Anusim

Anusim (Hebrew: אֲנוּסִים, ; singular male, Anús, Hebrew: אָנוּס‎ ; singular female, Anusáh, Hebrew: אָנוּסה‎, meaning "Coerced") is a legal category of Jews in halakha (Jewish law) who were forced to abandon Judaism against their will, typically while forcibly converted to another religion. The term "anusim" itself is most properly translated as the "coerced " or the "forced ".

The religious legal terms anús/anusáh/anusim were applied to those Jews who were forced to abandon Judaism against their will, and their children, yet continue to do whatever is in their power to continue practicing Judaism under the forced condition. The terminology derives from the Talmudic phrase "`averah b'ones (Hebrew: עבירה באונס‎).", meaning "a forced transgression." The Hebrew term "ones" originally referred to any case where a Jew has been forced into any act against his or her will. The term anús is used in contradistinction to meshumad (מְשֻׁמָּד), which means a person who has voluntarily abandoned the practice of Jewish Law in whole or part.