South of Sharad, The 1492 Jewish Expulsion From Spain, A Novel, Eric Z. Weintraub, author
The author could not have known how pertinent this book would become when he sat down and began the research that would lead to its publication. It is a book about the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and specifically Granada, during the reign of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, after they defeated the Moors in 1492. He could not have known that today, the Jews would once again face the likes of the Inquisitors of the Catholic Church, the Inquisitors who were cruel taskmasters that inflicted barbaric methods of torture upon their victims. He could not have known that these radical believers would be morphed into their enemies again, only they would come in a different costume and from a different religious and philosophical background. He could not have known that about five hundred and thirty years later, on the Israeli/Gaza border, on October 7th, 2023, as Jews and Muslims seemed to be trying to work toward coexisting somewhat peacefully, their very own neighbors would be massing against them. He could not have intuited that the Jews had grown complacent, once again, trusting those very enemies, and were targets anew. They would have to go to war to protect their very existence, threatened again by those who hated, feared or were jealous of them. He could not have known about the heinous surprise attack.
So, I cannot say that I enjoyed reading this book, because it was a hard book to read in light of the current events of today, in light of the barbaric murder, rape, and torture of Jews that began on October 7th, and of the hostage situation that still continues today, and in light of a war that seems to have no end, but to keep expanding. However, I am glad that I read it, even though it was a constant reminder of the jeopardy that Jewish people face as they fight to simply be allowed to live in peace.
I am Jewish, and I feel their plight viscerally. As I read this book, I shuddered with the thought that I am not even safe in the United States any longer, because here there are people marching in support of barbaric behavior and marching in support of those who are calling for the elimination and the expulsion of Jews from Israel, and everywhere else, as they support erasing the Jewish people and all infidels, from history and life, as they support even my own murder. No one thought there could be another Holocaust, yet, there has been one, and because of politics and the need for the support of certain voters, the victims are being maligned and called the aggressors committing genocide, though they are merely fighting back against those who did actually commit the genocide against them. The Jewish people of Israel, the very Jews who sought peace with their enemies, because they love life, are being maligned once more.
The author described the travails and trauma of the Jewish people during 1492, first their disbelief, and then the realization that they were being forced to leave the only home their ancestors had known for the last 1500 years, the home they had moved to after another expulsion and had peacefully shared with the Moors; he also described other difficult choices they had to face, like whether or not to convert and stay, for there would always be the question of their true devotion. He described their fears about whether or not they would be truly accepted and be safe, or would whether or not they would be constantly tested and found lacking. If they fled, where would they go? What would they sell and what would they keep? How would they move forward and still believe in their own faith after so much loss of life and possessions. He describes how some Jews behaved righteously and some did not. He describes how one must compromise to survive, even if it means you have to break the rules on occasion.
Although I found some conflicting ideas in the book, about the death of Christ and the belief in Judeo Christian values, I still thought it was an excellent, easy to read description of the past and an inciteful exploration of what motivated Jews then, and probably even into the here and now in the current war. It was intuitive in the way that it handled the choices that had to be made in Granada, even their mundane everyday decisions, like marriage, bar mitzvah, earning a living, education, and getting along with those who were different than they, in both looks, religious beliefs, stature, and lifestyle. He put me in the thick of things, so that I, too, felt as if I was experiencing their pain, fear and confusion. He, nor I, could have known or imagined that the once reviled antisemitism, would be revered again by so many in the modern age. None of us know what the future will hold for the Jews, as we watch their enemies scream from the river to the sea, which means their annihilation. We can’t know if someday someone will write a book about the atrocities committed on October 7th, or if the behavior of those mobs that called for the death of innocent people and were not maligned but praised by those in charge, will someday be condemned. Will the Jews being accused of genocide as they simply defend themselves and fight for their survival be exonerated? They are simply fighting for their very survival against those who attacked them. They are at war with an enemy! Think, could you live with the threat of your own annihilation constantly hanging over your head; then decide who is on the right side of history. The Jewish people are the victims, not the victimizers. In this book, the author highlights how the Jews fought to survive; he highlighted their courage and fortitude in their fight to continue to live. I hope we will outlast our enemies.