On Zoom Only: REGISTER HERE
Co-sponsored by BTM & COA
Join Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, founder and president of the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society, and the BTM and COA communities on Zoom to learn about one of the oldest Jewish communities in North America.
On September 8, 1565, Spanish colonizers established the city of St. Augustine in Florida, making it the oldest continuously occupied European-founded settlement in the United States. New historical research has revealed that among its founders were the first Jews to step foot in America—but their mysterious status as Crypto-Jews, Marranos, Conversos, New Christians, and “Hidden Jews” has, until recently, obscured their true identities.
Rabbi Merrill Shapiro will explore how the long-reaching arm of the Spanish Inquisition invaded even the United States and shed light on how historians and scholars have painstakingly uncovered the truth about the first Jews in America.