A Pilgrimage to a Personality: Doña Gracia Mendesfaculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~rco450/documents/APilgrimagetoa... · A Pilgrimage to a Personality: Doña Gracia Mendes Rifka Cook

A Pilgrimage to a Personality: Doña Gracia Mendes Rifka Cook

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Northwestern University

“Rabot banot asu hayil, veat alit al kulana”.

[Many women have done worthily, but you surpass them all].

Proverbs 31: 10-31.

My purpose, in this paper, is to share with you part of my research relating to an

extraordinary Sephardi woman from the Sixteenth Century known as Doña Gracia

Mendes. Rather than merely presenting her biography, I intend to describe, in particular,

about her remarkable courage and the values we have received from her legacy. Why,

you may ask, did I choose this particular title, after considerable reflection and revision? I

feel that this title is simple, engaging, and evocative of the "journey" embodied by the life

story of this incredible woman, who would otherwise be "lost in the mists of time" if we

did not serve as pilgrims seeking to visit her again. I invite you, my readers, to travel with

me to her hearth – and her heart. It is my hope that you will be able to follow along with

me, in tracing her foosteps, through two separate parts of this paper. First, I will offer a

brief description of the political and historical moment in which Doña Gracia first

appeared. I will also describe in detail this intriguing female personage, including the

various names, by which she is known, as well as her journey from Portugal, the country

of her birth, to Turkey, her last port-of-call. Secondly, I will present the one of the

responsa which reveals somehow her life and the language the Jews of that period used

as their spoken and written language in their everyday life. It is my desire, at the

conclusion of this paper, to leave the door open, as it were, for continuing research on

this topic. With this structural outline in mind, let's embark together on this fascinating

and provocative journey into a human life.

The year 1492 is familiar to all of us. Among other events which took place then, it was

also the year in which the Jews were expelled from Spain by the document known as

Expulsion Edict or Alhambra Decree issued on Mach 31, 1492 by Spanish Monarchs


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(Isabella and Ferdinand). The Edict expresses that “No Jews were permitted to remain

within the Spanish Kingdom, and the Jew who wished to convert was welcome to stay”1

Many Jews believed that, by accepting the new religion, their lives would be more

tranquil and pleasant. Nevertheless, several Jews decided to escape from the horrors of

the Inquisition. They settled in Portugal, Israel, Italy, and in countries under the role of

the Ottoman empire. Certain families decided to go to Portugal because it was the

country nearest to Spain. Also, they were able to profess their Jewish religion there -- at

least, until 1497, the year in which the son of King Juan II asked the Spanish King for the

hand of his daughter in marriage. Nevertheless, there was a condition placed on this

union: the princess demanded that all the Jews of Portugal would be

expelled. Consequently, some Jews in the region, even when they accepted Christianity,

professed Judaism secretly. This group of Jews was identified as Marranos or New

Christians. Among the Jewish communities today, they are known as anusim2. Among

these anusim were the members of the families Mendes and de Luna. Years later, in

1528, these families came together through the marriage of Beatriz de Luna and

Francisco Mendes.

Having pinpointed the historical context in which Doña Gracia appeared, we turn to the

next segment of this Presentation. Who was this extraordinary woman, whom some even

called the "Queen Esther of the Sixteenth Century"? Gracia Nasi Mendes was born in

Portugal, in 1510, from an anus family. Her parents came to Portugal in 1492, after

fleeing the atrocities of the Inquisition. As time went on, she became known through

different names. At birth, she received the name of Beatriz de Luna Miques. In 1528,

she married Francisco Mendes, and changed her name to Beatriz Mendes. Before

Francisco died (1535), he left a will appointing her and his daughter Reyna as recipients

to his fortune. In 1537, Doña Gracia Mendes fled from Portugal with her daughter Reyna

and her sister Brianda, and arrived in Antwerp [Belgium], where they stayed with Diogo,

1 The Edict of Expulsion of the Jews - 1492 Spain. Web. August 4, 2013. http://www.sephardicstudies.org/decree.html. 2 For more information about the concept of anusim, see Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. I, pp. 170-74. Among the especially useful works cited there is B. Netanyahu, Marranos of Spain from the Late 14th to the Early 16th Centuries (1966).

http://www.sephardicstudies.org/decree.html


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brother of Francisco, Garcia’s husband. Two years later, Diogo married Garcia’s sister

Brianda. A daughter, "La Chica", was born of this union. Before Diogo died, in 1543, he

had appointed Doña Gracia as the guardian of Brianda and La Chica. Let me show you

an illustration of this family tree.

While she was in Antwerp, Doña Gracia invited her nephew Joao Miques [also known as

Joseph Nasi] to work with her. He was appointed as a partner in their business.

Moreover, she also took his last name – also using her Hebrew name Hanna, now

choosing to be called Hanna Mendes Nasi. Two years later, in 1545, Doña Gracia was

forced to leave Antwerp after King Charles V asked Gracia’s daughter to marry a noble

of his court. Gracia and her daughter, along with her sister Brianda and her daughter,

moved to Venice, where she stayed for two more years, until she was accused by her

sister in keeping with Jewish traditions. What were Brianda‘s intentions? Was it to

receive the heritance which her husband had left to her and her daughter; or to live the

frivolous life of Venice in 1547 and not be under the tutelage of her sister.

As a result of Brianda’s accusation, the Italian government confiscated all the possessions

of both sisters. Moreover, Brianda was similarly accused of Judaizing. The struggle,

which lasted several years, resulted in Doña Garcia’s receiving a deposit of half of his

fortune in the House of Currency of Venice (La Casa de la Moneda) on behalf of

Brianda’s daughter. Later, with the help of Dr. Moses Hamon, the personal physician of

the Sultan Suleiman of Turkey, Gracia managed to get out of jail with her daughter, sister

and niece. However, instead of going directly to Turkey, she decided to stop off in


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Ferrara. While in Ferrara, Doña Gracia met Rabbi Abravanel’s wife. Together, they

created a charity center to help her fellow Jews, as well as sponsoring several works of

art by both Michelangelo and Titian. During her stay, the well-known Bible of Ferrara

[in Ladino, for the Sephardic Jews] was published and dedicated to Doña Gracia. A

version in Spanish [for Christians] was likewise published and dedicated to the Duke of

Ferrara. It was translated by Yom Tov Athias (whose Christian name was Jerónimo

Vargas) and Abraham ben Salomon Usque (whose Christian name was Duarte Pinhel).

Finally, in 1552, Doña Gracia, along with her daughter, her sister, and her niece, decided

to move to Turkey, accepting the invitation reissued by the Sultan of the Ottoman

Empire, Suleiman the Magnificent. There, in Turkey, Doña Gracia is known by her

people as "Ha-giveret" (La Señora) because of her benevolent actions towards the Jews,

especially during and after one of the darkest and most painful periods in Jewish history:

the Spanish Inquisition. In order to illustrate her journey, let us look at the map3:

Up until this point, in this paper, we have described the itinerary of Doña Gracia/Hanna

Mendes Nasi/La Señora since her leaving Portugal, up to the point of her arrival in

Turkey. We also delineated, in a general manner, the problems and experiences that

touched her life during this same period, from the time she fled from Portugal until her

arrival as a guest of the Turkish Sultan. Let me turn now to present the second part of this

article: the commentary on one of the responsa in which Doña Gracia is tacitly involved.

This text, is included in the book Avkat Rochel4 , a group of responsa, whose author is

3 Cecil Roth (1977). Doña Gracia of the House of the Nasi. The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia-Jerusalem 4 Karo, Y. Avkat Rochel. Edited by Yeruham Fishel (Leiipzig, 1859). Web. August 5, 2013. Pages 69-72. http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/vl/avkatrochel/avkatrochel10.pdf


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Rabbi Joseph Karo. Before analyzing this rabbinical text, I wish to share with you,

briefly the nature of Jewish life at that time. I will then present some linguistic aspects

which I feel are important. I also wish to clarify that, from now on, for purposes of

clarity and simplification, I shall use only the name Doña Gracia to refer to this admirable

– and amazing – character.

The Jews of the Ottoman Empires were organized in Kehilot [communities]. The

members of each Kehila [community] lived in proximity to a synagogue and had its own

Chaham [rabbi]. Often, the names of these communities were taken from the land of

origin of its members –for instance, Catalonia, Aragon, and Toledo from Spain, and

Lisbon and Evora from Portugal. The practice of retaining the names from their lands of

origins served the purpose of preserving the rites, traditions, and languages or dialects

embedded in, and associated with, that original country. All these aspects of their origin

were part of the identity of the newcomers. By the Sixteenth Century, Istanbul had

between 40 and 44 synagogues and 3 Yeshivot [religious studies schools]. One of these

school was subsidized by Doña Gracia and Joseph Ha-Nasi.

The language adopted by all these communities was Judeo-Spanish, which also

assimilated and reconfigured certain words from the Hebrew and Turkish languages.

And such adaptations in terms of both their spoken and written languages served these

communities well when the inevitable need arose to communicate in quotidian matters –

notably, to seek counsel.

At that time, it was well-known that, when a person did not know what to do or how to

act in the face of a “problem”, that person would write a letter to the Rabbi, who would

then decide what to do in that case. For this reason, the people wrote letters to the rabbis

of their own localities, or of Israel, describing the situation and waiting for the reply.

Upon receiving the letter, the case was analyzed by the rabbi[s] and an answer then sent

to the sender of the original query. Such an analysis and answer to a particular case was

known, according to rabbinical terminology, as a responsa. Many of these letters were


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compiled into books under the Hebrew title Sheelot Uteshuvot (ְׁשֵאלֹות ּוְתׁשּובֹות) – literally,

questions and answers. One of these books, carrying only the title Avkat Rochel5, was

authored by Rabbi Joseph Karo ben Efraim. In this book, as I others, the majority of the

responsa employed Hebrew, with some expressions in Aramaic. I might also mention

that the whole text is written in a form of Hebrew characters known as the Rashi script.

In this paper, I will work with the responsa #80, second version, written in 1859, and

edited by Yeruham Fishel. Both versions (1791 and 1859) contain some texts written in

Ladino as well. The relevant question, relating to a monetary case, was received,

analyzed and answered by Rabbi Moshe ben Joseph Mitrani [in some publications, is

written Moses of Trani], known also as the The Mabit6.

After reading that response, we can safely infer that is connected with the sisters’ dispute

over inheritance. As I have indicated, this particular responsa, the object of my study, is

primarily written in Hebrew. It contains, as well, four texts in Ladino. It is this particular

fact which captured my interest in this fascinating responsa. It also created some

confusion in my trying to interpret certain words by the way in which they appear

written, since the one with which I am working first appeared in writing earlier, in 1791.

Let’s start with the analysis of this responsa:

This responsa begins with a sentence, in Hebrew, after which I will introduce the same

text in Ladino:

תשובת הרב מטראני על אנוס ואנוסה שנשאו בחוקות הגוים ובתנאים שמתנים הם בכתובתם ובדינת פטירתו ציוה לחלק נכסיו בענין אחר.

5 Op. Cit. 6 Web. August 5, 2013. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11304-names-personal


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Transliteration:

Teshuvat haRabi Mitrani al anus veanusa shenasu bejukot hagoyim bitnaim shematnim hem bihtuvatam ubedinat petirato tziva lechalek nejasavbinian acher

This statement can be translated thus:

"Response of Rabbi Moshe Trani relating to an anus and an anusa (new Christian/marranos) who were united in marriage according to the laws of the gentiles and, under the conditions stipulated in the marriage contract, and at the time of his death, he left instructions to the effect that their properties were to be distributed in different ways."7

Note that, when Rabbi Mitrani presents his case, he alludes to the fact, precisely at the

beginning of his answer, that the marriage was not carried out under the Jewish laws.

However, we will see that, by offering his judgment at the end of the response, he

expresses his decision that this marriage must be accepted and respected since it

conformed to the laws of the country where the marriage union took place – in this case,

Portugal. Thus, the marriage of these two persons, Francisco and Doña Gracia, is legal

because it complied with the stipulated laws of Portugal. Moreover, with respect to the

assets which Doña Gracia inherited, first from her husband and then from her brother-in-

law, it was important to ensure that all the property remain in the family as a matter of

principle. As we read further on in the response: “This is a usual practice accepted

among them [referring to the anusim], in accord with what expresses, or supersedes,

conformity to Jewish Law”.

After this brief introduction in Hebrew, which might well be regarded as the summary of

what developed in the Responsa, the Rabbi presents the case in Hebrew. The content of

the case can be summarized as follows: Reuven and Shimon belonged to a group of

anusim who were forced to convert to Christianity as stipulated in the Decree of

Alhambra (also known as the Edict of expulsion). The Responsa presents the marriage of

Reuven with Hanna (another of the anusa), and continues with a detailed description of

aspects related to the testament which Reuven wrote in foreign language [לעז [בלשון

7 Translation reviewed by Rabbi Kalman Worch, Skokie Kollel, Skokie, Illinois, USA, August 2013.


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[bilshon la'az]. It also refers to the marriage of Hanna’s sister (Rivkah), with Shimon,

brother of Reuven. The death and testament of Shimon is also included in the content of

the Responsa. Continuing to read the text, we find a description of Hanna’s travels and

the places she visited – for example, England, France, Germany, and other lands. As the

reader can see, these traits show clearly that this story is the same story as that of Doña

Gracia, who is mentioned with the name Hanna, also alluding to her sister Brianda

(Rivkah), as well as to their respective husbands Francisco (Reuven) and Diogo

(Shimon). I might mention that it is a customary practice, in texts such as those of the

same nature as Responsa, to employ the names of Hanna and Rivkah for females, and

Reuven or Shimon for males, in order to protect the original names of the people

involved in the case.

Another aspect worth mentioning is that, throughout the Responsa, there is only one

name which clearly identifies a key person in the matter of this inheritance. I am referring

to Augustine Enríquez. This name is mentioned only in of the texts that appear in Ladino,

to be specific in the second text. Birnbaum8 (2003) says that Diogo, Francisco Mendes’s

brother, designated Abraham Benveniste and Augustine Enriquez to help Doña Gracia in

whatever capacity she might need. It increases the curious mystery surrounding this case

that Diogo makes no mention of Brianda, his wife. Perhaps, as we shall see later in Doña

Gracia’s story, this is the very annoyance which precipitated and irritated the problems

between the two sisters, the very situation from which the responsa itself evolved,

compelling Brianda to pose a question to the Rabbi.

In summary, we can say that, with all the above aspects developed in about 8 pages

[inscribed in Rashi9 letters, with the majority of the texts in Hebrew, and only four texts

in Ladino], Rabbi Mitrani presents this case and delivers his judgment concerning it at

the end. The case is exceptionally challenging, and deals with an unusually tender

situation, insofar as it concerned the marriage between anusim. In such a situation,

matters of inheritance and resolutions arising from it do not lie within Jewish law, but

8 Birnbaum, M. The long Journey of Gracia Mendes. CEU Press. Central European University Press. Budapest. New York. 2003. Print.

9 August 3, 2013. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Sephardim.html


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within the law of gentiles. In the next section, I will provide an analysis of the aljamiado

[a Spanish text written in Rashi characters] texts which appear here in the Responsa.

Since the space allotted for this article is, understandably, limited, I will show briefly

some linguistics aspects of the first text. And then I will include the transcription of the

other three.

This study will include the following aspects: external structure (formal) of the texts,

words in Hebrew, some linguistic features [including the phonetic, morphological and

lexical elements found in the texts], and transliteration, according to the spelling used by

the magazine Aki Yerushalayim10. As to the External Structure (formal) of these texts:

each one of the aljamiado texts is introduced with expressions (whether words or

complete sentences) in Hebrew. Then, the beginning of the text in Ladino is identified

with parentheses. It should be pointed out that only the first and second aljamiado texts

are enclosed in parentheses. The third only starts with parentheses, whereas there is no

parentheses sign at the end of the text. The fourth is not indicated by parentheses at all. In

each of these texts, there appears an introduction in Hebrew with the complete

expression: “בלשון לעז” [bilšon laˁaz] (in a foreign language)” -- or with the abbreviation

It can, therefore, be inferred that what .”(and this is his language) [ve ze leshono] ”וז"ל“

followed was written in Hebrew, as well. The expressions in Hebrew, in the following

image, are indicated with blue rectangles. Note also the use of parentheses in this first

text:

10 May I express my gratitude and appreciation to Yehuda Tzvi, who reviewed my transcription.


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In the above image, we see that the text starts with a sentence in Hebrew:

Translation: “in a foreign language, and it is his) [bilšon laˁaz Ve-ze lešono] בלשון לעז וז"

language”). A second noteworthy characteristic of this text is the inclusion of expressions

in Hebrew in the middle and at the end. In the middle, there is the sentence: " ע"פ וכתוב עוד

בצווא הזה ”כלשון [Al pi vekatuv ˁod beɵʦavaa kilšon ha-ze] (Translation: “orally, and

written more in the testament, as in this language”) and, at the end of this text, another

expression in Hebrew: ע"כ [ˁad kan] (Translation: “until here”). It should be noted that, in

the 9th line this first text, we find also the initials, in Hebrew: נ“ד Nidón didán (Text in

Aramaic, literal translation: “the same theme/subject matter that we are discussing”).

As an illustration of what we have been explaining thus far, regarding the external or

formal structure of the text, I present the following image:

In summary, we can say that this text starts with a sentence in Hebrew -- as can be seen in

all other aljamiados texts of this Responsa. It begins with the expression: וז"ל [Veze

leshono], as a way to inform the reader that the language will now shift – or that, until

this point, the language being used is the “foreign” one.

לעז וז''ל בלשון [bilshon la"az veze leshono]

(Literal translation: In a foreign language, and is his language)

A second aspect that stands out in this text is the inclusion of expressions in Hebrew in the middle and end. In the middle the following sentence appears:

ע''פ וכתוב עוד בצווא' כלשון הזה

[al pi vekatuv ‘od betzavaa kilshon eze] (Literal translation: According to what is written in the will in this language)

And at the end of this text, is an expression in Hebrew:

ע''כ[‘ad kan]

(Literal transliteration: as yet]

It should be noted that in this first text we are also see the initials, almost immediately after the intermediate sentence:

נד' [Nidón didán]

(in Arameic, literal translation: The same the same subject matter that we are discussing)


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Translation in Judeo-Spanish11 with the text in Rashi letters:

English translation:

[These are his words.] I declare that, in all my estate, my brother Simon should have half; I have another part in what he has of his own. Even if mine, he helped to earn it. This was always my intention. He only did this out of mercy. If he dies childless, I will make my daughter Sara the heir when she becomes of age. [It was also written in his will in this language.] He also says that his wife Hana owns half of his estate, and her daughter Sara is the heiress of two-thirds of the half. They should take whatever necessary of the last third to meet the payments stated in his will, the remainder should be given to his wife Hana. [The end]

In what follows now, I will limit myself to presenting only a few brief examples by way

of illustrating the morphological and lexical aspects. Likewise, I consider it needful for

me to make it clear that I will not be working with the phonetic aspect of the text, owing

to the following reasons: First, the text with which I am working is not original. Rather, it

dates back to 1859, and the spelling which Rashi used in this version differs completely

from that which first appeared in the mid-1500’s. Second, the absence of a phonetic

alphabet of the time makes it almost, if not entirely, impossible to determine the precise

pronunciation of the grapheme employed at that time. And, last but not least, in terms of

importance, since the only remaining linguistic evidence is spelling, I will employ the 11 Following the rules of Aki Yerushalayim, Revista Kulturala Djudeo-espanyola. Jerusalem, Israel


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phonetic alphabet which the editor of Aky Yerushalayim magazine uses to transcribe

Judeo-Spanish/ladino text, which I present at the end of this analysis.

Some other linguistics aspects detected in the responsa:

The above words, underlined in red [enlo], [kela], [ami], [asu], [ensu], [dela],

[loke], which appear written together in the text, can also be seen written separately. This

is indicated by the other words underlined in green: [lo ke], [en su]. Therefore, as we

have seen, a preposition (en/a/de) or relative pronoun [ke] can be found either written

together or written separately from a pronoun [lo], an article [la], or an adjective [su].

Whenever, in principle, a feature corresponds to the joining and / or separation of words,

it is concerned with a graphic feature. Moreover, in this regard, the "order of the day"

consists of tentative hesitation! Another principle is that, by making an exhaustive list of

elements which have a tendency to be written together, we may make observations from

the same Responsa written in Ladino. This syntactic phenomenon happens, likewise, in

modern Spanish -- for example, with contractions such as de + el= del, or a + el =

al. However, the situations are not entirely identical, but simply approximate.

Only in some specific cases (ke)12 could be the indication of some syntactic indivisibility,

as if they formed a kind of "transition"... but this would need to be analyzed in detail. In

12 Meaning “that”


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some of the texts analyzed, the adverb (indicated underline in purple) appears divided

into two words [סולה מינטי] = [sola mente]13, commonly found in documents dating back

to the Fifteenth until the Seventeenth Centuries. Here, we find the opposite of the

phenomenon of which we were just speaking: the process of progressive

grammaticalisation of [-mente], which will operate as a suffix. Although surely it was

used more in the Judeo-Spanish from this time (and later), it is not appreciated because it

maintains the use of an old way of writing, as we saw also above.

Another aspect that can be included in this section is the use of the conjunction in

Hebrew [ו] = [ve] in place of the conjunction in Spanish [y] in the second text: [ויוסף] =

[veYosef], on the Text identify with the letter B, and which I show at the end of this

analysis. I need to point out, however, that this phenomenon only occurs only preceding

Hebrew words.

Lexical Aspects

In the light of the above analysis, I will comment, in the following section, on aspects

related to code switching and the archaisms. Code switching is a concept created by U.

Weinrich in 1953 relating to his studies of languages in contact: findings and problems

that took place during the war, with the purpose of preventing the "enemy" from

capturing the transmission. Today, this term is used in the area of sociolinguistics. This

linguistic phenomenon is very common in Judeo-Spanish. It was necessary for the

Sephardic Jews to exchange codes in order to facilitate their communication with the

peoples living in the countries to which they came. Towards the beginning of our

analysis, we noted this "switching code" with the function of introducing the aljamiado

text. In other passages within the texts, we can find this linguistic phenomenon -- for

example, in text B, with the insertion of the words of Turkish origin- [גואי"מו] =

(guemo),14 which means, in this context, “wealth” , and, in text C, we encounter the word

. 15(tartura) = [טארטורא]

13 Meaning “only” 14 Which means in this context, “wealth” 15 Which means “tutor”


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Archaisms Although this linguistic phenomenon is very common in Judeo-Spanish, we

found only the following instances: in the first text, the words [ סיאנ ] = (ansi)16, and

.which, in modern Spanish corresponds to [expenses] [despezas] = [דיספיזאס]

A common aspect in the texts written in Ladino is the use of the word given to refer to D-

s, the divine name. In modern Spanish, the [s] is a plural marker. In Judeo-Spanish,

however, the word has no plural, since G-d is considered as only one. . With this sense in

mind, the Sephardic opted to write and pronounce the name of Ha-Shem without the

letter [s]. In our response, note in the text B: [ ון מאנדארילו קי איל דייו נ ] [What ever G-d not

gives (us)].

Until this point, I have offered -in a very general manner- some of the linguistic features

which can be detected in the texts which we have been analyzing. By way of conclusion,

we can say that the Judeo-Spanish used in the Responsa is very similar to the current

Judeo- Spanish. In comparison with modern Spanish, we can identify the differences,

especially in the use of some words and the pronunciation of some sounds that are

different from the Spanish of today. As we commented above, the absence of any

phonetic alphabet from the time makes any precise transcription difficult. For this

reason, I have decided to use the phonetics of the Aki Yerushalayim magazine, as I

already mentioned.

The following texts in Rashi letters, were transcribed in Latin letters according, likewise,

to the method used by the magazine Aki Yerushalayim17.

16 In modern Spanish will be “así” (thus) 17 Op. Cit.


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Text B

Od tsiva Shimeon 'hanizkar bisheat petirato, bileshon laaz, veze leshono: (i porke mi azienda esta derramada por muchas i diversas partes para la kovransa de ayi, kero ke se aga komo fista aki por lo kual ago mi kunyada Hana testamendera para ke kon Avra'ham ve-Yosef tengan kargo dela mandar kovrar solamente kon el kapitolo esto testamieto aauten si kado porke yo me kontento de todo lo ke los dichos izieron kon tanto ke Hana mi kunyada sea prinsipal i en falta suya lo ke el Dio non mandare enrara18 Agustin Enrikes a viendo por firmiyi por vaildra [validara] todo lo ke ladicha19 mi kunyada kon los otros izieron sin los poder tomar en kuenta ningun guemo20 ni resivo ni otra djustisia ninguna porke yo konfio ke lo aran muy bien, i komo iziera i teno echo en sus kaziendas). Translation: Even ordered Simon, already mentioned, at the time of his death in a foreign language, his language21. (Because my farm is distributed over many different parts, for collection from there, I wish that it be done as it has been done until now. So I make my sister Chana heiress, as with Abraham and Joseph, taking charge of sending collect only with this chapter of the will authenticated. For, I agree with everything they did. Therefore my sister-in-law Chana will be the main beneficiary. And, if she is absent, G-d forbidden, "enrara22", Agustín Enriquez by my authorization will approve everything which the named, my sister-in-law, with the others, will do, without taking into account any “benefit23” or receiving any justice, because I trust that they will do this well as they did in their estates24).

18 May be it refers to the Word in Hebrew “ain-raa” (evil eye) 19 Read “la ha dicho” 20 In the context means “wealth” 21 Although in the original there are not punctuation sings, I added in the translations, so I will be easy to read. 22 See footnote # 18. 23 “Güemo” was translated as benefit meaning “wealth” in this context. 24 Thanks to Liliana Benveniste in helping with this translation into English.


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Text C

Od katav beshtar tzavaato bilshon la{az veze leshono: I deklare ke i por bien ke la dicha Hana mi kunyada sea tutora de la dicha Dina mi ija i ademais tartura25 i su azienda asta dela dicha Dina mi ija sea en edad de kazar i dela poder rijir i a de ministrar. ‘ad kan leshono.

Translation: Even (he) wrote in his will, in a foreign language, which is his language. I declare that all well-appointed Chana, my sister Dina is appointed guardian of my daughter. And, guardian of the estate until the Dina, daughter, named is of marriageable age and be able to direct and manage. And this is his language. Text D

Ve ze leshono26 i en falta suya lo ke el Dio no mandare, entrad Agustin Enriquez:

Translation:

And this is his language: And in his absence, which G-d forbid, Agustín Enríquez will take care of them27

As we saw in all the texts above, there are no punctuation marks when a document is written in Rashi letters – except the parentheses. This makes it hard, sometimes, for the reader to understand what was intended by the writer, as well as the specific

25 Reads “tutora” 26 “And this is his language” 27 “Entrad” was translated with this phrase based on the context of the story.


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transliteration and translations rendered. My translations are based on what I believe the writer intended.

Conclusions:

We can say that we have seen the historical context in which this remarkable woman, known to many as La Señora, lived. We have also commented on her career since she fled from Portugal with her daughter, sister, and niece, until she arrived in Turkey. We have described the experiences, some pleasant and some not, in her life, and why she received recognition not only from her people, but from important leaders like the Sultan Suleyman, from the Ottoman Empire.

The second point of this article was a focused commentary and brief linguistic analysis of Responsa #80, taken from the book Avkat Rojel, by Rabbi Joseph Karo. However, it is suggested that the author of the Responsa in question is Rabbi Moshe of Trani.

Epilogue

I hope that this article is simply one of many contributions on this subject and a prelude to other activities relating to this fascinating woman who can be described as an Eshet Chayil28 who challenged the characters in the story to save her people, as did Queen Esther in Persia during the time of King Ahasuerus. Doña Gracia is a notable female figure, pride of the Sephardic Jews. In spite of the extremely harsh circumstances of her life, including the premature death of her husband, the inquisitional persecution, and the betrayal of her own sister, Doña Gracia stayed faithful to her Jewish religion. She also managed to maintain the economic wealth of her family and keep the family united by the marriage of Joseph Ha-Nasi with her daughter Reina, and Samuel with her niece Gracia la Chica.

Acknowledgement:

I am so greatly indebted to Rabbi Kalman Worch of Skokie Kollel, Il. USA, who aroused my curiosity to know and learn about Doña Gracia Mendes. And special thanks to my editing angel29 who help me with this article.

28 In Hebrew: a “woman of valor” 29 I prefer to keep her name in secret!


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Bibliography

Birnbaum, M.D. The long Journey of Gracia Mendes. CEU Press. Central European University Press. Budapest. New York. 2003. Bodian, M. Doña Gracia Nasi: http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/nasi-dona-gracia. August 2013 Brooks, A. A . Brooks, A. A. A Jewish woman leader of the Renaissance en European Judaism. Vol. 33, No. 1. 2000.

_________________ The Woman who Defied Kings: The life and times of Doña Gracia Nasi. Paragon House, Minnesota. 2002.

Cecil Roth (1977). Doña Gracia of the House of the Nasi. The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia-Jerusalem. 1977. García Moreno, A. (2010) El judeoespañol II. Características in http://www.academia.edu/2442055/El_judeoespanol_II_caracteristicas. August 2013

http://intelectohebreo.com/dona_gracia_mendes.html August 2013 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com . August 2013 http://www.rae.es/rae.html August 2013 http://www.theturkishdictionary.com/ August 2013

Karo, Y. Avkat Rojel. (1857)http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/vl/avkatrochel/avkatrochel10.pdf . August 2013

Lloyd, P.M (1997). From Latin to Spanish: Historical Phonology and Morphology of the Spanish Language (Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society) Nassi, G. and Toueg, R. (1990). Doña Gracia Nasi. Ed. Dahlia GOTTAN, Women’s International Zionist Organization, Department of Education, Tel Aviv. Israel

Nilep, Ch. Code Switching in Sociocultural Linguistics, University of Colorado, Boulder http://www.colorado.edu/ling/CRIL/Volume19_Issue1/paper_NILEP.pdf August 2013 Pawlikowska, M (2012) El estudio del cambio lingüístico: entre las motivaciones del code-switching. www.academia.edu Ragen, N. (1998) The Ghost of Hannah Mendes. St. Martin's Griffin, New York.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/nasi-dona-gracia

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/i40069860

http://www.academia.edu/2442055/El_judeoespanol_II_caracteristicas

http://intelectohebreo.com/dona_gracia_mendes.html

http://www.rae.es/rae.html

http://www.theturkishdictionary.com/

http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/vl/avkatrochel/avkatrochel10.pdf

http://www.colorado.edu/ling/CRIL/Volume19_Issue1/paper_NILEP.pdf

http://www.academia.edu/

Documents

A Pilgrimage to a Personality: Doña Gracia Mendesfaculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~rco450/documents/APilgrimagetoa... · A Pilgrimage to a Personality: Doña Gracia Mendes Rifka Cook