What attracted over 400 Jewish guests from throughout the world to converge in Costa Del Sol, the picturesque Southern Riviera of Spain, to celebrate the holiday of Pesach?
For many it was the place for families as far-flung as Mexico, Australia, Panama, Israel, Hong Kong, Switzerland, France and of course Spain to be together for the Chag in a warm and picturesque venue. For empty nesters, like ourselves, on our “off year,” looking for a meaningful Chag/vacation combination, the program offered both a festive ambiance as well as English-speaking tours of Jewish sites during the four days of chol hamoed. Thus, Americans from Chicago, Los Angeles, Long Island, Maryland and even locals from West Orange and Teaneck signed on.
Elba Gran Hotel in Estepona is an elegant hotel with sculptured gardens surrounding an attractive interior. Our balcony overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. We awoke and retired to the sounds of the waves lapping onto the beach. To our right in the distance we saw the famed Rock of Gibraltar. To our left was the stretch of hotels and charming private homes that dot the curved shoreline for miles. The tour offered Ashkenazi and Sephardi minyanim led by two Sephardi and one Ashkenazi Rabbi, imported from Israel and France. (It should be noted that there were “sneak” visitations by Ashkenazim to the melodious Sephardi tefillot.) The Sedarim accommodated the requests of the guests for private as well as communal settings. The food was creative and diversified, offering many varieties of vegetable-based delicacies in the tradition of Mediterranean cuisine. The offerings were gebrokts but non-kitniyot.
Our tours began on the first day of chol hamoed at 9:30 a.m. sharp—Spanish time! From the moment we met our tour guide we were charmed. Carmen Gomez is a delightful 32-year old PhD student from Toledo. From her first “Shalom Chaverim” to her last, tearful “Shalom Chaverim” it was clear that we were in enlightened hands. Pursuing her PhD thesis in 15th-century Jewish history, specifically the daily lives of Jewish families in that era, Carmen supports herself by leading Jewish Tours for the Sepharad Experience throughout Spain. Her extensive academic background in Spanish Jewish history, her philological studies of classical Hebrew, and, we suspect, her passion for discovering the “converso” roots on her father’s side, made her the perfect accompaniment to our days of touring.
Our first destination was Granada, the chief city of eastern Andalusia. According to medieval legend, the city was founded by Jews after the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem, coinciding with the Babylonian Captivity. Referred to as “Grenada of the Jews” in the 10th century because of the influential Jewish presence, envious Muslims, enraged by the powerful status of the local Jews, rose up in 1066, causing destruction and flight. Even so, Jews remained until their final expulsion in 1492.
Our tour of Granada focused on the giant structure of the Alhambra, today a Christian cathedral, which, according to historical accounts was the site of the Declaration of Expulsion of the Jews in 1492 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Ironically, according to our local guide, the Alhambra represents the highest form of cultural cooperation among the Muslims, Christians and Jews. Sadly, today there are only 12 identifiable Jews living in Granada, no shuls, no schools.
Day two took us to Cordoba, the Land of the Rabbits. The description of the wealth of the Jewish inhabitants of Cordoba by the 10th century Jewish statesman Hasdai Ibn Shaprut is that they owned a “cornucopia of riches” as they were a precious source of “learned merchants” who dealt with fellow Muslim and Christian mercantile families in “formal friendships.”
Cordoba remained a major center of Jewish life into the 14th century as we saw from the preserved synagogue that we visited. Built in 1315, it was constructed in Islamic style but hosts a bimah facing East, with an indentation for Torah scrolls, a gallery for women, and Pesukim from Tehillim carved into its walls. An adjacent courtyard is the site of the famed sculpture of Rambam with its rubbed-out feet. Installed in 1964, after a worldwide art competition, the statue is a popular tourist attraction for all religions. Nearby is the Jewish Museum of Cordoba, housed in a private Jewish home built in the 14th century. Today it houses a collection on loan from other museums as almost nothing was left from the expulsion in 1492. We saw textiles made of silver and gold threads by converso women for Christian clerics. One of our local tour guides was a young man who treated us to several classical Ladino songs in celebration of Pesach. Today, Cordoba hosts 12 Jewish families, consisting of no more than 25 individuals.
Our visits to Ronda and Malaga on the third day of our touring were fascinating. Ronda is the central city of the area. Situated 17,000 feet above sea level, it is divided into the Old and New Cities by a giant cliff traversed by two bridges. In medieval times, the rulers forced their slaves to bring the water to the top of the cliff by passing it up 365 steps. The center of Ronda hosts a 5000-seat amphitheater, home to the most famous bullfights in Spain. Tickets to the major annual bullfights are officially $120 to $140, depending upon the shade available, but are usually “scalped” for up to $1,000 as space is limited. The amphitheater is a walled-in, circular structure that is now used for,major concerts attracting tourists from throughout the world including that of the Three Chazzanim a few years ago. From Rondo we traveled to Malaga where we saw the impressive Alfajar Cathedral conquered by the Muslims in 1487 and re-built by the Christians in the 1770s. Malaga is a modern city, now hosting the equivalent of our Oscars. It does not host a significant Jewish community today.
Our final destination, on day four of our touring, was Gibraltar, a mere hour’s trip from Estepona. Long contested by Spain, Gibraltar is a British territory, as we saw clearly at the border when British police boarded our bus to check our passports. Our Spanish tour bus was replaced by three minivans that toured us through the city. Alex, our local guide, was a proud, native Gibraltarian, son of native Gibraltarians, husband and father to quadruplet native Gibraltarians. Having honorably served in the British military, trained in the military city within the Rock of Gibraltar, he exuded exemplary pride in his nationality as we soon learned is common to all native Gibraltarians, including those of the Jewish faith.
The views were spectacular from the various vantage points of the Rock of Gibraltar, leading out to the confluence of the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, within sight of the mountains of Morocco and Northern Africa. We also experienced walking alongside representatives of the 250 aggressive monkeys who roam freely along the mountain roads. Our visit to the Caves of Hercules was spectacular. Neanderthal Man and Ancient Greeks made their homes in these huge, magnificent limestone stalagmite and stalactite caves. Today they are illuminated by neon lights and are used as venues for musical concerts.
One of the highlights of our tour to Gibraltar, as attested to by the majority of the group, was the address by a former Mayor of Gibraltar, Solomon Levy, known as Mani, at one of the four functioning shuls in Gibraltar, the Flemish shul Nefuzot Yehuda. Levy, now 80 years old, is an active real estate entrepreneur, father to successful real estate lawyers and entrepreneurs, residents of Gibraltar and Orthodox Jews. The local government provides free general education to all children up to the age of 11, after which they attend secondary schools up to age 18. The Judaic component of their schooling is provided by the community with teachers from England and other parts of Europe. The young people often go on to Yeshivot and universities in England to further their education. But they often return to marry fellow Gibraltarians and begin families that remain on the Rock.
Levy speaks with admirable pride about his voluntary service in the British military, where he displayed his Jewish identity openly, as well as his four years of service as Mayor of Gibraltar when he joined forces with the other major clerics in a show of solidarity and British patriotism. Several of us cringed at this declaration that “Gibraltar is my Jerusalem and the real Jerusalem is my backup.” Whether an exaggeration by an obviously flamboyant individual or a genuine belief, there is no doubt that he represents a solid, practicing, Jewish community that we had not seen up to that point. Asked why there is a need for four shuls, all Sephardi, Levy remarked that before World War II, the Jewish community hosted 1800 Jews. Currently there are 800 but as the saying goes, “you need one shul to attend and the other not to attend.”
The community now hosts a small Kollel, which offers daily learning to local male residents. The women of Gibraltar are usually not included in community life, and are even excluded from Kiddushim after Shabbat services except for special occasions. The combination of extreme British patriotism and sincerely Orthodox Jewish practice was an eye-opening concept for our group. As we strolled down the main shopping area of Gibraltar, we chatted with local Jewish residents doing their last-minute Yom Tov shopping. With children in tow, they were obviously comfortable living openly as Jews, tucked away in this unique corner of the world.
As tourists from well-established Jewish communities throughout the United States, our tour through four major cities in Southern Spain was eye opening and emotional. The “Golden” centers of Jewish learning and living were totally obliterated in three of our four venues, with only small relics of the past. One remote peninsula hosted a thriving Orthodox community of only 800. In our current climate of worldwide unrest and growing Jewish targets of terrorism, are we headed for the same extinction as our Spanish ancestors? Or are we in much better shape in that we have our precious Medinat Yisrael as our “rock” and haven? Food for thought!
Another thought to ponder. William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes died on the same day, April 21, exactly 400 years ago!
For further comments about our Pesach in Spain, don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected].
By Pearl Markovitz
