The First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice: On the History of Spain, Portugal, and the Sephardim

Last month, I discussed my reply to Aliza Hausman (Memoirs of a Jewminica)'s discussion of whether Carodozo or Sotomayer should be the considered the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. My reply basically noted that whatever Cardozo's origins, he was primarily a Spanish Jew, and not a Spaniard, and given that he'd have more in common with an Ashkenazi Jew than with a Catholic Spaniard, it is not proper to consider his Hispanic; culture is no less important, if not more important, than ethnicity and geographic origin.

The following is a sequel to that reply of mine. Paul there replied, saying,

Benjamin Cardozo is a Portuguese Jew(very rare by the way). Cardozo is a Portuguese name. How he is even considered of being Hispanic, is beyond me. Portugal and Spain are two totally different countries in every aspect. All these two countries have in common are that of being neighbors. France also neighbors Spain and i doubt people are confusing the French of being Hispanics. Such ignorance! I am Portuguese/American, and would be furious if someone confused me with being Hispanic.

But with all due respect to Paul, some investigation of historical facts will belie his argument. As we will see, Cardozo's family being Portuguese as opposed to Spanish will prove to be of no significance. Paul is quite correct, of course, that Cardozo is not Hispanic. But the reason is not because he is Portuguese, but rather because he is Jewish, and not a South American or Spanish Catholic. Whatever his historical geographic origins, Cardozo is simply not culturally Hispanic. He'd have more in common with an Ashkenazi Jew than with a Catholic Spaniard or Hispanic.

Now then, why is Cardozo's being Portuguese of no special import here? The answer is that Cardozo's family left Portugal during the Inquisition, and settled in Holland. The family then moved to America before the American Revolution.

This is crucial for a few reasons:

(1) Cardozo's family's last physical connection with Portugal was severed in 1492. This was long before Spain and Portugal had established histories as two independent and separate nation-states. Until then, the Iberian Pensinula was either Moorish Al-Andalus, or was a patchwork of small Christian kingdoms. The Inquisition came only a few years after the end of the Reconquista, before there had yet been enough time to solidify two well-established separate "Spanish" and "Portuguese" identities, ethnicities, and nationalities. And since Cardozo's family left in 1492, they left while the division between Spain and Portugal was far from well-established.

(2) We should realize that culturally speaking, there is very little distinction between Jews of Spain, Portugal, Holland, England (before Ashkenazim came), Greece, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. In all of these countries, the Jews were Judeo-Spanish Sephardim - not to be confused with Mizrahim from North Africa and Iraq and Iran - and all the Judeo-Spanish Jews were quite similar culturally. We might divide Judeo-Spanish Jews into three groups: (1) Conversos from Spain and Portugal, who had to hide their Jewish identities underground, until they could migrate to one of the following two groups; (2) Judeo-Spanish Jews of Western European nations, viz. England, Holland, and Italy; (3) Judeo-Spanish Jews of Balkan nations, viz. Greece, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. Now, as I said, culturally, all were quite similar. The defining factors of them are: (1) The Spanish and Portuguese conversos, having to hide their Jewishness, were often Jewishly illiterate, and had to make due with a paucity of Jewish practices, and Catholicization of their children, until they could relocate; (2) Dutch, English, and Italian Jews were secularly educated; (3) Balkan Jews retained the pre-Expulsion ethos of Spanish Jewry, including their attitudes towards gentiles and non-Jewish secular learning, even as they practically speaking had very little contact with either until the Tanzimat Reforms in Turkey and the Italian conquest of Greece. But in terms of general cultural outlook, all form one group, notwithstanding that their host nations - Spain, Portugal, Holland, England, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Turkey - were far from culturally similar. We are speaking of the Judeo-Spanish Jews, and not the non-Jewish hosts, and so we are concerned not with how similar English and Turkish non-Jews are (not very), but rather, we are concerned with how similar English and Turkish Jews are to each other, and the answer is that they are very similar.

For these two reasons, it is irrelevant that Cardozo is Portuguese and not Spanish. (In fact, if anything, Cardozo might very well be more Dutch or American than he is either Spanish or Portuguese.) The fact is that Cardozo's family came from Portugal before Portugal and Spain were fully distinct, and his family settled in Holland which, for Jewish purposes, is almost identical with Spain, Portugal, England, Italy, Turkey, Greece, and Yugoslavia, except for the afformentioned nuances (whether Jews must hide their Jewishness as conversos, and how much secular learning and contact with non-Jews there is).

I agree, of course, that Cardozo is not Hispanic, because this is not because he is Portuguese, but rather, because he is Jewish, and not a South American or Spanish Catholic. Whatever his physical origins, Cardozo is simply not culturally Hispanic. He'd have more in common with an Ashkenazi Jew than with a non-Jewish Spaniard.