Connection between Yom Kippur and Bnei anusim

Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov, The Book of Our Heritage, Vol. I, pp. 83-84 – “Permitting praying with transgressors” is based on the Spanish Inquisition.

The declaration made before the recital of Kol Nidrei [We permit prayer with those who are transgressors] has its roots in the events that occurred at the time of the forced conversions imposed upon Spanish Jews. The Church subjected Spanish Jewry to harsh and cruel persecution, forcing them to renounce Judaism and accept Christianity. There were many among the Jews who, unable to withstand the cruel treatment, publicly accepted the new faith even though they continued to practice Judaism in secret, each one of them in his own hiding place, afraid to reveal their faith to others. All year these anusim [forced converts] refrained from gathering for religious worship, but on the night of Yom Kippur, they risked their lives and gathered in secret basements to accept upon themselves the sanctity of the day and to plead for Divine mercy for having appeared to be transgressors all year, for it is said that God never abhors the prayers of a multitude even if those praying are transgressors. It was in reference to them – those who were forced by circumstance to become transgressors – that the declaration was inserted into the prayers preceding Kol Nidrei. This declaration was passed down to us, for in our times too, there are many who come to the synagogue, who transgress throughout the year… The concept of blending the prayers of willful transgressors among Israel together with the prayers of the rest of our nation can be compared to the blending of chelbenah with the other prescribed ingredients in the preparation of the ketoret (incense) in the Beit ha-Mikdash (Temple). Our Sages (Keritot 6b) taught: Any fast that does not include the wicked among Israel [as part of those who fast] is not a fast, for though the odor of chelbenah was foul, it was listed in the Torah as one of the required ingredients of the ketoret. And Rashi says: “Learn from this that it should not appear to us unworthy to include in our midst – in our fasts and our prayer – the transgressors of Israel, so that they be counted among us” (Rashi, Shemot/Exodus 30). In memory of my ancestor Juan Hernandez Crespo condemned by the Inquisition for observe Yom Kippur.