Plots and Players: the Lopez
Conspiracy by Pamela Meinikoff.
Bedrick, 1989. Three Jewish
children, exiled from Portugal,
confront anti-Semitism in
Elizabethan England. Ages 12-15.
The Family y Aguilar by
Marcus Lehmann. Feldheim, 1983.
A story of Jewish heroism during
the Spanish Inquisition. Ages 13
and up.
Non-Fiction
Maimonides' Ladder of Tzedakah
The Jews of New Amsterdam
by Eva Deutsch Costabel.
Atheneum, 1988. A beautifully
illustrated book about the first
Jewish families to come to North
America escaping persecution in
Brazil. Ages 7-11.
(1
Giving to belP %Pets°
sett
become
Compiled by Judy Silberg Loebl,
The Resource Center, Agency for
Jewish Education.
thknows
Giving so that neither
donor
recipient nor the
each other.
Giving to a known recipient
usly.
a nonymo
Giving to an unknown
recipient who knows who the
donor is.
outside, in order to have a clear
view of their comings and goings. It
did not take very long for me to
notice a servant prepare the
carriage, and Don Gabriel, his
father and his son climbed into it.
"I ran behind the carriage for a
while through the very crowded
streets. Not wanting to lose sight of
them, I finally found an empty
carriage that I hired to follow them.
They drove to the outskirts of the
city, instructed the servant to wait
for them, and alighted. Slowly, they
followed a path deeper and deeper
and deeper into the woods. I was
right behind then. When they
stopped, I sought refuge behind a
broad branched tree with a thick
trunk. I was curious. Why had these
people feasted and then come to
the forest?
"I waited patiently, my pulse
beating faster and faster. What were
they doing?
"Within the hour, the group of
people had grown. I thought, that
from the distance, I even recognized
one of them to be Don Pedro, the
treasurer to General Benedict. The
people sat on small piles of twigs
and tree branches. They removed
small books from their pockets, and
began to mumble and shake
fervently. After a while, Don Gabriel
Gracia stood, removed the horn of a
ram, the type that shepherds use,
from a package he had been
carrying under his arm. Don Pedro
signaled to him.
"My eyes opened wide. I could
not believe what they were about to
do! Suddenly, Don Gabriel started to
blow the horn. I started to shake, I
screamed, and then, I must have
fainted, for the next thing I knew, I
opened my eyes while lying on a
bed in Don Gabriel Gracia's
mansion. Doctors hovered over me.
Don Gabriel touched my shoulder
compassionately.
"Finally, Don Gabriel spoke.
`Last night we went out into the
forest, as far away as possible from
the eyes and ears of the Inquisition.
We went in order to sound the
shofar in honor of Rosh Hashanah,
in honor of our Father, Creator of
the world. Even though we act as
Christians, we are observant of as
much of Judaism as possible under
these conditions. We did not know
that we had been followed until we
heard your screams. We were
frightened, but decided to continue
sounding the shofar the required
number of times, knowing that we
might be arrested, understanding
that if we were to die, we wanted to
die performing a mitzvah. So we
finished sounding the shofar, turned
to go and tripped over your fallen
body. Don Pedro recognized you as
the bishop's servant from the
cloister.
" 'I suspected from the anguish
I detected on your face that you
were not in the cloister on your own
free will, but perhaps you had been
kidnapped. We carried you back to
the carriage and to my house, and I
called my personal physician, Don
Luis, to attend to you. When he
removed your clothes, it was my
turn to scream. I had a son who
had been kidnapped by the Church.
He was very young at the time, and
I never thought I would see him
again. Besides being obvious that
you are a Jewish man, you have a
birthmark on your chest that I
recognized. You are my son
Yoseph.'
"Tears streamed down my
cheeks as we embraced. For a long
time, neither one of us could speak,
but our eyes revealed the intensity
of our pain. That night, we decided
to flee from the lands of the
Inquisition."
Reprinted from "The Jewish Woman
In Rabbinic Literature," Kitav
Publishing.
asked.
Giving before being
Giving enough but only after
being asked.
should
ou
Giving less than Y
but giving cheerfully after
Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon
(1135-1205), known as Rambam and
as Maimonides, was medieval
Spain's most famous Jewish
physician and philosopher. His
major works in the Bible, literature
and religion have influenced not
only Judaism, but Christianity and
Islam as well. His famous Mishnah
Torah includes a Ladder of
Tzedakah, in which he ranks the
levels of charity. In the
accompanying figure, the highest
level is at the top of the illustration.
being asked.
small donation
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gingly only after having
iud
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been asked.
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Puzzle by Lissa Hurwitz
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
L-7