Rabbi's Musings

Program Note: Please join yours truly for a quick delve in the history of Jews in the American Civil War, today (March 7) at noon in the Moadon. Feel free to bring a lunch if you like. Also, at 7:30 pm on March 14, I will be teaching a class in the Moadon on the Jewish view of Jesus from a historical perspective. All are welcome!

Today’s topic in our yearlong study of Jewish history is the end of Iberian Jewry. The Inquisition was about determining if Jews who had converted to Christianity (by choice, usually for social betterment) were secretly still Jewish. The Expulsion was the result of ridding Spain and Portugal of all Jews and suspected Jews.

In addition to the torturing and general suffering of Jews during this period, the events of 1492 reverberate in the Jewish world today. The flowering of Jewish culture in North Africa, the Safed spiritual movement, the provocations of Spinoza, and even the Chasidic movement in Judaism can be traced to 1492’s aftermath.

Next week we will examine Polish Jewry’s rise in the subsequent years.