The Inquisition and the Jewish People: Faith, Persecution, and Survival

In this gripping episode of the Covenant & Conflict Podcast, we sit down with Rabbi Matheus Guimarães, a Messianic Jewish leader from Brazil, to uncover one of the most tragic, and least told chapters of Jewish history: the Sephardic Jews and the Spanish & Portuguese Inquisition.
Through his own family’s astonishing testimony, Rabbi Matheus reveals how millions of Jews were forcibly converted, hunted, silenced, and yet somehow survived, preserving Jewish faith, identity, and memory in secret. We explore the rise of Messianic Judaism in Brazil and the creation of a groundbreaking museum housing 500 years of preserved documents, artifacts, and testimonies that expose how Jews carried their faith underground and across the Atlantic.

In this episode, we explore:

• The roots of the Sephardic Jewish Communities in Spain & Portugal
• The “Golden Age” of Jewish learning—and how it fueled the European Renaissance
• Why Portugal’s forced conversions were even more brutal than Spain’s
• The Inquisition’s relentless targeting of the Anusim (the forced-ones)
• The expulsions of 1492 and the forced baptisms of 1497
• How Jewish families escaped to Brazil and rebuilt their faith in secret
• The explosive growth of Messianic Jewish congregations in Brazil today
• Why understanding our Jewish foundation is essential for the Church
• How modern antisemitism mirrors Spain, Portugal, and pre-WWII Europe
  

This conversation is historical, prophetic, and deeply personal, a sobering reminder that the past is never truly past, and that Jewish identity has always endured, even in the darkest hours.
If you care about Jewish history, the Inquisition, Sephardic Jews, Messianic Judaism, Jewish-Christian relations, Brazil’s hidden Jewish roots, or the rise of antisemitism today, this episode is essential viewing.