by Rabbi Norman Cohen, Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles
The media are crowing about President Obama selecting the “first Hispanic Supreme Court justice”. I have news for the media.
We already have had a Hispanic U. S. Supreme Court Justice.
He was Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, U. S. Supreme Court Justice from 1932 – 1938, a Sephard Jew of Spanish ancestry. His father, Judge Albert Cardozo, was Vice President and Trustee of the famous Spanish-Portuguese synagogue in New York City, Congregation Shearith Israel. Young Benjamin was Bar Mitzvah in that synagogue, and as an adult was proud of both his Jewish and Hispanic heritage.
It is the oldest congregation in the Western Hemisphere, having been founded in Recife, Brazil ca. 1630 and moved to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1654. Its present location is at 70th St. and Central Park West. I spent some of my religious and social activity time there as a teenager in the 1950s, when the Rav was the famous Dr. David de Sola Pool.
One thing that surprised me there were the names on the memorial plaques…they were just like my Puerto Rican friends and not at all like my Jewish friends. Study of this history and culture has become a hobby of mine.
Most American Jews, who are of Ashkenaz origins, neither know of nor understand this important component of the Jewish people.
Jews were a major component of the populations of Spain and Portugal for 800 years (~ 700 – 1500 CE). Ladino, the “Sephardic Yiddish” based on pre-1500 Spanish, is still spoken by 200,000 Jewish descendants around the world, mainly in Mediterranean regions. 45 of the 50 most common Hispanic family names are of Jewish origin. All Hispanic given names ending in “el” are Hebrew phrases with reference to G-d. Like Gabriel, Emanuel, Rafael, etc. Many Spanish words and names of places are of Hebrew origin.
If you represented all Jews who were murdered in the Holcoaust by a crowded Dodger Stadium, those Jews whose family names were Gamboa and Graciano would fill a section of box seats. Gamboas and Gracianos are in Jewish cemeteries all over the world …. even in Poland, Canada, South Africa and Israel. That’s just two Sephardic-Jewish family names.
A recent analysis of the DNA of 20 statistical sample of men of Spain found that 20% have the Jewish genetic haplogroup, viz. they descend from Jews. The only way that this is possible is that there was already massive assimilation of the Jews of Spain in the centuries leading up to the Inquisition.
There are organized groups of b’nai anusim —- descendants of Jewish victims of Inquisitions in Spain, Portugal and Latin America who were forced to convert, or who hid and abandoned their Jewishness out of fear of persecution —- who are clamoring for acceptance as Jewish returnees.
It is estimated that a significant fraction of the Hispanics of the Southwestern USA and Northern Mexico are of Jewish ancestry and don’t know it.
But the media would not think of, nor recognize, Benjamin Cardozo as a “Hispanic”. They want a “genuine” Hispanic, certainly not one who was also a Jew.
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August 8, 2009: A Daily Kos article on Cardozo is an interesting addendum to this article. A Poll at the bottom of the article indicates that 59% of those participating believe that Cardozo was the first first Hispanic on the Supreme Court.
Cardoza’s people came to the New World BEFORE the American revolution from Portugal. The term Hispanic only refers to people of Spanish origin and is often (though incorrectly) used interchangeably with “Latino” which refers to Spanish speaking people in Latin America. Regardless, this article is trying to convey a message of anti-Semitism which is inaccurate, meant to foment anger and resentment, and mischievous. His father also had a sullied reputation which Cardoza hoped to overcome. I don’t know what Cohen’s agenda is but it is not honest.
“Shortly after Cardozo was born, his father Albert was implicated in a judicial corruption scandal that was sparked by the Erie Railway takeover wars, in which parties contending for the control of the Erie Railway used the judicial system in a way that perverted the law……… Cardozo not only wanted to enter a profession that could materially aid himself and his siblings, but also hoped to restore the family name, sullied by his father’s actions as a Justice. After two years, Cardozo left Columbia to practice law. He did not obtain his degree in law, which required attendance in a third year of law school……..As far as is known, Benjamin Cardozo led the life of a celibate. As an adult, Cardozo no longer practiced his faith, but remained proud of his Sephardic Jewish heritage.”
Comment by N. Sternberg — June 17, 2009 @ 10:24 am |
I have read this posting a while ago. I have also heard the arguments that Cardoza’s identity was always considered Jewish and that some people consider those of Portuguese origins not Hispanic. They are Hispanic for me but I’ll run with Jewish and let the unquestionably Hispanic have their legitimate day in the sun. I wouldn’t want a mum take away from Cardoza’s Jewishness. Besides, I wouldn’t want an ethnic identity sway any justice’s opinion whether he/she be black,white,brown,yellow or green (well, maybe not green), male or female, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, atheist, etc. I think you get the point.
Comment by Arnold Stiebel — August 8, 2009 @ 5:27 pm |
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and to comment! I appreciate the information. It is important to note that being of Portuguese or Spanish ancestry has nothing to do with being Hispanic (originating from Central or South America). Therefore Justice Cardozo having roots in Spain has no impact on Associate Justice Sotomayor being the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. Thanks!
Comment by voteco — August 8, 2009 @ 6:57 pm |
Great article! Thank you for bringing these truthful facts to the light! As a Hispanic(Puerto Rican) and
a descendent of Sephardics, I appreciate very much this information.
Comment by Camille — August 11, 2009 @ 5:11 am |
Great site…keep up the good work.
Comment by Bill Bartmann — September 2, 2009 @ 2:14 am |