Anusim
Sign in to saveAnusim (, ; masculine, anús, , ; feminine, anusá, , ), meaning "coerced", is a legal category of Jews in Halakha (Jewish law) who were forced to abandon Judaism against their will, typically during forced conversion to another religion (oftentimes Christianity). The term "anusim" is most properly translated as the "coerced [ones]" or the "forced [ones]".
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Article
10 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Related terms
- History of use
- In rabbinic literature
- Rabbinic legal opinions
- Current status
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Anusim (, ; masculine, anús, , ; feminine, anusá, , ), meaning "coerced", is a legal category of Jews in Halakha (Jewish law) who were forced to abandon Judaism against their will, typically during forced conversion to another religion (oftentimes Christianity). The term "anusim" is most properly translated as the "coerced [ones]" or the "forced [ones]".
==Etymology== The term anusim is derived from the Talmudic phrase (), connotating "a forced transgression." The Hebrew () derives from the triconsonantal root (aleph-nun-samekh), and originally referred to any case in which an individual had been forced into any act against their will. In Modern Hebrew, the word typically means 'rape'; thus, "anusim" typically refers to rape victims, with the historical meaning applying only to the Iberian Jews forced to convert to Christianity.