WHO IS A SEFARDIC JEW TODAY?

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

In the Jewish world today there are two major groups that are very different from one another: Ashkenazic Jews trace their background to Eastern Europe, and  Sefardic Jews to Spain. However, because in the US most of the Jews are from Russia and the Ukraine, there is a tendency to assume that the way they practice their Judaism is the authentic one. This is a big mistake, for there are many Sefardic Jews in the States and around the world that practice their faith differently. And here is a personal note: When I came to the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in 1961, the custom was for rabbinic students to lead the daily services in Ashkenazic Hebrew. When my turn came, I told Dr. Nelson Glueck, the president, that I was a Sefardic Jew from Turkey and did not know how to read the Hebrew prayers in Ashkenazic. He said: “for you I will a make an exception,” and I led the morning services in Sefardic. From then on, all my classmates followed my lead and soon the chapel practice was changed in favor of Sefardic Hebrew.  

The term “Sefarad” appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, in the writings of a little known prophet by the name of Obadiah. He probably lived in ancient Judah, in the 6-5^th cent. BCE, and in v.20, he mentions  “the Jerusalemite exile community of Sefarad,” most likely referring to Jews who lived in Asia Minor, which in Persian cuneiform texts is called “Saparda.” However, the Targum of Jonathan (probably 2^nd cent CE), placed Sefarad in Spain. And, for centuries, Spain has been called Sefarad in Jewish texts.

So, technically speaking, a Sefardic Jew is one who can trace his/her family back to those who were expelled from Spain in 1492, after having lived in the country for more than 700 years, and having created an incredibly rich Jewish culture with luminaries such as Ibn Ezra (d.1167), Nahmanides (d.1270) or Maimonides (d. 1204). After 1492, Jews migrated  slowly but surely back to north Africa, but also to many parts of Europe, the Balkans, and various places in the Ottoman Empire, where Jews were openly welcomed. It is even reported that the Ottoman sultan Beyazid II (1447-1512) had said: “You call Ferdinand (who, along his wife, Isabella, signed the edict of expulsion) a wise king? He made his country poor and enriched mine?”

The Jewish world is not monolithic. Even Ashkenazic Jews who speak Yiddish , a type of medieval German, are divided into two sub-groups, namely, Litvaks and Galizianers. Sefardic Jews also have their own sub-groups. Those who left Spain brought with them, Ladino, that is, medieval Spanish, but they quickly adapted to the country of their residence and began to speak the language of their neighbors, such as Arabic in many Moslem countries (“Edot Hamizrah”) as well as Ladino in many parts of Europe and in the old Ottoman empire, including Palestine, before the State of Israel was established in 1948. In fact, up until now, in Turkey, we  Jews spoke Ladino at home, Turkish in the streets but our cultural language was French. And then there are Persian Jews, Yemenite Jews or Jews of Bombay who did not originate in Spain but because their ritual pattern is closer to the Sefardic Jews, they too are deemed Sefardic in the Jewish world.

In the past, Sefardic and Ashkenazic Jews split on almost every aspect of Jewish life: they pronounced Hebrew differently, used different prayers, had different customs regarding language, life-cycle events, food, music etc. Just read the novel “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” (2013) by Sarit Yishai-Levi to understand the animosity that existed in Israel between these two groups up until recent times.

Today, there are Sefardic Jews in every part of the world, including Israel-a large proportion- but also in Europe, in the Americas (including many Portuguese Jews), even in Spain. In fact, in 2015, the Spanish parliament, sighting the end of “centuries of estrangement,” unanimously passed a law, inviting back Sefardic Jews who were exiled in 1492. In our time, there is a greater number of intra-faith marriages between Ashkenazic and Sefardic Jews (mine included), and modern Israel, having adopted the Sefardic pronunciation of Hebrew along with the Ashkenazic script, is trying the bridge the gap. However, many differences still exist, and the modern world will need to accept that  Yiddish speaking Eastern European Jews are not the only authentic Jews in the world but that there are many Sefardic Jews who keep distinct traditions of their own. Jews are diverse, and this example is good for the world, because it compels us to respect others who are different from us.

IS THE BIBLE TRUE?

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

Dr. Samuel Sandmel, a biblical scholar and my teacher, claims that “More people praise the Bible than read it; more people read it than understand it, and more people understand it than conscientiously follow it.” (The Hebrew Scriptures, NY: Knoff, 1963, 3). There is no doubt that the Bible is a best seller. The question is whether it is also historically reliable. Is it historically correct? And, on this issue, we have different opinions. Most traditionalists maintain that it is, whereas many biblical scholars have great doubts about it.

The Hebrew Bible is a difficult book to read and understand:

1.     The stories it tells come from a pre-modern and pre-scientific time, emerging out of an agricultural and patriarchal background.

2.     The Hebrew Bible (as well as the New Testament) is a collection of books, each having its own religious perspective. They were assembled over a long period of time. If there is a unified message of all the books, it is that God and the biblical Israelites have a special relationship, namely a covenant, requiring that instead of serving many gods, they must worship only One invisible God.

3.     All biblical books are attributed to ancient writers. The traditional assumption is that, for example,  Moses wrote the Pentateuch, and Joshua wrote his book. In reality, we do not know who were the real authors or compilers, and when exactly they were composed.

4.     Most of the biblical material is legendary in nature; most likely, stories about the Israelites and their leaders circulated orally for a long period before someone or a group of writers put them down on parchment. 

5.     The Hebrew Bible does not seem to be interested in pure history. True, the broad outline is there: namely, the emergence of the Israelites in ancient Canaan, the exodus from Egypt, the split of the kingdom into Judah and Israel, the destruction of the 1st Temple, the expulsion to Babylon, the return from Babylon and the building of the 2^nd temple. However, the details are not reliable. Often, the biblical texts refer to outside sources for real historical information,  such as,  “The Book of Yashar” (Josh. 10:13), “The History of the Kings of Judah” (II K 15: 6), or “The History of the Kings of Israel” (II K 14: 28)-none of which has survived.

6.     The Hebrew Bible also seems to ignore some important historical data that had a great impact on the lives of biblical Jews. For example, missing is the major battle of Karkar of 853 BCE that took place between a coalition of 11 Syrian kings, including King Ahab of Israel,  and Shamaneser, the king of Assyria. Other important events are recorded without giving any details, such as “And Tibni died” (I K 16: 22; He was the rival of Omri to the throne of Israel).

7.     Some biblical numbers are symbolic, like 7 (e.g., seven days of creation, seven branches of the temple candlestick) or 40 (e.g. raining forty days and forty nights during the Flood , Israelites spending 40 years in the desert). Others are impossible, like, Avraham living for 175 years (Gen.25:7) or Isaac living for 180 years (Gen.35:28.

8.     Some biblical texts are recorded twice, with considerable differences. For example, there are two Genesis stories about the creation of the world (Gen.1 and 2); there are two sets of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20 and Deut.5).

9.     Some biblical stories seem to have a literary pattern: For example, in the Book of Judges, after Israelites sin, God punishes them. Then people pray to God and God saves them through a human leader. See, for example the case of Othniel (Judg. 3:3-11) or the case of Ehud (Judg.3: 12-30).

10.  Not clear about the original setting of the events, today, most Jews read the Hebrew Bible through the eyes of the ancient Rabbis just as most Christians read it through the eyes of the Church Fathers.

 The best that can be said is that the Hebrew Bible contains the legendary story of the Israelites in the ancient Near East. It is primarily a book of religion, dealing with patriarchal stories, prophetic and wisdom sayings, temple ritual, life-cycle events and festivals. It represents the foundational text of Judaism. After the Roman destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE, its multilayered message was adapted by the Rabbis to new historical circumstances, and continues to be reinterpreted by modern teachers today.

OUR STUDY GROUP

 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

There is a rabbinic teaching that states that the study of Torah is equal to all other commandments (See, M, Peah, 1:1). This is a typical saying of the ancient Rabbis that Torah study, namely the study of Scriptures and rabbinic wisdom, should be given a high priority. [For other examples, see: The observance of the Sabbath is equal to all other commandments (T Jer. Ber. 9a) or, the act of circumcision is equal to all other commandments (T Jer. Ned. 12b)]

I am privileged to belong to a rabbinic group that meets every Monday morning. We  have ten regulars (Don Splansky, Hank Zoob, Howard Kosovske, Neil Kominsky, Bob Orkand, Frank Waldorf, Cliff Librach, Ira Korinow, Harold Robinson and me), and often Steve Arnold joins us. Though we only have men in the group now, in the past, we had Michele Lenke, before she moved to LA. We are also all retired Reform Rabbis who live in the greater Boston area. The group has met for almost 40 years. In the past, many of us used to gather in the home of our colleague Bernard Mehlman, then we moved the sessions to Temple Beth Shalom, where I am the Emeritus, in Needham. MA, and now, because of the Corona virus, we meet regularly by zoom. We take no breaks. As Neil reminds us, “where are you going anyway?”

Our sessions begin at 10 am sharp. Frank is the convener. He lets us in. For the first 15-20 minutes, we discuss current events, often vociferously but with a good sense of humor, and then, I usually play the taskmaster and call my colleagues to initiate the study session. We begin with the traditional Hebrew prayer that praises God for the opportunity we have to study Torah (“…laasok bedivre Torah”) and then we jump right into the text. In the past, we have dealt with many different rabbinic material, such as B’reshit Rabba, Mesillat Yesharim and Avot de Rabbi Nathan. Now we are going through Shir Hashirim Rabba, a rabbinic haggadic Midrash on the Song of Songs, compiled in the 9th cent. CE, Israel/Babylon, by unknown redactors, which understands the biblical love song between human lovers as a paradigm of the love between God and the people of Israel. The text is not easy, and is sprinkled with all kinds of Aramaisms, at times even containing grammatical or textual mistakes. But the content is fascinating in that it provides a new context for the biblical text of the Song of Songs as reflected in the ongoing rabbinic oral tradition.   

Each participant has his role in the group: Ira usually provides an initial translation of the biblical text, Bob has access to some commentaries in English, Don likes to refer to rabbinic commentaries in the margins of the  text, Howard always wants to know exactly what the Rabbis mean,  and I tend to be the trouble maker with my rationalistic theological approach. Our discussions are serious but we also have fun in engaging each other in important theological discourse.

I look forward to my Monday sessions with great anticipation and thoroughly enjoy the collegiality of my study partners. They are my virtual family. I recommend this format to other rabbis in the country. You will like it and you will create a havruta (“study group”) that will enrich you weekly.