A PIECE OF HISTORY - JEWS IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
Beginnings
In the year 70 C.E., after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans, thousands of Jews fled to several countries in Europe, Asia and Northern Africa.
In those remote times, some of them arrived in Barcelona.
Besides tombstones and some jewels, there is nothing left of their material culture but there is a very rich history worth telling and revisiting.
The Thirteenth Century: A Time of Splendour
The thirteenth century was the most prosperous period for the Jewish community throughout what we now refer to as Spain.
The size of Barcelona's Jewish quarter reached 4.000 inhabitants or about 15 percent of the city's population. Versed in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, Spanish, Catalan or Arabic -depending where they lived-, Jews acted as cultural liaisons between Eastern and Western civilizations, and helped transmit the latest advances in science and the most recent works by Arab philosophers.
Nevertheless, despite this prosperous situation, Jews often suffered ill treatment and their Christian neighbors did not look favourably upon them.
Conversions and the Expulsion in 1492
Throughout the centuries, Jews had been forced to convert to Catholicism. The converted 'new Christians' were usually protected by a Christian patron who offered them his surname.
After the attack on Barcelona's Jewish quarter in 1391, the newly converted could hold positions that had been previously forbidden to them. The Inquisition persecuted those who continued with their Jewish practices, generating the many autos-da-fe of that time.
This situation worsened in 1492, when the Catholic Kings, Ferdinand of Castile and Isabella of Aragon, ordered the expulsion of those Jews still living on Spanish soil.
Judaism Today
From the expulsion through the end of the nineteenth century, there was little active Jewish life in Spain. Jews returned first from the Middle East, later from Morocco, and during the second half of the twentieth century, from South America.
There are presently approximately about 18,000 Jews in Spain and several communities, of which only a handful have a full time Rabbi.
Barcelona is the only city where there are two synagogues with regular services.
The Comunidad Israelita de Barcelona (CIB), orthodox in orientation, was the first one in peninsular Spain -after the expulsion in the fifteenth century- to build a community centre.
The Comunitat Jueva Atid de Catalunya, is the first congregation in Spain to be linked to the 'progressive' wing of Judaism. In 1997, it became officially affiliated with the WUPJ (World Union for Progressive Judaism).
A HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN SPAIN
1992 marked five centuries since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World.
Between 850 and 1146 C.E., Jews in Spain lived in a Golden Age. Jewish learning and creativity flourished and Jews, influenced at first by the Muslims, made important contributions to literature, philosophy, government, medicine and science.
Later, under King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the Inquisition and expulsion took place. The following is a summary of the history of the Sephardim, the Jews of Spain.
The word Sepharad comes from the Biblical SEPHARAD, the name of the westernmost country on the Mediterranean (Spain).
The prophet Obadiah spoke of the captivity of Jerusalem that is in Sepharad. The Jews of Sepharad (and the Spanish Jewish pilgrims visiting Jerusalem) at the beginning of the common era were called the Sephardim.
The first Jews settled in Spain during the Roman Empire. A Jewish tombstone in Adra dates to the third century C.E. In the year 418 the Bishop of Majorca wrote a letter as to the forced conversion of Jews to Christianity on the island of Minorca.
In 711 Muslim forces crossed the Straights of Gibraltar and by the year 1030 occupied all of Spain except the Northwestern quarter of Spain (now Galicia) and part of Aragon (Catalonia) in the Northeast.
When the Muslims first arrived, due to Christian persecution there were no communities of openly professing Jews. The secret Jews welcomed the Muslims and flocked to join them.
The economic condition of the Jews improved, as allies of the new rulers.
Under Umayyad and subsequent Berber rulers, the Jews prospered and Jewish learning and culture flourished in a Golden Age of Spanish Jewry. In 1146, a new fanatic Berber dynasty began the conquest of Muslim Spain, the Jewish religion was forbidden and there were forced conversions. Many Jews emigrated to Christian Spain.
In the 11th century, the Christians had begun the reconquest of Spain and there began a decline in the power of Muslim Spain.
Jews from the Muslim south were welcomed to Christian Spain and organized themselves in communities with distinct rights under advisers to the crown and prospered in their self-administered communities. However, signs of Spanish anti Semitism were beginning to show.
The roots of Spanish anti Semitism can be traced to the early Christian theologians. These theologians taught that Judaism was an inferior religion, Israel was rebellious and had persecuted its prophets and that Christianity was the true Israel.
The Church instilled in every Christian that the Jewish people had no reason to exist as they had rejected the Messiah and brought about his death.
Early in the 12th century, Christian church leaders restarted the earlier prohibition as to Jews holding public office. The economic activities of Jews were limited, Jews were prohibited from employing Christian servants and Muslims were forbidden to convert to Judaism.
Royal debts to Jews were cancelled; public disputations were held placing Judaism on trial with the aim of converting Jews to Christianity and most Jews were forced to leave the political area. Many Jews were pressured to accept baptism.
In 1391 violent pogroms broke out all over Spain where there were Jewish communities. Thousands of Jews were murdered; Jewish women and children were sold as slaves to Muslims, most synagogues and many homes and businesses were burnt to the ground.
Although there were economic reasons for the pogroms, the killings and burnings continued until forced conversion took place. Many thousands of Jews were converted. As a result, open Jewish communities ceased to exist in many cities and towns throughout Spain.
The Jews who were forcibly converted to Christianity were called conversos (New Christians) and they lived in the cities and towns alongside the old Christians (pure Christian blood and lineage).
Many of the conversos secretly practiced Judaism. Although forced conversion was theoretically illegal in the eyes of the Church, a converso was considered a true Christian and was forbidden to return to Judaism.
In Hebrew, the conversos were called anussim, the forced ones. The Christians referred to the conversos as Marranos or swine.
In the kingdom of Castile there were over 30,000 converso families. Leading conversos later became successful at all levels of government, as tax collectors, farmers, landowners and in the professions spawning the envy of Old Christians.
The next tragic event in the persecution of Jews in Spain was the Inquisition.
The Inquisition has its origin in the earliest beliefs of the Church, that Judaism was an abomination and a rejection of God's chosen one.
Jews who were forcibly converted and continued to practice Judaism were considered heretics and Judaizers and were tried in religious courts and punished for their heresy.
From the earliest Jewish settlement in Spain to 1480, the number of converted Jews who were burnt at the stake by the Church were relatively few. This soon changed. In 1478 the Church authorized a powerful Church/State national Inquisition, which would operate throughout Spain under the direction of Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella.
Commencing in Seville in 1481, and later in other cities after trials, seven hundred conversos were burnt at the stake and by 1488 many thousands were tortured, punished, humiliated and others were reconciled to the church.
The Inquisition continued for many more years as did the autos de fe (burnings of unrepentant conversos at public spectacles), and other punishment and confiscations of converso property.
The monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, ranked with the foremost statesmen of the late Middle Ages. After repressing the mutinous nobles and anarchy, they sought to reorganize the State under their absolute power.
They considered it their sacred duty to improve the status of the Catholic Church and make Spain a truly Catholic state. Their plan was to first obliterate all Muslim rule from Spain and resolve the converso and Jewish problems.
The Inquisition was formulated by the monarchs and approved by the Pope as a final solution to the converso problem. It was also a source of great wealth and power to the crown from the confiscation of converso property and control of the population through the Holy Office of the Supreme Inquisition.
Isabella appointed the notorious Tomas de Torquemada as Inquisitor General of the Church Militant to exterminate heresy.
On January 2, 1492, the last stronghold of Muslim power, Granada, surrendered to the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella. The doom of Spanish Jewry was sealed at Granada in the Alhambra Palace on March 31, 1492.
On that day the Edict of Expulsion was signed, however, it was not released until May first for cynical reasons. The Jews were given three months to dispose of their homes, property and assets at a fraction of their value.
The expulsion began on May 1 and by July 31, 1492 the last Jew had left Spain. The stated reason for the expulsion was to prevent the Jews from inflicting further injury upon the Christian faith and to prevent Jews from influencing the conversos.
Upon leaving Spain and later Portugal, a large number of Sephardim settled in the Ottoman Empire (Turkey and the Balkan countries) and others went to North Africa, the Middle East (including Palestine) and to Italy.
The Ottoman Empire welcomed the Sephardim and permitted them to practice their faith openly. During the Inquisition and after the expulsion, the conversos were forced to remain in Spain; intimidated by the ongoing Inquisition they eventually (with few exceptions) became extinct as practicing Jews.
Some conversos managed to escape to the New World where they found the Inquisition waiting for them; a few others slipped through the net to Italy, Turkey, Palestine and North Africa.
See Related articles
SALUDOS.
ANGELO.
Posts: 696 | Location: Santander | Registered: 11 August 2003
Yeah, that is really interesting history. Isn't Toledo considered to be the place where Jewish heritage is best preserved in Spain? I went to the Sephardic Museum there and visited some of the old synagogues (I remember them being either walled off completely or converted to churches).
Spain was also a transit point for many Jews fleeing the Holocaust, despite Franco being unofficially on the side of the Axis powers.
Posts: 35 | Location: AZ | Registered: 26 January 2007
Yeah, that's right, Toledo was an extremely important part of Spain's Jewish history, as was Barcelona and Zaragoza as well in fact, although I find that incredibly those two historical facts are not really very widely known about by many other countries, and it is something that annoys me a lot, because visitors come to Spain, and take photo's, but never have hardly any idea that they have just visited what was once Jewish Spain, long before the moros Invaded, places like Sevilla, Toledo, Zaragoza, Barcelona, were once places that had huge Sephardic (or Spanish) communities, which were the centers of all that was happening in Spain, when times were really good for all native Iberian Jewish people in Spain, they were some of the oldest inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula, and they brought about a lot of good things, they built hundreds of Synagogues over hundreds of years, virtually all have been destroyed beyond trace, but those two in Toledo are some of the last remaining fragments of evidence that Jews once existed in Spain, I've been to see them twice, but busted my Digital camera when I dropped it, and have no decent photos of my own yet, (apart from a few taken on 35mm around town, including some not so good shots of the the Sinagogas, and a couple of shots taken standing next to the statue/monument of Rabbi Samuel Ha-Levi Abulafia) but I am planning a return at some point, armed with a new & tasty Digital camera, and will shoot what is permitted, outside.
I can recommend anyone to carry out some research in to this subject, as it alone I have found to be quite mind blowing, staggering, and at times extremely disturbing, the more I find out about it all, the more it upsets me, but I am fueled by an almost insatiable appetite for this particular branch of Spanish Iberian history, due in part to my own ancestry, and needing to find out more, there are no exams for me in this, just sheer excitement & pure enjoyment, curiosity, fascination, satisfaction, fulfillment, many things, I just love doing this, finding out the truth of it all, lifting up the medieval carpet to reveal what's hidden under there, opening the Castillian cupboard to see what skeletons those old Catholic monarchs have got tucked away, although it has to be said, that much of what is documented fact, is at times horrific, nauseating, and most people just don't want to hear it, especially Spaniards, they really don't want to know what happened to their Jewish ancestors, I can't say that I blame them too much for that really, seeing as so much of their past history is about Holocaust, genocide, Ethnic cleansing, murder, torture, you name it, a real horror story is what a lot of what Spain's past is made up of, they made the Nazis look like a bunch of amateurs. In my opinion, if we cannot learn from it all, it's going to happen again & again, we've already had another episode of ethnic cleansing in Europe recently, in the former Yugoslavia, I think people should start reading and realize that it is just history repeating itself over & over again, and why, because not enough people in the world want to listen, to pay attention to what has gone before in previous centuries. Guilt, blame, and shame are everywhere in this world, the big question is, will the world end all of the horror, or will all of the horror going on in this world, ultimately end the world?
Well anyway, I don;t want to get my thread off subject with a debate of that nature, but your welcome to start another thread to discuss it on if you like. I hope you enjoy the links.
ps: those interested in the Jewish history of Toledo, might take a look at this, just a taster or a snippet of some of the horrors that happened to so many good Judeo-Spanish people. see the Link below.
Samuel Ha-Levi Abulafia, a Great man in every respect, was brutally murdered, on the orders of the King - Pedro the Cruel, he was tortured mercilessly, until dead, because of that Cruel anti semitic Bastard.
Quote... "Samuel Ha-Levi Abulafia's fate took a turn for the worse in 1360, when King Pedro arrested and imprisoned him in Seville, having accused Samuel of taking part in a conspiracy against him. Whilst in prison Samuel was tortured to death and all his possessions were confiscated by the king including his house and the synagogue"
I've also heard that Maimonides, a famous Jewish scholar whose teachings are still read today, was from Spain, though was forced to do much of his work in other countries because of instability caused by the Almohad invasions.
New Mexico is probably the single part of the US with the closest direct ties to Spain. Some of the Hispanos (this term is generally understood to reference people who have European Spanish heritage descended from the colonists who came to NM) have claimed to be conversos or the like, based upon certain cultural practices their families maintained such as avoiding pork.
It's tragic that so much of this history was destroyed and what very little remains is ignored after being forced underground for so long. That ties in a great deal with the general ignorance and misconceptions that people have about Spain. Much of the perception just comes from it being considered a tourist zone. As you say, they just come to the country and don't even know important things about the history, or they think the country is some extension of Latin America, when in reality it's very different.
As for if people will learn, that worries me. Even in the US a lot of Jews are looking at moving to Israel or France (3rd largest Jewish population in the world) because the casual anti-Semitism they encounter in conversations, the media, etc. are frightening.
Thanks for these links and best of luck in your continued studies.
Posts: 35 | Location: AZ | Registered: 26 January 2007
Yeah, man, I hear ya, and know what you mean when you mention "Maimonides".....and here's another brilliant link to follow, the info is (like Sacha Baron Cohen would say as Ali-G, "Massive") to say the least.
Maimonides Versus Aristotle and the Jews of Spain, Thirteen Rules
You know, I've been reading this stuff for years, yet it still staggers me every time I get into another article, and the World Wide Web has got so much of it, it's endless!!
I know what you mean about the Spanish or Ibero American history, although I'm not really knowledgeable of New Mexico's history, but I do know that a whole lot of Sephardic Jewish people ran for their lives, and many ended up in Argentina, and I read somewhere one time, that many Jews fled from Barcelona Spain & landed in Italy, and then later migrated to Argentina, posing as Italians, having ditched their former Jewish identities, for fear of being caught out by the Inquisition, which was waiting for them, even in the Americas. Hopefully, I wish, one of these days, this God damned world will leave the Jews alone, to live in peace & harmony, just like they used to. But sadly, I believe that Antisemitism and in particular Anti Judaism has never really gone away, it just went under cover for a while, and within the last century has reared it's ugly head again, and we seem to be heading towards yet another epoch of death and destruction in human society.
Que pena! How sad!
Regards.
Posts: 696 | Location: Santander | Registered: 11 August 2003
Hey Angelo Thank you for this post You brought back my school's memories of Jewish history. I bet we're the only one place, that this topic is included in the school program. BTW I tried to send you a private message and it wouldn't let me. Nava
Age is a matter of mind, if you don't mind it doesn't matter.
Posts: 317 | Location: Israel >Madrid | Registered: 29 July 2004
Hello Nava, nice to hear from you, and I'm delighted to hear that I've revived the memories of your school days, I hope that most of those times were good ones for your, and although much of the history that we learn about our ancestry is disturbing, I'm sure that a lot of it must have been fascinating & exciting, hearing all the stories of wonderful times in the past, when things were good, and people were happier, especially Jewish people, when left alone to get on with life and enjoy it to the full, I'm sure you must be remembering some wonderful stories passed on to you by your teachers, parents and grand parents.
Oh, and sorry about the private message thingy, I switched it off a while ago, but I have now switched it back on, so you can now contact me as & when you like.
I really hope that you and many others on here are starting to get into some this history, as it is in my opinion some of the most profoundly important history, in the entire history of the human race, and everyone that visits Spain should know at least a little about what kind of things happened over many centuries in Spain, and not just come to drink beer & take snap shots, then leave having learned nothing, and people who have settled in Spain should definitely know something about this, so I hope and pray that post's on this subject will reach those people and arouse their interest, and perhaps like me, try to trace back their roots.
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord"
Hebrews 12:14
Regards,
Angelo
Posts: 696 | Location: Santander | Registered: 11 August 2003
This next piece is not so much about Spain, at least not directly, but I feel is in tune with the overall theme of this thread, and that is about the Jewish peoples of Iberia, so here goes. Hope you like it.
A 500-year wait to pray in Portugal’s oldest Shul
King Jose the 1st, the ruler of Portugal in the mid 18th Century, considered passing a law whereby all the descendent's of the Jews would be obliged to wear yellow hats, so that they could be easily identified in public.
One day the Marques de Pombal, King Joses prime minister, arrived at court carrying three yellow hats under his arm, “Why are you carrying these hats, asked the baffled King?” the Marques cleared his throat and replied, “One is for me, one is for the Grand Inquisitor, and one is for you, your highness,” he said.
This story may seem a little fanciful, but there is a lot of truth in it. up to 70 per cent of Portuguese people are thought to have some degree of Jewish blood.
The picturesque cobbled town of ‘Tomar’ in central Portugal, is now home to just two Jewish families, in the heart of town is a neat grid of streets, and on Rua Dr. Joaquim Jacinto is a well-preserved synagogue, and Portugals oldest Synagogue, built in 1430. It was last used as a place of worship in 1497, when King Manuel I expelled all Jews who refused to convert to Christianity. It has four tall towers and a vaulted ceiling, and holds a small Jewish Museum named after Abraham Zacuto, a famous 15th-century astronomer and mathematician who helped build navigational aids for Vasco da Gama. It contains 15th-century Jewish tombstones and sacred items donated by Jewish communities around the world.
Although King Manuel 1st issued a decree whereby, all Jews who did not convert to Christianity had to leave Portugal, of those that stayed and converted, and became "Converso's"...(or "new Christians") many still practiced Judaism in secret.
Luis Alves Vasco sits on a chair in the corner of the 15th century ‘Shul’ awaiting visitors. “there are between 25.000 and 35.000 a year,” he says.
“The number has increased phenomenally over the past few years,” he says.
Mr Vasco patiently accompanies each visiting party to explain the history of the Synagogue, identifiable by the blue stars of David over the door.
After the expulsion of 1497, the Synagogue was used as a prison, a church and even a warehouse, although Tomar’s ‘’new Christians’’ were protected from Imprisonment in the prison by a 1516 decree – possibly because it was thought to be unfitting to put an ex Jew in an ex Synagogue/prison.
In 1923, a scholar of Judaism, Samuel Swartz, purchased the old Synagogue, and funded the restoration, which uncovered the original ‘Mikve’ and later entrusting the Synagogue to the state.
“The municipality of Tomar has no budget for us, “sighs Mr Vasco, “so, everything that one sees around here was donated by our benefactors.”
artefact's on display include medieval Jewish tombstones, and a water pitcher, originally built into the walls of the Synagogue.
Mr. Vasco’s wife, Maria Teresa, has been voluntarily washing the floors of the Synagogue for the past 20 years. “as for me, I’m not just doing this for religious reasons, I want to make sure that the entire Jewish heritage is preserved.”
As there are not enough Jewish men around in Tomar for a minyan, prayers are held only when there are enough visitors. Sometimes that means quite a wait.
“In October 1992, we held the first Yom Kippur prayer in 500 years, Mr. Vasco smiles
