Crypto-Jewish Seder

The culminating activity for our Edot unit of study about the Jews of Spain - the Sephardim -  was a Crypto-Jewish seder, which we held in our classroom yesterday morning, both sessions.

Up to this point, we had studied the history of the edah, which is at least 2,000 years old, and perhaps even older. We learned about forced conversions of Jews to Christianity in the 5th century under Visigothic rule, about the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711 C.E.which ushered in a "Golden Age" for Jews as well as Christians and Muslims who all co-existed peacefully between the 8th and 11th centuries, and finally about the "reconquista" - the reconquest - of Spain by the Christians over a 200-year period, ending with the taking of Granada, the last Muslim outpost in Spain and the unification of Spain under King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. We then focused our attention on the conversos (a/k/a Crypto-Jews), who opted to remain in Spain when given the choice to convert to Catholicism or leave the country.

We learned about the Ladino language (a/k/a Judeo Spanish) of the Sephardim, and how many of their cultural traditions relating to the Jewish holidays were influenced by the trauma of the Inquisition, especially the Passover seder rituals. We learned two songs sung by the conversos during the seder ceremony - the "Kadesh U'r'chatz" (sung to different melodies by Jews all over the world, the lyrics of which are the 15 steps of the seder ceremony) and "Un Cavritico" (the Ladino version of "Chad Gadya" the last song sung at the seder). We learned about the foods eaten by Jews in Spain (a lot of honey drizzled over meats, vegetables, as well as on sweets!), and how they incorporated new world foods such as potatoes, eggplants, peanuts and tomatoes into their diets to avoid having to eat pork. And we learned that our information about much of the Crypto-Jewish culture - what they ate, songs they sang, foods they prepared, etc. - comes down to us from of all places Inquisition records (which were quite detailed!).

The Crypto-Jewish seder is modeled as a re-enactment of how the Crypto-Jews observed their favorite holiday - Pesach - the holiday of freedom from slavery! Every detail of our seder comes from Inquisition records. It should be noted that we had no rehearsals before the seder, so it was a learning experience for all the participants as we followed the script. Below are some photos and a video which share a bit of the Crypto-Jewish experience:

As we prepared in class for our seder, we had two photos to refer to as to how the Crypto-Jews dressed and where they held their secret seders...

...both photos were taken by the photographer Frederic Brenner of a family living in Belmonte, Portugal, descendants of Crypto-Jews. The photo was taken of their actual seder ceremony in 1988 - in the basement of their home where the seder is held. They are wearing white from top to bottom, and except for the older woman, have no shoes on so as not to make noise when moving around.

As with most Jewish holidays, we began by lighting and blessing the candles (props from our Hebrew Through Movement program), led by Lucas.

There were no haggadot (the books we read at the seder ceremony) back in the days of the Inquisition, but centuries later descendants of the Crypto-Jews hold their haggadot on their knees to recall the times when their ancestors had to be ready to hide what they were doing quickly, in case they were discovered.

As soon as we finished singing the "Kadesh U'r'chatz," we blessed the first cup of "wine."

After washing our hands symbolically, by dipping our fingers into the blue bowls filled with water, we dipped the parsley into the salt water in the red bowls, blessed the parsley and ate it. To say that there was a lot of salt in the water is an understatement, as witnessed by Jack's reaction to the very salty parsley!

As part of the Yachatz ceremony, the Crypto-Jews re-enacted the story of the Exodus from Egypt with not one, not two, but three Moses' leading the Israelites through the wilderness. Each Moses had a walking stick and sack. At the start of the ritual, each went to one of several piles, (each consisting of 3 matza crackers) on the tables, lifted the cover, then divided the middle piece of matza in half. Half was replaced on the pile, the other half was thrown into the sack to carry "to Jerusalem".

Here are the 3 Moses' leading the Israelites through the wilderness.

Once the Israelites were "on their way," 3 new Moses' (this is information we have from Inquisition records!) take over, and begin the Mageed section of the seder, telling the story of the journey out of Egypt, and explaining what the ritual foods on the seder plate symbolize.

There were only 3 foods on the Crypto-Jewish seder plate - the roasted shankbone (which looks suspiciously like a chicken leg on our classroom plate!), the bitter herbs (Romaine lettuce) and the parsley. The roasted egg was served separately during the meal in the form of huevos haminados - very hard-boiled eggs boiled in a mixture of onion skins and vinegar. Charoset also was served during the meal in the form of charoset balls made of dates, peanuts and honey in its simplest form.

After saying a blessing and washing our hands symbolically one more time, then blessing and eating the matza and maror (bitter herb), we came to the korech (sandwich) part of the ceremony. The Crypto-Jews did not remember Rabbi Hillel's "sandwich" of matza and bitter herbs, but they did recall that "korech" meant wrapping or binding two things together - i.e. a sandwich. To them, the sandwich was not something to be eaten; instead, they were the ones "sandwiched" between Christianity and Judaism. Here, Charlotte is reading a "Korech" paragraph describing how it felt to always wonder if actions or words performed or said by mistake during the Catholic mass might give them away as being Jews, and the frustration they felt knowing they were slowly but surely forgetting important Jewish beliefs and rituals.

We skipped over the Shulchan Orech (the seder meal) ritual for obvious reasons, though I did share with the students that the Crypto-Jews would eat roasted lamb, which was kosher, along with chickpeas baked with cilantro and honey, the huevos haminados and charoset balls. They also decorated their tables with dried fruits - especially apricots - to symbolize the manna God sent down to the Israelites during their trek through the wilderness. So I decorated our tables with dried apricots as well. Following the meal, we come to the "tzafoon" part of the seder ceremony, at which time we search for the afikomen which was the half of the piece of matza from the "yachatz" step near the start of the seder. The Crypto-Jews did not know about the afikomen - instead, they were the hidden ones who prayed to God to be "found." Here, Joey is reading a "Tzafoon" paragraph describing how it felt to always have to look over your shoulder, wondering if you were being followed by an Inquisition spy.

The Crypto-Jews did not recall that the "barech" step of the seder involved saying the grace after the meal. Instead, they praised God by having each participant whisper a praising adjective. You'll have noticed words written on the whiteboard in our classroom - these are words translated from Ladino, which Inquisition records claim were uttered in praise of a God who had rejected them for having rejected His son, Jesus Christ. We went around the room and each student chose a word to say. Then we blessed and drank the third cup of wine.  

IT WAS AT THIS POINT THAT WE WERE SUDDENLY INTERRUPTED, AS SOME OF THE ORIGINAL CRYPTO-JEWISH SEDERS MAY HAVE BEEN!

Thankfully, our answers satisfied the soldier, and we were able to continue our seder ceremony.

As part of the "barech" ritual, the Crypto-Jews re-enacted the Crossing of the Reed Sea. Here is Tobias as Moses holding his hand over the waters to part the sea. Charlotte and Emily are the waves, apparently very happy to create a dry path for the Israelites to escape on.

And here are the Israelites, Jeremy and Zach, who safely followed Moses on the dry path.

But it wasn't safe for the Egyptian horsemen and charioteers, as re-enacted by Aaron as the "waves" are about to close over him.

As we're nearing the end of the ceremony, we sing a song praising God as part of the "hallel" ritual - "Un Cavritico," the Ladino version of "Chad Gadya." ("One Kid, One Kid") The Crypto-Jews saw themselves as the little kid whom so many enemies want to destroy, but which is saved at the very end by the "Holy, Blessed One" (Santo Bendicho).

And then our seder came to an end with the final step - "nirtza" (may it be His will). This is where we say "L'shana ha'ba'a bee'yerooshala'eem." ("Next year in Jerusalem.") The Crypto-Jews repeated this statement 7 times, each time saying it more softly until the final utterance was totally silent, symbolically internalizing their dream to be redeemed from the slavery of their lives in Spain and led to the "Promised Land" (which to them was the freedom to be their true selves in their beloved Spain).

Hopefully, your children will remember some parts of our classroom Crypto-Jewish seder, and will be willing to share what they learned with you, family and friends during your own seder ceremony this coming Friday evening, the start of the Pesach holiday of freedom.

CHAG HA'AVIV SAMEACH! HAPPY SPRING HOLIDAY!

CHAG PESACH SAMEACH! HAPPY PASSOVER HOLIDAY!