The Memory Work of Jewish Spain

390 Pages·2020·20.375 MB·English

by  Daniela Flesler, Adrián Pérez Melgosa

THE MEMORY WORK
OF JEWISH SPAIN
Indiana Series in Sephardi and Mizrahi Studies
Harvey E. Goldberg and Matthias Lehmann, editors
THE MEMORY WORK OF
JEWISH SPAIN
k
DANIELA FLESLER AND
ADRIÁN PÉREZ MELGOSA
Indiana University Press
This book is a publication of
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Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-253-05010-6 (hardback)
ISBN 978-0-253-05012-0 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-253-05011-3 (ebook)
1 2 3 4 5 25 24 23 22 21 20
To Benjamin, Samuel, and Violet

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: The Memory Work of Jewish Spain 1
1. The Long Journey of Sephardi Myths 35
2. Tourism and the Embracing of Spain’s Jewish Legacy 87
3. Loss, Rescue, and Converso Dissonances
at the Sephardi Museum of Toledo 141
4. Exhibiting Jewish Heritage at the Local and
Regional Levels 197
5. M emory Entanglements: Hervás’s Jewish Inheritance
and the Francoist Repression 247
6. Returns to Sepharad 287
Conclusion: Memory and the Future 335
Works Cited 341
Index 367

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is the product of a double journey of discovery. The first in-
volved extensive travel within the emerging geography of towns, institutions,
and people engaged in the reactivation of a variety of memories of historic Jew-
ish presences in Spain. The other consisted of an intellectual voyage through
the research and interpretation of the many tasks that the memory of Jewish
Spain has been asked to perform throughout history by a variety of social actors
both within and outside of Spain. At every step in these journeys, we have ben-
efited from the generosity of many people whose advice, friendship, and hos-
pitality have made this book possible. To all of them, whether they are named
here or remain anonymous due to our faulty memories, go our deepest thanks.
Very early on, Solly Wolodarsky became a mentor and guide in both of these
journeys. Either by pointing us in the right direction, providing personal con-
nections, or by conversing with us about his own writings and thoughts on Jew-
ish Spain, Solly’s influence is present throughout this book. We know he would
have been so happy to see it in print. Esther Bendahan generously opened
the doors of her house to us, shared her deep knowledge and insights about
Sephardi history and literature, and introduced us to readings and people that
became key to the book’s development. We are so grateful for her friendship
and support. One of the people we met thanks to Esther was Daniel Quintero,
whose portrait of Samuel Halevi we had long admired. We thank Daniel and
Jane Young for the long conversations, the insights about Daniel’s work, and
their friendship.
Early in our fieldwork, Marciano de Hervás shared with us his own research
and insights about the Jewish and converso history of Hervás. His work played
a key role in our understanding and analysis of Hervás’s evolving festival.
ix