Society for Crypto Judaic Studies

The Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies (SCJS) fosters the research of the historical and contemporary development of crypto-Jews of Iberian origin. Additionally, it provides a venue for the descendants of crypto-Jews, scholars, and other interested parties to network and discuss pertinent issues. The society was founded 1991 by Rabbi Joshua Stampfer of Portland, Oregon; Dr. Stanley Hordes of Santa Fe, New Mexico; and playright Rena Down of New York City.

The Society meets formally once a year to discuss the history, culture and research of the Crypto-Jews.

Officers & Board of Directors

President: Dolores (Dolly) Sloan. Writer and speaker, Ms. Sloan is the author of The Sephardic Jews of Spain and Portugal©, nonfiction work about fifteenth/sixteenth century Sephardic Jews and editor of the Journal of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian Crypto-Jews. She has coordinated publicity for the society and was Editor of HaLapid for several years. She teaches writing and public speaking at Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles. Her courses at Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles, include Jewish women’s history, writing and public speaking. Her Website

Immediate Past President: Kathleen Alcalá is the author of a short-story collection and three novels set in the American Southwest and nineteenth-century Mexico. She teaches creative writing at workshops and programs in Washington state and elsewhere and is a contributing editor to The Raven Chronicles. A play based on her novel, Spirits of the Ordinary, was produced by The Miracle Theatre of Portland, Oregon. Her Web Site.

First Vice President: Roger Louis Martinez Ph.D. Assistant Professor, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Dr. Martinez has researched the history of Crypto Jews in Mexico and Spain. His articles have appeared in HaLapid and in the Journal of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian Crypto Jews. His Home Page

Secretary: Rachel Bortnick. Biography to follow

Treasurer: Juan Bejarano-Gutierrez Biography to follow

Vice President/Meetings and Conferences: Gloria Trujillo A member of the SCJS since 1991, Ms. Trujillo has served the Society as President, Immediate Past President and Conference Chair and has served on numerous Society committees. She is a founding member of the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America and is active in several other genealogical organizations.

Vice President/Programs: Seth Ward, Is Adjunct Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Assistant Academic Professional of Religious Studies at the Univesity of Wyoming. He has done estensive studies of crypto-Jews and has given papers at SCJS conferences and contributed to HaLapid.

Vice President/Membership: Arthur Benveniste. A member of SCJS since 1993, traveling with society members to Belmonte when the SCJS conference was held there in 1994. Mr. Benveniste has served the society as president, HaLapid editor and now assists Ms Sloan as co-editor. A retired history teacher, he is active as a speaker on Sephardic and crypto Jews. His Web Site

Vice President/Communications: Seth Kunin A long time active member of the board of SCJS, he is now Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Arts and Humanities) at Durham University in Britain. He earned his B.A. at Columbia University, M.A. at The Jewish Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge. He was ordained as a Conservative Rabbi at Leo Baeck College in London. He has done extensive research on the Crypto Jews of New Mexico

Member at Large: Cesar Ayala Casas, Professor, Department of Sociology-UCLA he graduated in History from Princeton University and earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from State University of New York-Binghamton. He is the author of several books including, American Sugar Kingdom: the Plantation Economy of the Spanish Caribbean, 1898-1934 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999) and (with Rafael Bernabe) Puerto Rico in the American Century: A History Since 1898 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007). His Home Page

Member at Large: Harry Ezratty An attorney, historian, writer, lecturer and Sephardic Jew who, for more than 30 years, researched the history of the Sephardim in the Caribbean . He is the author of 500 Years in the Jewish Caribbean: The Spanish & Portuguese Jews in the West Indies Jews of the New World and They Led the Way: the Creators of Jewish America. He is currently preparing Vol.III, “The Builders: Jews Who Shaped Modern America.

Member at Large: Debbie Wohl Isard, Biography to follow

Member at Large: Abraham Lavender, Ph.D. Dr. Lavender is Professor of Sociology at Florida International University in Miami , FL. One areas of his specialization is World Jewish Communities with an emphasis on Sephardim. Dr. Lavender has been an active member of the Society for many years and has published articles in HaLapid, as well as numerous other articles on Judaica. He is also the editor of the Journal of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian Crypto-Jews. You can see more about him here.

Member at Large: Lois Rose Rose, Biography to follow

Member at Large: Arnold Trujillo , Biography to follow

Member at Large: Matthew Warshawsky, An Assistant Professor at the University of Portland. Academic degrees: Ph.D., Spanish Literature and Culture, Ohio State University, December 2002
M.A., Spanish Literature and Culture, Ohio State University, June 1998, B.A., Latin, Swarthmore College, June 1992. He has lectured as conferences of SCJS and contributed articles to HaLapid. His teaching and research interests include: Jewish history, literature, and culture in Latin America; Sephardic studies (Sephardic describes Jews who trace their ancestry to Spain and Portugal); Spanish literature and culture of the Renaissance and Baroque eras; Latinos today in the United States

Senior Adviser to the Board:Stanley Hordes A founding member, Dr. Hordes received his Ph.D. in Colonial Mexican History from Tulane University , with his doctoral dissertation on the crypto-Jewish community of Mexico in the seventeenth century. He is the author of To The Ends Of The Earth, a book on the history of the crypto-Jews of New Mexico published by Columbia University Pres

Editorial Policy of Halapid
HaLapid contributors come from all over the world. The editors respect different national writing styles and, where possible, have left each item in the author’s style. We edit for grammar, spelling and typographical error. Many contributions are memoirs or retelling of family stories and legends. They may or may not be historically accurate, although they are indeed valid, sacred memories that have been passed along through time. We do not attempt to change individual perceptions as long as they are reported as such, but we do change obvious misstatements or historical error. We reserve the right to edit any material. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily of SCJS or HaLapid. Articles from HaLapid may not be reprinted without permission