Clues that you are Descended From the Hidden Jews

Family Behaviors that can point to Hidden Jew Ancestry?

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1.) Ritual washing of the hands​

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2. ) Was there a custom to not eat milk or meat together or to have a separate pot or dish for just milk or just meat?

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3.) What type of work. There were many set occupations that only Jews could have; here is a partial list of some Jewish occupations, shoemaker, tanners, furriers, dealers in cloth and yarn, lace makers, merchants, gold &silversmiths, jewelers etc..

 

4.) Did they own shops? Where was the shop located? (maybe in a once Jewish area).

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5.) Was the family religious? (did they always go to church on Sunday?) Or not at all? Crypto Jews were either very religious or not religious at all. Did anyone in the family mention a religion that was not Catholic?

(sometimes on a death bed it would be mentioned that the dying person wanted a rabbi not a priest.)

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6.) Did women in the family light candles on Friday night or once a year? (sometimes the candles were hidden in a cellar when they were lit or in a large clay pot) did the family prepare a special meal to celebrate Friday nights or a special meal on Saturday lunch that did not require cooking?

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7.) Was there a specific day of the year that only white was worn?

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Did anyone fast on a random day that was not a Catholic holiday? Did they ever pray to St. Esther or St. Moses? (there are no St. Esther or St .Moses this is a crypto Jewish custom).

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Did anyone pray or chant a language that no one else understood?

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Was it ever mentioned that the family came from a Jewish background?

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Was there a shawl placed on the shoulders of the couple being married?)

 

Did anyone touch or kiss the right side of the doorway? (this is where a mezuzah would be)

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Were you ever taught to sweep the floor to the center of the room? This custom started in Spain and Portugal, after the Jews no longer were able to practice their religion, the mezuzahs were no longer affixed to the doorpost & the women did not want to sweep trash near where the mezuzah had been. Also sweeping out the back door on Saturday (from Cecile Roth)

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Did anyone bake a large batch of dough and take a small piece off & throw it into the back of the fire? (this a custom that dates back when the Jewish women would separate the Challah dough.)

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Did anyone ever check eggs for blood spots? (blood is not kosher even the smallest amount so eggs were checked for blood spots).

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Was the term “one of us “used? (meaning one of us Jews).

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Were the mirrors ever covered in the house of mourning?

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Was it a custom to bury the dead with in a day of passing or as soon as possible?

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Were children taught to marry family? Was the term “one of us “used? (meaning one of us Jews).

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 Did anyone ever mention that mixing meat & milk could make you sick?

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Were nail & hair clippings burnt or flushed instead of thrown away?

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Were beds ever oriented North & South? (mentioned in the shulchan Aruch (code of Jewish law) head should point North & feet south)

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Were weddings celebrated at home and later a church ceremony was performed?

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After a death did someone go into the deceased room every night and say “you were once like us we will be like you.”?

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Did the family have only icons and no statues?

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Is it a family custom to change the name of a child dangerously ill?

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Is there a belief that the family descends from royalty? (this was a code to let other Jews know you were of Jewish descent and maybe of King David.)

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Were any ornaments or books passed down from generation to generation? (six pointed star, a hand with 5 fingers –hamsa)

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Did the family refrain from working on Saturday?

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would the family only clean the house and change the linens on Friday?

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Did you ever hear that children were sometimes not baptized?

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Were there any priests in the family?