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In Memory of Ahmad Lutfi al-Sayyid, Egyptian Patriot, Liberal Philosopher and Political Activist, Scholar of Aristotle and Mill, and an Official Egyptian Delegate to the Inauguration of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University in 1925
14 December 2015
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For the past seven months, Sephardi Ideas Monthly has been exploring the world of piyyut: Sephardi liturgical poetry and (soul) music. We began with Israel’s piyyut revival and then turned to piyyut from the “Golden Age” of Andalusian Spain. Last month we added a new dimension to our explorations by featuring an interview with the musician, vocalist, and educator, Yair Harel,
one of the leading lights of Israel’s piyyut revival.This month Sephardi Ideas Monthly returns to Spain, but from a different angle. Instead of focusing on the particular Jewish dimension of Andalusian piyyut, we’re turning our attention to the amazing confluence of cultures─Jewish, Islamic, and Christian─that constituted the environment within which Andalusian piyyut emerged. That confluence of cultures, with its dazzling complexity, primal power, and startling mixtures, is wonderfully portrayed by María Rosa Menocal (1953-2012) in her evocative essay, “Visions of Al-Andalus,” itself the Introduction to a book co-edited by Menocal, The Literature of Al-Andalus.
 María Rosa Menocal, Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale and former director of the Whitney Humanities Center (Photo courtesy of Yale Alumni Magazine)
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Maria Rosa Menocal
Menocal opens her essay with Solomon Ibn Gabirol’s poem, “The Palace and the Garden,” an embodiment of “the intimately shared aesthetics of Hebrew and Arabic poetry” that informed so many Andalusian piyyutim. That same Andalusian receptivity was celebrated 350 years later in a Toledan synagogue, El Tránsito, which features “real Arabic (writing), along with Hebrew, integrated into… complex stucco ornamentation. And not just any Arabic, nor even some bits of the considerable body of Jewish writing done in Arabic in al-Andalus, but lines from the Qur’an itself.” |
Menocal opens her essay with Solomon Ibn Gabirol’s poem, “The Palace and the Garden,” an embodiment of “the intimately shared aesthetics of Hebrew and Arabic poetry” that informed so many Andalusian piyyutim. That same Andalusian receptivity was celebrated 350 years later in a Toledan synagogue, El Tránsito, which features “real Arabic (writing), along with Hebrew, integrated into… complex stucco ornamentation. And not just any Arabic, nor even some bits of the considerable body of Jewish writing done in Arabic in al-Andalus, but lines from the Qur’an itself.”
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How are we to wrap our heads around pious Jewish communities adorning their synagogues with passages from the Book of Psalms, Chronicles, Habbakuk, and the Qur’an? Keep in mind that when El Tránsito was constructed, Toledo was under Christian rule. There was no external pressure to honor Islam. Menocal’s answer lies in what she calls Andalusian “suppleness,” the kind of suppleness that Yair Harel referred to in last month’s Sephardi Ideas Monthly when he noted how “Sephardi piyyut, thanks to its openness, is grounded in a real desire to listen, and learn, and so it engages in an authentic dialogue that, at its best, can be truly inspiring.” For Menocal this Andalusian flexibility reflects “an openness… that permeates all aspects of its relationship with ‘other’ cultures… hungrily adoptive and adaptive, it also ends up wearing its own style, even at its most dominant and arrogant, in a way that is attractive, and thus influential.” |
Menocal’s answer lies in what she calls Andalusian “suppleness,” the kind of suppleness that Yair Harel referred to in last month’s Sephardi Ideas Monthly when he noted how “Sephardi piyyut, thanks to its openness, is grounded in a real desire to listen, and learn, and so it engages in an authentic dialogue that, at its best, can be truly inspiring.” For Menocal this Andalusian flexibility reflects “an openness… that permeates all aspects of its relationship with ‘other’ cultures… hungrily adoptive and adaptive, it also ends up wearing its own style, even at its most dominant and arrogant, in a way that is attractive, and thus influential.”
 Inscriptions inside the El Tránsito Synagogue, Toledo, Spain (Photo courtesy of Windwhistler/Wikimedia) |
Inscriptions inside the El Tránsito Synagogue, Toledo, Spain (Photo courtesy of Windwhistler/Wikimedia)|
Why the reference to “dominant and arrogant” styles? Because, for all its beauty, al-Anadalus was not the multi-cultural paradise that some well-meaning, contemporary activists and writers would have us believe. Andalusian Jews, Muslims, and Christians were engaged in contests for superiority that not infrequently turned bloody─one of the first pogroms on record occurred in 11th century Grenada. What is remarkable for contemporary purposes, however, is that even in the midst of these bloody battles, Andalusians never stopped listening to, and learning from, each other. In other words, the search for vitality trumped politics, even as the political realities were met head-on. |
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Menocal is aware of Andalusia’s political realities, but she focuses instead on the, “cultural styles… (that) flourished in modes that did not align themselves properly along political or religious frontiers.” If we want to understand the milieu in which the expansive and versatile spirit of Andalusian piyyut was born, investigating these cross-cultural modes is a good place to start. To that end, Sephardi Ideas Monthly is happy to present to our readers María Rosa Menocal’s wonderful essay, “Visions of Al-Andalus.” Sephardi Ideas Monthly thanks Cambridge University Press for generously making “Visions of Al-Andalus” available to the general public. |
Sephardi Ideas Monthly thanks Cambridge University Press for generously making “Visions of Al-Andalus” available to the general public.
14 December at 7 PM
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, New York City
Focusing on textiles, our celebration will feature original designs by Siona Benjamin and Shahin Yousefzadeh (Shahin Design Madison Avenue). Mumbai-born artist Siona Benjamin, having grown up in the enigmatic community of the Bene Israel in India, synthesizes her Jewish roots with the Hindu, Catholic, Muslim, and Zoroastrian iconography of her homeland. Shahin Yousefzadeh, a member of New York’s Persian-Jewish community, creates custom made couture fashion for professional, stylish and spirited women in New York and across the globe.
Cost: $36
Showcasing authentic music, food, dance, tea, and spices of the Silk Road
on display now through March 2016
Click here for viewing hours and additional information
Contact us by email or phone (212-548-4486) to learn about opportunities to underwrite our newly designated office spaces and publications in honor or memory of loved ones.
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Copyright © 2015 American Sephardi Federation, All rights reserved. Thank you for opting (on our websites, at an event, or by email) to receive American Sephardi Federation Programming Updates and Publications. We apologize if this message was sent in error. The American Sephardi Federation is a proud partner of the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th St., New York, NY., 10011). American Sephardi Federation | http://www.Sephardi.House | info@Sephardi.House | (212) 548-4486
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Copyright © 2015 American Sephardi Federation, All rights reserved.
Thank you for opting (on our websites, at an event, or by email) to receive American Sephardi Federation Programming Updates and Publications. We apologize if this message was sent in error.
The American Sephardi Federation is a proud partner of the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th St., New York, NY., 10011).
American Sephardi Federation | http://www.Sephardi.House | info@Sephardi.House | (212) 548-4486
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