The religious legal terms ''anús/anusáh/anusim'' were applied to those Jews who were forced to abandon Judaism against their will, and their children, but who do whatever is in their power to continue practicing Judaism under the forced condition. The terminology derives from the Talmudic phrase "''aberá be ones''", meaning "a forced transgression." The Hebrew term "''ones''" originally referred to any case where a Jew has been forced into any act against his or her will. The term ''anús'' is used in contradistinction to ''meshumad'' (), which means a person who has voluntarily abandoned the practice of Jewish Law in whole or part.
"''Min''" (), or an apostate of Judaism, for a Jew who basically denies the existence of God; and "''Meshumad''" (), or a heretic in Judaism, for a Jew who deliberately rebels against the observance of Jewish law.
The main difference between a ''min'', a ''meshumad'', and the ''anusim'' is that the act of abandonment of Judaism is voluntary for a ''min'' and a ''meshumad'', while for the ''anusim'' it is not.
Some two centuries later, following the mass forced conversion of Sephardi Jews (those Jews with extended histories in Spain and Portugal, known jointly as Iberia, or "Sefarad" in Hebrew) of the 14th and 15th centuries, the term "anusim" became widely used by Spanish rabbis and their successors for the following 600 years, henceforth becoming associated with Sephardic history.
The term, however, is properly applied to any Jew of any Jewish ethnic division, and thus, since then, it has also been used to describe other forced or coerced Jews, such as the Mashadi Jews of Persia (modern Iran), who converted to Islam in the public eye, but secretly practised Judaism at home, to the extent of living a dual-religious life to the fullest, being fully practising Muslims in public life, and fully practising Jews at home.
In non-rabbinic literature, the more commonly known Sephardic anusim are also referred to as:
The Catholic Church coined the first two terms, the third is more of a modern invention by historians, and the fourth is the insulting term Spanish antisemites gave to the ''anusim''. All four terms are sociological, whereas ''anusim'' refers to a status in Jewish law.
''Anusim'', by contrast, not only remain Jews by lineage but continue to count as fully qualified Jews for all purposes. Since the act of their original abandonment was done against the Jew’s will, the Jew under force may remain a kasher Jew, as long as the ''anús'' keeps practising Jewish law to the best of his/her abilities under the coerced condition. In this sense, "kasher" is the rabbinic legal term applied to a Jew who adheres to rabbinic tradition and is accordingly not subject to any disqualification.
Hakham Se‘adyá ben Maimón ibn Danan, one of the most respected Sephardic Sages after the Expulsion, in the 15th century stated:
:''Indeed, when it comes to lineage, all the people of Israel are brethren. We are all the sons of one father, the rebels (''reshaim'') and criminals, the heretics (''meshumadim'') and forced ones (''anusim''), and the proselytes (''gerim'') who are attached to the house of Jacob. All these are Israelites. Even if they left God or denied Him, or violated His Law, the yoke of that Law is still upon their shoulders and will never be removed from them.''
Hakham BenSión Uziel, the Chief Sephardic Rabbi of the State of Israel, stated in mid-20th c.
:''And we still have to clarify on the (subject of) Anusím, to whom the government forbids them to perform Halakhicly valid marriages, if it's necessary to say that their wives must have a Get to permit them (to marry another man), for the reason that, by force of the Law (Hazaqáh), a man does not have intercourse for promiscuity (zenút). . . (In our very case), we deal with those who converted and kept Torah in secrecy and hide their religion because of the gentile surveillance, we say that they do have intercourse for the sake of marriage.''
It follows that Hakham Uziel considered ''anusím'' as Jews, because only Jews can give or receive a Get, a Jewish divorce.
Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides) stated in the Mishneh Torah Sefer Shofetím, Hilekhót Mumarím 3:3
:''But their children and grandchildren [of Jewish rebels], who, misguided by their parents . . . and trained in their views, are like children taken captive by the gentiles and raised in their laws and customs (weghidelúhu haGoyím `al dathám), whose status is that of an ’anús [one who abjures Jewish law under duress], who, although he later learns that he is a Jew, meets Jews, observes them practice their laws, is nevertheless to be regarded as an ’anús, since he was reared in the erroneous ways of his parents . . . Therefore efforts should be made to bring them back in repentance (LeFikakh rawí leHah zirán biTeshubáh), to draw them near by friendly relations, so that they may return to the strength-giving source, i.e., the Toráh''
Category:Crypto-Judaism Category:Christianity and Judaism Category:Groups claiming Jewish descent Category:Judaism-related controversies
bg:Анусим de:Anusim es:Anusim fa:آنوسی fr:Anoussim he:אנוסים lad:Anusim ja:アヌシーム pt:B'nei anussim tr:AnusimThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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