¡Hoy Es Cinco de Mayo!
Celebrate Mexican Jewry
May 05, 2011
Cinco de Mayo festivities last year in downtown Los Angeles.(Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
A reminder that Mexico has a 40,000-strong Jewish community; that Jewish habitation of Mexico began with conversos who came over with Spanish conquistadores in the 16th-century and maintained their Judaism in secret; and that famous Mexicans claiming Jewish descent have included artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo as well as prominent journalist Ilan Stavans, author of Nextbook Press’s Resurrecting Hebrew.
So have yourself a tequila Chuckles (I’m going to get in trouble for that suggestion) and celebrate.
The Jewish Virtual History Tour: Mexico [Jewish Virtual Library]
Earlier: Like Water for Passover
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.
