Woman Of Mys
The Yewess of Toledo" who enthralled a king
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
AppleTree Editor
Q: Once I heard a legend of a
woman called the "Jewess of
Toledo." I can't remember the
story, but it seems to have involved
a king. Does Tell Me Why have
the scoop?
A: What a wonderful and amazing
tale you bring up. And yes, of
course, Tell Me Why has the scoop
(do you even need to ask?).
"The Jewess of Toledo" likely is
'based on a true story, though we
can never know for certain. A num-
ber of versions have appeared
throughout the ages; all are based
on a 12th-century legend.
According to the story, the King
of Castile, Alfonso VIII (1155-
1214), was a man in love — but
not with his work and not with his
wife.
Instead, Alfonso was said to be
madly in love with a Jewish woman
whose name was either Fermosa or
Raquel. In fact, he was said to be so
smitten with Fermosa-Raquel that
he completely disregarded his royal
duties and his wife, whose father
was King Henry II of England.
One of the earliest texts relating
the story was composed by Alfonso
I, grandnephew of Alfonso VIII.
Writing in his History of Spain,
Alfonso I recounted the love affair
between his great-uncle and
Fermosa-Raquel and reported on its
grisly end: The king had neglected
his duties for seven years and, at
last, his advisers would have no
more of it; they had Fermosa-
Raquel killed.
Fermosa-Raquel has been the
subject of many other literary
works not only in Spain but
Germany and France, as well.
Sometimes, she is a beautiful
Queen Esther-like figure; other
times, she is a wicked, scheming
woman.
The most recent version of this
tragic love story appeared in 1956
in German novelist Lion
Feuchtwanger's Raquel: The Jewess of
Toledo.
Q: What is the difference between
a siddur and a machzor?
A: A siddur is the prayer book used
on Shabbat. The word actually
means "order," as in "order of
prayers," in this case. If it sounds
familiar, think about the Pesach
seder and the most popular phrase
uttered in the State of Israel, hakol
b'seder, all is in order."
Machzor means "cyc!t," as in
cycle of prayers" and refers to the
prayer book used for holidays.
Initially, "siddur" and "machzor"
referred to the same things. Over
the years, however, a number of
special poems were written to be
used for each of the holidays. There
were quite a lot of these, which
meant the daily prayer book came
to be very heavy — not the sort of
thing you want to constantly hold
or shuffle through on Shabbat.
Consequently, separate prayer
books were designed: one for holi-
days with relevant prayers and one
for Shabbat.
Now you may be wondering why
"siddur" came to be the prayer
book used on Shabbat and "mach-
zor" (in plural: siddurim and mach-
zorim) for the holidays and not the
other way around?
That, alas, remains a mystery.
"
vvvvw.deadoraliveinfo.com/dead.nsf,
Here, you can find an alphabetical
listing of public figures for easy ref-
erence, or you can check out deaths
on this date or deaths in the last
few months. Deaths are indicated
with a skull, while those still alive
get a happy face.
Q: Can you please tell me why
animals that have split hooves and
chew their cud are kosher? Where
does it explain in the Torah or
Talmud exactly why this makes an
animal kosher?
A: It isn't often that Tell Me Why
can't give you an answer, but in this
case the Torah can't give you an
answer, either. The Torah only tells
us that these animals are kosher;
nowhere does it tell us why this is
the case.
Some have suggested theories, but
these are only speculation.
Q: Was author Marcel Proust
Jewish? I thought so, but recently I
read that he was Catholic.
A: Proust (1871-1922), the French
novelist best known for his
Remembrance of Things Past, the
book with sentences so long you
forgot what they were about by the
time you reached the end, was
Q: Please, Tell Me Why, settle a
indeed halachically (according to
bet for me. I say that Abe Vigoda,
Jewish law) Jewish. His mother was
best known as "Fish" on Barney
Jewish (his father was not), and she
Miller TV comedy has gone to
was to remain the dominant influ-
that great big actor's studio in the
ence throughout his life.
sky. My friend insists he's still
Some critics have called
alive. What's the story?
Remembrance, whose protagonist,
A: The life and presumed death of
Swann (likely based on Proust him-
Abe Vigoda (born in 1922) seems
self), "a letter to his mother."
to have become something of an
Though Proust, famous for
urban legend. Books, TV shows,
always carrying a bottle of Evian
newspapers have reported him
–water in his pocket, was Jewish, he
dead.
had a rather ambiguous relationship
Rest assured, "Fish" is still here.
with the Jewish community. He was
By the way, Vigoda is not the only
raised a Catholic, yet continued to
personality about whom much
identify in some ways as Jewish.
debate exists as to whether he is still Remebrance's "Swann," for example,
alive. (Quick — Is Burt Lancaster
came from a Jewish background.
still alive? How about Jimmy
Further, Proust was a supporter
Stewart? Singer Luther Vandross?
of the falsely accused French mili-
The first two are dead; Vandross is
tary officer Alfred Dreyfus and even
convinced his friend, the popular
alive.)
When in doubt, be sure to visit
French author Anatole France, to
one of Tell Me Why's favorite Web
offer public support for Dreyfus, as
sites at
well.
8/15
2003
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