Spain

From JudaismWiki

SPAIN. The first Jewish settlement in Spain is veiled by the mists of time. Did they come with the Phoenicians who had established trading stations in Andalusia? This might account for an ancient Jewish tradition that Jews settled in Spain in the time of King Solomon. However, it is evident that by the 1st century C.E., there were Jews in Spain, for the Christian apostle, Paul, spoke of visiting them there. During the unsettled times of the declining Roman empire, in which commerce and travel were very difficult, many Spanish Jews became farmers. They were held in respect by their neighbors, and Christian farmers sometimes called a Jew to bless their crops, as was the custom of the time. This condition could not be pleasing to the Christian clergy, and beginning with their Council at Elvira, in 303, councils passed various resolutions designed to break such peaceful relationships with Jews.

Beginning with the 5th century, during the early Visigoth rule of Spain, there was mutual trust between the rulers and Jews, who were merchants in, the large cities and owners of large agricultural estates, as well as artisans and workmen of all kinds. In 589, when the Visigoth King Recared became a Roman Catholic, the bishops obtained power to prohibit Judaism. Jews were given the choice of becoming Catholics or of leaving the country. This edict was not strictly enforced until the ruthless reign of King Sisebut (612-621). For a century and a half, the Jewish struggle for survival continued. Some Jews escaped from the country; some were forcibly converted and practiced Judaism secretly until the welcome Muslim invasion in 711.

In the five centuries that followed, under the rule of the various Muslim dynasties, and even under some of the newly formed Christian kingdoms, Jews had a large measure of religious freedom. Many who had fled the country returned in numbers. They also grew in power and entered every major avenue of life. Discrimination and persecution were sporadic and not too severely applied. Accompanying the increasing economic opportunities and growth, was a Jewish cultural development so rich that the period became known as the Golden Age of Spain. The Moorish scholars of Spain became the leaders in the science, poetry and philosophy of the Mediterranean lands. Under their influence, Jewish scholars, physicians, and grammarians, philosophers, poets, and commentators entered a period of brilliant creativity. The storied cities of Cordova, Toledo, Granada, and others were the homes of these men and great centers of Jewish learning. Among the first of these writers was Hasdai Ibn Shaprut, Jewish scholar and a patron of Jewish scholarship. Court physician to Caliph Abd-al-Rahaman in 10th-century Cordova, Hasdai was also a linguist, and served the ruler as interpreter and unofficial advisor in the conduct of affairs with foreign diplomats at the court. There were the great grammarians, from Menachem ben Saruk to Jonah Ibn Jannah, who charted the course of the Hebrew language and ordered its ways. Greatest in a galaxy of poets, Solomon Ibn Gabirol, Judah Ha-Levi, and Moses Ibn Ezra distilled new beauties from the ancient Hebrew tongue. The roster of famous names that illuminates this period includes Samuel Ibn Naghdella, the grocer who became a diplomat, and Moses Maimonides, the philosopher and commentator who went into exile because persecutions had begun to tarnish the Golden Age.

After the Christians completed their reconquest of Spain, the power of the Church in general and of some religious orders in particular grew very great. Gradually, the Inquisition closed in upon the Jews, and under its pressures, the Jewish communities suffered. Their diminished creativity resulted in the 13th-century Silver Age of Nahmanides, the scholar who inclined to mysticism, Rabbi Solomon Ibn Adret, the religious teacher of Barcelona, and the codifier Rabbi Jacob ben Asher, who died in 1340. In 1480 the Inquisition was set up as a permanent religious court in charge of discovering, judging and handing over for punishment all religious offenders. The final triumph of the Inquisition was achieved by the monk Thomas de Torquemada. Under his influence, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492.

Thereafter, the history of Jews in Spain is the history of the Marranos, those who had publicly accepted Christianity and secretly practiced Judaism. For centuries, the Marranos were the legitimate prey of the Inquisition, until, for all intents and purposes, it was dissolved at the close of the 18th century. In 1858, the Spanish edict of expulsion was dissolved, but few Jews returned to settle there. By 1904, there were enough of them in Madrid to form a congregation. Yet even then, Jews were not permitted to use a public building as a synagogue.

The Federación de Comunidades Israelitas de España is the central body for the Jews in Spain, and Jewish day schools exist in Barcelona, Madrid, and Málaga. There are around 50,000 Jews in Spain today. Melilla maintains an old community of Moroccan Jews. Some famous Spaniards of Jewish descent are the businesswomen Alicia and Esther Koplowitz, and the politician Enrique Múgica Herzog. The city of Murcia in the southeast of the country has a growing Jewish community and a local synagogue

SYNAGOGUES

Alicante

Beth Shalom Alicante Liberal http://www.gratisweb.com/comjudia/bethshalom/

Comunidad Judםa Beth Yisrael de Elche Centro Ciudad Alicante 03201 Modern Orthodox http://comjudiaelche.iespana.es/

Barcelona

Chabad of Barcelona Calle Joan Gamper 27 Barcelona Chabad Lubavitch http://www.jabadbarcelona.org/

Cominidad Israelita de Barcelona Avenir 24 Barcelona Conservative Tel: 2008513

Comunitat Jueva Atid de Catalunya Calle Castanyer 27 Bajos Barcelona Reform http://www.atid.info/

Benidorm

Comunidad Israelita de Alicante Aptos. Parque Loix Calle Berlin Benidorm 03500 Sephardi http://www.comisral.com/

Ceuta

Beth El C/Sargento Coriat , 5 Ceuta Tel: 06-51-32-76

Coruña

Comunidad Judia Ner Tamid La Coruña C./División Azul 1, ENTLO 4º Coruña 15010 Liberal http://www.nertamid.es/

Elche

Comunidad Judםa Beth Yisrael Elche Website Elche 03204 Modern Orthodox Tel: 0034 - 637 03 23 87

Madrid

Bet Jabad of Spain Apartado De Correos #10.117 calle Eloy Gonzalo 5A Madrid Chabad Lubavitch Tel: 34-91-445-9629 Fax: 34-91-445-9629

Beth Yaacov Balmes 3 Madrid Orthodox http://www.comjudiamadrid.org/

Congregation Bet El C/Canillas 55 2-C Madrid Masorti http://www.bet-el.org/

Jasdei Lea General Orgaz, 5 Madrid Orthodox Tel: +34629412741

Or Hayeladim c/Trinquete, 11 Madrid 28043

Majorca

Comunidad of Majorca Monsignor Palmer 3 Apt de Correos 389 Majorca Tel: 971-453-713

Malaga

Beth Minzi - Comunidad Israelita de Torremolinos Avenida Palma de Mallorca 55 local 14 Malaga 29620 Sephardi Tel: 0034952377414 Fax: 0034952054114 http://www.jewish-torremolinos.com/

Comunidad of Malaga Duquesa de Parcent 4, 3º Malaga Liberal Tel: 95 2300-246 Fax: 95-260-4094

Mallorca

Comunidad Israelita de Mallorca 3 Baixos Palma de Mallorca Mallorca 07014 Orthodox http://www.jewishmallorca.org/

Marbella

Beth El 21 Calle Jazmines, Urbanizacion El Real, Km 184 Marbella Conservative http://www.haruth.com/JewsSpainSynBethEl.html

Melilla

Issac Benarroch Calle Marina 7 North Africa Melilla

Jacob Almonznino Calle Luis de Sotomayor 4 North Africa Melilla

Salama Calle Alfonso XII 6 North Africa Melilla

Solinquinos Calle O'Donnell North Africa Melilla

Murcia

Agudat Sefarad Jewish Sephardic Cultural Asociation Lorca Medieval Synagogue Center Murcia 30004 Sephardi http://www.agudatsefarad.org/

Comunidad Judía de la Región de Murcia Murcia http://www.comjudiamurcia.org/

Oviedo

Comunidad Israelita Principado de Asturias Plaza del Fontan 11-bajo Oviedo http://www.sefarad.as/

Seville

Comunidad Israelita de Sevilla Calle Bustos Tavera 8 Seville 41003 Orthodox Tel: +34 954 274 299

Torremolinos

Beth Minzi Avda Palma de Mallorca Nº 59 Torremolinos 29620 Orthodox Tel: 095-382-952

Valencia

Comunidad Israelita de Valencia Valencia 46007 Sephardi Tel: +34 649451689 Fax: +34 963527901

Comunidad Judia Aviv de Valencia Valencia 46001 Masorti http://www.comunidadjudiaaviv.com/

Sinagoga Conservative/Masortí La Javurá Calle Uruguay 59 Valencia 46007 Masorti http://www.uscj.org/world/valencia/