De and I had a whirlwind of a month, starting in Israel and followed up by a trip from Lisbon to Rome. The entire experience informed my thinking about how Jews relate to the world, which I'll get to shortly.
Mind you, not everything we did was of Jewish interest. We toured sites of general interest - some pagan and Christian sites like the Colosseum in Rome and the Sagrada Familia Church in Barcelona. We sampled local beers and watched the world cup on TV screens throughout Israel and Europe.
We had a great time and observed and learned a lot of random things. Including details about the dialogue in pictures between the story of Moses and the story of Jesus that plays out in the Sistine Chapel.
Including that I was less anxious going up the cable car to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar than I thought I would be and that the Barbary ape who looked me in the face as we were climbing down was less anxious than I thought HE would be.
Including that Antoni Gaudi, who designed the Sagrada Familia and other fascinating private and public buildings in Barcelona, offered the following quote that I just love and took a picture of:
To do things right, first you need love; then technique.
We also saw many sites of Jewish interest and I want to describe some of them, along with the thoughts that they inspired.
In Lisbon we took a walking tour and one of the guides, an architect named Ines, gave interesting background into about the history and architecture of Lisbon which is a fascinating city in many ways.
As part of the history, she mentioned that the Jews were expelled from Portugal in 1496, shorty after they were expelled from Spain, because the King of Portugal wanted to marry the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. They made it a condition that he expel Portugal’s Jews if he wanted to marry their daughter and he agreed.
As we were climbing steps in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Lisbon I asked Ines if she knows people today in Portugal who suspect that they have Jewish ancestry. And she told us that although her family are devout Catholics, they bear the name Silva, which is a kind of plant, and that typically Jews took on the names of plants and trees following the expulsion and forced conversion. Meaning that she suspects that her family almost certainly has Jewish ancestry.
We were in Seville, which spearheaded the Inquisition, and walked through the Barrio Cruz which used to contain the Jewish neighborhood. The venue which housed a wonderful flamenco dance performance we saw is a house that used to belong to a Jewish family. A terrible pogrom in the 14th century was the first of a series of events leading to the expulsion of the Jews from Seville.
Barcelona, where we spent a long day, contains a tiny synagogue, called the major synagogue because it was the largest in the Jewish neighborhood, which we visited. There is a sign that says, in Catalan, English and Hebrew: “The Holy Community prayed in this direction for over 1000 years.”
Girona, which we toured the next day, has an extensive former Jewish neighborhood with a museum dedicated to Jewish life in Girona - Nachmanides, Rabbi NIssim, numerous philosophers, mystics. Several mikvehs have been discovered, one quite recently.
We had mixed feelings as we witnessed all of these former Jewish communities. On the one hand, we were impressed by the extraordinary accomplishments of the Jews living in these places.
On the other hand, we couldn’t help but be struck by the Jews’ vulnerability. They were nearly always housed close to the cathedral, never allowed to build a structure even a fraction as impressive as the cathedral. Sometimes, though not always, Jews fared better under Muslim rule. But never as full equals.
The journey, especially through the south of Spain, was an exploration of Jewish accomplishment but also exquisite Jewish vulnerability.
The Jews often achieved a great deal personally and politically and contributed a great deal as well to the surrounding cultures. But their security was so tenuous, always at the mercy of the majority.
As it turns out, our entire journey was bracketed by Israel and Rome. We did that for logistical reasons but it’s hard not to view it symbolically
Israel - of course, the seat of Jewish sovereign power.
And Rome - the source of much Jewish powerlessness. I mean - it was the destruction of Jerusalem - by Rome - that led to the exile of Jews to places that included Italy, France, Spain and Portugal.
The communities that were established after the exile by Rome - including Girona, Lisbon, Seville, Toledo, Cordoba - were established, thrived, and ultimately largely vanished. There are so few self-identified Jews living in these places and virtually none of them trace their lineage back to the original communities.
Seeing these places reinforced for me a message about who we are as Jews and how we should behave.
It’s a message I’ve been sharing for years now, but these places really brought the point home and I want to tell you how.
Seeing one place after another where Jewish vulnerability led to our persecution and expulsion and conversion I felt - in my gut - how important it is for our people to have power.
The Jews who lived in these communities - men and women who expressed their yearning for Israel in music, poetry and prayer - these Jews could only pray, only dream, of what for us is a reality.
That reality is the existence of a strong, secure Medinat Yisra’el that Jews can visit and live in if they choose. And let’s not for a moment forget that Israel’s existence confers strength and dignity on Jews throughout the world.
Expanding beyond the confines of our recent trip, the men and women who prayed for centuries toward Jerusalem, and for Jerusalem, in Barcelona and Lisbon, in Baghdad and Isfahan, in Odessa and Berlin - could only imagine the restoration of sovereignty that was upended by imperial Rome nearly 2000 years ago. And we get to reap the benefits of that sovereignty within and beyond the State of Israel every single day.
So no apologies for Jewish sovereignty and power.
But since you know me, you know that I’m not done. There’s something else that we need to learn from our experience of exile.
A people that has endured centuries of marginalization due to our vulnerability when we lacked power must take steps to ensure equality and opportunity for all now that so much of our power has been restored.
That is true for in Israel, which enjoys explicit political sovereignty. And it is true in the United States, where we enjoy more influence and opportunity than any diaspora community in our history.
That means that we should look critically at recent efforts in Israel to promulgate laws that discriminate against minorities in Israel, including Druze, Christians, Muslims, LGBT people and non-Orthodox Jews.
That means that here in the US we should be at the forefront of protecting the rights of those who are most vulnerable.
We who suffered the marginalization that comes from vulnerability when we lacked power must take steps to ensure equality for all now that we have power.
Our journey from Israel to Lisbon to Rome was an opportunity for celebration, learning, enjoyment. And it also crystallized a two part message that is really one message.
No apology for our power. We’re not going back to the ghetto. We will do all we can to make sure that our rights are not at the mercy of the whims of others.
At the same time, we must use our power - in Israel, in the US, wherever we may be - to ensure that others receive what they deserve.
With power justly applied, the people of Israel will truly be able to thrive.
Originally shared with the Temple Israel of Great Neck community on August 4, 2018
Mind you, not everything we did was of Jewish interest. We toured sites of general interest - some pagan and Christian sites like the Colosseum in Rome and the Sagrada Familia Church in Barcelona. We sampled local beers and watched the world cup on TV screens throughout Israel and Europe.
We had a great time and observed and learned a lot of random things. Including details about the dialogue in pictures between the story of Moses and the story of Jesus that plays out in the Sistine Chapel.
Including that I was less anxious going up the cable car to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar than I thought I would be and that the Barbary ape who looked me in the face as we were climbing down was less anxious than I thought HE would be.
Including that Antoni Gaudi, who designed the Sagrada Familia and other fascinating private and public buildings in Barcelona, offered the following quote that I just love and took a picture of:
To do things right, first you need love; then technique.
We also saw many sites of Jewish interest and I want to describe some of them, along with the thoughts that they inspired.
In Lisbon we took a walking tour and one of the guides, an architect named Ines, gave interesting background into about the history and architecture of Lisbon which is a fascinating city in many ways.
As part of the history, she mentioned that the Jews were expelled from Portugal in 1496, shorty after they were expelled from Spain, because the King of Portugal wanted to marry the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. They made it a condition that he expel Portugal’s Jews if he wanted to marry their daughter and he agreed.
As we were climbing steps in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Lisbon I asked Ines if she knows people today in Portugal who suspect that they have Jewish ancestry. And she told us that although her family are devout Catholics, they bear the name Silva, which is a kind of plant, and that typically Jews took on the names of plants and trees following the expulsion and forced conversion. Meaning that she suspects that her family almost certainly has Jewish ancestry.
We were in Seville, which spearheaded the Inquisition, and walked through the Barrio Cruz which used to contain the Jewish neighborhood. The venue which housed a wonderful flamenco dance performance we saw is a house that used to belong to a Jewish family. A terrible pogrom in the 14th century was the first of a series of events leading to the expulsion of the Jews from Seville.
Barcelona, where we spent a long day, contains a tiny synagogue, called the major synagogue because it was the largest in the Jewish neighborhood, which we visited. There is a sign that says, in Catalan, English and Hebrew: “The Holy Community prayed in this direction for over 1000 years.”
Girona, which we toured the next day, has an extensive former Jewish neighborhood with a museum dedicated to Jewish life in Girona - Nachmanides, Rabbi NIssim, numerous philosophers, mystics. Several mikvehs have been discovered, one quite recently.
We had mixed feelings as we witnessed all of these former Jewish communities. On the one hand, we were impressed by the extraordinary accomplishments of the Jews living in these places.
On the other hand, we couldn’t help but be struck by the Jews’ vulnerability. They were nearly always housed close to the cathedral, never allowed to build a structure even a fraction as impressive as the cathedral. Sometimes, though not always, Jews fared better under Muslim rule. But never as full equals.
The journey, especially through the south of Spain, was an exploration of Jewish accomplishment but also exquisite Jewish vulnerability.
The Jews often achieved a great deal personally and politically and contributed a great deal as well to the surrounding cultures. But their security was so tenuous, always at the mercy of the majority.
As it turns out, our entire journey was bracketed by Israel and Rome. We did that for logistical reasons but it’s hard not to view it symbolically
Israel - of course, the seat of Jewish sovereign power.
And Rome - the source of much Jewish powerlessness. I mean - it was the destruction of Jerusalem - by Rome - that led to the exile of Jews to places that included Italy, France, Spain and Portugal.
The communities that were established after the exile by Rome - including Girona, Lisbon, Seville, Toledo, Cordoba - were established, thrived, and ultimately largely vanished. There are so few self-identified Jews living in these places and virtually none of them trace their lineage back to the original communities.
Seeing these places reinforced for me a message about who we are as Jews and how we should behave.
It’s a message I’ve been sharing for years now, but these places really brought the point home and I want to tell you how.
Seeing one place after another where Jewish vulnerability led to our persecution and expulsion and conversion I felt - in my gut - how important it is for our people to have power.
The Jews who lived in these communities - men and women who expressed their yearning for Israel in music, poetry and prayer - these Jews could only pray, only dream, of what for us is a reality.
That reality is the existence of a strong, secure Medinat Yisra’el that Jews can visit and live in if they choose. And let’s not for a moment forget that Israel’s existence confers strength and dignity on Jews throughout the world.
Expanding beyond the confines of our recent trip, the men and women who prayed for centuries toward Jerusalem, and for Jerusalem, in Barcelona and Lisbon, in Baghdad and Isfahan, in Odessa and Berlin - could only imagine the restoration of sovereignty that was upended by imperial Rome nearly 2000 years ago. And we get to reap the benefits of that sovereignty within and beyond the State of Israel every single day.
So no apologies for Jewish sovereignty and power.
But since you know me, you know that I’m not done. There’s something else that we need to learn from our experience of exile.
A people that has endured centuries of marginalization due to our vulnerability when we lacked power must take steps to ensure equality and opportunity for all now that so much of our power has been restored.
That is true for in Israel, which enjoys explicit political sovereignty. And it is true in the United States, where we enjoy more influence and opportunity than any diaspora community in our history.
That means that we should look critically at recent efforts in Israel to promulgate laws that discriminate against minorities in Israel, including Druze, Christians, Muslims, LGBT people and non-Orthodox Jews.
That means that here in the US we should be at the forefront of protecting the rights of those who are most vulnerable.
We who suffered the marginalization that comes from vulnerability when we lacked power must take steps to ensure equality for all now that we have power.
Our journey from Israel to Lisbon to Rome was an opportunity for celebration, learning, enjoyment. And it also crystallized a two part message that is really one message.
No apology for our power. We’re not going back to the ghetto. We will do all we can to make sure that our rights are not at the mercy of the whims of others.
At the same time, we must use our power - in Israel, in the US, wherever we may be - to ensure that others receive what they deserve.
With power justly applied, the people of Israel will truly be able to thrive.
Originally shared with the Temple Israel of Great Neck community on August 4, 2018
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