The Memory Work of Jewish Spain PDF
Preview The Memory Work of Jewish Spain
THE MEMORY WORK OF JEWISH SPAIN Indiana Series in Sephardi and Mizrahi Studies Harvey E. Goldberg and Matthias Lehmann, editors THE MEMORY WORK OF JEWISH SPAIN k DANIELA FLESLER AND ADRIÁN PÉREZ MELGOSA Indiana University Press This book is a publication of Indiana University Press Office of Scholarly Publishing Herman B Wells Library 350 1320 East 10th Street Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA iupress.org © 2020 by Indiana University Press All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-0-253-05010-6 (hardback) ISBN 978-0-253-05012-0 (paperback) ISBN 978-0-253-05011-3 (ebook) 1 2 3 4 5 25 24 23 22 21 20 To Benjamin, Samuel, and Violet CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction: The Memory Work of Jewish Spain 1 1. The Long Journey of Sephardi Myths 35 2. Tourism and the Embracing of Spain’s Jewish Legacy 87 3. Loss, Rescue, and Converso Dissonances at the Sephardi Museum of Toledo 141 4. Exhibiting Jewish Heritage at the Local and Regional Levels 197 5. M emory Entanglements: Hervás’s Jewish Inheritance and the Francoist Repression 247 6. Returns to Sepharad 287 Conclusion: Memory and the Future 335 Works Cited 341 Index 367 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is the product of a double journey of discovery. The first in- volved extensive travel within the emerging geography of towns, institutions, and people engaged in the reactivation of a variety of memories of historic Jew- ish presences in Spain. The other consisted of an intellectual voyage through the research and interpretation of the many tasks that the memory of Jewish Spain has been asked to perform throughout history by a variety of social actors both within and outside of Spain. At every step in these journeys, we have ben- efited from the generosity of many people whose advice, friendship, and hos- pitality have made this book possible. To all of them, whether they are named here or remain anonymous due to our faulty memories, go our deepest thanks. Very early on, Solly Wolodarsky became a mentor and guide in both of these journeys. Either by pointing us in the right direction, providing personal con- nections, or by conversing with us about his own writings and thoughts on Jew- ish Spain, Solly’s influence is present throughout this book. We know he would have been so happy to see it in print. Esther Bendahan generously opened the doors of her house to us, shared her deep knowledge and insights about Sephardi history and literature, and introduced us to readings and people that became key to the book’s development. We are so grateful for her friendship and support. One of the people we met thanks to Esther was Daniel Quintero, whose portrait of Samuel Halevi we had long admired. We thank Daniel and Jane Young for the long conversations, the insights about Daniel’s work, and their friendship. Early in our fieldwork, Marciano de Hervás shared with us his own research and insights about the Jewish and converso history of Hervás. His work played a key role in our understanding and analysis of Hervás’s evolving festival. ix
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