For Mallorcas Jews, their first public sukkah is a triumph over the Spanish Inquisition – JTA News – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Posted By admin on September 22, 2021
(JTA) Before the Spanish Inquisition, the island of Mallorca had a sizeable Jewish community. Every fall, the island became dotted with the leaf-roofed huts that Jews are commanded to erect during the holiday of Sukkot.
But that all changed under the Inquisitions campaign of persecution that began in 1488 (four years before it started on Spains mainland) and was only officially abolished centuries later in 1834.
This year, however, the islands tiny Jewish community in the capital Palma is determined to reintroduce its Sukkot tradition with a public statement.
Ahead of the holiday this week, the Jewish community along with the municipality of Palma have erected what organizers are calling the islands first public sukkah since the Inquisition, situated in the citys former Jewish Quarter.
Its one of several firsts for the Jews of Mallorca, and its especially meaningful because it restores something from this communitys past, said Dani Rotstein, founder of Limud Mallorca and secretary of the Jewish Community of the Balearic Islands. Atourism and video production professional from New Jersey, he has led efforts to promote Mallorcas Jewish community since he moved there in 2014.
To be fair, Palma has seen its share of sukkahs since the Inquisition. The city and the island, which is a popular vacation destination off of Spains eastern shores, for decades has had a small but active Jewish community of about 100 members, plus several Jewish expats. They are celebrating the 50th anniversary since British expats founded the community in 1971. Palma also has a synagogue, a small Jewish museum and a resident rabbi.
But this years weeklong holiday of Sukkot, which begins Monday night, will mark the first time that a sukkah will be built on public grounds with funding from the local municipality. It was erected at the Can Oms mansion, the seat of the citys department of culture and other municipal bodies. Jews and non-Jews will be able to enjoy cultural programming from Limmud Mallorca, including lectures in the sukkah and tours of the area, over the course of two weeks.
The public sukkah is part of a European-wide initiative European Days of Jewish Culture, a series of events celebrating Jewish heritage in dozens of cities in Europe each year in September and October.
Members of the Jewish community of Mallorca, Spain, attend a Tu bShvat picnic, Feb. 10, 2019. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
This development is the latest in a series of moves by Rotstein and others designed to commemorate the pre-Inquisition presence of Jews in Mallorca, who became known as chuetas, the local name for anusim or those who were forcibly converted to Christianity during the Inquisition.
On Rosh Hashanah, local Jews hosted a festive service and musical concert to celebrate the new Jewish year, with the cooperation of a local Catalan cultural center, in its garden located in the old Jewish quarter.
It was symbolic to participants because of a painful chapter in the history of Mallorcas Jewish community. In 1677, local crypto-Jews, who risked their lives by practicing their faith while pretending to be Christian, held a Yom Kippur service in secret in a garden outside the city walls.
Local Jews say that when Spanish rulers learned about the service, they salted the gardens soil to ensure that nothing could ever grow there again, and doubled down on eradicating Jewish celebrations from the island.
In recent years, authorities have made an effort to acknowledge and atone for such atrocities.
In 2018, local authorities unveiled a memorial plaque at the Palma square where 37 crypto-Jews were publicly burned in what was once known locally as the bonfire of the Jews.
In 2015, the city helped build a small Jewish museum in what used to be the Jewish quarter. The area, featuring sandstone facades and quiet, cobbled streets, used to be a thriving and heavily Jewish shopping and business area, with many tanneries, shoe shops and butcher shops. Today few if any Jews live there, and most visitors are tourists.
Also in 2015, the parliaments of Spain and Portugal passed laws that give descendants of Sephardic Jews the right to citizenship. Millions of dollars in public funds are being invested in preserving and developing Jewish heritage sites in those countries.
Many chueta families continued to practice Judaism in secret. Even those who did not keep up their Jewish practice at the time were treated with suspicion and excluded in many ways from the rest of society.
Some Jewish traditions remained in chueta families, such as the lighting of candles on Shabbat, covering mirrors during mourning and the spring cleanings associated with Passover. But overtime the islands Jewish population dwindled.
But, ironically, societys exclusion of chuetas proved to be the key to Judaisms revival in Mallorca, historians say: because they were not allowed to intermarry freely with the Christian population, chuetas married among themselves. This helped preserve a distinct chueta identity well into the 1970s, when the dictatorship of Fransisco Franco finally collapsed, opening Spanish society to the rest of Europe.
When that happened, Mallorca had thousands of people who defined themselves as chuetas, a minority that numbers about 20,000 today.
In recent years, chuetas who returned to Judaism and converted have taken the communitys reins. In 2018, two chuetas were elected to the communitys four-person executive board. And in June, the community received, for the first time since the Inquisition, a rabbi who was born in Palma to a chueta family, Nissan Ben Avraham.
This process, as well as the public events for Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot, are a victory, Iska Valls, a chueta returnee to Judaism and the wife of Toni Pinya, one of the Jewish communitys chueta board members, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Its a victory [over] the Inquisition and proof that we are like a phoenix, rising once more from the ashes, she said.
See the rest here:
- Moroccan Orange and Cured Olive Salad - Jewish Journal - July 4th, 2022
- The Shared Beliefs Of Muslims And Jews In Morocco Analysis - Eurasia Review - July 4th, 2022
- Poll: 66% of Haredi Voters Want Netanyahu to Step Down If He Fails to Forge a Government - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 4th, 2022
- Where is the Jewish 'Bridgerton'? In search of better Jewish period pieces - The Jewish News of Northern California - July 4th, 2022
- Daily Briefing Jun 22: Does Netanyahu have tricks up his sleeve to form a govt now? - The Times of Israel - June 26th, 2022
- Happy as this Jew in France - JNS.org - JNS.org - June 26th, 2022
- My Last Cup of Coffee with AB Yehoshua - Jewish Journal - June 17th, 2022
- Doron Almog, retired general and disabilities advocate, set to head Jewish Agency - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - June 17th, 2022
- The Ropa Vieja story: the National Dish of Cuba | Revolucin de Cuba - June 13th, 2022
- Jewish surname - Wikipedia - June 13th, 2022
- SF Jewish Pride Fund visits LGBTQ grantees in Israel - The Jewish News of Northern California - June 13th, 2022
- The Weird and Wonderful Foods of Star Wars Made Jewish - aish.com - Aish - June 13th, 2022
- Sephardic Matzah Spinach Pie Recipe | The Nosher - June 4th, 2022
- The Zionism Of Warren G. Harding - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - June 2nd, 2022
- What is the Lag BaOmer pilgrimage? - The Conversation - May 18th, 2022
- Spiteful Synagogue Syndrome stories | Elchanan Poupko | The Blogs - The Times of Israel - May 18th, 2022
- SF senior home recognized by Fast Company for virtual memory care J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - May 18th, 2022
- My Abortion Helped Make My Jewish Family Whole Kveller - Kveller.com - May 18th, 2022
- Executive director of embattled Jewish Federation stepping down after months of turmoil - Santa Fe New Mexican - May 18th, 2022
- OU PRESS announces the publication of Bridging Traditions: Demystifying Differences Between Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews by Rabbi Haim Jachter and... - May 4th, 2022
- Why are Mizrahi and Sephardic communities being misrepresented as anti-Israel? - JNS.org - May 4th, 2022
- Beit Harambam United in Times of Adversity - Jewish Exponent - May 4th, 2022
- Ruben Navarrette commentary: Faced with Ukrainians seeking refuge, Israel fails the immigration test again - West Central Tribune - May 4th, 2022
- Great Neck rabbi and Rambam boost Tiberias - The Jewish Star - May 4th, 2022
- 'Ace of Taste' shows the savory side of chef Duff Goldman - Journal Inquirer - May 4th, 2022
- Synagogue Spotlight: Keter Torah Currently Has Members From About 20 Countries Among Their 100 or so Families - The Jewish News - April 29th, 2022
- Ladino's gives sneak peek of Mediterranean cuisine ahead of grand opening - mySA - April 29th, 2022
- Following Roman Abramovich scrutiny, Portugal tightens ... - March 20th, 2022
- Funeral for Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, zt'l: Roads to be Closed, Hundreds of Thousands Expected to Attend - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - March 20th, 2022
- Plane belonging to oligarch Abramovich reportedly lands in Israel - The Times of Israel - March 20th, 2022
- Ukraine crisis sharpens Israel's existential need for conversion reform - The Times of Israel - March 18th, 2022
- Lisbon Jewish Community - cilisboa.org - March 14th, 2022
- A Date with a Purim Destiny and The Rolled Up Sweetness of Fijuelas - Jewish Journal - March 14th, 2022
- Inspired by the river, settlers chose the name Atrisco - Jacksonville Journal-Courier - March 14th, 2022
- Lyric Fest Presents Concert of World Premieres, THE SONG CATCHER: THE FOLK SONG RE-IMAGINED - Broadway World - March 14th, 2022
- Lily Henley's upcoming album dialogues with centuries of Sephardic Jewish women - Grateful Web - March 8th, 2022
- Chatham Baroque Brings East of the River To Pittsburgh For A Program Of Medieval Sephardic Music and More - Broadway World - March 8th, 2022
- Obituary: Matilda Rosenberg, 69, social worker who strived to honor the memory of Holocaust survivors like her parents - Shawnee Mission Post - March 8th, 2022
- Poetry and Music | The UCSB Current - The UCSB Current - February 28th, 2022
- The Five Minute Read - Lowell Sun - February 28th, 2022
- Kissing Children In The Synagogue - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - February 28th, 2022
- 40% Of Americans Might Be Eligible For Dual Citizenship (And A Second Passport): Here's What You Need To Know - Forbes - February 28th, 2022
- TABC Sephardic Student Inquiry: Is It Acceptable for Me to Wear My Tzitzit Out? - The Jewish Link - February 11th, 2022
- Five Towns Chabad honors the Friedmans | Herald Community Newspapers - liherald - February 11th, 2022
- Top UK Jewish body tells visiting far-right MK Smotrich to get back on a plane - The Times of Israel - February 11th, 2022
- Drop the Goldberg name you co-opted, Whoopi -- you don't deserve it - New York Post - February 7th, 2022
- Review: In Prayer for the French Republic, Echoes of the Past - The New York Times - February 7th, 2022
- Tell Us Your Encanto Opinions And We'll Give You A Perfect Book Recommendation - BuzzFeed - February 7th, 2022
- Shut your doors, close your eyes, and silence your hearts - The Jewish Standard - January 30th, 2022
- The Club Recreates the Ladino-Speaking World of Jewish Istanbul - Jewish Currents - January 24th, 2022
- What's the future of the Judeo-Spanish Language? | AL DA News - AL DIA News - January 24th, 2022
- The Texas Synagogue Attack: A Mountain of Jewish Intergenerational Trauma - The Times of Israel - January 24th, 2022
- the key to the anne frank mystery - The Times Hub - January 24th, 2022
- Feeling right at home in Toledo - The Irish Times - January 24th, 2022
- And Then: The 1961 West Side Story in 2022 - jewishboston.com - January 4th, 2022
- Jacques Fresco, 'a major figure in the birth of modern molecular biology,' dies at 93 - Princeton University - January 4th, 2022
- In Memoriam 2021: The Musicians We Lost | Morning Edition - KCRW - January 4th, 2022
- Ringing the New Year in with luck - The Clanton Advertiser - Clanton Advertiser - January 4th, 2022
- Albert Bourla Of Pfizer Is The CNN Business CEO Of The Year Greek City Times - GreekCityTimes.com - December 26th, 2021
- What Is A Sephardic Jewish Person? chicagojewishnews.com - December 22nd, 2021
- Greek-Jewish archives return home nearly 80 years after they were looted by the Nazis - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - December 20th, 2021
- The deepest secrets of Sephardic cooking are buried here - Forward - December 18th, 2021
- Holidays Bring a Diversity of Celebration on the South End - southseattleemerald.com - December 18th, 2021
- Mexico: how to apply for Spanish nationality if you have surnames of Sephardic Jewish origin - Market Research Telecast - December 5th, 2021
- Ignored by the UN, Mizrahi Jews survived pogroms and expulsions, too - The Times of Israel - December 5th, 2021
- Five Israel-Infused Picture Books for Year-Round Reading - Jewish Journal - December 5th, 2021
- What happened to the ideal of multireligious Arab modernity? - aeon.co - December 5th, 2021
- National Museum Of American Jewish History Renamed "The Weitzman" In Recognition Of Significant Gifts From Entrepreneur And Philanthropist... - December 5th, 2021
- A Delicious Twist on Latkes, and the Perfect Sephardic Donut - Jewish Journal - November 30th, 2021
- PHOTOS: Jews gather across Bay Area for public menorah lightings J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - November 30th, 2021
- Western Wind Vocal Sextet Will Perform 'The Light Returns: Joyous Music For The Holidays' - Broadway World - November 30th, 2021
- Hanukkah 2021: Fighting anti-Semitism here are 8 rays of hope - Fox News - November 30th, 2021
- 500 years after the Inquisition, Spain finally has a vibrant kosher wine industry - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - November 4th, 2021
- ric Zemmour and the Revenge of Vichy by Ian Buruma - Project Syndicate - November 4th, 2021
- #CFP Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy Books and Essays - Patheos - November 4th, 2021
- NYC mayoral and City Council elections: Heres what Jewish voters need to know - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - November 4th, 2021
- Navigating Winter Holiday Picture Books When You Have an Interfaith Family - Book Riot - November 4th, 2021
- New York thought it was done with Bill de Blasio. He thinks they might want more. - Politico - November 4th, 2021
- Jewish matchmaking service to pair up singles moving to the UAE - The National - November 4th, 2021
- Sephardic New Yorkers say Spain is breaking promise of citizenship - The Jerusalem Post - October 18th, 2021
Comments