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Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts

Monday, October 10, 2016

Originally On LinkedIn As a Commentary Sample Of Mine: A Correlation Between Backlash Against Columbus Day & Anti Semitism?

I'd like to see if someone will undertake a study on whether the increasing backlash against Columbus Day correlates with the recent increase in Anti Semitism—whether the Anti Semitism is intentional or unintentional, and whether it is subtle or brazen—after all, Cristoforo Colombo was an Anusi (Crypto Jew; "marrano")and increasing exposure of evidence demonstrates this (not to mention that Anti Semites are also picking up on it outside of any context of Columbus Day, as hate-speech websites like Jew Watch show). Of course (and as I'm applying what I learned in my Political Research Methods class here), the following hypotheses would have to be considered:
  1. H1: The increase in the backlash against Columbus Day correlates with the recent increase in Anti Semitism, and the Anti Semitism is intentional and subtle.
  2. H2: The increase in the backlash against Columbus Day correlates with the recent increase in Anti Semitism, and the Anti Semitism is intentional and brazen.
  3. H3: The increase in the backlash against Columbus Day correlates with the recent increase in Anti Semitism, and the Anti Semitism is unintentional and subtle.
  4. H4: The increase in the backlash against Columbus Day correlates with the recent increase in Anti Semitism, and the Anti Semitism is unintentional and nonetheless brazen.
  5. H5: The increase in the backlash against Columbus Day inversely correlates with the recent increase in Anti Semitism, whether any Anti Semitism would intentional and subtle otherwise.
  6. H6: The increase in the backlash against Columbus Day inversely correlates with the recent increase in Anti Semitism, whether any Anti Semitism would be intentional and brazen otherwise.
  7. H7: The increase in the backlash against Columbus Day inversely correlates with the recent increase in Anti Semitism, whether any Anti Semitism would be unintentional and subtle otherwise.
  8. H8: The increase in the backlash against Columbus Day inversely correlates with the recent increase in Anti Semitism, whether any Anti Semitism would unintentional and brazen otherwise.
  9. ∅: No correlation between the increase in the backlash against Columbus Day and the recent increase in Anti Semitism exists.
The methodology might be something like the following:
  1. Surveying at least 1,000 Pro-Columbus Day Americans regarding a possible correlation between the increase in the backlash against Columbus Day and the recent increase in Anti Semitism.
  2. Surveying at least 1,000 Anti-Columbus Day Americans regarding a possible correlation between the increase in the backlash against Columbus Day and the recent increase in Anti Semitism.
  3. Interviewing scholars whom study the Inquisition, Christopher Columbus, the Age of Exploration and Colonialism, Native Central Americans (such as the Tainos), and Jewish history and genealogy (including Crypto-Jewish history and genealogy)
  4. Interviewing Anti-Columbus Day activists, Pro-Columbus Day activists, and employees and volunteers of organizations regarding Jewish history and gemealogy—including Crypto Jews (e.g., JewishGen—whose database I, I mention for the sake of disclosure, use to research my own family history, since I am a descendant of both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Anusim—and the Society For Crypto-Judaic Studies).
The sample groups, of course, would have to be as randomly formed and equal in number as possible; and the study would be a mixed-type—that is, a quantitative-and-qualitative—study. As for the literature review, it would have to include scholarly and non-scholarly literature on:
  1. The Inquisition
  2. Christopher Columbus
  3. The Age of Exploration and Colonialism
  4. Native Central Americans
  5. Jewish history and genealogy
  6. Anti-Columbus Day activism and activists
  7. Pro-Columbus Day activists and activism
Of course, I wouldn't be undertaking the study because I have an inherit bias in the subject and a hard time with both Excel and advanced statistical math (as my "C" grade in my Political Research Methods and my necessity of taking Statistics twice demonstrates), as well as a hard time with Literature Reviews (as I type with only finger on each hand due to Cerebral Palsy and have OCD/Anxiety-related angst over the already-angst-inducing pedantry of the MLA, the late Kate Turabian, and other citation zealots). My inherit bias, meanwhile, is demonstrated in this hypothesis:
"I stand by what I stated re Columbus, Caribeaños Nativos, and the Holocaust—also, I don't recall Jews mitigating, making light of, or denying the horrors of what Columbus did. In fact, a ben Anusim by the name of Bartolomé de las Casas worked to help and pursue justice for mistreated Americanos Nativos in his own day, which followed the day of Columbus."
Therefore, I've set up as much of the study as possible—may a professional researcher undertake the rest of the study, even if he or she gives me no mention concerning or other credit concerning the study.




Saturday, December 28, 2013

More Of (Or At Least Again) Why Only Sephardic Anusim Get Recognized

 For example, as I saw on a friend's post, "Yeh..but morano refers to jews who had to practice in secret"

Was I, a bat-Anusim quick to respond!

"[F]irst of all, "Marrano" is a nasty and exclusivist term. It means "pig [eater]" or "swine [eater]", and was used to refer only to Jews who had to deal with the Spanish Inquisition. Second of all, the correct term is "Anusim"—which includes all Jews (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi, Kaifenger, Lemba, etc.) who were forced physically, psychologically, or otherwise to pretend to convert to another religion. Third of all, "marrano" (as nasty as the term is, with the correct term being "Anusi" or "Anusit") can also apply to willing converts to other religions who nonetheless hid their Jewish ethnic identity. The term can also apply to their descendants, especially those descendants who are Anusim (Crypto, Secret, or Hidden Jews)."

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea, Part One


Prologue And Introduction
Prologue
      I first became interested in my topic for this paper when I came across a poem of the Medieval poet al-Ghazal[i]. I really had no choice in becoming interested in the topic—much less in writing the paper—, since I had to write the paper for Dr. John W. Birkenheimer’s History 362—Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean World—class. Therefore, I had to be interested in one or another way[ii].  So, as I was reading through my class textbook (Barbara H. Rosenwein’s third edition of A Short History of the Middle Ages[iii]), I found the inspiration for my topic and a source to for it to boot[iv]— the topic being the life of a Jew in the time of Al-Andalusia[v].
By the way, I did not use the term “Muslim” (“submitter”) or “Islam” (“submission”), given that those two Arabic words did (and still do) not exclusively belong to Muhammad. Besides, if and since I—as a Christian—can call myself by what was originally a Syrian pejorative for a talmid(ah)-HaDerech (follower of The Way), I am sure that Mohammedans can handle being called what they were called by others up until recently[vi][vii].  In fact, I, in reading the parts of The Legacy of Muslim Spain[viii] that were relevant to my topic, was actually a little surprised to find that even Maimonides—who did not like Messianic Jews or Messianic Judaism—found Mohammedism more dangerous than Messianic Judaism[ix] [x]. Nonetheless, Maimonides and I agreed on something.
      This is important to note so that I can be in full disclosure and not unnecessary offend anyone by my (if you will) political incorrectness. In the same vein, I used “Vaticanists” to refer to “Catholics” (“Universalists”). By the way, my dad’s relatives (and some of my mom’s relatives) were “Catholic” Anusim[xi], so I can speak about Vaticanists as such[xii]. Also, I have no reason or motive to lie about any of this—and I cited what was not knowledge that I had prior to writing this introduction and the rest of the paper, just so you know[xiii].
      I furthermore hope that you understand that, since this paper is called “Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea”, my writing was informed by my family history (See the endnotes.). As I stated before, the topic of this paper is the life of a Jew in Al-Andalusia—namely, one of my imagined(?)[xiv] ancestors in Al-Andalusia. Therefore, I had to contextualize my paper by prologuing[xv] my topic with a summary of part of my family history. Thus, I ask you to bear with me as you read this following part.
      My dad’s ancestors were Ashkenazi Jews, perhaps of Sefardi descent. For example, the Levitical Foczkos used the Arabic name “Halva” (meaning “sweetmeat”) for one of their children[xvi]. Also, Dad’s dad’s parental grandparents (né Czernecki and née Andrulewiczówna) baptized their son as “Antoni Jan Czarniecki”, who shared his birthday (October 24th) with to-be Vaticanist saint and notable Spanish clergyman Anthony Claret—Julian and Aleksjondria Alicja Andrulewiczówna Czernecki[xvii] were well aware of the events in Sefarad[xviii].
The Foczkos resigned to living as Anusim in Aranyida once they were banished from Warszawa by Foczko relatives who had not become Anusim, and some Anusi relatives were already in cities such as Gelnica. The Andrulewiczówna-Czernecki family did not become Anusim until the pogroms, although some Andrulewiczes had been Anusim and living in Gmina Sejny in Suwałki Gubernia, Polish-Russian Pale[xix] when Aleksjondria was born in Bose, Sejny[xx].
As I aforestated, I hope that you understand that my writing of “Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea” was informed by my family history. Therefore, I had to contextualize my paper by prologuing my topic with a summary of part of my family history. So, I thank you for bearing with me.



Introduction
As I stated in the prologue, I hope that you understand that my writing of “Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea” was informed by my family history. As I also stated, the topic of this paper is one of my imagined(?)[xxi] ancestors in Al-Andalusia. I have no records or access to any records of my paternal ancestors who were born prior to the 1700s or outside of Ashkenazi[xxii] Europe before then—if any were born there at all[xxiii]. My family were P’rushi[xxiv] Jews, so making my ancestor a Qara’i[xxv] Jew would have been pointless, anyway. Besides, I do not remember the Al-Andalusian  Qara’it[xxvi] instructor’s name[xxvii]; and I was going to mention her through my “ancestor” if I had remembered her name on my own. Also, while few—if any—P’rushim did follow Qara’i practice in terms of tzitziyot[xxviii],  most Sefardim[xxix] still do not use techelet[xxx] unless it comes from the chilazon or what is possibly the chilazon. What I did recall was that tallitot were not worn until the 13th Century or the 1300s[xxxi]tzitziyot were just worn on one’s outfits, and even tallitot katanot were not a concern until then.
By the way, there were natural fabrics such as linen and wool—and silk and cotton if one was lucky enough to have access to those kinds of fabrics. Thus, acrylic and other synthetic fabrics did not even exist. Furthermore and in short—and as my mom imparted to me—life was basically the same across time until the Space Age/Age of Technology[xxxii]. Even the Ages of Exploration  and Colonization[xxxiii], and the Industrial and Scientific Revolutions[xxxiv] were precendented and precendental compared to the Space Age. Keep in mind, nonetheless, that the Medieval/“Dark” Ages came before and transitioned into the  Even the Ages of Exploration  and Colonization, and the Industrial and Scientific Revolutions.
As a result, you will already have at least somewhat idea of what my “ancestor”’s life was like in the 10th-11th Centuries if you truly keep the Medieval Ages in mind and think about Medieval Spain and Portugal, Medieval Jewry, and Medieval Mediterranea. Specifics about my “ancestor”’s life and lifetime will become clear to you as you read this paper (and pay attention to the endnotes!).
To give you a general idea, nonetheless, I will tell you that my “ancestor” lived in Al-Andalusia for 120 years (929-1049[xxxv]), before the First Crusade. She, who was named Rachel Miriam HaLevit bat Yosef Ele’azar HaLevi v’Miriam[xxxvi], also kept kashrut, wore tzitziyot, lived in a patriarchal household and society, was a Levit, married a Levi cousin, and was a stay-at-home daughter and wife who—with the mandate of her family—could read and write. She followed even the “positive mitzvot”—which P’rushi women are exempted or even prohibited from doing by the P’rushi clergymen[xxxvii]. She followed Sefardi P’rushi minhag v’nusach, knew the Tanakh and halachah, etc.. She lived in Córdoba, attended a synagogue and sat on the women’s side of the mehitzah, was not allowed to make aliyot to the bimah, and provided for her own and her family’s necessities by gardening, cooking, sewing, and doing whatever other household activities Medieval and Sefardi Jewish women did.


Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea



Bibliography
Prologue And Introduction
Jayyusi, Salma Khadra, ed. The Legacy of Muslim Spain, Volume 1. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 1994.
Rosenwein, Barbara H.. A Short History Of the Middle Ages, Third Edition. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.

Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea
 Jayyusi , Salma Khadra, ed. The Legacy of Muslim Spain, Volume 1. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 1994.
Rosenwein, Barbara H.. A Short History Of the Middle Ages, Third Edition. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.
[Note as of 24 September 2013: Other sources to be used after 26 September 2013].

     



[i] Barbara H. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages, Third Edition (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009), 114. Cited on Roseinwein 137.
[ii] In other words, I was going to be either positively interested (writing about a topic which I liked—since I was actually free to choose the topic) or negatively interested (obligatory, so to speak, dragging my feet through writing a college-class paper and hopefully receiving a good grade for what work I begrudgingly did).
[iii] Barbara H. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages, Third Edition (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009).
[iv] The source being (as I later found out, two volumes of) The Legacy of Muslim Spain (Salma Khadra Jayyusi, ed., The Legacy of Muslim Spain, Volume 1 (Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 1994), 327. Also see Rosenwein 114 and 137.). 
[v] Today, Portugal and most of Spain. See Roseinwein 115 and 148.
[vi] I even read The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin once, and religiously-tolerant Deist Ben Franklin called self-identified “Muslims” by the name “Mohammedans”.
[vii] Also, I—as a Jew and a “Muslimah” to “Isa” (submitter to Jesus—the real Jesus, not Mohammed’s perversion of Jesus)—find Mohammedism (especially the more that I learn about it) offensive (and one of the tenants of Mohammedism that I immediately and especially find offensive is the idea that Ishma’el and Esau [the Arabs] replaced Isaac and Jacob).
[viii] Salma Khadra Jayyusi, ed., The Legacy of Muslim Spain, Volume 1 (Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 1994).
[ix] Ibid., 195-197.
[x] Christianity; and nowadays, many—if not most—make historical Jews seem like they favored Mohammedism over Christianity—or at least saw it as the lesser of what they saw as two evils, anyway.
[xi] Some still are—Dad’s, for example, being Roman and Byzantine. If you need more information on this, by the way, feel free to do a Google search for my family tree on Ancestry.com and my blog on Blogspot/Blogger.
[xii] To make a long story short (and to get back to my point), Vaticanists (similarly to Mohammedans after them) used a form of Replacement Theology (what I call “Replacementism”)—specifically, they replaced Mount Zion (G-d’s “holy hill”, as He says in the Old Testament) with Vatican Hill (and if you care to look at the Wikipedia entry on Vatican Hill that I once read, feel free to do so.).
[xiii] Incidentally, that whole copyright and citation drek and schpiel did not start until Queen Anne Stuart’s Copyright Act back of 1708-1710—nothing is new under the sun (as Ecclesiastes makes quite clear); but I could get my tuchus sued by feinshmekers for one little—even one little unknown—mistake in citation because of Her Royal “Highness” (or shall I say “Macher”ness or “Feinshmeke”ness?). Also, I hope that you can tell that I come from an Ashkenazi Jewish family and have some working (albeit, basically-self-taught) proficiency in Yiddish, though (given that my proficiency is limited) I am letting you choose between “Mache”ness (“big-shot”-ness) and “Feinshmeke”ness (“high-falutin”-ness) to describe the monarchical ancestor of the Modern Language Association, the American Psychological Assocation and its publication manual, and Kate Turabian and her Chicago/Humanities style.
[xiv] Or, perhaps, not so imagined if G-d really works through me in a similar way that He worked through the Bible scribes. In the Gospel writers’ cases, they were writing down the very Word of G-d. In my case, I was  writing down history passed onto me by the Holy Spirit—e.g., who knows if I did not actually write down one of the names of my ancestors?—and history based on my sources (which, as I stated, I cited).
[xv] “Prologuing” was used here as a gerund of “prologue” as a verb.
[xvi] See "Hungary Catholic Church Records, 1636-1895," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XCPB-VHH : accessed 20 Sep 2013), Halva Wyzkiewicz, 1895.
I found this record way before and seized on this fact. Although the name does have a Greek meaning as well, the Foczkos/Fockos were Roman—not Byzantine/Greek—Vaticanist Anusim in Slovakia (including Zlatá Idka and Košice—then Aranyidka and Kassa, when Slovakia was a part of Hungary) and Hungary (including Miskolc and Diósgyőr, where my great-great-granduncle Frantisek György “Frank George” Foczko was born and baptized in October of 1888, shortly before his cousin Halva). Incidentally, my grandmother Joan Gaydos Czarnecki (whose maternal grandmother was Juliana Foczková Rusznaková) followed Sefardi custom by naming my aunt “Mary Joan” for my dad’s grandmothers (Mary Czarnecki née Trudniak and Mary Gaydos née Rusnak) and herself (Ashkenazim generally did and still do not name children for living relatives, though those who follow Sefardi and Biblical custom do. Keep in mind, for example, that Absalom named his daughter “Tamar” after his sister; and John the Baptist was almost named “Zachariah” for his dad.).
[xvii]  With the latter having a brother named Ignacy Andrulewicz—perhaps for Saint Ignatius or Ignacio de Loyola, unless his parents used the common name “Ignacy”/”Ignatzy” for him
[xviii] Including what was Al-Andalusia. Sometimes, many or even all Non-Ashkenazi Jews (including Mizrahi Jews) are labeled as “Sefardim Yehudim”.
[xix] Our branch was pretty much the holdout. There was a Rochla Andrelewitz whose family did not convert, and a Jacob Androlowicz who identified as Jewish and was buried in a Roman Vaticanist cemetery—his next of kin at the time, according to his Jewish World War Two Soldiers’ card, was Mary S. Strout née Andrulewicz. By the way, a Rusznak in-law cousin tells me that “Maria” was used as a variant of “Mariam” among Jews in Hungary.  Also, I have a Foczko cousin named Mariama Focková Valková—and there was a cousin named Miriam Fockowa who was a victim of the Holocaust back in Poland.
[xx] Her parents, an unknown Andrulevičus and an unknown Morgevičutė from Stakliškės, moved from Stakliškės when her cousin Shmuli Morgovich died in April of 1882. She was born in Bose on June 26, 1882.
[xxi] See the prologue.
[xxii] Eastern, Central, and Non-Sefardi Western (e.g., German) Europe. In fact, Eastern and Central European Jews are descended from Diasporan Jews who came from places such as the Rhineland, Sefardi Jews who escaped the Inquisition and (as I cited) who escaped Al-Andalusia and the Reconquista, and “Khazar” Jews who escaped the fall of the Byzantine Empire (Sidenote: Kevin Alan Brook’s Khazaria.com is where I got a substantial amount of my prior knowledge. When I first encountered the “Khazar Theory”, I was—figuratively and literally—pulling my hair to prove that Ashkenazi Jews are Jews and not, as Anti Semites and Self-Hating Jews like to claim, Khazars and Edomite posers.).
[xxiii] See the prologue. If nothing else, the Foczko Wyzkiewiczes and Andrulewicz Czerneckis were well aware of Sefardi Jewish experiences and history.
[xxiv] Pharisee, “Rabbi”nate, “Rabbi”nical, Talmudic. “P’rushi” literally means “self separating” or “self cutting off”.
[xxv] Karaite, “Scripturalist” (“Kara” or “Qara” means “Scriptualist”, viz. “Tanakh-only”). At your own risk, see Nehemia Gordon’s Karaite Korner website (I qualify my statement with “at your own risk” because he is Anti Messianic/Anti Christian—not Anti Christ—, as I learned the hard way when he twisted my defense of his argument that “Rashi” (Shlomo Isaacides) was not Messianic. For more on this, see my YouTube video “Verbal Abuse From Nehemia Gordon And Evidence Thereof”—which Nehemia even managed to get removed with a false cyberbullying report until I uploaded it again and explained that he is a public figure. As knowledgeable as Nehemia Gordon is, he is not a trustworthy person—which is why I qualify my statement regarding Karaite Korner with “at your own risk”. A better website is http://www.karaitejudaism.org/, especially because the person does not seem to be abusive as is Nehemia Gordon. You may also want to look at http://kahana.hubpages.com/, which is maintained by a Karaite kohen and has at least some good content. Also keep in mind that Qara’im, like P’rushim, generally do not believe in Yeshua (Jesus)—though Nehemia Gordon’s affirmative “No” to the question “Do Karaites believe in Jesus?” is false, as some Qara’im (including Tzdukim— “Zadokians”, “Sadducees”, literally “Righteous Ones” [cf. Ezekiel 44:15-16, 48:11]) and P’rushim have believed in Yeshua throughout time.
[xxvi] “Karaitess”
[xxvii] All I remember is that Nehemia Gordon stated that she was in Spain in the 10th Century and that her name began with “al”, and was something like “al-Malmudah” or “al-Malhudah”. Besides, I am not going back to Nehemia’s website ever again if I can help myself.
[xxviii] And other matters as well; such as the calendar, Torah parshot, and eating the fat of the tailbone (included among chelev, or forbidden fat).
[xxix] Most Sefardim, like most Non Sefardim, are P’rushim. Even many Messianic Jews are P’rushi or follow P’rushi minhagim v’nusachim—Pharisee traditions and customs (e.g., from the Talmudim Bavlim v’Yerushalayimi).
[xxx] E.g., When I used to shop at Eichlers.com, Sefardi tallitot did not include the option for techelet. In full disclosure, by the way, I use the Microsoft® Word 2003 “Research” bar or (if I could not find what I wanted in the Research bar) Google to double check my Hebrew, prior knowledge, etc.; so I did not cite what I double checked and/or corrected unless I needed to absolutely cite it. I did not want to be compulsive about citing. By the way, as I stated before, nothing is new under the sun—so much for the MLA, the APA, Kate Turabian, and others paying attention to (if not the Word of G-d itself, at least) the wisdom of Solomon, though. Also, I have Obsessive Compulsive/Generalized Anxiety, Major Depressive, and Attention Deficit Disorders; and I did and will not kill myself with obsessive citing.
[xxxi] I cannot remember which. I just remember reading it. I have read a source that have said that tallitot were used back in the days of Sh’mu’el.
[xxxii] My mom was born in the 1950s in the United States of America, by the way.
[xxxiii] 15th-20th Centuries
[xxxiv] Including the “Age of Reason/Age of Enlightenment”; beginning with Galileo Galieli, 15th-20th Centuries
[xxxv] P’rushi years 4689-5709 AM. The Qara’im generally follow the Biblical calendar, and there are 165 missing years—thus, the years are actually probably closer to 4853/4854-4973/4974 AM. (Today is Tishri 18, 5773 AM/5774 AM; perhaps 5938/5939 [September 24-25, 2013].). The Jewish New begins for P’rushim in Tishri, and for Qara’im in Aviv.
[xxxvi] I could not write out her Hebrew name in Hebrew lettering, as Word kept giving me problems pasting it from when I typed and checked it with http://www.linguanaut.com/hebrew_keyboard.htm, translate.google.com, http://alittlehebrew.com/transliterate, and even Notepad and Blogger (to see if I could paste it unscrambled from one of those two sources).
[xxxvii] Not “rabbis”, “Chazal”, or “sages”. See Jeremiah 8:8-9 and Matthew 23:8-10.