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The Golden Age of Spain and the Inquisition
Beginning in the 8th century, Muslims from North Africa had occupied and settled most of the Iberian
Peninsula. Jews who had lived in these regions since Roman times, considered 'People of the Book',
were given special status, and thus thrived under Muslim rule.
The tolerance of the Muslim rulers attracted Jewish immigration, and Jewish enclaves in Muslim
Spanish cities flourished as places of learning and commerce. Progressively, however, living
conditions for Jews in Muslim Spain became harsher, especially after the fall of the Omayyad
Caliphate to Catholic monarchs.
The Reconquista was the gradual reconquest of Muslim Spain by the Catholic Monarchs and had a
powerful religious flavor: Spain was being reclaimed for Christendom. By the 14th century, almost all
of Spain and Portugal had been taken back from the Muslims.
Many of the ruling Spanish, both secular and religious, viewed Jews with deep suspicion. The Jews
were also seen as being collaborators with the Muslims. Overt hostility against Jews became more
pronounced, finding expression in brutal episodes of violence and oppression. Thousands of Jews
sought to escape these attacks by converting to Catholicism; they were commonly called conversos or
New Christians.
These suspicions on the part of Catholics were only heightened by the fact that some of the coerced
conversions were undoubtedly insincere. Some, conversos had understandably chosen to salvage
their social and commercial prestige by the only option open to them - baptism and embrace of
Christianity - while privately adhering to their Jewish practice and faith. These secret practitioners are
commonly referred to as crypto-Jews or marranos.
The hostility toward Jews was brought to a climax by "The Catholic Monarchs" - Ferdinand and
Isabella, whose marriage in 1469 led ten years later to the unification of the two principal Spanish
kingdoms, Aragon and Castile. The result was a single royal state, the precursor of the modern state
now known as Spain.
Ferdinand and Isabella took seriously the reports that some crypto-Jews were not only privately
practicing their former faith, but were secretly trying to draw other conversos back into the Jewish
fold. In 1480, the king and queen created the Spanish Inquisition to investigate these suspicions;
under the authority of this new institution, thousands of converted Jews were killed within 12 years.
It is not known how many, if any, had lapsed from their new Christianity, or were trying to convince
others to do the same.
In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella completed the reconquista by forcing the surrender of the Muslim
kingdom of Granada. The surrender of the city of Granada placed yet another large Islamic population
under their rule, and Ferdinand and Isabella decided to act.
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The king and queen issued the Alhambra decree less than three months after the surrender of
Granada. In it, Jews were accused of trying "to subvert their holy Catholic faith and trying to draw
faithful Christians away from their beliefs."
Some Jews were even only given four months and ordered to leave the kingdom or convert to
Christianity. Under the edict, Jews were promised royal "protection and security" for the effective
three-month window before the deadline. They were permitted to take their belongings with them except "gold or silver or minted money".
The punishment for any Jew who did not leave or convert by the deadline was death. The
punishment for a non-Jew who sheltered or hid Jews was the confiscation of all belongings and
hereditary privileges.
As a result of this expulsion, Spanish Jews dispersed throughout the region of North Africa known as
the Maghreb. They also fled to south-eastern Europe where they were granted safety in the Ottoman
Empire and formed flourishing local Jewish communities, the largest being those of Thessaloniki and
Sarajevo. In those regions, they often intermingled with the already existing Mizrachi (Eastern Jewish)
communities.
Scholars disagree about how many Jews left Spain as a result of the decree; the numbers vary
between 130,000 and 800,000. Many (likely more than half) went to Portugal, where they only
eluded persecution for a few years (see Portuguese Inquisition). The Jewish community in Portugal
(perhaps then some 10% of that country's population[citation needed]) were then declared Christians
by Royal decree unless they left, but since their departure was severely hindered by the King (who
needed their expertise for Portugal's overseas enterprises), the vast majority was forced to stay as
nominal Christians.
Other Spanish Jews (estimates range between 50,000 and 70,000) chose in the face of the Edict to
convert to Christianity and thereby escape expulsion. Not surprisingly, their conversion served as
poor protection from church hostility after the Spanish Inquisition came into full effect; persecution
and expulsion were common. However, recent Y chromosome DNA testing conducted by the
University of Leicester and the Pompeu Fabra University has indicated that around 20% of Spanish
men today have direct patrilineal descent from Sephardic Jews.
1492: Responding to the Inquisition
Group exercise/role playing based on five Jewish responses to the Spanish inquisition.
Divide into five groups. Each group will discuss and present there decision (either by one person or in
some artistic way- drama, song etc.) and the other groups will question there decision followed by
general discussion of which options is the best one in their opinion. What would they do if faced with
similar choices today?
Background: The year is 1492. You are a member of the Abulafia family which has been in Spain for
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almost 800 years since coming over with the Muslim invasion in 711. As the inquisition takes hold,
you are faced with the following choices:
o Group 1: The Torah commands us to die before changing our religion. I would rather die as a
martyr before g-d, than disobey his command, practicing our faith in hiding or dying while
doing so. Besides- there is still a chance that things will change until they get to us!
Problem: Allow your family to die?
o Group 2: Run away to a different Jewish community in Europe. We will lose our identity,
fortunes, house, and also maybe our lives, but it's the best chance we have.
Problems: Dangerous. The situation in the new country might be the same.
o Group 3: Go to Israel- there is no other place to go but there. Jews are being expelled from all
other countries
Problem: In Israel there is not much of a community, life is poor, dangerous and full of
diseases.
o Group 4: Change our religion but practice in hiding (Conversoes). Even though we will live in
fear, and if we get caught we will be executed- but it's a way to stay alive.
Problem: No way to live your life, because of the Inquisition, could cost the life of your whole
family.
o Group 5: Convert- Look at the Jews around the world suffering! Why should I stay a Jew? It's
no way to lead a life. The life of my family is more important!
Problem: The religion and faith of Judaism is too important.
Primer on the Rambam (1135-1204)
Maimonides's full name was Moses ben Maimon; in Hebrew he is known by the acronym of Rabbi
Moses ben Maimon, Rambam. He was born in Spain shortly before the fanatical Muslim Almohades
came to power there. To avoid persecution by the Muslim sect — which was wont to offer Jews and
Christians the choice of conversion to Islam or death — Maimonides fled with his family, first to
Morocco, later to Israel, and finally to Egypt. He is buried in Israel within the city of Tiberias on the
Sea of Galilee. He apparently hoped to continue his studies for several years more, but when his
brother David, a jewelry merchant, perished in the Indian Ocean with much of the family's fortune, he
had to begin earning money. He probably started practicing medicine at this time and eventually rose
to the chief doctor to the Sultan of Egypt.
Maimonides's major contribution to Jewish life remains the Mishneh Torah, his code of Jewish law.
His intention was to compose a book that would guide Jews on how to behave in all situations just by
reading the Torah and his code, without having to expend large amounts of time searching through
the Talmud. Needless to say, this provocative rationale did not endear Maimonides to many
traditional Jews, who feared that people would rely on his code and no longer study the Talmud.
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Despite sometimes intense opposition, the Mishneh Torah became a standard guide to Jewish
practice: It later served as the model for the Shulkhan Arukh, the sixteenth century code of Jewish
law that is still regarded as authoritative by Orthodox Jews.
To this day, Maimonides and the French Jewish sage Rashi are the most widely studied Jewish
scholars. Contemporary yeshiva students generally focus on the Mishneh Torah, and his Book of
Commandments (Sefer haMitzvot) a compilation of the Torah's 613 commandments. Maimonides
also formulated a credo of Judaism expressed in thirteen articles of faith, a popular reworking of
which (the Yigdal prayer) appears in most Jewish prayer books. Among other things, this credo
affirms belief in the oneness of God, the divine origins of the Torah, and the afterlife. Its twelfth
statement of faith — “I believe with a full heart in the coming of the Messiah, and even though he
may tarry I will still wait for him” — was often among the last words said by Jews being marched into
Nazi gas chambers.
Rambam on Tzedakah
"Tzedakah" is the Hebrew word for “charity” -giving aid, assistance and money to the poor and
needy. However, the nature of Tzedakah goes beyond the idea of charity. The word "charity" suggests
benevolence and generosity, a magnanimous act by the wealthy and powerful for the benefit of the
poor and needy, i.e. going beyond the call of duty. The word "Tzedakah" is derived from the Hebrew
root Tzadei-Dalet-Qof, meaning righteousness, justice or fairness. In Judaism, giving to the poor is not
viewed as a generous, magnanimous act; it is an obligation, an act of justice and righteousness, giving
the poor their due.
How do we give Tzedakah? We learn that we have to help the poor from the Bible. However, the
details of fulfilling this obligation were outlined by rabbinical scholars through the ages. Maimonides’
(or the Rambam), a medieval Jewish philosopher, outlined his approach in his famous book, the
Mishneh Torah. This became the standard Jewish approach to tzedakah.
The Rambam’s Ladder of Tzedakah
The ladder below is presented in descending order, with the top rung being the most favorable way
of giving tzedakah and the bottom rung being the least favorable way.
Enabling a person to become self-sufficient and not have a need for tzedakah, by providing
him/her with a job or other means of financial support,
The giver does not know who receives the tzedakah and the recipient does not know the identity
of the donor.
The giver knows to whom the tzedakah was given, but the recipient does not know the identity of
the donor.
The recipient knows who donated the tzedakah, but the giver does not know who received it.
The giver gives directly to the recipient before being asked for tzedakah.
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The donor gives graciously and sufficiently after being asked for tzedakah.
The donor gives cheerfully, but less than is appropriate.
The giver gives begrudgingly and less than needed.
Gibraltar and Jewish History
Jews have lived in Gibraltar at least since the 14th century. Historical records reveal that a number of
secret Jews, fleeing persecution in Andalusia, sought permission to settle on Gibraltar in 1473.
After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, many Jews passed through Gibraltar on their way
to North Africa.
In 1713, Spain signed the Treaty of Utrecht, which rendered the fortress a British dependency. The
Spaniards inserted a clause in the Treaty reading:
"Her Britannic Majesty, at the request of the Catholic King, does consent and agree
that no leave shall be given, under any pretext whatsoever, either to Jews or Moors
to reside or have their dwellings in the said town of Gibraltar."
However, the British ignored this provision. Under British rule the Jewish community was permitted
to resettle in this strategically vital southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula for the first time in 200 years
By 1805, Jews comprised half of Gibraltar's population. In the middle of the 19th century, the Jewish
community reached a peak; there were 1,533 Jews in Gibraltar in 1878, and they dominated most of
the retail trade.
Today, the Gibraltar Jewish community, Sephardim mostly from Morocco, is some 600 strong and its
four historic synagogues are all still in use, a rare legacy in Europe, untouched by the ravages of the
Second World War.
Righteous Amount the Nations – Angel Sanz Briz
Righteous Among the Nations is an official title awarded by
Yad Vashem on behalf of the State of Israel and the Jewish
people to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during
the Holocaust. The title is awarded by a special commission
headed by an Israeli Supreme Court Justice. The term “Righteous Among the Nations” (Chasidei Umot
HaOlam) was taken from the Jewish tradition – from the literature of the Sages. A number of
explanations of the term exist, such as: non-Jews who came to the aid of the Jewish people in times
of danger; in other cases it is used to describe non-Jews who observe seven basic tenets set down in
the Bible – including the prohibition of bloodshed. The lawmakers took the existing term and added
new meaning to it. The Yad Vashem Law went on to characterize the Righteous Among the Nations
as those who not only saved Jews but risked their lives in doing so. This was to become the basic
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criterion for awarding the title. As of the end of 2007, Yad Vashem recognized over 22,000 Righteous
Among the Nations from 44 countries – including 468 from Italy (and six from Slovenia)
Angel Sanz Briz was Spain’s diplomatic representative in Budapest, Hungary, during the Second
World War. When the persecution of the Jews of Hungary was at its peak, starting May 1944, similar
to other diplomats of neutral countries, stationed in Budapest, Sanz Briz sought to protect Jews which
in his case claimed a Spanish origin. He based his humanitarian action on a 1924 Spanish law which
promised Jews of Spanish descent a restoration of their citizenship. To save them from deportation,
he issued protective passports, which were documents certifying that the persons wee under the
protection of Spain until such time as it was possible for them to proceed to Spain. In the meantime,
many of these persons were sheltered in special homes flying the Spanish flag. It is estimated that
close to one thousand Jewish persons were saved through the help of Sanz Briz.
Yehuda HaLevi and the Journey to Israel
Judah Halevi (1085-1140) was one of the most gifted of all the Jewish poets and scholars in the
history of the Spanish Jews. In his poetry, he introduced many of the devices and meters of Arabic
poetry into Hebrew poetry, and as a thinker, his great work of Jewish philosophy, the Kuzari, was
enormously influential. But as he reached middle age, he started to feel that, caught as they were
between the Christians and Muslims, the Jews had no place in Spain. The only place for a Jew was in
Eretz Israel.
Once the idea started to grip him, it did not let him go. He decided to travel to Eretz Israel, and seek
out Jerusalem. His friends tried to dissuade him: they pointed out the dangers of the way and the
uncertainties of the security situation in Eretz Israel. But he decided to go. He can't stay in Spain, he
tells them in a poem…
My heart is in the East
Judah Halevi
My heart is in the East, and I in the depths of the West;
My food has no taste. How can it be sweet?
How can I fulfill my pledges and vows,
When Zion is the power of Edom, and I am in the chains of Arabia?
It would be easy for me to leave all the goodness of Spain -So rich will it be to see the dust of the ruined sanctuary.