Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea
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][xxxviii].
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.
Shmi[3]
Rachel Miriam HaLevit bat Yosef
Ele’azar HaLevi v’Miriam. I am the
widow of my cousin Mikha’el HaLevi
ben Mikha’el HaLevi v’Miriam. I am
also the bereft daughter, cousin, aunt, and ima[4] of many—a daughter of two, though the whole
kehillat[5] helped
them raise me; a cousin to Mikha’el
dodi[6], an aunt to numerous sons and daughters of
my brothers, and ha’ima[7]to Mikha’el and Rachel, and their respective
b'nei v’banot[8].
They have all left me
to make aliyah[9]or died here b’HaGalut b’Qordova b’Sefarad[10]. My brother Ferdinando, for example, became
a meshumad[11] and
assimilated into the kehillat-hagoyim[12]—among which there are other meshumadim, might I add. My other brother, Ya’akov, became a Mohammedi[13] and took the name “Yaqub ibn Yahudi”,
meanwhile. Both died among their respective kehillatot[14].
The hutzpah meshuga of Ferdinando, by the way, still strikes me—he dropped his Hebrew
name, Mikha’el HaLevi ben Yosef
Ele’azar HaLevi v’Miriam, and took
“Ferdinando” for his meshumad uncle “Ferdinando”. “V’l’ma?”[15]
I asked him when he had done so.
“Uncle Ferdinando took
that name, and that is all that I shall say to you about that—for is to honor
that he found Yeshua first not right?”
Yeshu[16]—may
I not even broach that subject! In fact, the Mozarabs wisely dropped Yeshu, or
“Isa”, when they decided to follow Mohammed
HaNavi—not that Mohammed was
really a navi, but he was more of one that even Yeshu.
Actually, we even helped haMohammedim when they conquered Qordova and took it m’yadim-haNotzrim[17].
I will add, though,
that I was not even born when haMohammedim took Qordova. I was born in 4691 AM, which
was a long time after the taking of Qordova. However, as the rabbis exhort,
“All of Israel is responsible for one another.” “Israel ” includes kol hatoldot Yisra’el—past and successive generations—, and I
therefore count myself as a conqueror of Qordova. After all, did we not take it
from vile yadim-ha’Ashkenazim?
Might I clarify that I do not mean achimenu v’achoteinu[18]in Khazaria and the rest of
Ashkenaz—including Sin[19], I suppose, since that is from where the
Khazars came? I do not intend to disparage our achimenu v’achoteinu b’Ashkenaz, since they are called “Ashkenazim” to mean that they are identified
as “Yehudim b’v’m’Ashkenaz”[20].
I also do not intend to commit lashon
hara[21] against the gerim tzdukim[22] m’haQazarim.
I intend to rightly
judge the vile barbarians who took Rome —who,
incidentally, blasphemously renamed Israel “Palestina”. While I also,
if I may note, find that the barbarians themselves rightly took Rome—as the Bavlim sadly took Yerushalayim when we were in the wrong and judged by
HaShem (B”H[23])—,
I find that the barbarians had no right to take Qordova—after all, we were b’Sefarad for much time when Hannibal lost Carthage, and we had never disturbed haRomim (at least mishpachti[24]did not—though I heard that some Yehudim Qordovim joined the various rioters and uprisers during the different
insurrections against Rome).
They even tried to force us to become Notzrim—“Over our dead bodies—even if we must die b’HaGalut!” one of my avot[25]is reputed to have declared. Some, however,
did become Anusim[26]—and there is still debate among the rabbis
to whether or not they are meshumadim of old, though they (as the rabbis
unanimously agree) are certainly not meshumadim in the sense that Ferdinando is a meshumad. Zichronam l’bracham[27], even if they do not make aliyah b’HaTechiyah-HaMetim b’HaAcharit-HaYamim[28]and see Yerushalayim—after all, what of Non-Anusi Jews like me? Should I die b’HaGalut and not see Yerushalayim because I could
not make aliyah? After all, some of our sages ruled that
those who die b’HaGalut v’lo
b’Yisra’el[29]will roll from their graves and still under
the ground all the way to Yerushalayim—even if they are to found on the farthest
points of the four corners of the earth (B”H)—would HaShem not have rachamim on hagalutim?
Ferdinando and Yaqub, on the other hand,
will be among those who do not awake—or, if they do awake, they will awake to
eternal punishment in Gehenna—since they willingly abandoned the mitzvot v’mishpatim that were given to us at Har Sinai. They will not see Mashiach ascend onto Har Tzion. Especially
Ferdinando will not see Mashiach, for he abandoned me in my old age and my
widowhood—and even his Yeshu exhorted his talmidim to look after the
widow and the orphan, and to show kavod to their elders.
I could not make aliyah if I wanted to do
so, for I now have 120 years of age and have been bereft of Mikha’el since I
had 91 years of age—which was b’HaShanah
4781, when he had 98 years of age.
Hashanah hazot, zot 4811[30].
I have been blessed to live 120 years—after all, HaTehillim read that a man
has only 70 years, and even only 80 years if by the fortune of his strength.
Mikha’el, on the other hand, blessedly lived around the expected number of
years.
I married Mikha’el when I was aged 23 years,
and he aged 20 years—when he was old enough to be counted in our censuses of
old, for klal Yisra’el was to be counted when they had 20 or more
years of age. We were married for 78 years, and I look forward to when we are
reunited at HaTechiyah. After all, those were 78 shanot tovot—and Mikha’el was an ish
tov, and I was honored to be his ishah.
In fact, Mikha’el humorously recited two
poems for me, and the recitation of the poems was meant for my convincing of avi v’imati[31]to have me marry Mikha’el and not—as they
had desired—my uncle who became hameshumad
“Ferdinando”—after all, the rabbis
wrote down specifically in HaSefer
Yevamot that for one to marry the
brother of her father is good. Mikha’el also noted that since Torah states that since a man must not copulate with his father’s or
mother’s sister, or his aunt’s husband, a woman must also not copulate with her
relatives of their equivalence. Avi dismissed Mikha’el with the following:
“The sages (Barikh atem), as our rabbi
has told me, would obviously want you to infer that, that is a paradox—that is,
the paradox that a woman must not copulate with her uncle, yet must do so
provided that he is her (and only her) husband (and her only husband, for would
there not be a possibility that some women may observe the minhag shel hagoyot[32] and take more than one husband for each of
their selves?). On the other hand—if it is not a paradox—, it is only that a
man may not copulate with his aunt. After all, does not HaSefer B’Midbar recount that the daughters of Israel were to marry the sons of
their fathers’ brothers? How much more so would a daughter of Israel be fulfilling the mitzvah if she married her father’s brother—provided, of course, that the
marriage is levirate at least and even
purer at most? After all, a levirate marriage is one in which the daughter of Israel
has copulated with her husband and yet been left a childless widow.
“As for the purer marriage—and let us
concern ourselves with this, since this is the kind of marriage for which ishati[33]and I have initiated shidduch[34]—, it is not even a levitate marriage—for
neither has the daughter of Israel copulated with any other son of Israel, nor
has the son of the same copulated with any other daughter of the same.”
“If I may, ach shel avi,” Mikha’el
replied, “I will have Rachel recite the poem for herself.” So, the discourse
continued as follows, then I recited the poems—which I can still recite to this
day, even though the strength of my mind has greatly diminished:
“Of course you may—she is learned. After
all, are not kol banot Yisra’el b’Sefarad—at least b’Qordova—learned? After
all, if she is to keep a vow that her father hears her speak and mandates that
she must, is she not to speak for herself in regards to a vow which she would
like to make?”
“Have our sages not stated that a woman is
to concern herself with only the matters of the house and of the family? After
all, a man is be the spiritual one—and what did HaShem (B”H) warn Chavah imenu? ‘Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall lord it over
you.’ She is, therefore, to concern herself more with the temporal than the
spiritual—as Chavah did. Obvious is the converse—that a man ought to be more
concerned with the spiritual than the temporal—as was Adam avinu.”
“Yes—what you have said is the case. But was
not Devorah—zichronah l’brachah—a shofetet over Israel ,
including over Barak? Also, does not the Mohammedan sage lament the following,
oh sage Mikha’el? ‘Our society allows no scope for the development of women’s
talents. They seem to be destined exclusively to childbirth and the care of
children, and this state of servility has destroyed their capacity for larger
matters. It is thus that we see no women endowed with moral virtues; they live
their lives like vegetables, devoting themselves to their husbands. From this
stems the misery that pervades our cities, for women outnumber men by more than
double and cannot procure the necessities of by their own labors.’
“A Mohammedan sage did not lament such—yet,
anyway, as I will concede. You have talked to the prophet who sits among the
graves of the Quarter.”
“He will lament such, and this navi has HaRu’ach HaQodesh upon him—as did the nevi’im of old. Qordova will fall, as you as well have heard from hanavi.”
“Ken[35], and hanavi advised that I
should speak for ishati.”
“She is not ishatikha[36]—yet, anyway. After all, what would make you
a better husband to her than her uncle would be to her?”
“Then let her speak for herself—Rachel, come.”
So, I came and recited
the following poems, as the Mohammedan sage al-Ghazal wrote them—and they
surely convinced avi, for he congratulated me with “Mazel tov! May you and Mikha’el be married for 120 years b’ha’olam hazeh v’b’ha’olam haba[37].”:
“She said,
‘I love you’; ‘you’re a liar’, I said,
‘[C]heat
someone else who cannot scrutinize
[T]hese
words which I can’t accept!
[F]or
truly I say, no one loves an old man!
[I]t’s
like saying, “We have tethered the wind,”
[Or] like saying, “Fire is cold” or “water
is aflame”.’”
[Of course, avi had to interject, “Do
not the mamzerim Yavanim[38] have what they call ‘ha’esh Yavani’? That makes that ‘water is aflame’.”
[Mikha’el replied, “Well, al-Ghazal did not
foresee that abominable esh
m’Gehenna—after all, whose
business is such but that of HaShem (B”H) to make water aflame? After all, only
HaShem could make the bush aflame and not have the bush burn—therefore, what
business do the mamzerim Yavanim have to make water aflame? To do so is avodah zarah in the sense that it is sorcery.
[“Therefore, let
Rachel finish. She has more to say.”]
“Her
father asked to choose between an old man
[A]nd
rich, or a poor young man.
She said:
what a difficult choice, but I should have to
[C]hoose,
then anything is happier for me
[T]han an
old man’s face.
A man
might be poor, but become rich.
[B]ut the
other one will never again be young.”
“Mazel tov! May you and Mikha’el be married for 120 years b’ha’olam hazeh v’b’ha’olam haba..”
“Toda, avi.”
“Hashidduch between you and Mikha’el is initiated—you shall get married b’bayit l’li o b’bayit haqodesh[39].”
At the time, hashanah was 4713. The time within hashanah was also HaYamim l’Chag Hanukkah l’4713[40]—and
I still wear the tzitziyot that were given to me as a wedding gift, and
they are aged 97 years. Meanwhile, Mikha’el was buried in a linen kittel on which the chevra
kadisha[41] re-sewed
the tzitziyot that he received as a wedding gift. After
all, hanavi came to our wedding and warned us of the
following:
“Rachel and Mikha’el,
firstly, let me say that Adonai (B”H) did not reveal to me that when Mikha’el
was to speak on behalf of Rachel, he would have Mikha’el summon Rachel to speak
and her behalf—mazel tov, and may you and Mikha’el be married for
120 years b’ha’olam hazeh
v’b’ha’olam haba. Secondly, let me
also warn you that while you joyously celebrate your shidduch in the mist of Qordova, Qordova will surely fall and you will not be
married for 120 years—you will be married b’ha’olam hazeh for only 78
years, though you will be remarried when Mashiach comes. When
Mashiach comes, you will be remarried b’Yerushalayim—so, rejoice
that you are married in a temporal city and will remarried in the Eternal City.
Wail, meanwhile, that you are married for only 78 years in the temporal city.
“As one Ibn Idhari
will write, ‘Weep for the splendor of Córdoba; for disaster has overtaken
her;/Fortune made her a creditor and demanded payment for the debt./She was at
the height of her beauty; life was gracious and sweet/Until all was overthrown
and today no two people are happy in her streets./Then bid her goodbye, and let
her go in peace since she must depart.’
“So are you ‘two
people’ to be unhappy when ‘she must depart’—or rather, you are to depart from
her. Through your descendants, you will depart and make aliyah, for Mikha’el will die here when he is trampled in 4791—for the
Berbers will trample him underfoot during their revolt in 4774, and he will die
as a result of being trampled—he will be dying for 18 years.
“You, Rachel, will
have to stay in Qordova to care for Mikha’el—and only your son’s son Mikha’el
ben Mikha’el will stay to care for you in turn. The rest of your family—your
son, Mikhael; and the rest of his b’nei
v’banot; your daughter, Rachel;
and her b’nei v’banot; and your son’s and daughter’s respective
spouses—will make aliyah.
“Whether this precedes
the coming of Mashiach, Adonai (B”H) has not told me. Nonetheless, Adonai (B”H)
told me to tell you about this. After all, the hearts of the Qordovim will be
hardened even long after Qordova has fallen—in one case, one Ibn Sa’id will
write, ‘Spanish Muslims are the cleanest people on the earth in respect of
their person, dress, beds and in the interior of their houses.’ This Ibn Sa’id
will neither consider nor take to heart the Jews who go to the mikvot daily, wash their garments when even a spot of filth—such as dirt or
blood—gets on them (for are the garments, on which tzitziyot are sewn, not to
be sanctified and kept holy?), do not copulate while their women are b’niddah[42], and clean their houses thoroughly during Pesach and at other necessary times during the year.
“You are not to be
toward what I have spoken as Ibn Sa’id will be toward Yehudim Qordovim—you are to consider and take to heart what Adonai (B”H) has spoken
through me and to you. You, Rachel, are the bride of Mikha’el. As you are the
bride of Mikha’el, so Yerushalayim is the bride of Israel —and
Israel
is the chosen of Adonai. Do not consider or take to heart that Qordova is—as haminim v’koferim[43] like
to call Qordova—‘the bride of
al-Andalus’—for Sefarad will fall, and Qordova will bereave Sefarad her
groom. Also, curse the name of the Eisiyit
Notzrit[44]
who is called Hroswitha—for she has blasphemously called Qordova ‘the ornament
of the world’. Only Yerushalayim is ‘the ornament of the world’, and all of the
nations will flock to it—and from the nation of Israel , your descendants will flock
back to it. As hanevi’im of old prophesied, Israel will be gathered from all
nations—including Sefarad—whereas those who are not among the remnants of the
nations will fall along with their nations.
“For example, the
Sefardim—not Yehudim Sefardim, but the goyim Sefardim—will fall
with Sefarad. Again, Adonai (B”H) has not told me whether this precedes the
coming of Mashiach. Nonetheless, Adonai (B”H) told me to tell you about this. Also
again, may you and Mikha’el be married for 78 years b’ha’olam hazeh v’b’ha’olam haba.”
With his prophecy—“kol hamegillah[45]”, as avi deridingly and
derisively called it—hanavi departed and went back among the graves of
the Quarter. Meanwhile, avi did not live to see Mikha’el ben Mikhael v’Rachel and Rachel bat Mikha’el v’Rachel
born—and since we were all known Levi’im, to denote “Levi” and “Levit” in our names
was not necessary—avi died and was buried under a tombstone that
was marked with the Levite symbol, which is next to the tombstone of imati.
The tombstone of imati, meanwhile, was marked with a palm tree—in remembrance of a Mohammedan
king who planted the first palm tree in Sefarad—and had a poem of Rav Dunash
ben Labrat, a talmid of Nasi Hasday ben Sharput, inscribed onto
it. The poem goes as follows, and it will soon be inscribed onto my own
tombstone:
“There
came a voice: ‘Awake!
Drink wine
at morning’s break.
‘Mid rose
and camphor make
A feast of
all your hours,
And low
anemones
And the palm tree skyward towers,
Where lilting singers hum
To the
throbbing of the drum,
Where
gentle viols thrum
To the
plash of fountains’ showers.
On every
lofty tree
The fruit hangs gracefully.
And all the birds in glee
Sing among the bowers.
The cooing of the dove
Sounds like a song of love.
Her mate calls from above—
Those trilling, fluting fowls.
We’ll drink on garden beds
With roses round our heads.
To banish woes and dreads
We’ll frolic and carouse.
Dainty food we’ll eat,
We’ll drink our liquor neat,
Like giants at their meat,
With appetites aroused.
When morning’s first rays shine
I’ll slaughter of the kine
Some fatlings; we shall dine
On rams and cows.
Scented with rich perfumes,
Amid thick incense plumes,
Let us await our dooms,
Spending in joy our hours.’
I chided him: ‘Be still!
How can you drink your fill
When lost is Zion hill
To the uncircumcised.
You’ve spoken like a fool!
Sloth you’ve made your rule.
In God’s last judgment, you’ll
For folly be chastised.
The Torah, God’s delight.
Is little in your sight,
While wrecked is Zion ’s height,
By foxes vandalized.
How can we be carefree
Or raise our cups in glee
When by all men are we
Rejected and despised?’”
By the way, hanavi prophesied this to my grandson Mikha’el before he died:
“You have stayed long enough to care for
your grandmother, for she shall die soon—and only shortly before her shall I
myself die. Do not stay in Qordova any longer. Do not make even aliyah, for achimikha
m’Ashekenaz need you. In fact, you
shall marry a Yehudit Ashkenazit—and with ishatikha, you shall have b’nei v’banot. Among hatoldot b’neikha
v’banotikha, one of them shall be
a Yosef Ele’azar who is surnamed ‘Nagy’—he shall be named for
your grandmother’s father, and his name shall honor the memories of Sh’mu’el HaNagid v’Hasday HaNasi. Indeed, his name shall be a play on words—for
the meaning of ‘Nagy’ is ‘gadol’[46]
in the tongue in the part of Ashkenaz which toldot b’neikha v’banotikha
shall make their home until HaTechiyah-HaMetim b’HaAcharit-HaYamim. After
all, are Sh’mu’el HaNagid v’Hasday
HaNasi not ishim gedolim and worthy of having their memories honored? Besides, your grandmother
and her mother requested that a poem of a talmid of Hasday HaNasi be
inscribed on their respective tombstones.”
This comforts me
indeed, and while I die in, hopefully, shalom.
Epilogue
Mikha’el ben Mikha’el ben Mikha’el HaLevi went to Ashkenaz—specifically,
Magyaroszág—after his grandmother died in 4810 AM. He became an av
of Yosef Ele’azar “Joseph Lazarus” Nagy, and so—according to the family tree
which I have been able to trace with the help of Ancestry.com—is Joseph’s line
down to me:
Also with the help of Ancestry.com, I used
Dad’s autosomal-DNA (atDNA) test results to trace our family’s route from 
Bibliography
Prologue
And Introduction
Jayyusi,
Salma Khadra, ed. The Legacy of Muslim Spain Leiden , the Netherlands : Brill, 1994.
Jayyusi,
Salma Khadra, ed. The Legacy of Muslim Spain Leiden , the Netherlands : Brill, 1994. Index.
Rosenwein,
Barbara H.. A Short History Of the Middle Ages, Third Edition. Toronto : University
of Toronto
Imagining(?) An Ancestor
In Al-Andalusia in Medieval
Mediterranea
Jayyusi , Salma Khadra, ed. The Legacy of
Muslim Spain Leiden , the Netherlands : Brill, 1994.
Jayyusi
, Salma Khadra, ed. The Legacy of Muslim Spain Leiden , the Netherlands : Brill, 1994. Index.
Rosenwein,
Barbara H.. A Short History Of the Middle Ages, Third Edition. Toronto : University
of Toronto
Rosenwein,
Barbara H, ed. Reading the Middle Ages: Sources From Europe, Byzantium Toronto : University of Toronto
“
2010.
[1]
Citations in bibliography, following example of Jayyusi 113-135.
[2]
Particularly from Jayyusi 113-135, 188-200, 515-545. Prior knowledge—e.g.,
sources not consulted for this paper (i.e., not in front of me and/or on the
Internet) and glanced at previously (e.g., for personal learning—e.g., JewFAQ,
which states that the Essenes might have affected Christianity, and one that
stated that John the Baptist was an Essene) also used. As I state, I have
Obsessive Compulsive/Generalized Anxiety, Major Depressive, and Attention Deficit
Disorders; and I did and will not kill myself with obsessive citing.
[3] Hebrew,
“My name [is].”
[4] Hebrew,
“mother” or “matriarch”.
[5] Hebrew,
“community” or “congregation”
[6] Hebrew,
“Michael my love”.
[7] Hebrew,
“the mother”. “Ha” means “The”.
[8] Hebrew,
“sons and daughters” or “male and female descendants”.
[11] Hebrew,
“baptized apostate”
[12] “Goy”
means “nation” or “gentile”.
[13]
“Mohammedan”.
[14] Hebrew,
“communities” or “congregations”. Unless the Hebrew that I use cannot be
clearly understood from context, I will explain it no further.
[15] “And
for what”? or “And to what [end]?”
[16]
Pejorative for “Yeshua”— acronymistic for “yemach shemo u’zichrono [or u'v'zichrono]”—“Damn
his name and memory”.
[17] “From
the hands of the Christians”.
[18] “Our
brothers and sisters
[19] Here,
all of Asia
[20] “M’”
here means “among”.
[21]
“badmouthing”—literally, “evil tongue”.
[22]
“righteous converts”
[23]
Abbreviation for “Barikh hu” or “Barukh hu”—“Blessed is [or “be”] He”.
[24] “My
family”
[25]
“Fathers” or “patriarchs”.
[26] “Crypto
Jews”—literally “hidden ones” or “forced ones”.
[27] “May
their memories be blessed.”
[28] “In the
Resurrection of the Dead In the End of Days”.
[29] “In the
Exile and not in Israel ”
[30] “The
present year is 4810.”
[31] “My
father and my mother”.
[32] “Custom
of the gentile [or pagan] women”.
[33] “My
wife”
[34] “A
match [or betrothal, etc.].”
[35] “Yes”
[36] “-ika”
denotes “your” in Biblical Hebrew”—for example, in the “Shema”, “Eloheika” is
“your God”.
[37] “In the
present world and the world to come.”
[38] “Greek
[i.e., Byzantine] bastards”. “Ha’esh” is “the light” or “the fire”.
[39] “At my
house or in the holy house [the synagogue].”
[40] “The
days of the Feast of Hanukkah 4713”.
[41] “Burial
society [or group].”
[42] “In
menstruation”.
[43] “The
heretics and apostates”
[44]
“Nazarene Esseness”—in this case, a female nun
[45] “The
whole scroll [or schpiel, in a figurative sense].”
[46] “Big
[or large or grand].”
[i]
Barbara H. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages, Third Edition
(Toronto : University of Toronto
[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
[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.).
[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
[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]
I even wrote a blog entry, “And the Problem With Being Spiritual Is? Tracey R.
Rich Is A Classical P'rushit Chauvinist..." to criticize the “rabbis” and
Ms. Rich for this.
[xxxviii]
Not “rabbis”, “Chazal”, or “sages”. See Jeremiah 8:8-9 and Matthew 23:8-10.
No comments:
Post a Comment