This week's Featured Fellow is Sina Rauschenbach, a Professor of Religious Studies and Jewish Thought at the University of Potsdam, and a member of the Research Group, "New Christian and New Jewish Discourses of Identity between Polemics and Apologetics". We spoke to Sina about Conversos, the "New World", and Jewish Suriname…
What research are you working on during your time at the IIAS?
I am working on the history and thought of early modern Iberian Jews, converts, and their descendants. After the mass conversions and expulsions of the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula in the 14th and 15th centuries, those who left – together with thousands of converts and their descendants – constituted a new diaspora with important networks in the Ottoman Empire, North Africa, the Mediterranean, Western Europe, and the Atlantic World. Some features of this so-called Sephardi diaspora (Sepharad = Spain) were very unusual and have attracted a lot of attention in recent years. Most remarkably, there was a high rate of conversion and re-conversion. Especially in Western countries, a high percentage of early modern Sephardim had actually grown up as Christians and they had been educated in Christian institutions. Their ancestors had once converted to Christianity and their families had sometimes continued to keep their Jewish traditions in secret. Even though their conception of Judaism was often explicitly anti-Christian, they were also deeply rooted in a Catholic Iberian world. As a consequence, many of them had a very pronounced knowledge of Christianity. This made them helpful mediators in Jewish-Christian scholarly exchange. Others developed certain notions of skepticism which brought them into serious conflict with their contemporaries (both Jewish and Christian) but tend to feel very “modern” for researchers today.
My particular interest in recent years has been in Conversos and Sephardim in the early modern colonial Americas. Coversos, who secretly kept the Jewish traditions of their families, and Sephardim, who had founded Portuguese Jewish communities in Western Europe, were among the first Jews to participate in European colonial enterprises. In the 16th and 17th centuries, there were important secret Jewish networks in the Iberian viceroyalties in the Americas where Jewish life was officially forbidden and persecuted by the Inquisition. In the 17th century, Portuguese Jews were the founders of the first open Jewish communities on American soil – in Dutch Brazil, the Dutch, English, and French Caribbean, and later in the English colonies in North America. I study how the experiences in the “New World” changed these Jews and how they and their descendants influenced the “making” of the Americas: How did they perceive the Americas and how did they look back at Europe? How did they relate to indigenous and enslaved people? How did they adapt their religious traditions to the new continent and how did these changes translate back into Europe? How did their relations with non-Jews and other Jews differ from European relations? And last but not least: How does their history provide us with examples to draw a more differentiated picture of early modern colonialism and how does it urge us to reframe some of the narratives that we have all too often taken for granted?
How did you first get involved in this area of research?
It took me a long time to discover what I really wanted to do. First, I studied mathematics. After my diploma I decided to switch to philosophy for my PhD. The recommendation to study Iberian Jewish philosophy and thought came from my supervisor, and I will always be thankful for that. After my PhD, I continued working on Sephardi and Converso thought but switched from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic world, and I moved from philosophy to history. My Habilitation (my second book and its defense) was in early modern history. Since 2014, I have been a professor in Religious Studies and Jewish Thought, yet I continue to see myself as an early modern historian with a special interest in Jewish-Christian history and thought.
How has your experience been so far at the IIAS?
It is wonderful to be at the IIAS; the atmosphere is so inspiring and friendly. It very much reminds me of the Berlin Wissenschaftskolleg where I had the honor to spend an academic year a long time ago. In addition, our Research Group is just wonderful. It feels as if we were all one team. I can’t say how much I regret that I only applied to stay for five months.
Do you have any hobbies outside of your research?
When my husband was still here, we used to walk around in the evenings, exploring parts of the city we did not know until now. Both of us love traveling and meeting colleagues and friends. Since my husband has left, I do a lot of yoga and reading, and I enjoy watching documentaries and listening to music. Before I got my position, I used to play the piano and the harp but it became difficult to reserve time for daily practice. One of my plans after my return to Germany is to reorganize my daily routine and reserve more time for family, hobbies and leisure.
What's your favourite spot in Jerusalem?
My favourite spot is the reconstruction of the Surinamese Zedeq we-Shalom synagogue in back corner of the Israel Museum. Over the last few years, I have begun to work on Jewish thought in colonial Suriname. I had always seen photos and shown them to my students, but I was overwhelmed when I first saw the synagogue in the museum. It is so similar to the Amsterdam Esnoga, and at the same time, so different. This is exactly what fascinates me when studying Caribbean Jewish history.
Lastly, give us a book recommendation:
As I have just mentioned Suriname, Cynthia McLeod’s The Cost of Sugar (2013 [1994]) might be a good recommendation. It is a fascinating novel and gives you an idea of how Jewish life in 18th century Suriname could have been.