Newspaper Page Text
religious and the intellectual
(tradition beng part of it).
Several of the scholars and
laymen with whom I have had
to discuss this subject have
chosen the first claiming that
their spiritual background is
what binds this wandering peo
ple together. Indeed, we can
not deny that ever since they
have been driven from their
ancient country by the Biblical
and Roman conquerors the
Jews carried in their hearts the
learning that Moses and the
Prophets have presented them
throughout the ages. The pro
phetic conception of the word
of God was always part of their
life and their guiding light even
in the most dreadful and dark
hours. Death, torture, and con
centration camp did not break
the Jew, but bound him even
tighter to the God that saved
him from the Assyrians, the
Babylonians, the Egyptians, the
Spaniards, the Germans and
the numerous other enemies.
Adonai to them was the only
God, the only true Saviour, the
only Shield. Neither persecu
tion nor time has ever made
him reject the wisdom of the
Torah; on the contrary, both
have made him realize the
value of the teaching of his
Prophets and Rabbis. Had it
not been for these persecutions,
and for the hatred of them by
other groups, would then the
rabbi’s statement that only re
ligion unites the Jews be cor
rect? Is religion the only bind
ing force among people of the
same denomination? If religion
were that uniting force, then
the Spanish Jews should have
felt closer to their Afghanis
tan, Beni-Israel of India, Chi
nese, Abyssinian and Ashken
azi brethren? If religion were
the all important bindingjorce
of the world then the Turks,
the Arabs, and the Moors
should also have been united.
Neither all Jews, nor all Chris
tians, nor all Moslems, nor any
of the other religious groups
are strongly united because of
certain holy laws.
I strongly believe that reli
gion alone is not the primary
binding force of the Spanisn
Jews. It must be something
equal to or stronger than their
spiritual love. This strong force
can only be the cultural tradi
tion of their ancestors, a tradi
tion that is both religious and
cultural.
The Jews of Spain learned
from their Old Testament and
other religious teachings and
from their contacts with other
peoples of the Iberic Peninsula
that humanity demands equali
ty among all men, that the
Hebrew and the Gentile, the
poor and the rich, the scholar
and the layman are God’s crea-
The Southern Israelite
tures and that they all should
be united in mind, spirit and
soul in communion with God.
To the Jew of Spain, nation
al heritage and religious back
ground were important. It is
these beliefs that gave them
the strength for survival. Al
though they were strongly at
tached to their religious belief,
they nevertheless were proud
to be members of the Spanish
family. They had learned from
the people of the Iberic Peni
nsula and, in turn, they had
taught them their wisdom and
their humanistic and scienti
fic knowledger-The^-not only
contributed tax collectors and
businessmen to the Peninsula,
as it is customarily believed,
but also philosophers, trans
lators, writers, poets, physi
cians, diplomats, professors
and theologians.
This belief in equality for all
men practiced by the Spanish
Jews, while still in Spain, and
their helping hand toward their
fellow citizens of other faiths,
was reciprocated by the Gen
tile with disdain, hate and con
tinuous persecutions. The out
come of this hatred and
jealousy was that the Jews
could no longer worship in his
own way and that Jehovah
could no longer be his God.
Only three choices were his
in the late decades of the fif
teenth century: conversion,
exile, or death. Many chose the
■first, thousands the second and
hundreds the third, since death
to this last group was sweeter
than divorcing themselves
from their religious way of lite
or leaving their homes and
country.
In this study we shall only
be interested in these Judeo-
Spaniards that found a haven
in other shores. Thp-descend-
ants of the Spanishfand Portu
guese exiles, better known as
Sephardim, upon reaching
their new homes found among
the local Jews a great amount
of illiteracy, a low level of ma
terial and spiritual develop
ment, and rabbis who were
crassly ignorant in many
branches of Hebraic learning.
In turn they had all the ad
vantages for claiming super
iority; among them one couid
find rabbis, philosophers, scho
lars, scientists, financiers, and
governmental officials. “True
to the impulse that made them
abandon fatherland and
hearth, they created (in their
new homes) the medieval Jew
ish theocracies of the type they
had in Spain for centuries.”
The people already living in
the new locals were amazed
and admired the pride and the
compactness of their Spanish
brethren, even to the extent of
renouncing some of their old
ways of life and language, and
[ENDER &
ROBERTS •*<
THE SOUTH'S FINEST
OWNER-OPERATED
DRUG STORES
CHARGE AND DELIVERY SERVICE
Central Electric Products Co.
LOVELY IMPORTED
CHANDELIERS
Complete line of Lighting Fixtures
for Any Home —
CONTEMPORARY, TRADITIONAL,
COLONIAL
Nutone Range Hoods, Fans and
Door Chimes
ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES
Franchised Distributor of Lithonia Lighting Products
228 Ponce de Leon Ave., N.E. TR. 5-2539
19