Throughout history, we Jews overcame all obstacles to be able to observe the Mitsva of Sukka. One of the most striking examples of the Jewish people’s love and determination to keep this precept is a Sukka built in the patio of the Inquisition jail in Mexico City in 1603, by a crypto-Jew (“converso”) named Sebastián Rodriguez.
Sebastián was born in 1573, in a town called San Vicente Davera, in Portugal. He left his home at age seven and moved to Seville (Spain), where he worked in the shop of his uncle Antonio Rodríguez, who taught him to read and write.
At the age of fourteen, in 1587, he moved to New Spain (Nueva España, the former name of Mexico). He settled in the city of Puebla, in the house of a distant relative, also Portuguese, named Guillermo Rodríguez. The latter sent Sebastián to nearby villages to sell clothes he produced. At the age of sixteen, he became independent and began to work on his own.
At the age of eighteen, he married his cousin Constanza Rodriguez. Before the wedding, his brother-in-law Domingo Rodríguez and a friend, Manuel de Lucena, secretly revealed to Sebastián that he was Jewish. They would take him to the fields, away from the eyes of the cruel inquisitors, and teach him many Tora’s laws and traditions.
Sebastián then began to learn more about his legacy. Luis de Carvajal (El Mozo) and Sebastián de la Peña, Jews that lived outwardly as Catholics, were his primary teachers. They would take long walks reviewing together the different passages and precepts of the Tora. Luis de Carvajal kept several writings with quotes of the Tora hidden between the lining and the felt of his hat. He would teach Tora and Mitzvot to his numerous students that way.
In 1596, when Sebastián turned twenty-three, a man named Pedro de Reparo accused him to the Inquisition. His crime? “Judaizar”, a Spanish keyword without English translation that means “acting in a Jewish way”. Sebastián Rodríguez was arrested in Mexico City along with his wife Constanza. He was taken to the prison of the Inquisition in the Plaza Santo Domingo, very close to today’s famous “Zócalo” in the Distrito Federal. His punishment was life imprisonment and, of course, the confiscation of all his property.
During the first three months of his interrogations, Sebastián kept absolute silence about his crime to avoid the confession of the identity of his teachers and conversos friends. After these months of torture, being chained to shackles by his hands and feet, Sebastian confessed to practicing the Law of Moses. The chains were then removed, and he was placed in a cell next to Luis Diaz, a pseudo “converso” who, in reality, worked as a spy for the Inquisition. Luis Diaz, nicknamed later “El Malshín” (the informant), reported to the inquisitors that his cellmate, Sebastián, also “judaizaba” in jail. Diaz presented some examples: while in jail, Sebastián did not consume the meat or chicken he was served; he did not sweep the floor of his cell on Saturdays; he washed his hands before eating bread, and he stood still (=prayed) every day facing East, with his head covered.
As a result of this report, Sebastián was taken to the Inquisitors to confess his crimes. He denied the accusations, so the inquisitors tortured him again. This time with an instrument of torture called “el Potro” (pulling the body’s extremities with ropes). After the fifth round of “el Potro”, Sebastián declared that he indeed practiced some Jewish rituals, but now “he repented”.
The holiday of Sukkot was approaching. Sebastián Rodríguez, his wife Constanza, and their little son Domingo were in jail for seven years in a place called “La casa Chata”. Sebastián’s biggest desire was to celebrate the festival of Sukkot, but it looked like an impossible dream… Then, a thought of a risky plan popped into Sebastián’s mind: building a Sukka (ritual hut) in the very courtyard of the jail in the presence of the inquisitors Alonso of Peralta and Gutierrez Bernardo de Quirós.
At the beginning of September 1603, the Count of Monterrey granted Captain Esteban Lemos, a notary of the Inquisition, an important award. Sebastián Rodríguez proposed to honor Captain Lemos in “La casa Chata” and dedicate a party in his honor. The enthusiastic warden gave Sebastián permission to do so. The date chosen for the party was the day of Sukkot. The warden also approved the list of guests proposed by Sebastián, most of them hidden conversos.
Sebastián asked for branches to “decorate” the patio. The inquisitors sent four Indians to bring the branches, and Sebastián began building his Sukka. He prepared and decorated the open courtyard, known until today as “Patio de Los Naranjos” (orange trees), and placed the branches above its four walls.
For this “special occasion”, a nice meal was prepared. The main dish was chicken, slaughtered through Shechita (kosher slaughtering), something Sebastián organized with help from outside the prison.
On September 21, 1603, Sebastián Rodríguez, his wife Constanza, and several other conversos, guests, and Jewish prisoners celebrated the Holiday of Sukkot. They ate and sang in front of the Inquisition officials, who were unsuspicious that the conversos were celebrating the Jewish Holiday of Sukkot.
On June 2, 1606, Sebastián Rodríguez, his wife Constanza Rodríguez, and his son Domingo were released. The Inquisition thought that Sebastián was finally a rehabilitated Christian.
The Spanish Inquisition, one of the most horrific forms of religious persecution, chased our brothers and sisters even in the New Continent. Sebastián Rodríguez’s decision to build a Sukka within the Inquisition prison is an inspiring example of the Jewish people’s determination to maintain and fulfill our Tora, no matter the circumstances.
The original article was written in Spanish by Mr. Eli Suli (México) an expert in Sephardic Jewish history and a personal friend. The translation is mine.
