When I was going to be twelve, my great grandfather called my grandfather in Spanish and said, "It's time to tell the boy." So the next morning, on my birthday. my grandfather woke me and took me to get water. He began to tell me about the Jews in the Bible, the stories I had heard in Catechism class. I asked him, "Why are you telling me all this?"
"Because,"he said, "eres Judio -- you are a Jew."
And I said, "No, I'm Catholic," and he said, "No, eres Judio."
I got angry, we had been taught to hate the Jews because they were the Christ killers, and here my own grandfather was calling me a Jew. Then he pulled the water out and poured it over my head and said, "No tas portisado," that is, "you are no longer baptized." So by pouring water over my head, he took away the baptism; it was time to wash it off. And all of a sudden I realized that we had these strange foods and custom, these strange services we used to do. We were Jews, we were hidden Jews. -Nan Rubin
"Because,"he said, "eres Judio -- you are a Jew."
And I said, "No, I'm Catholic," and he said, "No, eres Judio."
I got angry, we had been taught to hate the Jews because they were the Christ killers, and here my own grandfather was calling me a Jew. Then he pulled the water out and poured it over my head and said, "No tas portisado," that is, "you are no longer baptized." So by pouring water over my head, he took away the baptism; it was time to wash it off. And all of a sudden I realized that we had these strange foods and custom, these strange services we used to do. We were Jews, we were hidden Jews. -Nan Rubin
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