In this thoroughly researched work, David M. Gitlitz traces the lives and fortunes of three clusters of sixteenth-century crypto-Jews in Mexico's silver mining towns. Previous studies of sixteenth-century Mexican crypto-Jews focus on the merchant community centered in Mexico City, but here Gitlitz looks beyond Mexico's major population center to explore how clandestine religious communities were established in the reales, the hinterland mining camps, and how they differed from those of the capital in their struggles to retain their Jewish identity in a world dominated economically by silver and religiously by the Catholic Church. In Living in Silverado Gitlitz paints an unusually vivid portrait of the lives of Mexico's early settlers. Unlike traditional scholarship that has focused mainly on macro issues of the silver boom, Gitlitz closely analyzes the complex workings of the haciendas that mined and refined silver, and in doing so he provides a wonderfully detailed sense of the daily experiences of Mexico's early secret Jews.

In this thoroughly researched work David M. Gitlitz traces the lives and fortunes of three clusters of sixteenth-century crypto-Jews in Mexico's silver mining towns. Previous studies of sixteenth-century Mexican crypto-Jews focus on the merchant community centered in Mexico City, but here Gitlitz looks beyond Mexico's major population center to explore how clandestine religious communities were established in the reales, the hinterland mining camps, and how they differed from those of the capital in their struggles to retain their Jewish identity in a world dominated economically by silver and religiously by the Catholic Church. In Living in Silverado Gitlitz paints an unusually vivid portrait of the lives of Mexico's early Settlers. Unlike traditional scholarship that has focused mainly on macro issues of the silver boom, Gitlitz closely analyzes the complex workings of the haciendas that mined and refined silver, and in doing so he provides a wonderfully detailed sense of the daily experiences of Mexico's early secret Jews.

The road across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela in the northwest was one of the three major Christian pilgrimage routes during the Middle Ages, leading pilgrims to the resting place of the Apostle St. James. Today, the system of trails and roads that made up the old pilgrimage route is the most popular long-distance trail in Europe, winding from the heights of the Pyrenees to the gently rolling fields and woods of Galicia. Hundreds of thousands of modern-day pilgrims, art lovers, historians, and adventurers retrace the road today, traveling through a stunningly varied landscape which contains some of the most extraordinary art and architecture in the western world. For any visitor, the Road to Santiago is a treasure trove of historical sites, rustic Spanish villages, churches and cathedrals, and religious art.

To fully appreciate the riches of this unique route, look no further than The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago, a fascinating step-by-step guide to the cultural history of the Road for pilgrims, hikers, and armchair travelers alike. Organized geographically, the book covers aspects of the terrain, places of interest, history, artistic monuments, and each town and village's historical relationship to the pilgrimage.

The authors have led five student treks along the Road, studying the art, architecture, and cultural sites of the pilgrimage road from southern France to Compostela. Their lectures, based on twenty-five years of pilgrimage scholarship and fieldwork, were the starting point for this handbook.

The first book to cover the fascinating story of Jewish pilgrimage from its mythic beginnings to current times. The history and breadth of Jewish pilgrimage traditions is rich and varied. Here the authors tell the fascinating, and sometimes harrowing, story of Jewish pilgrimage from the beginnings of Judaism to the present time. They trace the history of Jewish pilgrimage and show how the repeated cycles of exile and return to Israel serve the Jews as a kind of pilgrimage in reverse. This lively account is sure to appeal to anyone interested in religious pilgrimage, tourism, and travel. From Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, to the tombs of King David, Rachel, and Joseph, from Galilee to Curacao, Jewish pilgrims seek out spiritual transcendence, a return to their roots, communion with those who have gone before, and connection to their common heritage as they visit holy shrines, important synagogues around the world, Nazi death camps, and the graves of leaders, among other places. But what makes these places holy? And what purpose do the pilgrimages serve? How has recent unrest in the Middle East contributed to, or detracted from, modern Jewish pilgrimage and its future? comprehensive historical overview of Jewish pilgrimage. It includes photographs of sites discussed in the book. It is the first book that looks exclusively at Jewish pilgrimage in its entirety. It also considers the current situation in the Middle East and the current state of Jewish pilgrimage.

This important history documents the religious customs of the crypto-Jewish culture in Spain, Portugal, and their American colonies, principally Mexico, Peru, and Brazil. In coping with clandestineness, crypto-Jews rapidly evolved their own idiosyncratic religion. Its Jewish core was quickly replaced with concepts and practices from the surrounding Catholic culture covered by a veneer of Jewish theology. Included in this award-winning volume are examinations of crypto-Jewish beliefs, superstitions, birth customs, education, marriage and sex, holidays, dietary laws, conversions and death, and burial practices. "Secrecy and Deceit" provides a comprehensive account of the customs of these secret Jews.

"aSecrecy and Deceit" provides rare glimpses into a subject that is increasingly fascinating to many different audiences.aaJane S. Gerber, Director, Institute for Sephardic Studies, CUNY Graduate Center

aHistorians and students of comparative and popular religion will be drawing on this work for years.aaHaym Soloveitchik, Yeshiva University

"Winner of the National Jewish Book Award and the Lucy B. Davidowicz History Award"