DOÑA GRACIA MENDES (Part 6) and a Jewish State in 1564

THE JEWISH STATE OF TIBERIAS
Earlier, we saw that in 1558 Doña Gracia Mendes agreed with Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to rebuild the city of Tiberias, which was practically in ruins. The Christians did not live there, nor did they claim it. And the Muslims had no interest on it. Tiberias was a no man’s land: a ghost town. Doña Gracia, her nephew Yosef Nasí and Rabbi Yosef ben Aderet began to revitalize the city, beautify it, develop industries and bring in investors, thinking of Tiberias as a future “Jewish city”. However, in 1564, when the construction of the city’s security wall was finally completed and the Jews began their return to Israel, suddenly the city of Tiberias triggered the interest of Christians and Muslims.
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
As André Aelion Brooks explains in his book on Doña Gracia Mendes (“The Woman who defied Kings”) the problem was not that the gentiles suddenly fell in love with Tiberias. The problem was that it was “the Jews” who were rebuilding it, and planned to make Tiberias a Jewish city, where eventually all the Jews of the world could have their own place, settle down and live in their ancient land in peace. Christians and Muslims were not willing to accept this. And they were willing to do whatever it took to prevent it. But why not let the Jews have their own independent place to live? In fact, a “Jewish State” should be the simplest solution to the “Jewish problem”: our enemies do not want us in their lands, they demonized us and expelled us from all their countries… Why then the illogical opposition that we Jews would have their own place?… Doesn’t make sense…
In those times – as it happens today with the State of Israel – the problem of Israel’s enemies is not political but religious. The opposition to Israel disguises itself as politics but hides a religious root. The presence of the Jewish people in Israel is a very serious theological conundrum for Islam and especially for Christianity.
THE GAME OF RELIGIOUS SUPERIORITY
For centuries, Muslims tolerated Jews living on their land as long as they submitted to the “political” authority of Islam, paid an extra tax, the jizya, and behave as second-class citizens or dhimmis. But in no way would Muslims conceive that Jews would have an independent state, much less in the Middle East, in the lands that they consider holy for Islam (these points are very clearly stated, for example, in the Founding Charter of Hamas, articles 6: “under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions, and rights are concerned for”. And 12: “Nationalism, from the point of view of the Islamic Resistance Movement, it is part of our religious creed» see more here ). Whoever ignores this point will never fully understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Going back to the times of Doña Gracia, a Muslim Sheikh began to spread the word that an ancient prophecy had been found where it was stated that if the Jews rebuilt and returned to Tiberias “the Muslim faith would disappear and the Muslims would become a nomadic people ». And despite the absurdity of this statement, Sultan Suleiman began to feel the pressure from extremists who accused him of betraying Islam. And so things began to get more difficult for the settlement of the Jews in Tiberias.
THE WANDERING JEW
But that was not all. Christianity considers itself as the religion that inherited and replaced the Jewish people and their Tora with a New Covenant or Testament. The only small problem with this theory is that the original Jews, us, should have already converted collectively to Christianity, or disappeared by the sword, something the Church tried to achieve by every possible means. But despite all their efforts, the stubborn Jewish people did not disappear or converted massively! Church leaders then held to what is known as the “wandering Jew” idea. That is to say: the reason why the Jewish people continue to exist and does not disappear is becuase Jews are paying for the sin of “deicide” (killing a god: Yeshu). And the collective suffering that the Jews should suffer for the sin of deicide is: to be “wandering from place to place for eternity”, that is: they will never have a land of their own. And obviously, they will never return to the land of Israel. Having this in mind, what was about to happen in Tiberias in 1564 represented a theological nightmare for the Christian world (similar to the existence of the State of Israel today for the Vatican, although, conveniently, this is no longer talked about…) that would shake the founding dogma of Christianity: the Replacement Theology (see here)
EUROPEAN PRESSURE
At the time of Doña Gracia, the Christian world viewed with great concern that the Jews planned to settle in an independent city, much less in the “Holy Land”. The French consul in Constantinople and other European ambassadors also pressured the Sultan demanding he stops settling the Jews in Tiberias. According to Aelion: “The idea that the Jews could regroup as an independent nation, even in an embryonic form, was horrible for the Christian world.” The pressure became very heavy for the Sultan, who was facing serious conflicts between his future successors, and constant wars against his enemies. In 1566 Sultan Suleiman died on a military expedition to Hungary and the plan to make Tiberias a Jewish city vanished.
A DREAM THAT HAD TO WAIT
The project of a Jewish colony in Tiberias did not prosper and we had to wait until 1948 for our dream – actually: a much bigger dream – to miraculously come true. Doña Gracia never made it to the land of Israel. In 1569 she left this world.  Until the last day of her life, she continued to help and save her Jewish brothers and sisters, maintaining Jewish institutions of learning and strengthening the Jewish settlements in the diaspora and in Erets Israel.
I feel it is a great injustice that the name, life, and work of this incredible ESHET CHAIL is so little known. Knowing her story, in my opinion, is not only important in order to honor her memory but mainly to learn from this virtuous woman how to use all our means and resources to help our Jewish brothers and sisters in every way we can.
יהי זכרה ברוך .
May her example be an inspiration for all of us.

!


DOÑA GRACIA MENDES (Part 5) and Yosef Nasi, Lord of Tiberias

 

LONG BEFORE HERZL
In 1536, when the inquisition arrived in Portugal, Doña Gracia and her brother-in-law Diogo Mendes moved to Flanders (Antwerp) and transferred all their assets and businesses there. Yosef Nasi, Gracia’s nephew, joined them and when Diogo passed away, he was left in charge of managing the international trade company and the bank: “Casa Mendes”. His contacts were at the highest level possible. He had diplomatic and commercial relations with Maximilian, the nephew of Emperor Charles V; with Henry II the king of France, and rubbed shoulders with the European nobility. His ultimate goal was to move all of their fortune and assets to Turkey and avoid the greedy eye of the inquisition that wanted so badly to confiscate his possessions. In 1554 he finally arrived in Constantinople, where he was able to openly practice Judaism. There he married his cousin and fiancée, Reina, the daughter of Doña Gracia Mendes. And now, with Yosef Nasí by her side, Doña Gracia decided to fulfill the biggest and most ambitious project of her life. A project that could be considered messianic: to establish a “sanctuary city” for all the Jews of the world in the land of Israel.
 
DOGS AND JEWS
There have always been Jews in Israel. They were an unwanted minority. Parias and persona non grata. In the small city of Tsefat, Safed, in the north of Israel, an important Rabbinical center led by Rabbi Yosef Caro was developing, which would later also become a center for Qabbala study. The Jews of Tsefat were mostly Sephardic refugees who, after very dangerous journeys, had managed to reach Israel (I tell this in more detail in my book “Forgotten Giants”). In Yerushalayim Jews –very few–lived in an absolutely miserable situation. Jerusalem was a city over which, Christians and Muslims had fought, for centuries. The Jews who sacrificed themselves to live in the Holy City were hated by both. I am copying literally (and without euphemisms) a document that will give us an idea of ​​the situation of the Jews of Jerusalem at that time. This horrible text belongs to the book “Il trattato di Terra Santa e dell’Oriente” written by a contemporary Franciscan priest named Francesco Suriano: “These dogs, the Jews, are trampled, beaten and tortured, as they deserve. They live on this earth in conditions of such humiliation that words cannot describe. And particularly in Jerusalem… where even the Muslims treat them worse than dogs.”
 
TIBERIA: A GHOST CITY
The city of Tsefat was in the municipality of Tiberias, which belonged to the Ottoman empire. But Tiberias itself was practically in ruins. It was a place that nobody was interested in. The Christians did not want it and the Muslims had no claim to it. The destroyed city that had been the most important rabbinic center in Israel for 800 years (200 to 1000) was now abandoned and served as a refuge for bandits and criminals. Doña Gracia then had a wonderful idea: she offered the Sultan to take care of the city of Tiberias, populate it, and develop it commercially in a way that would produce taxes for the royal treasury. In the year 1558 Suleiman gave Doña Gracia the concession of the city and appointed Yosef Nasí as “The Lord of Tiberias”, the governor of the city, who would enjoy total independence to do what he wanted, while the collection of taxes –1,000 gold pieces per year-– was maintained. The project of Doña Gracia and Don Yosef, which had the approval of the Sultan, was that once the city was built, all the Jews of the world would have a place to settle and live in peace and security. Especially those who needed it most urgently: the anusim, the Sephardim refugees from Spain and Portugal, who lived escaping from one place to another in Europe, practicing a religion that had been imposed on them by force. This project would be the realization of Doña Gracia’s greatest dream: after having saved thousands of Jews from the inquisition and captivity, closing the circle, and giving her beloved people the opportunity to live free and safe, IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL!
 
THE FIRST KEREN KAYEMET
In 1561 Yosef Nasí together with Rabbi Yosef Ben Aderet began the construction of the walls, something essential for the safety and security of the city. They set out to beautify Tiberia and develop it commercially. Just as the Keren Kayemet leIsrael did 400 years later, they began by planting trees: orange trees, pines, and white mulberry trees for silkworm breeding, a very profitable industry that would develop in Tiberias. Don Yosef Nasí also invited the most important Jewish manufacturers in Europe, especially from Venice, to transfer their textile factories to Tiberias. His plan was for Tiberias, “the Jewish State” to become the international center of the textile industry. They also founded a Synagogue and a Bet ha-midrash, a Torah study house, led by Rabbi Elazar ben Yohai.
 
ALIYA AND FREE TICKETS!
The word that the Jews would have their own “safe place” created enormous enthusiasm. Don Yosef sent ships to various European cities to transfer the anusim for free on his ships. Many Jews, those of Ancona for example, were so poor that they did not have the money to get to the port. There are documents that show Rabbis who collected money to send Shelichim, to locate these Jews and assist them economically so that they could reach European ports and continue the journey toward Ertz Israel. Additionally, a very beautiful mansion was being built in Tiberias: the residence where Doña Gracia Mendes would live, when she very soon come from Turkey.
 
In December 1564 the city’s protective walls, which exist to this day, were finally finished. The first Jews began to arrive from Portugal, Italy and Turkey, to the promised land, which was now an earthly paradise, where the fresh evening wind perfumed the beautiful city with the scent of pine and orange trees.
 
To be continued


Was Christopher Columbus Jewish?

The last name Colón, or Columbus, was typically a Jewish last name, originating from the Hebrew name Yona (“colomba,” which is Italian for “dove”). There was a famous Spanish Rabbi named “Rabbenu Yona” (d. 1264), as well as one of the most celebrated rabbis of that time and the most essential Italian jurist Rabbi (poseq) of all times, Rabbi Yosef Colón (Mahariq, 1420-1480). In Spain, in one of the earliest “autos de fe” (1461), Thomas Colón, along with his wife and son, were burned alive for committing the crime of “Judaizing” (performing Jewish practices, such as lighting candles or changing clothes on Friday afternoon, or standing silently while facing a wall [reciting the ‘Amida], etc.).

Of course, if Columbus was Jewish, he would have been expected to hide his identity, especially if his intention was to obtain the political support of the crown of Spain or Portugal for his expedition. At the time of the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabel (י”ש), being Jewish was not a title that granted many privileges in the Spanish court. Many Jews, probably more than 200,000, lived a double life. They, or their parents, had been forcibly converted since the start of the “pogroms” and riots in 1391. They lived outwardly as Catholics, but at home, among relatives and family (often risking their lives), they tried to live as Jews. These secret Jews were called by many different names: “marranos,” in the vernacular, converts, new Christians, or “chuetas” in southern Spain.

There is much evidence indicating the Jewishness of Columbus, such as his signature, etc. Less known facts are:

  1. In his will, Colón left 10% of his profits to the poor and the maidens who needed to be married. These gestures are two important precepts in Judaism, ma’aser kesafim, donating 10% of your income to charity, and within the Mitsva of Tsedaqa, as the Shulchan Aruch says, the most meritorious act and the noblest charity is to support young girls who need to get married and do not have sufficient means to do so (hakhnasat kala, Yore De’a 249: 15).
  2. Columbus had to leave the Port of Palos on August 2nd, 1492. That year, August 2nd was the day of Tisha BeAv, the day of national mourning for the Jewish people. Columbus, for reasons that could not be explained otherwise (in climatic terms, etc.), had his 90 men embark on August 2nd, but he left the port the next day, Friday, August 3rd, half an hour before the start of Shabbat. “Coincidentally,” August 3rd was also the last day the infamous Edict of Expulsion established for Jews to choose between converting or leaving Spain.
  3. All supporters of Columbus were Jewish or Jewish converts. Funding for the expedition of Columbus did not come, as the legend says, from the “money obtained by Queen Isabel” when she sold her personal jewelry. Columbus needed the political and legal support of the Queen to legally conquer new lands, and for this, he convinced the Queen that in the new lands (presumably, India), Spain could further spread Christianity. Among the Jews who supported Columbus were, for example, the famous Rabbi Don Isaac Abarbanel, one of the wealthiest men in Spain, and Rabbi Abraham Zacuto, Spain’s most famous astronomer at the time, who gave Columbus his astrolabe and its Perpetual Calendar, both new and essential tools for navigation. Columbus’s major donors were Jewish converts, among others, Luis de Santangel and Gabriel Sanchez. When Columbus returned from his first expedition, he wrote two letters thanking for the support he received: one letter to Sanchez and the other one to Santangel. He did not write to the Kings. But why would Spanish Jews and converts support Columbus’s enterprise enthusiastically? If Columbus’s intention was to promote the Christian faith, why would these persecuted Jews, who were forcibly converted to Christianity, and their relatives and friends were tortured and murdered in “autos de fe” for “resisting” practicing the Christian faith, support Columbus’s project?
  4. In his “Diary of the First Trip” of 1492, Columbus revealed his incredible master plan. There, Columbus writes that with the profits from the conquest of new lands, he wants to “free Jerusalem and build la casa sancta (the ‘holy house’).” Columbus says this repeatedly in his diaries. What moved Columbus to acquire gold and riches, in his own words, was his desire to finance a large army of over 100,000 soldiers, to liberate Jerusalem from the hands of the Moors and “build the holy house there.” For Christians, the conquest of Jerusalem was justified in order to liberate the “holy sepulcher,” the most sacred place in the world for Christians. In Christian terms, the expression “building a holy house in Jerusalem” has no sense. Obviously, as we Jews know, the building of the “Holy House in Jerusalem” can be nothing else but the Bet haMiqdash. The intention of Columbus, and the Jews who so enthusiastically supported him was that with the proceeds from a new world, Jerusalem could be conquered, and the Jews, including the 500,000-800,000 Jews who left Spain on the same day Columbus sailed from Palos, could finally return to their home, Israel, and see their “Casa Sancta” rebuilt (בבי”א), which was and still is, the highest aspiration of the Jewish people.
    All this information, as far as I know, is not very well known and, I believe, is not usually taught even at Jewish schools. 
     For what is probably the best article on this matter, where you can find all the information you need to prove the Jewish identity of Columbus, see here, Rabbi Yosef Faur: “Columbus and the discovery of America, a Jewish Perspective” .  
    In recent years (2013) a non-Jewish Hispanic businessman from Miami,  Charles Patrick Garcia, speaking to CNN, made Columbus Jewish identity better known.  Read this.  For those who want to practice their Spanish, there is also an interview to Garcia on this subject by “CNN en Español”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHgjthCU7v