The dispersion of Sephardi culture did not start today as in July, 31, 2024. But today marks the day it began 532 years ago.  July 31, 1492 was a dark day in Sephardi history.  Read on for details.

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In World Religions, ADRABA’s course on Medieval Jewish history, I point out that Jews were active participants in not one but two “Golden Ages” – and both were in the Islamic world.

The first transpired during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809). His empire stretched from Armenia to Tunisia. In Baghdad, the world largest city at the time, he inaugurated the Bayt al-Ḥikmah (lit. “House of Wisdom”) which attracted scholars from all over the Muslim world to translate the known world's classical knowledge into Arabic and Persian.Jews flourished in this caliphate and took up court positions as writers, advisers and artists.

The second took place in Muslim Spain.  When the Muslims first invaded Iberia in the 711, they gave Jews full religious and political freedom. However, it was under the reign of Abd al-Rahman III and his son Al Hakam II when the Jewish community began to rise in prominence. Jewish philosophers, mathematicians, astronomers and rabbinical scholars composed significant works during this period. Jewish translators also worked studiously translating Greek and Hebrew texts into Arabic.

But the output that commands the most attention today is the work of the poets like Dunash ibn Labrat (920-990), Shmuel ibn Nagrellah (993-1056), Shlomo ibn Gvirol (1021-1070), Moshe ibn Ezra (1055-1138) and Yehuda HaLevi (1075-1141).

Check out Shlomo ibn Gvirol’s poem “What’s Troubling You, My Soul“ put to music by the Israeli rock impresario Berry Sakharof below.

Suffice it to say, Sephardic Jewish poetry continues to resonate well into the 21st century.

Jewish contributions to Spain continued even after the Muslims were slowly displaced by Christian monarchs. Jews, Christians and Muslims collaborated intellectually, artistically, politically, and financially, and all three cultures shaped one another. 

However, this “convivencia” would come to an end with the Reconquista, which began almost immediately after the Muslims established themselves in Iberia in the 8th century. It culminated with the defeat of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada in 1492.

I visited the Alhambra palace in Granada. I stood in the spot where the fortress was surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella on January 2, 1492.

I also stood in the Hall of Ambassadors where, on March 31, 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella signed the Alhambra Decree, officially expelling the Jews from Spain.

I learned later that the harsh Decree was almost averted by the activism and lobbying of Don Isaac Abravanel, one of the greatest Jewish political figures in Medieval Europe.

As it was in those days, being one thing (i.e., a politician) was not enough. For example, Shmuel ibn Nagrellah was a Talmudic scholar, grammarian, philologist, soldier, merchant, politician, and, in his spare time, an influential poet. Abravanel was also a banker, renown Bible commentator and philosopher. He was arguably the last luminary of the Spanish Golden Age.

Despite his religious affiliation, he was summoned by the King of Spain to take over the state treasury. In 1490, while Tomás de Torquemada was being elevated to the position of the first Grand Inquisitor of the Tribunal of the Holy Office, Don Isaac Abravanel officially became treasurer to the King and Queen.

When rumours swirled about a possible order of expulsion for all of Spain’s Jews, Abravanel began his whisper campaign with the King and Queen. His efforts escalated along with the dire developments inside the palace, eventually reaching a point where he offered a huge sum to the King's treasury. For a moment, the King was tempted. With that money, he could fund even more military adventures or voyages of exploration!  If not for the intervention of Torquemada, (who also was the Queen’s personal confessor and spiritual advisor) who burst into the room, crucifix held aloft to admonish the Catholic Monarchs, it might have gone Abravanel’s way. 

Alas, with the signing of the Decree, Spanish Jews were given four months—until July 31—to choose between abandoning their religion or leaving Spain.

Today marks the 532nd anniversary of that sad day, when those Jews of Sepharad who refused to convert departed from the land where their families had lived for over a thousand years.

That day, it just so happened, fell on the 9th of Av in the Jewish calendar, a fast day marking the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem.

For Abravanel and tens of thousands of his fellow Jews, July 31 marked the beginning of an exile and dispersion that would bring Sephardim to Northern Africa, the Low Countries, the Ottoman Empire and the Caribbean.

Yet, despite the pain of expulsion, the resilience and determination of Sephardi Jews ensured that their rich heritage and vibrant culture continues to flourish across the globe, leaving an indelible mark on history.