The following excerpt is from the January 3rd 2014, http://www.miamiherald.com by Ana Veciana-Suarez
Genie Milgrom’s quest for her religious roots began with a mysterious box her maternal grandmother left her when she died. It ends, if one can call it an ending, with a book, a website, speaking engagements around the world and a scholar’s depth of knowledge about Jews who were forced to convert, or pretended to convert, by the Spanish Inquisition.
First, the box. Milgrom, who was raised Catholic in a traditional Cuban household, had already converted to Judaism when her maternal abuela left her a well-worn hamsa, or charm-like “hand of God” trinket, and one gold earring with a Star of David in the middle. No note accompanied this strange bequest.
Milgrom was intrigued. What did it mean? This, after all, was the grandmother who, upon Milgrom’s conversion, had whispered a warning about the dangers of being a Jew
