Module 1

    "Sephardim" are the people who emigrated from Israel to the Iberian Peninsula. These people believe to have been of the aristocracy that was forced to move by the Romans. For a time, they were well respected and enjoyed a variety of freedoms. However, when Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in the 5th century, the Jews started having some trouble when new anti-semitic laws were implemented. The Jews were still well off though and not in a horrible position. Then, the Visigoths invaded, and for a time, the Jews benefited. However, after a while the Visigoths decided to implement the negative rules that had been largely ignored before their invasion. Jews were not allowed to intermarry, or hold certain jobs, among other restrictions. In 711, the Muslims invaded and conquered Christian Spain. The Muslims treated the Jews quite differently than the Christians. In fact, the Jews weren't discriminated anymore than other minorities of that time. The Muslims were tolerant of the Jews so long as they followed a few guidelines and payed an annual tax. It was at this point in history that the Jews started formulating their tradition and poetry. They adopted the Arabic language and styled their writing after it. Except for a few cases, the Jews went without persecution until the 12th century when the Almoravids and Almohads came to power and started oppressing the Jews. By then, the Reconquista had started and the Christians were feeling tolerant again, so the Jews moved to parts of Christian Spain or France. Others rationalized fake conversions saying that it technically wasn't idol worship, and that times would get better like they had in the 11th century Palestine and Egypt. Those that fled to Christian Spain were put into power since they bridged the gap between conquered Muslims and the Christian authority. When the need for these types of officers waned at the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century, the Christians became mush less tolerant of the Jews, making life miserable again as it once was. In 1391 pogroms with anti-Jewish sentiment broke out in different towns. When the Jews were expelled in 1492, they spread out to parts of Muslim ruled areas since there were not many places they could go at that point. They also went to places ruled by the Ottoman's since an enemy of the Spanish was a friend of their rivals- the Ottoman Empire. In the 16th century,  Jews in the Ottoman Empire held high offices, bridging the gap between the Muslims conquered by the Ottomans just as they had during the Reconquista. These Jews had strong influences on the Jews living in the Conquered Muslim lands.
    The events that transpired during these times affect events happening in today's society. A whole sect of Judaism was formed during these years and it is very important to the Jewish identity. I heard once in a D'var Torah that it is precisely what make us different from each other that makes the Jewish nation great. Although we all have different histories and traditions, we still hold the same values and studies to be true. An Ashkenazi can learn an amud of gemara with a Sephardi and they would learn it the same way as if they were learning with someone of their own traditions. These differences only stand to strengthen us- not weaken us.


Comments

  1. ronnie sephardophileJuly 23, 2020 at 9:07 AM

    this is a clear and succinct summary. and yes our differences is what gives our tradition its dynamism. rashi learned about grammar via Dunash and Menachem who innovated their ideas from arab grammarians and then later you have Nachmanides who will return to Rashi and put him in dialogue with Ibn Ezra and others.
    so there is a rich cycle of exchange and inspiration.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Module 2

Image
    "Drink, He Said", written by Dunash ben Labrut, is a poem that addresses the readers of his time period about the wrongs of partying and self-indulgence. In it, he writes of a beautiful garden with many different lush plants, rushing water, cooing birds, and all manners of making one feel safe, and serene. A person could continuously read the first part of that poem and they would not feel as if it was getting repetitive or boring. While reading Dunash's poem for the first time, he allowed me (and every other reader) to become lazy, and basically just accept any idea suggested while in that garden. He suggest that we live our lives in (physical- not spiritual)bliss and not worry about the consequences of our actions.     " 'Silence', I rebuked him" brings an abrupt halt to the reader's current state of mind. It makes the reader sit a bit straighter and start thinking about the consequences of his sin. Actually, why would the reader ever sin and l...
Read more

Module 4

    Yehuda Halevi was a poet at the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th century. Born in either Toledo or Tudela, he lived under both Christian and Muslim control. In his youth, Halevi showed promise as a master poet, even impressing Moshe Ibn Ezra. However, Halevi served as a physician in Toledo and became disillusioned with poetry. Indeed, much of the poetry written throughout his life was different from the al-Andulasian ideals of the time. He wrote more liturgical and Zionistic poetry, though he did sometimes write about less religious topics. For example, in his poem "When a Lone Silver Hair", Halevi wrote about the inevitability of old age (and ultimately death). His use of nature (the silver hair) to explore the idea of death is very useful for the reader, as silver hairs are known to everyone. The concept of old age is somewhat more foreign to the reader. Everyone believes they will be young forever, which is why Halevi required the use of the silver hair a...
Read more