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Spanish surnames may indicate Jewish roots

Contributed by: Michael Gonzales on 5/7/2008

"No way! I'm Jewish?" exclaims a young Hispanic man as he exits the Kehilat T'nuvah booth at the 2008 Cinco de Mayo Festival in Civic Center Park. The goal of the booth was to bring awareness to the Hispanic community about their possible Jewish heritage. "It was a success," says Senior Pastor Mark McLellan. "We thought that it would be a challenge getting people into the booth to hear what we had to say, but they ended up just walking in on their own."

Kehilat T'nuvah (The Harvest Congregation) set up the booth to help promote their upcoming guest speaker Dr. Dell Sanchez who is an expert on Sephardic (Spanish) Jews. "We found the Cinco de Mayo Festival the perfect opportunity to reach out to the Hispanic community," McLellan said. The Denver Cinco de Mayo Festival is touted as one of largest in the nation with over 400,000 visitors.

"The booth had to be as simple as possible because we did not have a lot of time to put it together." said Michael Gonzales, another Pastor from Kehilat T'nuvah. "The content is what drew the people in." On one side of the booth were poster boards that displayed articles and images designed to educate spectators about the Spanish Inquisition and the violence poured out on the Sephardic Jews. On the other side of the booth was a list of 5,220 Sephardic Jewish surnames. The list contains most of the common Spanish surnames like Garcia, Rodriguez and Martinez. "However," explained Gonzales, "if your name is on the list it doesn't necessarily mean that you are Jewish. If your name is not on the list it doesn't mean you are not. Come to the presentation to find out more."

Spanish surnames developed from four major sources:

1) Patronymic & Matronymic Surnames - Based on a parent's first name, this category of surnames includes some of the most common Hispanic surnames. These Hispanic surnames are often formed by adding an -es, -as, -is, or -os (common to Portuguese surnames) or an -ez, -az, -is, or -oz (common to Castilian or Spanish surnames) to the end of the father's name. (Leon Alvarez - Leon son of Alvaro).

2) Occupational Surnames - these Hispanic last names are based on the person's job or trade (Roderick Guerrero - Roderick the warrior or soldier).

3) Descriptive Surnames - Based on a unique quality or physical feature of the individual, these surnames often developed from nicknames or pet names (Juan Delgado - John the thin).

4) Geographical Surnames - The most common type of Spanish surname, these Hispanic last names are derived from the location of the homestead from which the first bearer and his family lived (Ricardo de Lugo - Ricardo from the town of Lugo).

Kehilat T'nuvah
Messianic Charismatic Congregation
Presents
The History and Biblical Prophecy Concerning
The Sephardic Jews of the Southwest
A Special Presentation By
Dell F. Sanchez, Ph.D.
on
Saturday, May 24, 2008
1:00 pm - 7:00 pm
at
8891 Poze Blvd.
Thornton CO, 80233
For information
call: 303-761-9948
visit: www.graftedin.com
email: info@graftedin.com

Dr. Sanchez' mission is to restore Sephardic Anusim to its true history, to collaborate in fulfilling ancient prophecies regarding their Negev homeland; and to facilitate the attainment of their destiny in preparing the way for the Lord. One of his main goals is to build a community in the Negev for American Anusim that is compatible to their culture and lifestyle.




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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Michael Gonzales has posted 71 stories and 4 comments since joining on 6/16/2006. Michael Gonzales's average story rating is 4.17.
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