Throughout history, Jews have overcome every obstacle to observe the Mitsva of Sukkot. One of the most striking examples of this love and determination is a Sukka built in 1603 in the courtyard of the Inquisition prison in Mexico City by a crypto-Jew (“converso”) named Sebastian Rodriguez.
Sebastian was born in 1573 in São Vicente da Beira, Portugal. At age seven, he left home and moved to Seville, Spain, where he worked in the shop of his uncle, Antonio Rodriguez, who taught him to read and write.
In 1587, at fourteen, he moved to New Spain (Nueva España, the colonial name of Mexico). He settled in the city of Puebla, in the house of a distant relative, also Portuguese, named Guillermo Rodriguez. Guillermo sent Sebastian to nearby villages to sell the clothes he produced. At sixteen, Sebastian became independent and began working on his own.
At eighteen, he married his cousin, Constanza Rodriguez. Before the wedding, his brother-in-law, Domingo Rodriguez, and a friend, Manuel de Lucena, secretly revealed to Sebastian that he was Jewish. They would take him out to the fields, away from the eyes of the inquisitors, and teach him the laws and traditions of the Torah.
Sebastian began to learn more about his heritage. His main teachers were Luis de Carvajal (El Mozo) and Sebastian de la Peña, Jews who lived outwardly as Catholics. They took long walks together, reviewing passages and precepts of the Torah. Luis de Carvajal kept written quotes from the Torah hidden between the lining and the felt of his hat, and used them to teach Torah and Mitsvot to his many students.
In 1596, when Sebastian was twenty-three, a man named Pedro de Reparo denounced him to the Inquisition. His crime was “judaizar,” judaizing, that is, practicing Judaism in secret. Sebastian was arrested in Mexico City along with his wife, Constanza, and taken to the Inquisition prison on Plaza Santo Domingo, a few blocks from today’s famous Zocalo in the historic center of Mexico City. His punishment was life imprisonment and, of course, the confiscation of all his property.
During the first three months of interrogation, Sebastian kept absolute silence to avoid revealing the names of his teachers and his converso friends. After those months of torture, chained hand and foot, he confessed to practicing the Law of Moses. The chains were removed, and he was placed in a cell next to Luis Diaz, a supposed converso who was in fact a spy for the Inquisition. Diaz, later nicknamed “El Malshin” (the informer), reported to the inquisitors that his cellmate was still “judaizing” in prison. He gave examples: Sebastian did not eat the meat or chicken he was served; he did not sweep his cell on Saturdays; he washed his hands before eating bread; and every day he stood still (that is, prayed) facing east, with his head covered.
As a result, Sebastian was brought before the inquisitors to confess. He denied the accusations, so they tortured him again, this time on “el potro,” the rack, which stretched the limbs with ropes. After the fifth round, Sebastian declared that he had indeed practiced some Jewish rituals but that he now “repented.”
The holiday of Sukkot was approaching. Sebastian, his wife Constanza, and their little son Domingo had been in prison for seven years, in a place called “La Casa Chata.” Sebastian’s greatest wish was to celebrate Sukkot, but it looked like an impossible dream. Then a risky plan came to his mind: to build a Sukka in the prison courtyard itself, in the presence of the inquisitors Alonso de Peralta and Gutierre Bernardo de Quiros.
In early September 1603, the Count of Monterrey, the viceroy, granted an important award to Captain Esteban Lemos, a notary of the Inquisition. Sebastian proposed holding a party in Captain Lemos’s honor at “La Casa Chata.” The warden was enthusiastic and gave permission. The date chosen was the day of Sukkot. The warden also approved Sebastian’s guest list, made up mostly of hidden conversos.
Sebastian asked for branches to “decorate” the courtyard. The inquisitors sent four Indians to bring them, and Sebastian began building his Sukka. He prepared the open courtyard, known to this day as the “Patio de los Naranjos” (Courtyard of the Orange Trees), and laid the branches across the top of its four walls.
For this “special occasion,” they prepared a fine meal. The main dish was chicken slaughtered by Shechita (kosher slaughter), which Sebastian arranged with help from outside the prison.
On September 21, 1603, Sebastian, his wife Constanza, and several other conversos, guests, and Jewish prisoners celebrated Sukkot. They ate and sang in front of the Inquisition officials, who had no idea that the conversos were celebrating a Jewish holiday.
On June 2, 1606, Sebastian, Constanza, and their son Domingo were released. The Inquisition believed that Sebastian had finally become a rehabilitated Christian.
The Inquisition, one of the most horrific forms of religious persecution, pursued our brothers and sisters even in the New World. Sebastian Rodriguez’s decision to build a Sukka inside an Inquisition prison is an inspiring example of the Jewish people’s determination to keep the Torah, 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.
