From Toledo to Jerusalem

During the past week, we took a closer look at the Sephardi (Spanish) Jews who elected to remain in Spain and convert to Catholicism.

Those Jews who did convert were called New Christians by the Church, and it wasn't long before they were suspected of still harboring an allegiance to the faith of their forefathers. And, indeed, as far as we can tell from Inquisition records, many of these newly converted Jews did continue to maintain Jewish beliefs and laws. Sadly, after years passed, many forgot the prayers and blessings and origins of the Jewish holidays, and began to confuse Christian teachings with Jewish ones. For example, they looked upon several Biblical characters as saints - Saint Esther of the Purim story was especially admired for how she saved her fellow Jews from certain destruction - and they confused stories they learned about Jesus with the background stories of the Jewish patriarchs - they believed Abraham was born with a holy light shining above him and that Terach's wife (Terach was Abraham's father) knew she was pregnant with a holy child free of sin.

And of all the Jewish holidays, Pesach (Passover) was certain to be celebrated even at the risk of being discovered. Thanks to the Catholic Bible, which included all 39 books of the Hebrew Bible, they were able to recall the story of the Exodus from Egypt, and viewed their own precarious existence as similar to that of the ancient Israelite slaves. Their Pesach celebrations included calls to God to hear their cries just as God heard the cries of the Israelite slaves and freed them from slavery. Together in class, we read a passage from the "Out of Spain" series (see February 29th post), describing how Jews observed Pesach by flowing rivers or in basements, often in the dead of night to minimize the chances of discovery by Inquisition soldiers or spies. I also shared a segment of the film "From Toledo to Jerusalem" (beginning of video to minute 22:07), in which the Israeli actor and singer Yehoram Ga'on (himself a descendant of Crypto-Jews who eventually left Spain for the Ottoman Empire) describes the conditions the conversos (converted Jews who secretly continued to practice Judaism) had to live under, always having to look over their shoulders to be sure they weren't being spied upon and always wondering if one day they would give themselves away, perhaps by uttering a Hebrew prayer in Church by mistake, or forgetting to hide evidence in their homes of anything Jewish. The film is narrated in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish language of the Sephardi Jews, so it was a good opportunity for the students to hear the sounds of the language. And Yehoram Ga'on sings both religious and romance ballads of the Sephardi Jews, sharing through song the history of this persecuted group of Jews.

Yesterday, we took a break from our Edot studies to focus on the holiday of Purim (beginning the evening of Wednesday, March 23rd this year). I continued to review and build Purim-related vocabulary during our Hebrew Through Movement sessions:

Ben, l'heeshtachavot leefnei ha'melech Achashverosh. (Ben, bow down before King Achashverosh, a/k/a Andrew.)

 And, during the same sessions, I continued to strengthen basic Hebrew vocabulary relating to our classroom:

Ari, l'chapes et ha'meela "chalon" v'l'hatzbee'a al ha'meela.) Ari, find the word "window" in the classroom, and point to the word.)

Continuing on the Purim theme, I shared a brief summary of the Purim story in the Book of Esther with the class. During our discussion following the summary, several students noted that the plot and characters reminded them of the Aladdin story. This is not surprising, since many scholars believe that the Purim story is a Jewish version of an ancient Persian story about a queen, Sheherazade, who told 1,001 stories, which have come down to us in the form of "1,001 Arabian Nights." One of the stories was that of Aladdin. The tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is another of her stories. It's not surprising, then, to find language in the Book of Esther often associated with fairy tales, such as "what is your wish and what is your request, even to half the kingdom it shall be fulfilled" (King Achashverosh to Queen Esther). I shared with the class that the Book of Esther is the only book of the Bible which does not mention the name of God even once, does not take place even partially in the Land of Israel, whose main characters' names derive from the names of Babylonian gods (Mordechai from Marduk, chief Babylonian god and Esther from Astarte, Marduk's consort), and a copy of which has not been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The obvious question which arises then is why the Roman-era Rabbis decided to include the Book of Esther in the canonized version of the Bible, while they refused to accept the Books of the Macabbees, which did mention God's name countless times, were based on actual historical events, and which took place entirely in the Land of Israel.

The Rabbis determined that there were important Jewish values embedded in the Book of Esther, which warranted its inclusion in the Bible - values such as being willing to risk one's life for important principles, Jews being responsible for each other, celebrating together as a community, and maintaining a distinct identity within a majority culture, among others.

At this point, I divided the class into three groups, assigned each group 3 of the values and asked them to find the place in the story summary where they believed the Rabbis found the values.

There was some discussion...

...but for the most part everyone in each group agreed on the parts of the story describing the values in question.

We'll be using the information collected on these worksheets to design posters during the coming weekday sessions, each of which will illustrate the part of the Purim story in which the Rabbis believed an important Jewish value was being described. These posters will be hung on a bulletin board outside the classroom to share what we learned with other students and visitors to the school.

Remember that this coming Sunday is our LAFTY Purim Carnival. All our Edot students should come to our classroom at 9 a.m. (even those students who usually attend second session!). We'll play a Purim Shekel Game, then join the rest of the school in the Sanctuary at 10 a.m. for a Purim assembly and parade, to be followed by the Carnival itself in the Social Hall (and, good weather permitting, on the lawn outside the Social Hall and Sanctuary as well). We encourage everyone, adults and children, to wear costumes. Parents aren't required to accompany 5th and 6th graders, but we recommend that  you send $20.00 with your child since all the activities and food require tickets which can be purchased at the entrance to the Carnival. Remember that the money spent is for a good cause - LAFTY is our Temple Isaiah youth group, and the money goes toward so many wonderful activities in which they're involved!