With the inquisition having arrived on American shores, twelve Jews were burnt in an auto de fe in Lima, Peru, on the 18th of Shevat 5399 (1639). Of the 63 Jews who were condemned at the time to various punishments, eleven were burnt alive at the stake, along with the body of a twelfth, who had committed suicide during the trial.
Amongst those burnt was Manuel Bautista Perez, reported to have been the richest man in Peru at the time, as well as Francisco Maldonado de Silva, a surgeon, poet, and philosopher who was seized in Chile in 1627, and remained in the dungeons of the Inquisition for nearly twelve years. His devotion to his faith never wavered; while in prison he even converted two Catholics to Judaism!
Links:
The Spanish Inquisition
Expulsion
Jews, since Abraham, saw themselves as servants of a transcendent G-d. But in a New World, servitude and self-discipline didn’t go over so well.
The Rebbe wrote that he had pondered this problem at length: How can we communicate to children today the dedication and responsibility that comes along with being a Jew?
So the Rebbe created Tzivos Hashem—literally, an army. He gave the children a sense of pride, as they rose in rank in this army, and told them that they were on a special mission to defeat evil, model goodness, and make this world a divine home for its Maker, the Commander-in-Chief.
At public gatherings, the children now crowded around the Rebbe’s chair, even sitting under the table at his feet. At one point, a certain elder attempted to chase them away. The Rebbe admonished him, “You are a civilian and they are officers, and you want to chase them away?!”
That is education. That is wisdom.