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Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience | 
 enlarge | Author: Jane S. Gerber
Publisher: Free Press
Category: Book
List Price: $21.50
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Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 111955
Media: Paperback
Pages: 400
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0029115744
Dewey Decimal Number: 946
EAN: 9780029115749
ASIN: 0029115744
Publication Date: January 31, 1994
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Condition: 1994 Free Press softcover. 2 inch light stain on first page edge. Faint moisture wear on next few page edges. Cover edges are lightly creased. 1/8 invh brown spot inside back cover. Tanning on page edges. Remainder mark on bottom page edges. Good otherwise. Binding tight and square. No writing or highlighting.
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Product Description
The history of the Jews of Spain is a remarkable story that begins in the remote past and continues today. For more than a thousand years, Sepharad (the Hebrew word for Spain) was home to a large Jewish community noted for its richness and virtuosity. Summarily expelled in 1492 and forced into exile, their tragedy of expulsion marked the end of one critical phase of their history and the beginning of another. Indeed, in defiance of all logic and expectation, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain became an occasion for renewed creativity. Nor have five hundred years of wandering extinguished the identity of the Sephardic Jews, or diminished the proud memory of the dazzling civilization which they created on Spanish soil.This book is intended to serve as an introduction and scholarly guide to that history.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Scholarly overview of the history of the Sephardic Jews April 4, 2000
Esther Nebenzahl (Cascais Portugal)
24 out of 29 found this review helpful
With an outstanding narrative, Gerber has been able to compress the history of the Sephardic Jews from the early establishment in the Iberian Peninsula (around 200 BCE) to present date. This represents a wealth of information the author had to deal with, understanbly forced to narrow down on several topics. The reader will in fact have an amazing overview of the history of the Sephardic Jews in a single volume. Highly recommended to anyone interestd in the history of a people endowed with faith, courage, and determination to face adversities.
 Winner of 1993 National Jewish Book Award:Sephardic Studies October 5, 1996
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
THE JEWS OF SPAIN - A History of the Sephardic Experience Author: JANE S. GERBER Catergory listing: History/Judaica Winner of the 1993 National Jewish Book Award for Sephardic Studies An advanced and scholarly research on the history of the Tribe of Judah, (House of David) to its present status. "Jane S. Gerber is to be congratulated for her rare achievement, a work of serious popularization that will be welcomed by anyone interested in Jewish history and the Sephardic experience. The Jews of Spain compresses a wealth of information into one volume with authority, intelligence, and lucidity. It deserves the widest possible audience." -- Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi - Salo Wittmayer Baron Professor of Jewish History, Culture and Society, Columbia University "This unusually valuable book fills a long neglected need: a readable and highly accessible one-volume treatment of Sephardic Jewry from their earliest origins until today." -- Benjamin R. Gampel - Associate Professor of Jewish History, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America "Gerber has brought [a] scrupulous sense of scholarship to The Jews of Spain...Her intelligent, gracefully written history is a welcome volume for the general reader; it fill an important historical vacuum." -- Barbara Probst Solomon, The Washington Post "...Stirring and riveting...a remarkable story of creative adaptation, minority achievement, and survival." -- Publisher's Weekly
A refreshing look at a unique time and people December 31, 1998
Jbhmss007@aol.com (New York, New York)
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
Gerber presents a piece that tells the story of the often neglected Sephardic Jew. In her piece, one can appreciate this group of jewry and realize their struggles and triumphants in a world that does not understsnd their purpose. Her treatment of the inquistion material in particular is breath taking and conjures up images of the modern inquistion across Europe that was the holocaust.
"Basta mi nombre que es Abrabanel." December 3, 2005
J. H. Minde (Boca Raton, Florida and Brooklyn, New York)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
THE JEWS OF SPAIN is an eminently readable and important survey history of the Ibero-Jewish experience from Biblical times. The Jews of Sepharad (Spain) are first mentioned in the Prophetic Book of Obadiah. From this beginning in antiquity, they can trace their history on Spanish soil right down to the present day.
Often abjured and ultimately expelled in 1492, the Sephardim nonetheless contributed much to the root stock of Spain and Portugal. One scholar estimates that 70% of all Spanish/Hispanic people today can trace their line back to some Jewish forebears, and in Portugal the percentage is an even more astounding 85%. Linguists are only now recognizing the strong Hebrew influence on the Spanish language (The honorific "Don" descends from The Hebrew word for Lord, "Adon").
Despite the institutional disabilities the Jews experienced as a minority in a land that was first Greco-Roman, then Christian, then Muslim, and finally again Christian, they prospered and thrived, becoming so much a part of the fabric of Spain that certain Spanish kings had themselves declared "King of the Three Religions" and had their tombs inscribed in Latin, Arabic and Hebrew. A Jewish "Golden Age" occurred under Muslim rule in the 1000s, when Jewish courtiers became noted poets, philosophers, cartographers, merchants, and even Prime Ministers. This pattern continued for a while under the Christian Reconquest, although increasing pressures were brought upon the Jews to convert. Nationwide pogroms in 1391 caused about half of Spanish Jewry to leave the fold, and again in 1492 most Jews chose conversion rather than exile from their beloved land. All told, about 300,000 Jewish people left Spain, scattering throughout the world.
The history of these post-1492 exiles is as fascinating as their history prior to that date. They established communities everywhere from Zion to California (although many kept the keys to their homes in Spain as precious heirlooms, vowing to return some day). A zealous minority remained behind in Spain, secretly practicing Jewish rites. For most of the Conversos, however, life became a terror as the Inquisition accused them of heresy, not necessarily because they practiced Judaism, but because they were of Jewish descent, adding the concept of race to the ancient prejudice of anti-Semitism.
The Jews of Spain form a goodly portion of modern Israel's population, and since the accession of King Juan Carlos, Sephardim have returned to Spain in increasing numbers, revivifying their ancient traditions: "It is enough that I am named Abrabanel."
As a survey, THE JEWS OF SPAIN touches only lightly on many subjects, but it is a compelling introduction to this portion of world history so long unremembered.
This book is an exciting journey to adventure and despair November 12, 1997
uslawfl@aol.com (Plantation FL)
8 out of 12 found this review helpful
This book is so interesting and well written that I read it in two days --I just could not put it down.
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