Jews of Medieval Spain

Jews and Christians in Medieval Castile examines the changes in Jewish-Christian relations in the Iberian kingdom of Castile during the pivotal period of the reconquest and the hundred years that followed the end of its most active phase (eleventh to mid-fourteenth century). The study's focus on the Christian heartland north of the Duero River, known as Old Castile, allows for a detailed investigation of the Jews' changing relations with the area's main power players―the monarchy, the church, and the towns. In a departure from previous assessments, Soifer Irish shows that the institutional and legal norms of toleration for the Jewish minority were forged not along the military frontier with Islam, but in the north of Castile. She argues that the Jews' relationship with the Castilian monarchy was by far the most significant factor that influenced their situation in the kingdom, but also demonstrates that this relationship was inherently problematic. Although during the early centuries of Christian expansion the Jewish communities benefited from a strong royal power, after about 1250 helping maintain it proved to be costly to the Jewish communities in economic and human terms. Soifer Irish demonstrates that while some Castilian clergymen were vehemently anti-Jewish, the Castilian Church as a whole never developed a coordinated strategy on the Jews, or even showed much interest in the issue. The opposite is true about the townsmen, whose relations with their Jewish neighbors vacillated between cooperation and conflict. In the late thirteenth century, the Crown's heavy-handed tactics in enforcing the collection of outstanding debts to Jewish moneylenders led to the breakdown in the negotiations between the Jewish and Christian communities, creating a fertile ground for the formation of an anti-Jewish discourse in Castilian towns. Soifer Irish also examines the Jews' attitudes toward the various powers in the Christian society and shows that they were active players in the kingdom's politics. Jews and Christians in Medieval Castile breaks new ground in helping us understand more fully the tensions, and commonalities, between groups of different faiths in the late medieval period.

We shall never fully understand anti-Semitism. Deep-rooted, complex, endlessly persistent, constantly changing yet remaining the same, it is a phenomenon that stands at the intersection of history, sociology, economics, political science, religion, and psychology. But it is often the most elusive phenomena that are the most intriguing, and here ~ination and profound historical significance merge to make this subject a central challenge to Jewish historians.

The principal innovation of this paper  is to examine references to the textile product “dabiqi”  in medieval Jewish rabbinical literature, and to identify its characteristics as reflected therein.  In addition, these sources provide data regarding the locales in which it was familiar, with special focus on Al-Andalus in the 11th -12th centuries.
Jewish Biblical exegetes, as well as legal decisors and philosophers, often employ illustrative examples to clarify their opinions. These will be chosen by them for their familiarity to the intended contemporary and geographically neighboring readership.
Historically, two types of primary sources have been utilized for research of this topic: 1) The writings of medieval Arab geographers and poets, such as Ibn Ghalib, Ibn Ḥawkal, al-Himyari, al-Idrisi, al-Khatib, Abul-Khayr, Ibn Saʿīd, and Yāqūt – many of them quoted by the pioneer researchers in this field R. B. Serjeant and M. Lombard. 2) Documents from the Cairo genizah,  such as commercial contracts and bridal dowries – initially analyzed by S. D. Goitein and subsequently by his disciples Y. Stillman and N. Stillman. A concise summary of data from these sources will also be presented in this paper.

Published 2016: Purpureae Vestes V: Textiles, Basketry and Dyes in the Ancient Mediterranean World. Universitat De València.

Proceedings of the Vth International Symposium on Textiles and Dyes in the Ancient Mediterranean World
(Montserrat, 19-22 March, 2014)

Resumen. En el presente artículo se traza una breve semblanza del linaje de los Abnuba-el patriarca, Menahem, y sus hijos Abraham y Simuel-, radicado en Barbastro (Huesca), gran parte de cuyos integrantes son mercaderes de équidos, ele-mento estratégico no solo en el transporte de personas y mercancías, sino también como tracción en las tareas agrícolas. Se analiza, a través de los protocolos notariales, su actividad económica, canalizada mediante una compañía mercantil mixta, cuyo radio de acción se extiende por el Somontano de Barbastro y de Huesca. Así mismo se reflexiona sobre su habitus y su mentalidad pues, en cuanto negotiatores, la familia y los lazos de sangre discurren paralelos de su trayectoria profesional.

Suddenly Don Quijote doubts his squire’s embassy. It would be miraculous for Sancho to have returned in just over three days because El Toboso is more than thirty leagues away, seventy-five miles or one hundred and twenty-five kilometers from where Don Quijote was in the Sierra Morena.

On 9 July 1391, a mob assaulted the Jewish quarter of Valencia, killing and forcibly converting its inhabitants. This attack, one of many across Spain that summer, is much debated as a turning point in medieval Jewish history, but little attention has been paid to the role of the urban government. This article shows how the city council of Valencia shaped their narrative of the assault to further their goals for urban reform. In 1391, the Valencian council was in the midst of a reform initiative informed by the principles of Christian urban planning in Francesc Eiximenis' Regiment de la cosa pública. The jueria was seen as an impediment to reform. The council's retelling of the 1391 attack shifted responsibility onto the Jews and the jueria itself, considered a block to public order in the city. This laid the groundwork for the council's solution: the removal of the jueria from Valencia.

十六世紀半ばから十七世初頭にかけ、日本イエズス会により、日本語の教理書が出版されたということは周知の通りだ。世俗のヨーロッパ文学である『イソップ物語』の和訳、そして天草版『平家物語』、『太平記抜書』の存在もよく知られている。しかし、日本語で書かれたオリジナルのキリスト教説話が現存するということは案外知られていない。近年、このテキスト群を「異文化接触」というレベルで取り上げた研究が現れているが、漢訳仏典や漢籍の影響を受けた『日本霊異記』『今昔物語集』などとは対照的に、室町末期にラテン語文脈から国語に翻案されたキリスト教文学は、残念ながらこれまで国文学として扱われてこなかった。その理由をここで詳しくは追究できないが、日本精神というものが（漢文脈との関連性ではある程度まで認められている一方で）キリスト教との関係性については根本的に異質で相容れないものと一般的には理解されていることが、その背景にあると考えられる。しかし、キリスト教説話を聞いた織豊期の日本人がこのように日本精神とキリスト教を両極的なものとして捉えていたということは、資料からは読み取れない。本稿では、キリスト教も日本精神も信仰していない筆者が日本中世キリスト教の代表的な説話集をバレト写本という資料の中から取り上げ、その原典が何であったかを明らかにし、さらに、同時代の日本文学との関係性を探る。その結果、この説話集は当時の武士階級によって評価された軍記・語り物文学、取り分け幸若舞と最も関連性が深いということを示す。

Copyright (c) DIARIO ABC S.L, Madrid, 2009. Queda prohibida la reproducción, distribución, puesta a disposición, comunicación pública y utilización, total o parcial, de los contenidos de esta web, en cualquier forma o modalidad, sin previa, expresa y escrita autorización, incluyendo, en particular, su mera reproducción y/o puesta a disposición como resúmenes, reseñas o revistas de prensa con fines comerciales o directa o indirectamente lucrativos, a la que se manifiesta oposición expresa, a salvo del uso de los productos que se contrate de acuerdo con las condiciones existentes.

This book was originally a section of Ibn Al-Qayyim's book Miftaahu Daar is-Sa'aadah (Key to the Abode of Happiness). This section was extracted from it due to its discussion of some of the Signs of Allah in the human beings and the universe. Also, Ibn Al-Qayyim's book was chosen due to its perceptive and meaningful wisdom. Another outstanding characteristic of this book is that Ibn-Al-Qayyim calls for the use of the intellect and self-introspection. He encourages the reader to deeply think about the creation of Allah, the Most High -- in the human being, existence, animals and nature. The complier, Capt. Anas Abdul-Hameed Al-Qoz, supports the writing of Ibn Al-Qayyim (Qayyem/Qayim/Qayem/Qayum/Qayyum) by mentioning modern scientific discoveries, useful notes and beneficial pictures that help achieve the objective. Thus, this book is a continuous and active call to all of mankind to look and reflect upon the Signs of Allah if they want the truth and sincerely wish to follow it.

We will show them Our Signs in the universe and in themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth.

Book Review by: Al-Jumuah Magazine (Safar, 1425 H). 

This book is a translation of an Arabic work based on selections from Imam Ibnul Qayyim's "Miftah Daar is-Sa'aadah" (Key to the Abode of Happiness). Divided into four chapters; man, universe, animals, and nature, it contains sections on various natural phenomena, particularly those related to biology of humans and animals, with reflections on the great meticulous creation and watchful sustenance by Allah. The author often supplements Ibnul Qayyim's insights with accounts of modern scientific discoveries, figures and tables.

Compiled with the verse, "We will show them Our signs in the universe and in themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth," in mind, this book engages the reader to deeply contemplate his own creation as well as the everything else in this vast universe. The author says that he chose this book because in it Ibnul Qayyim, "present the art and technique of thinking and reflection, and propounds the ways that should be followed to secure the desired outcome of reflection on Allah's signs in nature and un the human sphere."

Reading Ibnul Qayim's views on nature, who died in 751 AH (1350 CE), would be interesting both as a way to understand wisdom of various natural phenomena and as a window into the attitude of an eminent eight century religious scholar towards science and nature.

The first purpose is well-served by this book, the second unfortunately is not. The author fails to give an account of the tremendous gap in scientific knowledge between our age and that of Ibnul Qayyim, and how it bore on his views of nature. Background information on the dominant views of other scholars and philosophers on nature and science would add much to the value of this book. A more serious drawback in the book is lack of clear demarcation between the present author's remarks and Ibnul Qayyim's words. Credits for figures and references for modern scientific facts are also missing, which gives an unsettling sense of lack of competence.

The book nevertheless does have many positive points. The faith-inspiring discussions of Allah's wisdom in a variety of natural phenomena offer an uncommon perspective. Various verses of the Qur'an as well as ahadeeth on the subject of nature are quoted in Arabic and explained with illustrations. Nice glossy finish and elegant hard cover give it a good look. For a reader willing to overlook some of the shortcomings, the book can make a great and rewarding read. - Al-Jumuah Vol 16, Issue 2.

"There is so hot a summer in my bosom,
That all my bowels crumble up to dust:
I am a scribbled form, drawn with a pen
Upon a parchment, and against this fire
Do I shrink up."
Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King John, Act V, scene 7
                                              CONTENTS
1. The Invisible Jew: Blind Spots in the Art Historical Record.
2. The Birth of Iudeus Sacer: Bio-Theological Foundations of Conversion.
3. Creatures of Parchment: The King, the Jew, and the Codex.

                                                EXCERPT
...Abandoned by the father, stripped of his legal status and religious identity, the Jewish boy becomes malleable to change. Indeed, it is in his condition as iudeus sacer, that is, in his reduction to bare life, that the Jewish boy becomes susceptible to enter, through the transformative biotheology of the Incarnation, into the Christian community. As I formulate it here, the term iudeus sacer, with its double meaning of excluded and sacred, aims to capture the dialectical status of this figure, which stands at the biological, social and religious threshold of Jewish and Christian identities. From the point of view of the father/Jewish law, he is sacer (accursed) in its negative sense as a figure of exclusion, while from the point of view of the mother/Mary/Christianity, he is sacer (sacred) in the positive sense as a sacredly begotten figure. The image of the Jewish boy coming out of the oven/womb into the Christian community dramatizes the transition between iudeus sacer in its negative sense and iudeus sacer in its positive sense – a transition that is embedded in this new subject’s identity as a dynamic reversibility – a constant dialectical movement from one sense of the term to the other. Iudeus sacer is a pure figure of potentiality because it is permanently suspended in that unresolved dialectical reversibility at the threshold of Jewish and Christian identities –a dialectical bipolarity which will determine, as we will see, its fleeting historical existence beyond the parchment page...

The publication of this Vol I of  "Diwan al-Malhun in Moroccan Judeo Arabic" is an attempt to highlight a submerged side of Moroccan heritage. The Malhun  Moroccan Judeo Arabic reflects the tolerance of the country  of ATLAS.
After the decline of the Moroccan Jewish heritage due to the large emigration of  a great number of the Jews of morocco for multiple reasons, its a moment in time to save what can be saved  from this important element of Moroccan heritage. The malhun  in Moroccan Judeo Arabic has reached a new life in the context of the idea of return (virtual and physical) of jewish youth to the Land of the sun: Morocco. The malhun is an open school of Moroccan Arabic dialect and is also a big encyclopedia of Moroccan identity in his large concept.
This recompilation of Malhun text is a contribution in the promising reading of our Moroccan heritage in the vast context of the new Moroccan constitution of 2011.

In Creating Conversos, Roger Louis Martínez-Dávila skillfully unravels the complex story of Jews who converted to Catholicism in Spain between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, migrated to colonial Mexico and Bolivia during the conquest of the Americas, and assumed prominent church and government positions. Rather than acting as alienated and marginalized subjects, the conversos were able to craft new identities and strategies not just for survival but for prospering in the most adverse circumstances. Martínez-Dávila provides an extensive, elaborately detailed case study of the Carvajal–Santa María clan from its beginnings in late fourteenth-century Castile. By tracing the family ties and intermarriages of the Jewish rabbinic ha-Levi lineage of Burgos, Spain (which became the converso Santa María clan) with the Old Christian Carvajal line of Plasencia, Spain, Martínez-Dávila demonstrates the family’s changing identity, and how the monolithic notions of ethnic and religious disposition were broken down by the group and negotiated anew as they transformed themselves from marginal into mainstream characters at the center of the economies of power in the world they inhabited. They succeeded in rising to the pinnacles of power within the church hierarchy in Spain, even to the point of contesting the succession to the papacy and overseeing the Inquisitorial investigation and execution of extended family members, including Luis de Carvajal “The Younger” and most of his immediate family during the 1590s in Mexico City.

Martínez-Dávila offers a rich panorama of the many forces that shaped the emergence of modern Spain, including tax policies, rivalries among the nobility, and ecclesiastical politics. The extensive genealogical research enriches the historical reconstruction, filling in gaps and illuminating contradictions in standard contemporary narratives. His text is strengthened by many family trees that assist the reader as the threads of political and social relationships are carefully disentangled.

“Creating Conversos represents an important contribution to medieval Spanish social and religious history. Its discussion of two extended and interrelated families, the Old Christian noble family of the Carvajals and the New Christian converso family of the ha-Levi/Santa Marías, breaks new ground in the exploration of the highly contested topic of the identity of the conversos in Spain in late medieval and early modern times. Through an exhaustive use of archival material, genealogical research, and, to a lesser degree, artistic representation, Martínez-Dávila explores a topic that, by its very nature, defies easy explanation.” —Jane Gerber, professor emerita, The Graduate Center, City University of New York

ISBN: 978-0-268-10321-7
472 pages
Publication Year: 2018

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And We have sent you (O Muhammad ) not but as a mercy for the Aalameen (mankind, jinns and all that exists)” [al-Anbiya’ 21:107]. The scholars differed concerning the ‘Aalameen (translated here as “mankind, jinns and all that exists”; also often translated as “the worlds”) to whom the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was sent as a mercy.

Prophet (peace be upon him) is indeed a blessing and mercy of Allah to the whole world. This is because he aroused the neglectful world from its heedlessness and gave it the knowledge of the criterion between truth and falsehood, and warned it very clearly of both the ways of salvation and ruin. This fact has been stated here to tell the disbelievers of Makkah that they were quite wrong in their estimate of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he was an affliction and distress for them because they said: This man has sown seeds of discard among our clans and separated near relatives from each other. They have been told here: O people, you are wrong to presume that he is an affliction for you; but he is in reality a blessing and mercy of Allah for you.

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the best role model for all humankind. Among his outstanding virtues and characteristics, he was an extraordinary husband, a perfect father, and a unique grandfather. He was also a great statesman, judge, and spiritual leader. His most distinctive quality, however, was the fact that he was a blessing to all in both word and deed. He infused justice, love, and dignity in all those around him. He spread the power of brotherhood to the extent that it became exceptional in human history. Affirming that these grand virtues were bestowed on him by Allah the Almighty and that He prepared His loyal messenger to call for the true religion, is part of one's belief.

The Qur'an describes the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as merciful and kind to the believers. Allah the Almighty says, {Now hath come unto you a Messenger from amongst yourselves: it grieves him that ye should perish: ardently anxious is he over you: to the Believers is he most kind and merciful.)  (At-Tawbah 9:128)

The Prophet's Love for Mankind

The Prophet Muhammad is introduced in the Qur’an in these words:
[And We have not sent you forth but as a mercy to mankind. ] (Al-Anbiyaa’: 107)

According to a tradition recorded in the Sahih of Imam Muslim, when the Prophet’s opponents greatly increased their persecution, his Companions asked him to curse them. At this the Prophet replied, “I have not been sent to lay a curse upon men but to be a blessing to them.” His opponents continued to treat him and his Companions unjustly and cruelly, but he always prayed for them.

Once he was so badly stoned by his enemies that the blood began to spurt from all over his body. This happened when he went to Ta’if, where the Hijaz aristocracy used to while away their summer days. When he attempted to call them to Islam, instead of listening to his words of wisdom, they set the street urchins upon him, who kept chasing him till nightfall. Even at that point, when he was utterly exhausted and bleeding from head to foot, all he said was, “O my Lord, guide my people along the true path, as they are ignorant of the truth.”

His heart was filled with intense love for all human kind irrespective of caste, creed, or color. Once he advised his Companions to regard all people as their brothers and sisters. He added, “You are all Adam’s offspring and Adam was born of clay.”

All this tells us what kind of awareness he wanted to bring about in man. His mission was to bring people abreast of the reality that all men and women, although inhabiting different regions of the world, and seemingly different from one another as regards their color, language, dress, culture, etc., were each other’s blood brothers. Hence a proper relationship will be established between all human beings only if they regard one another as sisters and brothers. Only then will proper feelings of love and respect prevail throughout the world.

According to a hadith, the Prophet once said, “A true believer is one with whom others feel secure. One who returns love for hatred.” The Prophet made it clear that one who would only return love for love was on a lower ethical plane. We should never think that we should treat people well only if they treat us well. We should, rather, be accustomed to being good to those who are not good to us and to not wronging those who harm us.

Los grandes cambios sociales y religiosos han condicionado, en la mayoría de las ocasiones de forma decisiva, los avatares de la historia. Sin embargo, en los aledaños de la religión oficial o paralelamente a la religión mayoritaria y frente a las estructuras sociales dominantes, han surgido siempre individuos y grupos contestatarios, heterodoxos, marginales, que, en mayor o menor medida, han incomodado al poder establecido y dificultado la implantación de un rígido orden socio-religioso. Hispania en época tardorromana y visigoda (siglos IV-VII) constituye un escenario particularmente relevante en el que surgieron determinados movimientos sociales de signo conflictivo que lograron desestabilizar o comprometer al poder instituido, de igual forma que algunas expresiones religiosas al margen de la ortodoxia suscitaron una reacción adversa en los círculos eclesiásticos reconocidos y sustentados por el propio poder político. En unas ocasiones estos «marginados» -bagaudas y paganos, judíos y magos, «herejes» y ascetas, pobres y mujerescontribuyeron, aunque parezca paradójico, a una cierta renovación ideológica y social del mundo que los rechazaba y, en otras, fueron simplemente objeto de discriminación o persecución, dejando tan solo algunas trazas de su existencia que resultan, no obstante, preciosas para reconstruir su situación vital, sus acciones y pensamiento. Con la colaboración del Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad y de la Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia Signifer Libros http://signiferlibros.com ISBN: 978-84-938991-6-5 25,00 € CÓDIGO DE BARRAS Raúl GONZÁLEZ SALINERO (editor)

The issue of the presence of non-Muslims in positions of political power in al-Andalus over the ṭāʾifa period is narrowly associated with the case of the Banū Naghrīla in Zīrid Granada. These two Jewish viziers represent the only instance for which we have enough quality primary-source information, and in this regard, they certainly stand as a truly exceptional case-study in the al-Andalus historical context. However, there is some disagreement among modern scholars regarding the nature and scope of their power. For example, Ross Brann claims that 'the sort of power Samuel (the Nagid) ibn Naghrila exercised over Muslims in Granada was not unique to him or even to al-Andalus but was relatively common in Muslim society', pointing to the existence of at least six other Jewish viziers in different ṭāʾifa kingdoms. 1 Certainly, available Hebrew and Arabic sources let us know about several Jewish courtiers acting in positions of power over the ṭāʾifa period in al-Andalus. However, in most of these cases it is problematic even to ascertain their individual identities. The fact remains that, as shown in previous studies, 2 the Banū Naghrīla are by far the most well-known instance of non-Muslims in high political office over the ṭāʾifa period and, most likely, over the whole history of al-Andalus. The uniqueness of the Banū Naghrīla has been acknowledged by different scholars. Among them, Eliyahu Ashtor pointed to their exceptional political status, claiming that Ismāʿīl, the father, 'attained a status never before reached by a Jew in Spain'. In a similar vein, David Wasserstein considered that 'apart * Translation from Spanish by Rodrigo I. García-Velasco Bernal. 1 Brann, Power in the Portrayal, pp. 15-16. 2 Wasserstein, The Rise and Fall of the Party Kings, pp. 209-13; Maíllo Salgado, 'Los judíos en las fuentes andalusíes y magrebíes' .

* The title of this paper was chosen as a direct reaction to Lucien Febvre and Henri-Jean Martin’s influential work in book history entitled, The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing 1450 - 1800, which aided in the formation of the dominant view that paper found its stride after the invention of moveable type in early modern Europe.  This view falls short in giving historical agency to paper itself as an important medium in cultural change far before Gutenberg’s invention.

גרשם שלום -- תולדות התנועה השבתאית // 
History of the Sabbatian Movement was the first attempt by one of the giants of scholarship on Jewish mysticism, Gershom Scholem (1897-1982), to present a comprehensive picture of Sabbatianism as a single narrative. The book is based on the series of lectures given at the Hebrew University during 1939-1940, which are of special importance in that they laid the foundation for all of Scholem’s research in the years to come, including his extensive monograph Sabbatai Sevi: the mystical Messiah, 1626-1676, first published in 1957. What follows is a sketch of the massive History of the Sabbatian Movement, over which Gershom Scholem toiled his whole life but never completed. The lectures are presented here for the first time based on the original manuscripts, alongside the text of an additional series of lectures that Scholem gave as part of the “Month of Study” organized by Berl Katznelson in 1941. These long-hidden texts reveal new facets of the Sabbatian movement and its history, as well as of Gershom Scholem as a historian, and serve as prologue to any further study of this most stormy and complicated episode in Jewish history. The new edition includes a comprehensive introduction by the editors on all of Gershom Scholem’s studies on Sabbatianism. //---//

Table of Contents:
“The Open Book” - Jonatan Meir and Shinichi Yamamoto /
Introduction /
Chapter One: The Faces of the Generation /
Chapter Two: The Messianic Movement from its Beginnings to its Height /
Chapter Three: The Twists and Turns of the Sabbatian Movement /
Chapter Four: The Historical Development of Sabbatianism /
Appendix A: Messianism from the Spanish Expulsion to the Eve of Emancipation (Month of Study, 1941) /
Appendix B: The Sabbatian Movement: Its Roots, Its Development, and its Aftermath (Introduction, 1942-45 /
Appendix C: Bibliography of Works by Gershom Scholem on Sabbatianism /
Index /
Notes on the Cover Image (from the collection of Paweł Maciejko)

//--// Order The BOOK
http://www.schocken-jts.org.il/english/bookstore/prodView.asp?idproduct=408

The shadow of death brooded over their entire squalid lives.
Forever dreaming of El Dorado, pirates plundered and left in their wake a seething bloody cauldron as the survivors prayed for the deliverance of the grave. Thomas Hobbes' description of the natural state of man "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" perfectly applied to corsairs. There was, however, another story that loomed silently along the edges of history relating to a group of adventurous pirates whose motives were freedom to practice their religion in peace, create an abode where posterity would reside, and wreak vengeance on those who burned their sages alive and expelled them from their homeland: they were the Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean.

The essay outlines the development of the modern scholarship of medieval Hebrew literature. Here, the definition of ‘medieval Hebrew literature’ excludes writing in Jewish languages other than Hebrew, and singles out literature from other types of non-literary Hebrew writing.
The variety of literary types included in this survey ranges from liturgical and secular poetry (covered by Rosen) to artistic storytelling and folk literature (Yassif). Both early liturgical poetry (piyyut) and the medieval Hebrew story are rooted in the soil of the Talmudic period. The beginnings of medieval Hebrew storytelling were even more deeply connected to the narrative traditions of the Talmud. However, the constitutive moment of the birth of piyyut and narrative as distinct medieval genres had to do with their separation from the encyclopedic, all-embracing nature of the Talmud.
The purpose of the essay is to explore especially the history of scholarship of these fields, in the following contexts: (1) Its internal development: its agendas, goals, necessities and achievements. (2) Its relation to contemporaneous literary criticism. (3) Its relation with modern Jewish history and historiography. We will show how, since its inception (in the Wissenschaft des Judentums) through the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries the scholarship of medieval Hebrew literature was enmeshed in various contemporaneous interests, issues, debates and ideologies, as well as with critical trends, fashions and practices.

Since Washington Irving's embassy to Spain (1826Spain ( -1829 and his subsequent publication of stories and essays collected under the title Tales of the Alhambra, 2 American readers, artists and politicians have imagined and drawn inspiration from the medieval period of Spain's historybefore Spain was Spain, as such. Anglophone 3 fascination has continued through the contemporary period, often standing as a proxy for domestic issues, even in the United States, a country with no medieval national mythology of its own and a fraught contemporary relationship with both Spanish and Arabic, the modern languages that are the heirs to the languages of culture and state in Spain's Middle Ages. A proliferation of popular writing shows the appetite for medieval Spanish culture and history. 4 It also finds its way into political discourse, where it is held up as an aspiration of tolerance on the political left and an Islamic dystopia on the political right. 5 As any other societies of any other time and place, those of the Iberian Peninsula during the European Middle Ages were neither clearly one thing or the other: not a Boschian hellscape, but nor a garden of earthly delights. But as the peoples and places of medieval Spain enter contemporary Anglophone political discourse, the extreme right has seized upon the dystopian side of the coin in order to assail the scientific study of history and promote a presentist, anti-intellectual agenda that uses medieval history to promote its ideals for the modern world.

While Américo Castro’s convivencia remains an influential concept in medieval Iberian studies, its sway over the field has been lessening in recent years. Despite scholars’ best efforts to rethink and redefine the concept, it has resisted all attempts to transform it into a workable analytical tool. The article explores the malaise affecting convivencia, and suggests that the idea has become more of an impediment than a help to medieval Iberian studies. It argues that convivencia retains some of its former influence because scholars insist on understanding it as
a distinctly Ibero-Islamic phenomenon. However, this article suggests that the evidence for Islamic influence on interfaith coexistence in Christian Spain is scarce. Instead of continuing to embrace the nationalist myth of Spain’s unique status in medieval Europe, scholars need to acknowledge the basic similarities in the Christian treatment of religious minorities north and south of the Pyrenees. The article also explores other aspects of convivencia’s problematic legacy: polarization of the field between “tolerance” and “persecution,” and the inattention to the nuances of social and political power relations that affected Jewish–Christian–Muslim coexistence in Christian Iberia.

Jewish sources commonly refer to Muslims as “Ishmaelites” and to Islamdom as “the Kingdom of Ishmael” due to an alleged biblical genealogy that both Jews and Muslims accept. Other classic Jewish sources, however, associate pre-Islamic Arabs as well as Muslims with two other biblical nations, Ammon and Moab, even when, and even though, the “standard” appellations are at hand. The Ammon and Moab nexus is mentioned in academic literature but without much elaboration. This article investigates several Jewish mentions of the nexus – most of Hispano-Jewish provenance – and proposes five explanations for its use.

Résumé
Les sources juives qualifient généralement les musulmans d’Ismaélites et le domaine de l’Islam en tant que “royaume d’Ismaël”, et ce au nom de généalogies bibliques reconnues autant par les juifs que les musulmans. D’autres sources juives classiques, cependant, rattachent les Arabes préislamiques ainsi que les musulmans à deux autres nations mentionnées dans la Bible, Ammon et Moab, et ce indépendamment de leur traditionnelle appellation d’Ismaélites. Jusqu’à présent, le lien avec Ammon et Moab n’a été que sommairement évoqué dans la littérature scientifique. La présente étude examine plusieurs sources juives, pour la plupart d’origine hispanique, évoquant un pareil lien.

Women in Islam versus Women in the Judeo-Christianity: The Myth & The Reality By Dr. Sherif Abdel Azeem.

This essay by Sherif Abdel Azeem is a great work done by the author who realized through his research that Islam is free of all the fabrications that they claim to affect the position of women in Islam. He gave us a comparison of the position of women in Islam, Christianity & Judaism based on the Qur'an, Bible & Talmud respectively.

The author said ‘’ Islam is believed to be the symbol of the subordination of women par excellence…………………. Do Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have the same conception of women? Are they different in their conceptions? Do Judaism and Christianity, truly, offer women a better treatment than Islam does? What is the Truth?

It is not easy to search for and find answers to these difficult questions. The first difficulty is that one has to be fair and objective or, at least, do one's utmost to be so. This is what Islam teaches. The Quran has instructed Muslims to say the truth even if those who are very close to them do not like it: "Whenever you speak, speak justly, even if a near relative is concerned" (6:152) "O you who believe stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor" (4:135).

The other great difficulty is the overwhelming breadth of the subject. Therefore, during the last few years, I have spent many hours reading the Bible, The Encyclopaedia of Religion, and the Encyclopaedia Judaica searching for answers. I have also read several books discussing the position of women in different religions written by scholars, apologists, and critics. The material presented in the following chapters represents the important findings of this humble research. .....

END QUOTE [Women In Islam versus Judeo-Christianity: The Myth & The Reality By Dr. Sherif Abdel Azeem, Introduction, page 1-4]

In Islam, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: "The best believers are the best in conduct, and the best of you are those who are best to their wives."

When Muhammad (pbuh) first became the prophet of Islam, the Pagans of Arabia had inherited a similar disregard for woman as had been passed down among their Jewish and Christian neighbors. So disgraceful was it considered among them to be blessed with a female child that they would go so far as to bury this baby alive in order to avoid the disgrace associated with female children.

Through the teachings of Islam, Muhammad (pbuh) put a swift and resounding end to this evil practice. Not only did he severely discourage and condemn this act but he also used to teach them to respect and cherish their daughters and mothers as partners and sources of salvation for the men of their family:

AbuSa'id al-Khudri narrated: "The Prophet (pbuh) said: If anyone cares for three daughters, disciplines them, marries them, and does good by them, he will enter Paradise." (Narrated by Abu-Dawood)

Abdullah the son of Abbas narrated: "The Prophet (pbuh) said: If anyone has a female child, and does not bury her alive, or slight her, or prefer his male children over her, Allah will bring him into Paradise." (Narrated by Abu-Dawood)

Muhammad (pbuh) is also sited in "Sahih Muslim" as saying:
"Whoever maintains two girls till they attain maturity, he and I will come on the Day of Resurrection like this; and he joined his fingers".

Husbands are commanded to treat their wives with kindness and respect. In Quran 4:19 we read "..But consort with them in kindness, for if you hate them it may happen that you hate a thing wherein Allah has placed much good."

The prophet told us that man’s treatment of his wife is a measure of the perfection of his faith: Abu Hurayra narrated that the Prophet said: “The most perfect of the believers in their belief are those with the best manners, and the best of you are those who are best with their wives.” [Riyadh as-Salihin, Chapter 34, Nr. 278, and see also: Ibn-Hanbal, No. 7396]

Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Apostle (May peace be upon him) as saying: "He who believes in Allah and the Hereafter, if he witnesses any matter he should talk in good terms about it or keep quiet. Act kindly towards woman, for woman is created from a rib, and the most crooked part of the rib is its top. If you attempt to straighten it, you will break it, and if you leave it, its crookedness will remain there. So act kindly towards women.  (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book of Marriage (Kitab Al-Nikah), Book 008, Number 3468)"

Aisha reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The best of you are the best to their families, and I am the best to my family. ….” (Sunan At-Tirmidhi 3895).

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) enjoined kind treatment and honouring of one’s wife, and he described the best of people as those who are best to their wives. He said: “The best of you are those who are the best to their wives, and I am the best of you to my wives.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3895; Ibn Maajah, 1977; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.

In fact the prophet described how Man should take care of his wife, the prophet used the phrase ''glass vessels'' in a hadith Narrated Anas bin Malik: ''The Prophet was on a journey and a slave named Anjasha was chanting (singing) for the camels to let them go fast (while driving). The Prophet said, "O Anjasha, drive slowly (the camels) with the ''glass vessels!" Abu Qilaba said, "By the glass vessels' he meant the women (riding the camels)."[Bukhari Volume 8, Book 73, Number 229].

See how kind and merciful our beloved prophet is towards women and humanity at large. He forbade the camel driver to slow down, so that it may not harm women. He described how we should treat them with care. He even used the phrase ''glass vessel''!!! You know how careful you will be when you are carrying glassy materials.

The prophet told us that it is charity to feed your wife with your hand!

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) spoke beautiful word concerning kind treatment of one’s wife, stating that when the husband feeds his wife and puts a morsel of food in her mouth, he earns the reward of doing an act of charity. He said, “You never spend anything but you will be rewarded for it, even the morsel of food that you lift to your wife’s mouth.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6352; Muslim, 1628

On the other hand, In Christianity Women are considered as the Devil's gateway: Eve bit the apple and the world's been in trouble ever since. We read in the Bible : (1 Timothy 2:11-14) "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."

1 Corinthians 14:34 "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church."

After reading this book you will realize the fact the Bible teaches us that:

1) Women should learn in silence and subjugation.
2) Women should not teach.
3) Women should not have authority over men but should remain silent.
4) Adam and Eve were not equal in sin. Adam was not deceived but Eve was.
5) Women are commanded to be under obedience to men. God ordained that men shall for all time rule over women.
6) Women must keep silent in Churches. It is shameful for them to open their mouths therein. If they have a question they should ask their husbands before going to church and then their husbands will ask for them in the church.
7) A woman should neither pray nor profess with her head uncovered.
8) If a woman prays with her head uncovered then she might as well shave her head.
9) Man was created in the image and glory of God, and Woman was created in the glory of Man, thus Man must have power over her.
10) Any woman who delivers a male baby shall be unclean for one week. But any woman who delivers a female baby shall be unclean for TWO weeks. Thus, females make their mothers DOUBLY unclean as compared to males.
11) While it is possible to find one upright man in every thousand, it is impossible to find even one single upright woman in every thousand
12) Woman is a snare, her heart is a trap, and her hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but she will ensnare the sinner.
13) If a woman had her period and touches a chair or a bed or anything else then that item immediately becomes unclean. Anyone who then touches those things shall also become unclean. They must then bathe themselves and wash their clothes because they have touched an item that a menstruous woman has touched.

A presente dissertação de doutoramento insere-se numa àrea partilhada entre a História do Urbanismo e a História Urbana, tendo como objectivo o estudo das alterações da forma urbana que ocorreram na cidade de Lisboa, entre o período dos reinos de Taifas e o final do reinado de D. Dinis. Através da reconstituição possível da forma urbana, pretende-se compreender os processos que desencadearam mutações na imagem da cidade, dentro do referido período.
A utilização de metodologias diversas consoante as múltiplas fontes analisadas tornou possível recuperar as lógicas urbanas que marcaram indelevamente a cidade de Lisboa. Deste modo, cruzaram-se diversas fontes para se obter um panorama mais completo possível do nosso objetco de estudo. Fontes documentais, arqueológicas, cartográficas, iconográficas, e o parcelário actual foram analisados e considerados em conjunto para se obterem imagens coerentes de vários pontos fortes da cidade medieval.
A dimensão de uma cidade como a Lisboa medieval obrigou a que análise dos processos urbanos tenha sido conduzida através de uma focagem selectiva, onde a topografia foi considerada como a principal linha condutora da investigação. Esta opção levou a uma fragmentação deliberada da cidade em diferentes espaços: a Almedina, a Alcáçova, e os três arrabaldes, Ocidental, Oriental e dos Mouros. Esta divisão permitiu observar o modo como dinâmicas diversas moldaram a imagem da cidade, sem perder de vista a actuação destas forças na cidade como um todo. Deste modo, a estrutura deste trabalho reflecte o seu processo de análise, dividindo-se num prólogo seguido de cinco partes. No prólogo são abordados três aspectos de carácter global inseridos em dois momentos de transição: da antiguidade tardia para época medieval, e da época de domínio muçulmano para a de domínio cristão. Na primeira parte do trabalho estudam-se as mutações urbanas ocorridas no espaço compreendido pela cerca urbana. Na segunda parte observam-se os fenómenos de alteração da forma urbana na Alcáçova da cidade. Ao Arrabalde Ocidental foi dedicada a terceira parte deste trabalho, cuja dimensão textual, com um peso comparativamente maior do que as restantes, reflecte a relevância deste espaço.  Os processos de mutação urbana do Arrabalde Oriental foram tratados na quarta parte. Na quinta e última parte foi estudada a evolução urbana do Arrabalde dos Mouros. Na conclusão procurou-se observar a cidade como um todo, identificando-se os processos globais que delinearam a imagem da cidade.
Este estudo, baseado em diversas fontes de informação, permitiu observar que a urbe medieval não se restringia ao perímetro compreendido pela cerca urbana, pois, pelo menos desde a época de domínio islâmico, o seu centro económico e comercial já se centrava na parte ocidental da cidade. Foi também possível compreender a acção das diferentes instituições medievais na modelação da forma urbana, destacando-se a Coroa, o concelho e as instituições eclesiásticas. Esta dissertação revelou o papel definidor das dinâmicas urbanas ocorridas em época medieval e o modo como estas sustentaram os desenvolvimentos posteriores, em época moderna.

This doctoral thesis lies within an area shared between the History of Urbanism and Urban History, aiming to study the changes of urban form that took place in Lisbon, in the period between the Taifa kingdoms and the end of D. Dinis reign. Through the possible reconstitution of urban form, it is intended to understand the processes that triggered the changes in the image of the city in this period.
The use of different methodologies depending on the multiple sources here analyzed made it possible to recover the urban logics that marked the city of Lisbon. Thus, we crossed several sources to obtain a more complete picture of our object of study. Documentary, archeological, cartographical and iconographic sources as well as the current urban property limits were all analyzed and taken together to obtain consistent images of various key points of the medieval city.
The size of a city like medieval Lisbon forced the analysis of urban processes to be conducted through a selective focus, where the topography was considered as the main guiding line. This option led to a deliberate fragmentation of the city in different spaces: the Almedina, the Alcaçova, and the three suburbs, Western, Oriental and Moorish. This division allowed us to observe how different dynamics shaped the city's image, without losing sight of these forces in the city as a whole. Thus, the structure of this study reflects its analysis process, a prologue followed by five parts. In the prologue are addressed three issues inserted in two moments of transition: from late antiquity to medieval times and from the time of Muslim rule to the Christian rule. In the first part we study the urban changes occurred in the space included by the urban fence. In the second part we observe the changing of urban form in the city Alcaçova. The Western area was studied in the third part of this work, with a textual dimension comparatively greater in weight than the other parts that reflects the importance of this area. The urban mutation processes of the Eastern area were treated in the fourth part. In the fifth and last part the urban evolution of Arrabalde of the Moors was studied. In the conclusion we observed the city as a whole, identifying the global processes that shaped the city's image.
This study, based on various sources of information, noted that the medieval metropolis was not confined to the perimeter comprised by the urban fence because, at least from the time of Islamic rule, their economic and commercial center was on the Western area of City. It was also possible to understand the action of different medieval institutions in shaping the urban form, namely the Crown, the city council and the ecclesiastical institutions. This work revealed the defining role of urban dynamics that occurred in medieval times and how they sustained further developments in modern times.

A lo largo de la Edad Media la península ibérica fue un ámbito caracterizado por una gran diversidad de formas políticas, sociales y culturales. La conquista de 711 dio origen al nacimiento de al-Andalus, un país árabe e islámico, cuya presencia constituye un hecho determinante en la configuración del período medieval. El presente volumen lo integran nueve artículos en los que se analizan ciertos aspectos de esa interacción, haciendo especial hincapié en el tratamiento que se otorgaba a los no musulmanes (cristianos y judíos) en al-Andalus.

While historians examining thirteenth-century Jewish-Christian relations in Iberia and greater Europe have shown that Christian anti-Jewish violence and rhetoric increased, they have not explored whether this pattern also exists in coeval canon law, which was then flourishing.  This raises questions about the degree to which normative law reflected concurrent intellectual and lay Christian anxieties about Jews and conceptions of Judaism. My dissertation begins filling that gap by exploring how Raymond de Penaforte (d. 1275), a leading legal scholar from Barcelona, approached Jews in his legal works and broader socioreligious activities. I argue that Raymond’s normative law codes echo coeval actionable matters involving Jews – especially conversion – and problematization of Judaism as a looming spiritual danger, but not popular discourses dehumanizing Jews as monstrous threats to Christian welfare.  However, I also show, contrary to the current historiography on Raymond, that his theoretical concern for converting Jews did not translate into actions.  Raymond did not spearhead missionizing efforts targeting Jews, though his legal texts indicate that he indeed valued those endeavors. 
    By studying Raymond de Penaforte’s legal codes, I show that fear of Judaism’s influence and framing of it as a pollutant occurred in Iberia beyond polemical or theological texts, evidencing its pervasiveness in thirteenth-century Iberian discourse concerning Jews.  My project thus critically adds another dimension to our understanding of the landscape of thirteenth-Christian discourses in Iberia about Jews preceding the Spanish Inquisition while also reframing the historiographical narrative surrounding Raymond. 
    The dissertation bases its argument off Raymond’s legal works, the Summa de Paenitentia (1226 and 1236) and Summa de Matrimonio (1236).  The book accesses Raymond’s views by comparing manuscripts of his works to those of earlier authors from which he copied when he wrote his own.  Close textual comparison between Raymond’s laws concerning the Jews to those of his sources allows us to pinpoint places where Raymond deviated and offered his own view.  Those variances enable insights about Raymond’s personal perspectives.  Reading Raymond’s legal texts against later documents written about him by others describing his life work sheds light on the degree to which Raymond implemented theoretical concerns about Jews that he expressed in his writings.

This paper is about the Medieval Censorship of the Talmud which was imposed upon the Jews, what was censored and why. It also covers items related to the Crusades and the Inquisitions. The main thrust of this paper is that the Jews were witnesses to the creation of Christianity and were giving info about it in the Talmud.

Book summary: Estará a História desatualizada?

A resposta a esta questão é sim, se considerarmos a História como conhecimento histórico, como resultado do estudo e da investigação sobre o passado. A análise de novas fontes, perspetivas e abordagens permite redefinir o conhecimento que temos, apesar de muitos mitos e ideias da História de Portugal continuarem a ser repetidos e permanecerem no imaginário popular.
Neste sentido, o objetivo deste livro é o de atualizar muitas destas ideias, desmontando, dentro do possível, alguns destes mitos. Tomando por base 29 temas da História de Portugal, desde Viriato até ao legado da memória do império colonial, 28 autores procuraram redefinir aquilo que sabemos sobre estes assuntos. Um livro para quem quer perceber os vários aspetos de uma História longa e complexa, e não tanto os muitos e longos debates académicos que existem sobre cada assunto.

[Attention:  The attachments contain correct download links to the accompanying presentation in both pptx and ppsx (presentation & show)]
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Jewish Salonika is unique: the most cataclysmic and momentous event in its two thousand year history is its near total obliteration. The year 1943 CE witnessed unfathomable events of human annihilation that took place within the time frame of just a few months. These events have been only superficially researched. Such superficiality is exemplified in the research on the interplay of circumstances and powers that allowed them to take place and the degree and speed to which they occurred. At odds with such feeble research is the existence of documentary evidence demonstrating the bureaucratic efficiency of the perpetrators. Given such documentary evidence, the events of the Holocaust of the Jews of Salonika should be correlated with the history of the Community before and after the destruction. Proceeding in this manner should be done in keeping with the framework of concurrent Hellenic history in particular and European–world history in general. The inquiry partially catalyzing such a correlation is twofold: first, could more human beings have been saved and second, irrespective of the outcome, what was the moral standing of the Society at large? The latter, for objective purposes, can only be deduced by the behavior, attitude, actions, reactions and/or omissions of the non-Jewish community as a whole and as individuals before and after the Holocaust. Deducing as such must occur with cognizance. Mainly, there is difficulty in judging the behavior of bystanders when it is impossible to ascertain how the critic would have behaved under similar circumstances. Mindful of possible ambiguity, the general Holocaust calculus nevertheless has two parts: the first operation states that it takes only a few evil persons to assassinate many. The second operation states that many righteous humans may save, at most, a finite number of fellow beings.

Informed by such evidence and caveats, my objective is to present a glimpse of Jewish Thessaloniki with special emphasis to the Holocaust. This vast topic may be broadly divided into the following subtopics: 1) The history of Jewish Thessaloniki up to the Holocaust, 2) The Holocaust of the Jews of Thessaloniki and 3) The post war aftermath encompassing the current status and future of Jewish Thessaloniki in general and the preservation of the remnants of Sephardic heritage and traditions.

The goal to which I aspire is to provide a sequence of historical events and by so doing, to attempt to stimulate interest in further research. A cursory non-web or web based search lays bare both the surprising little we know, as well as the fact that scholarly or non-scholarly published work, in most instances, employs the repetition of a bare minimum of facts and data. Informed by such a reality, one might be tempted to believe that a particular subject especially that of the annihilation is taboo. Gaps in the historiography of Greece do a disservice both to the remaining Jewish Greeks in particular and the whole Hellenic nation in general. It is encouraging that research has recently accelerated, albeit at a slow pace. These endeavors are nevertheless a welcome step in the right direction. The main reason that research should accelerate at full speed is the inescapable reality of the biological attrition of the ranks of eyewitnesses and Holocaust survivors.3

The present essay argues that studies of early modern Iberian societies have too often been insufficiently grounded in the study of pre-modern Jewish culture, and that consequently historical scholarship on judeoconversos has reproduced medieval Christian notions of Jewishness in addressing the key question of identity. The article illustrates this phenomenon of erroneous categorization via a late medieval example as well as modern ones that echo and compound it. Finally, the article outlines dominant aspects of traditional Judaic culture as collective, public, and all-encompassing, that preclude the facile use of the category of “[crypto-] Judaism” to explain New Christian identities.

RESUMO
O presente ensaio argumenta que estudos de sociedades ibéricas modernas têm muitas vezes sido insuficientemente aterrados no estudo da cultura judaica pré-moderna, e que, consequentemente, estudos históricos sobre os judeoconversos tem reproduzido noções de judaicidade medievais cristãas cuando eles abordam a questão chave da identidade. O artigo ilustra este fenómeno de errada categorização através de um exemplo medieval tardio, bem como exemplos modernos que o ecoam e o complicam. Finalmente, o artigo descreve aspectos dominantes da cultura judaica tradicional, como fenómeno coletivo, público e abrangente, que impedem o uso fácil da categoria de "[cripto-] Judaísmo" para explicar as identidades novo-cristãs.

Key words:  Crypto-Judaism; conversos; historiography; Iberian Jews.
Plavras-chave:  Cripto-judaísmo; conversos; historiografia; Judeus ibéricos.