Dr. Ronnie Perelis: Crisis and Creativity

Jews thrived within the multicultural society of medieval Spain, creating a rich and dynamic culture of Torah scholarship, poetic and artistic creativity and cutting-edge science and philosophy. But the vital, if uneasy, relationship with their Christian and Muslim neighbors suffered a devastating blow in the summer of 1391, when anti-Jewish riots raged across the peninsula and left thousands of forced converts in their aftermath. The tensions between the newly converted Jews, the conversos, and their Christian neighbors led to the rise of the Inquisition and the eventual expulsion of all Jews in 1492. This lecture will explore how the vibrant Jewish community faced the challenges of religious violence, inquisitorial persecution and expulsion.

Ronnie Perelis’s research explores connections between the Jewish and wider Iberian communities with an emphasis on the dynamics of religious transformation within the context of crypto-Jewish life. Associate Professor of Sephardic Studies and director of the International Affairs Program at Yeshiva University, he is author of Blood and Faith.