly and proudly display my menorah at my window’s edge. I know that the Jewish people have not always had this right and privilege, as many may still not have today.
I hope, however, that we all join together to uphold and extend the light during these times of eclipse attempted by the political and theocratic right by working to empty and dismantle all remaining closets where religious minorities, LGBTQ+ people, people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, seniors, and so many other socially marginalized people are often forced to hide.
Let the sun return fully to our lives and to our countries.
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