NYC Gazette

Dr. Ronnie Perelis, a professor at Yeshiva University, has been awarded a $299,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The grant will support the translation of two early modern Jewish texts by Luis Carvajal and Yoseph Ha-Kohen. Dr. Perelis is collaborating with Dr. Flora Cassen from Washington University on this project.

The translation aims to connect Jewish, colonial, Latin American, and European studies through a two-volume work. Dr. Perelis will focus on translating the religious anthology of Joseph Lumbroso, also known as Luis de Carvajal, the younger. This 16th-century Mexican Crypto-Jewish poet and thinker documented his spiritual journey in a diary that highlights how he reconstructed Jewish beliefs while living in Mexico under forced conversion to Christianity. In 1596, Carvajal and his family were executed for secretly practicing Judaism.

Dr. Cassen will translate Yoseph ha-Kohen’s “The Book of New India,” which critiques Spanish imperialism through intentional mistranslations of Lopez de Gómara's original text about the New World. Ha-Kohen’s work reflects his personal experiences of expulsion from Spain and Italy due to his Jewish identity.

“This grant will enable Dr. Cassen and I to bring these unique works that reflect the complexity and intellectual creativity of Jews living in the Atlantic world to a wider audience,” said Dr. Perelis.

The project's goal is to make these manuscripts accessible to both scholarly and popular audiences with support from global collaborators specializing in related fields.

“It is the honor of a lifetime to translate Carvajal’s words into English," added Dr. Perelis. "We are so grateful to the NEH for their belief in the potential of this project."

For more information about the project, visit www.yu.edu/schneier/translating-the-americas and www.tabletmag.com/sections/history/articles/auto-da-fe-mexico-city