THE JEWISH NEWS
MARCH 27, 1992
A Toast
To Jewish Living
ft 004
Age
Jews And The Encounter With The Nei, World
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By JUDITH LAIKIN ELKIN
What attitude should Jews take
toward the Columbus
Quincentenary? As Americans we
never used to pay much attention to
Columbus Day. Few of us noticed
when Congress detached it from
October 12 — the actual date when
Columbus' lookout spied land —
and allowed it to float between the
closest Friday or Monday.
But Latin Americans take
October 12 seriously, calling it "The
Day of the Race," while Italians
celebrate the man they regard as
their most distinguished native son,
though he sailed under the flag of
Spain.
Native Americans point out that
they had no need to be discovered
and that the invasion of the western
hemisphere by Europeans initiated
the genocide of their people.
As for Jews, we know 1492 as
the most tragic year to befall us
between the destruction of the
Second Temple and the Holocaust.
It is more useful to understand
what happened in 1492 than to
either celebrate or condemn it.
Several extremely important events
intersected in 1492: the defeat of
the Moors at Granada led to the
unification of Spain under the
Catholic Kings; publication of the
first Spanish language grammar
gave Spain an instrument for
controlling the empire it was about
to acquire; the first transatlantic
voyage of exploration began the
process of opening all sectors of the
globe to one another, with Spain at
first the dominant power; and the
expulsion of the Jews narrowed
Spain's intellectual horizons at
precisely the moment when her
imperial power was expanding.
The cumulative impact of all
these events made 1492 a
watershed year for Europe, America,
and the world. 1492 created the
world of 1992, so it is important for
us to understand what happened.
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I
Jews played a leading part in the cultural and economic life of Spain
during the Roman, Islamic and Christian periods.Many were converted
to Christianity in the 100 years before the expulsion. Jews were active in
most occupations,and are known to have been doctors, lawyers,
carpenters, tailors, butchers, bookbinders, tax-collectors, moneylenders,
candlemakers, shipowners, sheep farmers, horse dealers and even lion-
tamers. Jewish merchants dealt in silk, grain, furs, leather,wool and timber
THE JEWS OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 1000-1497
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1355. 12,000 Jews
massacred by the mob
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1373,1449,1482.
Anti-Jewish riots
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1228. Jews forced to
wear distinctive badge
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1391. 50,000
Jews killed
1492 Expulsion
To Turkey
90,000
To Holland
25,000
20,000
To Morocco
10,000
To France
To Italy
10,000
To America
5,000
Total emigrated 160,000
Died while seeking
a new home
20,000
Baptized, and
remained in Spain 50,000
Towns with Jewish communities by 1490
® Anti-Jewish massacres 1391-1397
-4-- The expulsion of the Jews 1492-1498
More than 160,000 Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal in 1492, the same year Christopher Columbus discovered land — and
"The New World." (Map from Jewish History Atlas, By Martin Gilbert).
Sephardim Bring Tapestry Of Culture, Art, Heritage
By LISSA HURWITZ
Behar ... Is that a Jewish
name?
It sure is! And so are Alemon,
Saltiel, Saraquse, Mustakis, Louza,
Chicorel and Takouni.*
Do these names sound like
Greek to you? Some of them are.
And Italian, and Moroccan, and
Turkish. They are some of the
common surnames among the
Sephardim — the Jews of Spain.
From 700 to the 1300s, Spain was
the only European country that
exercised religious tolerance.
Christians, Moslems and Jews lived
side by side. But by the mid-1300s,
life for Spanish Jews was not easy.
The Christians of Spain became
distrustful of them, and resented
their obvious devotion to a religion
and customs that were unlike those
of Christianity. Over time, it became
more and more difficult for Jews to
openly practice their religion:
Resentment of the Jews went
from bad to worse. In 1391, 50,000
Jews were murdered. The king and
queen of Spain decreed that all
Jews must convert to Christianity.
Many Jews fled Spain then, and
many, called conversos, appeared to
have converted, while secretly
continuing to practice their beloved
Judaism. At the command of the
king, a group of Christian religious
leaders began an Inquisition,
intended to ferret out backsliding
Christians, and to uncover Jews
who were only pretending to have
converted. The Inquisition's first
victims were six conversos from
Seville who were burned at the
stake in 1391.
Then, in 1492, King Ferdinand
and Queen Isabella signed an edict
expelling all of the Jews from Spain.
Jews whose families had lived in
Spain since the 700s had to quickly
Continued on Page L-3