I am 100% Puerto Rican. I'm Jewish. There are more Jews in Puerto Rico than in any other Caribbean island. The amount of Jews that live in PR are between 3,000-4,000 people.
In New York there are a lot of children with a Puerto Rican father and an Ashkenazi mother. And what's also interesting is the high number of "secret Jews" from the mountains. I wish that there were groups that would be interested in making a connection with them. Apparently Geraldo Rivera, Rita Moreno from West Side Story, Sonia Sotomayor, Ricky Martin and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are all at least partially Sephardic.
Don't forget Fidel Castro he believed that he was half Jewish. Castro is a common Jewish name for Crypto-Jews. In Puerto Rico they are many in the Mountains that migrated from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. True story!
@@angelrosario626 rumor has it that prime minister of canada justin trudeau is fidel castro's biological son. Perhaps that is the reason for his support for israel and condemns antisemitism.
I knew it ! Marc Anthony too ! Look at their beaks !!!! Especially AOC and Marc Anthony!!!! Their Jewish Africans in Spanish Puerto Rico and Spanish Harlem with brown sun kissed Taino flavored skin. BORICUAZO !!!!!!! U know I can't make ALL this shit up !!!!!! 😅 I walk the streets with GOD 😅
I'm a German Jewish woman who married a Puerto Rican man (who looks somewhat like Juan lol)--our families were 🤔🤔🤔--but he is the love of my life!!! ♥️♥️♥️
He may have Sepharad roots. Wouldn't it be cool if he could trace to someone who is Ha Da'ud? I have a lineage that goes back through David's son Nathan on my Hispanic side. I have to go back through pirmary sources to confirm this but it looks legit, so check out his lineage. Especially if it goes to Aragon, Portugal, or Navarre.
Geraldo Rivera and Freddie Prinze are some notable Puerto Rican-Jews in show business. As far as non-Jewish Puerto Ricans, there's never been any issues between Jews and Puerto Ricans practicing each other's religion even though the vast majority of islanders are Catholic. Unlike in the USA, especially these days, everybody's welcome to freely practice their faith. The Jewish immigration to Puerto Rico began in the 15th century with the arrival of the anusim (variously called conversos, Crypto-Jews, Secret Jews or marranos) who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage. An open Jewish community did not flourish in the colony because Judaism was prohibited by the Spanish Inquisition. However, many migrated to mountainous parts of the island, far from the central power of San Juan, and continued to self-identify as Jews and practice Crypto-Judaism. It would be hundreds of years before an open Jewish community was established on the island. Very few American Jews settled in Puerto Rico after it was ceded by Spain to the United States under the terms of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American War. The first large group of Jews to settle in Puerto Rico were refugees fleeing German-occupied Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. The second influx came in the 1950s, when thousands of Cuban Jews (most of Eastern-European descent) fled after Fidel Castro came to power. The majority immigrated to Miami, Florida, but a sizable portion chose to establish and integrate themselves on the neighboring island because of Puerto Rico's cultural, linguistic, racial, and historic similarities to Cuba. Puerto Rican Jews have made many contributions in multiple fields, including business, commerce, education, and entertainment. Puerto Rico has the largest Jewish community in the Caribbean, with over 3,000 Jewish inhabitants. It is also the only Caribbean island in which all three major Jewish denominations-Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform-are represented.
@@mhbbej1 You're 100% correct about Tony Orlando. I don't even know how did that happened since I've known that fact for a long time, since the 1980's to be exact. I do appreciate your comment and I will edit mines. Thank you very much friend. Stay safe.
@@maya8443 In my family there's people from at least 10 different countries, 4 continents, all kinds of religious beliefs, skin tones, political views, including Jews. I like to read from different sources and I particularly enjoy talking to people from other cultures. That said, who cares where did I get my info from? It's that your contribution to the discussion?
a sizable number of Sefardic Jews found refuge in the oldest extant colony in the world, Puerto Rico it's a minority lineage, but still prevalent ... the biggest indicator is colonial family history plus J-1 - etc haplogroup
I always liked that Epstein had this lineage - not only was it different from what you saw on TV back then, but dude was very, very proud of who he was. It was always really cool in my book.
JUST A HEADS UP ~ FROM ROBERTS BIO ~ Robert Hegyes was an American actor best known for his portrayal of high school student Juan Epstein on the 1970s American sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter and as detective Manny Esposito on the 1980s American crime drama Cagney & Lacey 1. He was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, to a Hungarian-American father, Stephen, and an Italian-American mother, Marie Dominica Cocozza 1. Although he portrayed a Puerto Rican character on Welcome Back, Kotter, he was #NOT# Puerto Rican in real life 1.
I wonder if I have Jewish Ancestry. I have always been very strict with what I put in my mouth. I always sought cleanliness and kosher type foods. Many other examples which I cannot disclose let me know I am different somehow
I dunno about the other stuff, and I'm not Jewish, but wanting kosher food is understandable. I am fortunate enough to own a cookbook from Grossingers, and it is a treasure beyond counting. Do I cheat and put bacon in the liver spread? Sure, if I don't have any gribenes. And there is nothing on this Earth quite like a Jewish deli half-sour pickle. You can actually find those here and there in grocery stores in the South these days.
I'm puerto Rican on my moms side, hence I have her last name Hernandez, and we're not Jewish but I heard that the last name Hernandez is Sephardic. Idk really but can someone help me out.
I am not sure on that one. The -es or -ez at the end means "son of". It might mean that and it is commonly said, but it is possible that it is just like saying -sen or -son at the end of someone's name. Dwane Johnson, for example, has a name that probably originated from someone who was "John's son". That being said, it really isn't an answer either way. You will have to go back to tracing your genealogy itself. If you have a line that came over about the time of the inquisition, look there. Try looking for ancestors you had at the time on the records of the inquisition and try to find out why they were listed there. nameyourroots.com/home/names/Hernandez
There is no such thing a Jewish last name. Jews never had last names (besides tribal affiliation which is part of a name), in Hebrew our names are “first name”, then “son of” whatever your fathers name is. Only till about a few hundred years ago did it become common for Jews to adopt (sometimes by force) a last name from the country they were living in through diaspora. So Hernandez is not a Jewish name, but there are Jews who have that name because their families had to adopt it.
If he was so loyal and proud of his Jewish bloodline then how come he doesn't equally wear the Star of David on the back of his jacket like he does the Puerto Rican flag ?
