La Prensa Sefaradí | April 2006 issue

7/28/2019 La Prensa Sefarad | April 2006 issue

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VOL. 2 NISAN 5766APRIL 06 BUENASNUEVAS:VISITORSFROM MIAMI . . . 1

UNMOMENTO:ABOABDE FONSECA....... 2

INTHE LIFEOFSEFARADM:HAKHAM PEREIRA MENDES. . . ............................. 3La Prensa

sefaradCongregacin Ess Hayim NewsletterThe Spanish-Portuguese Jews of HoustonBlessed are they who can look back, and thereby learn how they should go forward. Blessed are they whose

parentage knows no higher duty than to hand down what it received; who can point to the deeds of their fathers

as the basis on which they have founded their own honor for their children. Theirs is the true immortality, which

outlives all the more glittering show of lighter flame. As the earth absorbs heat from the sun and radiates it on

all created things, so virtue receives vitality from ancestors, and transmits it to descendants. . Moiss Angel

(1858)

Buenas Nuevas

We had the opportunity this month toenjoy the visit of three gentlemen fromMiami, where there are Sefaradi families ofSpanish-Portuguese tradition.

George, Ren haLev and Jonatas Diasgraced us with their presence during thefirst week of April, where we had the op-

portunity to talk about minhagim, halakhh,songs, food, and generally share our con-cerns and hopes for Sefard education, cul-ture, and rabbinic learning.

We were glad to come to the knowl-edge that seor Dias is a talented painter

and teacher of art, in the realist Spanishtradition, already being featured in the Mi-ami artistic scene.

Born in in Brazil, Jonatas as a con-temporary artist brings a new concept of arthighly appreciated for its originality. Jona-tas studied art at the Bosque Dos BuritisArt Institute and a few years later, movedtoward the Graphic Novelistic Industrytaking classes from the well known SouthAmerican Graphic Novelist, Edgar Franco.After moving to the United States, Jonatashas been studying under Ms. Firgau, per-fecting his own artwork and adopting theEuropean Way to teach his pupils. His artcan be viewed at:www.jonatassilvachimen.zoomshare.comOurqahalis planning to commission an

HALAKHIC CAPSULESame way, do not be ambitious, awaken for richness, nor lazy or without work, but be a person wit

good eyes, [which means]: work little, and occupy yourself [with the study of] Torh, being that whatever little he gets, he becomes happy. Do not be violent (libertine), nor envious, nor carnal, nor one whgoes after honors. Thus the Sages said: Envy, carnality, and honors end the life of man in the world!General rule: Walk through the middle measure in all classes of personalities, until your manners be inthe middle, because this is what Salomon said: All your ways may be ratifiedMT: Hilkhot Deot; Chp. II, 14.

!!

illustrated Hagaddh in western ladino, forthe use of Spanish and Portuguese speakers.Also, we plan to request some panel work to

beautify our Esnoga.

Mazal bueno to Miami Ess Hayim.


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PHILOLOGICCORNER:

From Alef to Taw

Moments in Jewish in-tellect: Immanuel Aboabde Fonseca

Only man can dispose with absolute dominion,

and his own control of his actions and thoughts.

FIRST PART TO NOMOLOGIA

After the Lord had created allHis works, with proper, andparticular natures, all of whomobserve their effects without anychange: He only gave man free

will, with which (in imitation ofHis Divine Majesty) voluntarilydoes whatever he wants, withouthaving anyone forcing him in hisdoings.

When G-d Almighty created

the celestial machinery, and itssubstance: the Planets, and theStars in the Sky, herbs, Plants,and animals

beneath it, Hefinally createdman, as thefinishingtouch of allHis works,whose sub-stance he

made fromearth, and asform he breathed-in the divineintellectual soul: Thus, He sub-

jected to mans dominion, thefish of the sea, the birds of the

sky, the plants and animals ofearth. He provided man (aboveeverything else) of a supreme

benefit and pre-rogative, which isfree will, only andabsolutely his,which he can makeuse of for all hisactions as he

pleases, withoutany cause of vio-

lence that wouldmake him act

against his own wish. On thisaspect, man has divinity, andimitates his Creator, who (cont.

p. 5)

He [G-d] only gave man

free will, with which (in

imitation of His Divine

Majesty) voluntarily does

whatever he wants, with-

out having anyone forcing

him in his doings.

ABOAB DE FONSECA

B. Short Vowels:

(a) Patha gadol ( )pronounced like a shortKhamess [].

(b) Segol ( ),pronounced like a shortSsere []. It is also calledPatha khattan, becauseof its phonetic kingshipwith the Patha, and theyoccasionally interchanged

(c) Khamess hattuf, i.e.hurried Khamess ( ),pronounced like a shortolem [].

Rem. When not followedby a Dagesh or Shewaquiescent, the Khamessattuf is sometimes com-pounded with Shewa toindicate its short or hurriedsound, e.g. 1K 10:11,

Pr 25:12 [ in our text]. Gn 43:11etc.

(d) irekh without Yod,

pronounced like a shortirekh [].

(e) Khibbuss ( ),pronounced like a shortShurekh [].

Mikhlol, D. Qamhi

with good citizenry, but we mustremember that Israel continuesto harbor social, ethnic, reli-

gious and political prejudicesthat find themselves reinforcedby SHAS. Anti-Arab provocationis a standard feature of themovement and an overall senseof hostility towards the deeperaspects of intellectual and cul-tural modernity are still alien tothe group and its followers.

So in the end this is a mixed

bag. Things could be better andthey could be worse. In the end,it still seems that the Sepharditradition, as Rabbi OvadiahYosef has noted in private dis-cussion, was left behind in the

Arab world when the Jewspacked up and moved to Israel.And this is a tragic truth thatwill ultimately serve to reinforce

Ashkenazi cultural hegemonyrather than renew, as the SHAS

slogan would famously have it,the Crown of Sephardi glory toits rightful place in Jewish civili-

zation. David Shasha

The last time I saw MazalAzulai I asked about her sonEzra, who had been a JewishDennis the Menace in fourthgrade and a vilde haya, a wildanimal, in fifth-grade, when heattended a regular government

school in Beersheba.Mazal smiled and said, "Ezra?After I moved him to the Shasschool, he became a yo-yo."Puzzled, I was not certainwhether that was praise or deni-gration. She continued:"In desperation I moved him to aShas school in our neighbor-hood. He did well with the strictdiscipline, zero tolerance of vio-lence, a dress code, (cont. p. 4)

By: Shira Leibowitz-Schmidt

There is little question that SHAShas not been the typical Haredi move-ment. In spite of the fact that much ofits ideology comes from the PonovezhYeshiva of Rabbi Shach and his North

African disciples, traces of theSephardi tradition continue to trickleinto the SHAS system.

But like anything else in Israel, thereare both good and bad aspects to thismovement.

On the positive side, it is good tosee an engagement of Orthodox Jewswith modernity. It is refreshing to seean avoidance of Messianism and a

propensity for the practical and rea-sonable.

On the negative side, there is littlecultural feeling for the Sephardic pastand a pronounced attempt to findways to integrate Sephardi studentsinto the Ashkenazi mainstream in

Zionist terms. There is nothing wrong

POLTICA: WHYAN ASHKENAZI ACADEMICIS VOTINGFOR SHAS


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tary, andlater its

president. Ifall this

were notenoughMendes

played anactive rolein the widercommunity, representing theJewish faith on important civicoccasions. Once he delivered the

prayer in the opening session ofthe United States Senate.

Conscientious to a fault,Mendes abided by an austere

moral code. He disapproved ofsuch secular temptations as low'movies' and suspicious dance-halls. To combat their appeal,he suggested that religiousgroups , all (cont. p. 6)

a religious teacher inManchester when the callcame from Shearith Is-rael. An aristocratic-looking man, he had a

precisely trimmed beard andmoustache, and was partial tousing a pince-nez. He had aclear ringing voice of unusually

sympathetic quality, precision ofdiction, and a rich and poeticvocabulary, an associate re-called: Small of stature, he wasyet possessed of a benign dig-nity which emanated fromwithin. Soft-spoken, courteous,fatherly, and tender, he won allhearts.

Shortly after assuming hispost at Shearith Israel, Mendesentered New York Universitymedical school. He was gradu-

ated in 1884 but decided to de-vote himself exclusively to the

rabbinate and never practicedmedicine He threw himself intoJewish charitable and benevo-lent causes, helping, for exam-

ple, to organize the HebrewCongregation of the Deaf, andfounding a school for handi-capped Jewish children. Helobbied aggressively for Jewishinterests, protesting againstChristian exercises in the publicschool, discriminatory immigra-tion policies, and Sunday lawswhich penalized observant Jewswho would not work on Satur-days. He was an early advocateof Zionism. He was also a foun-

der of the New York Board ofJewish Ministers, its first secre-

INTHELIFEOF SEFARADM:Hakham Henry Pereira Mendes

Henry Pereira Mendes cameto Shearith Israel in 1877 andremained its guiding spirit formore than forty years. Born inBirmingham, England, in 1852,he was educated at UniversityCollege, London, received most

of his instruction in Judaism andHebrew from his father, and was

Costumbres: Pess

[The reading on the firstnight] We call Haggad, whichmeans narrative, the ceremonythat we make during two nights(one nights in the land of Israel),which talks about our Peopleleaving Egypt.

The order of our Haggadfalls on two nights, the 15 and 16of Nissn:We use three plates:One for the cenceas ormas-

sot; one for the roasted sheepbone and the hard-boiled egg;and the third one for the kha-

rosset, the bitter herb, and thevegetables used within thenarrative.

This is the symbology:The cenceas is the Poors breador the Bread of Affliction, of ourforefathers in Missrim. TheKharset, made with wine, cin-namon, apples, raisins, almondsor similar, figs, dates, etc, repre-sent the adobes that they wereforced to make. The Marr or

Bitter Herbs, are to rememberthe suffering of slavery, gener-ally made with endives, lettucesor other herbs with bitter flavor,though mild. When we submergethem in [salted] water, it symbol-izes the bitterness and tears [ofsuffering].

The Bone symbolizes thesacrifice made on the Festivalwhile the egg makes reference to

the additional sacrifice calledhagig.

The four cups of wine that onemust drink [represent] the fourrespective captivities and eman-cipations : Babylonia, Persia,Greece and Rome. The samemust be drunk reclining on theleft side, posture that in antiquitywas only [reserved] for free-

men.We use the appropriate wine

for kiddush, that is, wine thatHAS NOT been cooked or pas-

teurized, normally called ME-BUSHAL .That who does not have wine,

they can make [kiddush] withwine made at home with grapes[i.e. grape juice] or bought from

the store, those which are kasher.Juices without [rabbinical] in-spection cannot be consumed.

Nonetheless, it is customary tomake kiddush over the cenceaswhen there is no wine.

We use what is called theshimurm ofcenceas, in otherwords, what specially is used forthe two nights of the Haggad.

We consecrate ourselves and our lives when we have the moral courage tospeak out for what is right and pure, to speak out against what is wrong and

impure. The three R's of Judaism, the rabbi said, were Reverence, Righteous-

ness, and Responsibility.

We donot hidethe afi-comen(the pieceofcenceathat is

brokenfrom themiddlecencea),

but weonly wrapit up and

place itsome-where, so

it ca begiven atthe end of the Haggad.We do not place the cup called Cos

Elyhu haNabor the cup of theProphet Elijah.

The first-born [males], be him offather or mother, fast on the eve ofthe Festival.(cont. p. 6)

PrximamenteIn the Works

Interactive teach-ing on the Web.Associate and Fullmembers only.

Bet Oliveira, up-coming new BethaMidrash in Jeru-salem.

Social improvementclasses, by appoint-ment only.

Costumbres: PessSpanish-Portuguese Minhagim

R. Mordekhai de Meir haLev de Lopes


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gerim, theassufim, thekhetuqim, thearurim and themamzerim astreated in the trea-tise Qidushin 68a(among other trea-tises, but this page

refers exactly to thepermissibility withthe kohanim inquestions of marriage, as well aswith the rest of the Hebrews),who were people of uncertainorigin, or problematic. alalim:children of a union of a kohenwith a woman who is forbiddento him, as a widow or a divorcedwoman. Gerim: convert to Juda-ism by free will -- it is prohib-ited (for a convert woman) to

marry with a man from priestlylineage. Asufim: Every one whowas found on the streets as achild and, by logic, the child is aHebrew. Shetuqim: Everyoneknows about the identity of the

mother, and does not know theidentity of the father. arurim:freed slaves, who with his lib-erty becomes part of the Peopleof Israel as all converts to Juda-ism. Mamzerm: fruits of allsexual illicit relationships , ex-cept in the case of relationshipsamong single people, though

prohibited, it does not invalidate

the fruit. The term (casher) iseven used for objects and things,for example the Temple altar, incase of one of its stones were

broken or moved, or if the miz-bia (altar) becomes pasul,

KASHER ( ) - Thisliterally means: licit, approved.The term, nonetheless, is usednot only in matters relating tofood, indicating what is permit-ted for a Jew according to therules for food from the Torh,

but also regarding more exten-sive problems more, for exam-

ple, a family whose origins wereproblematic from the point ofview of the halakhh, as were thecases of the alalim, the

POLTICA:standing for teachers, regular

prayer times, a heavy study load,and utter devotion of the staff."One day I noticed that as hewas doing his homework on thekitchen table he was popping outof his chair every so often. Everytime I entered the kitchen hewould stand, then sit again. Ayo-yo.

"Ezra explained, 'Our teachersaid we must stand when a par-ent or teacher enters the room.'"He stopped talking back andoffered to help me whenever hecould," said Mazal.

She was so impressed byEzra's improved deportment,study skills and newly acquiredself-discipline that she enrolledhis three sisters in the Shas girls'school, despite the dilapidatedstructures the city had grudg-ingly provided them.

Similar decisions by thou-sands of families in the deprivedneighborhoods of big cities andtowns on the periphery have

changed the face of education forSephardi children. Encouragedto come on aliya to Israel fromMiddle Eastern counties in theearly decades of the state, hugenumbers of Sephardim wereshorn not just of their side locks,

but also of their traditions.The more ambitious acceded

to the government's incentives tosend their children to secularschools. Mazal Azulai sent herfour older children to secularschools, where not only did theylose touch with Jewish tradition,they also were left out of theAshkenazi elite culture; they

continued in the cycle of povertyof their parents. Her youngerchildren, who had been enrolledin the government religiousstreams, found themselves invastly under-funded schools withunder-trained teachers before shemoved them to the Shas system.

The hopelessness of theSephardi schoolmates of mychildren in Beersheba is searedinto my memory. I tried to ame-

liorate their situation by intro-ducing stamp clubs, tennisclasses, trips with the Society forthe Protection of Nature - all

very Ashkenazi, middle-classactivities that did not resonatewith the background of thesechildren and had no impact. Iconcluded that the problem wasunsolvable.

Then in the 1980s and 1990sShas came on the scene and tookchildren off the streets. Over-coming every possible obstaclelocal and national governmentscould throw at them, young rab-

bis and their wives established

kindergartens in hundreds ofneighborhoods and welcomed all- religious, traditional, secular. Inthe caravans they used forschools, they restored pride inSephardi customs and instituteda long school day that kept thechildren busy with religious andsecular studies.

The discipline inherent in astrictly religious life style en-abled the youth to thrive. This is

not surprising because onlywhen given limits can humannature be channeled into produc-tive avenues. This concept isreflected in one of the names ofthe Creator: Shadai.

Rabbi S. R. Hirsch com-ments that in this Name is theHebrew word indicating limits:dai. The Lord, who is unlimited,

places limits on man through asystem of study and mitzvot.

On three issues of nationalimport, Shas has been surpris-ingly moderate. With respect tothe army, almost every singleShas MK in the past two decades

has served in the army, as can beascertained by checking theKnesset Web site.

When I visited the Shas boys'school in Hadera recently, atank-top-clad mother of a pro-spective pupil was asking the

principal whether her son couldserve in the army after graduat-ing. He answered, "When yourson graduates he can defer ser-vice for a while and (cont. p. 5)

which is the antonymof kasher in thiscase. Same with the

phylacteries or thetassels on the cornersdressed by a Jew,which can bekesherot (plural ofkesher - feminine

of kasher) orpesulot (pluralfeminine of pasul).

A woman who comes to marry akohen, necessarily she has to beclean from a any spot, familiar or

personal, that could make herinto pesul to access marriagewith a son of Aharon. In case sheis apt to marry, the termkesher. is utilized.

Of Words and Significanceby

Rabbi Jacob de Oliveira haLev


5/85

all the spheres from East toWest. This is thereason why theSun, the Moon,and all the Plan-ets, and all theStars fixed in theeighth sphere can

make their round,a complete revolution in twentyfour hours; at whose end return(minus those whose naturalcourse stop them) to the same

place and point where they left.With this they cause day andnight in this world, middles andendings, hours and minutes. Inthe same manner, we do not seelacking, nor changing a single

point of the natural course ofevery Planet, and Star, making

the Sun to orbit in three hundredand sixty five days, and sixhours (more or less), when itssphere moves from East toWest, with a contrary movementthat causes the first movement.

In this naturalcourse come thetwo Equinoxesand two Solsticesof the year, wherewe see the chang-ing of elementalthings. Herbs and

plants produce

offspring, theirleaves, flowers and fruits, inSpring and in Summer (. . .),Fall and Winter; it increases innumber, then decreases; human

body complexion and moodsalter, as well as those of theanimals, according to the varietyof the times, caused by the heav-enly influence. In which eachthing keeps its natural propertieswithout being able to expel it.The moon makes its own and

natural movement, and makesits orbit in twenty seven days,and eight hours (more or less),thus causing its New Moons andFull Moons, along with all dif-ferent effects on the sea, and

And for being man Free,

and absolute ruler of his

will, we see that the Lord

exhorts His people to

incline themselves to

virtue, and apply their will

to his holy service,

ABOAB DE FONSECA

MOMENTS: (Blessed be his holy name) eve-rything He does, He does by Hisown will and immense kindness.But not because He needs to doit, unlike the rest of the creatureswhose works are natural and

necessary. As we are able to seethat the celestial bodies do nocease to move, nor in any waychange their course, of whom

proceeding from the first move-ment, that violently takes after it

of sin, and it shall be your de-sire, but you may rule over it[Gen. 4;7]. Because where wecan clearly see that man has freewill given by his Creator is whenhe is able to give himself to thetyranny of his appetites, or sup-

press it, and follow good. Andfor being man Free, and absoluteruler of his will, we see that theLord exhorts His people to in-cline themselves to virtue, andapply their will to his holy ser-vice, saying: To heavens, and toearth I call as witnesses againstyou, I have put life and death,

blessing and curse before you;

choose life, so you can live, youand your progeny: to love the

Lord your God, to listen in hisvoice and cling to him [Deut.30;19]. And in many other

places in Holy Scripture, it isclearly proven how the Lordgave men the will to follow ei-ther good or wrong; and for sucha reason he deserves reward or

punishment, according to theworks he does. This would not

be the case if he did not havefree will. And for men to be ableto sin or deserve, the Lord repri-mands him in hisholy Law, and by the mouths ofhis servants the Prophets, tocontinue in goodness, exhortinghim with strength to awe, anddivine love, so to deserve theeternal beatitude for which hewas created.

POLTICA: continue in a yeshiva if he wants,or he can go directly into thearmy. One thing is certain: In the

army he won't be in the "yaldeiRaful" remedial program forilliterate soldiers."

Fifteen years ago I asked ateacher who taught the yaldeiRaful whether it was true that90% of the boys in that programwere Sephardim. She said, "No,it's more like 99 percent."Since then this has completelychanged for the better, largelydue to the efforts of the Shasmovement. For this reason alone

Shas would get my vote, eventhough I have no children intheir schools.

The Beit Margolit girls'elementary school in Netanyais a typical example of thetransformation wrought byShas. Located in mobileclassrooms with leaky roofs,an atmosphere of calm, pur-

posefulness and cheerfulnessis pervasive.

diverse changes. Each Planetmoves, and the eighth Spherewhere all stars are located, withdiverse and circumscribed move-ments. Each Element has its

particular quality: and at the end,no celestial or earthly creaturecan leave its limited and naturalorder imposed by the Almighty.

Only man can dispose with abso-lute dominion, and his own con-trol of his actions and thoughts,without having anyone force himto do otherwise: and only him(as well as the Angel) has this

particular gift of free will, overall celestial and earthly creatures.And for such reason, the su-

preme Creator is shown in thesacred letters, where we read:

And said Lord G-d, Here is manas one us to know good and

wrong, and now, etc. [Gen. 3;22] The Lord reprehendingCham, He says: Surely, if youwere to make good, you shall be

praised, and if you were not todo good, you will be at the door

I was shown the students'scores on the national Meitzavachievement test. The schoolscored much above average inmathematics, Hebrew readingand writing, and English reading.Only in one category, Englishwriting, was their score just atthe national average.

As I walked through theschool, I saw one class recitingmorning prayers, jaunty sailor

berets perched on their heads.Another class was working on ascience experiment; a third was

preparing book reports in Eng-lish.

A second area of moderationand openness is (cont. p. 7)

Refranero:Sayings of the Fathers

Cutchiyadas encarne ajena no

deuelen /Stabbings alien toyour flesh do nothurt.

This means that noone gives importanceto matters that do nottouch you. It bringsthe fact on the indif-ference of others.


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accept new obligations:therefore you never will be asneak at school, or a moral cow-ard in business; you will never

be ashamed of your religion andtry to hide it. Religion had to bea force in everyday life, Mendescontinued: We consecrate our-selves and our lives when wehave the moral courage to speakout for what is right and pure, tospeak out against what is wrongand impure. The three R's ofJudaism, the rabbi said, wereReverence, Righteousness, andResponsibility.

From The World of BenjaminCardozo, by Richard Polenberg;

pp. 15-17.

Jonatas Dias, Play the Song of Songs

to celebrate, even during thefirst seven days.

It is important to continueafter the Festival, [and] one onlycount the remaining 30 days ofmourning, having counted thedays spent during Pess.

One does not celebrate wed-dings, so they will not subtract

the merriment of the Festival,but one can make the arrange-ments without celebrations.These arrangements are calledqidushn orerusn.

EFEMRIDESremembering

our elders

Costumbres: Pess

Actitudes en el Festival

We should keep a happy moodduring the Festival, good eatingand drinking, but even so, we

should keep good manners, with-out frivolities or misbehavior.

If one cannot fast before theFestival, be it for a bad dream.When someone is in mourning,this does not annul the obligation

INTHELIFEOFSEFARADM:denominations cooperate to pro-vide healthy alternatives foryoung people as a means of en-couraging the re-creation of thegood that is in ever body and itsevolution into higher realms.Those were the days of saloonsstreet-corners, billiards anddance-halls in the rear of thesaloon. Like all Orthodox Jewshe deplored intermarriage, andearly in his ministry he wrote a

play, based on the story ofEsther, condemning the practice.

Nothing better illustrated his

unique way of combining relig-ion and ethics than the sermonMendes preached at the dedica-tion of the Central Park Westsynagogue in 1897: How far isGod a power in shaping your lifeor character? that is the mainquestion. Have you ever stoppedthe unkind word on your tongue?Have you ever removed the im-

pure thought from your heart?Have you ever abstained from

gain through another's loss?Have you ever conquered youself? Do you do anything forGod' s sake, remembering thatHe does so much for you? Thenis He our banner, leading you tovictory over those most insidiousAmaleks our own passions,greed, and selfishness.[. . .]

But Mendes also laid greatstress on living a moral life, ashe explained in his little volume

Bar Mitzvah for Boyhood, Youthand Manhood, which, whilewritten many years later, re-flected the views of a lifetime.

He instructed each of his pupilsto resolve: I will, to the best ofmy ability, all my life live ac-cording to the spirit and word ofGod. I'll do my best to set theright example by making my

personal life and my home lifeloving, and my business life,when by and by I enter business,honorable. The thirteen-year-old who was about to assumenew responsibilities must also

Refua ShelemhFor Better Health

- Doa Myriam Ocampo- Doa Imelda Hernndez-

Abarbanel- Don Mordekhai de Meir

haLevi de Lpes

Que el Dioles aumente y prospere

- Iaaqob Lemus Fuentes- Jos de Guerra Neriah

- Rosa de OliveraMartnez

- Myriam de Herndez-Abarbanel Ledezma

- Margarito de IohananRamrez y Valencia

- Dolores de Pea

Que reposen enGan Eden

Ssedaq

There are families who have traveled from Israel and Louisana to Houston to tend to their specialhealth needs and care at our state-of-the- art hospitals. But since our Health Care system is not-free, they are in need of our help. Please contact: Mindy Rosenthal(713) 666-1881, x-344;[email protected]


7/87

classes opened in separate quar-ters. The college is for all haredisubgroups - 55 percent of thestudents are Ashkenazim.The third area where Shas ex-hibits its moderation is in itsattitude to the state and Zionism.When Rabbi Yosef addressedgirls at the college recently, he

was asked two questions by askeptical non-religious visitor:whether Shas was a passing

phenomenon, and about theirattitude to Zionism.

Yosef responded that he didnot found Shas as an ephemeral

political party, but as a means torestore Jewish education toevery child in Israel, so that nochild would grow up not know-ing Shema Yisrael.Regarding Zionism, Rabbi Yo-

sef reminded the questioner thatOrthodox Jews say thrice daily,in the Amida prayer, "We shallturn our eyes to Zion," - "and wedon't just say it, we mean it andlive it."

On the geopolitical issue ofsettlements, borders, and rela-tions with our neighbors, Shas iscentrist and pragmatic ratherthan ideological.

There are aspects of Shasthat are problematic.Some of the MKs have not livedup to the high ideals the move-

ment espouses. It is not suffi-cient to shrug this off by sayingthat almost all political partiesfall short of ideal fiscal com-

portment (don't we all?). How-ever, the steps the party head,Eli Yishai, has taken to improvein this area are reassuring.Meanwhile, what about EzraAzulai, the yo-yo? After hisstudies in the Shas school hecontinued for a few years in ayeshiva, and finished his army

service. Now, as a father of two(so far), he attends a kollel ye-shiva for married men duringthe day, and studies businessadministration in the HarediCollege at night.

POLTICA: the attitude to higher education.Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the founderof Shas, has given full backing tohis daughter's Herculean effortsto establish a college. Adina Bar-Shalom started the Haredi Col-

lege in Jerusalem five years agoto enable haredi Beit Yaakovgraduates to obtain fully recog-nized academic degrees in sev-eral professions.

This year several men's

FROMOURPRESIDENT:

Pess or like us theSefaradim say:Pascuas deCeceas is a time ofherut(liberty).

As we mentioned in the pastissue, the rabbinic instituted feastof Purim serves as a thresholdfor thePascuas de Ceceas.What was the element absent inthe narrative of Esther? Answer:G-d is not mentioned. And this issomething else that Purim sharesin similarity with thePascuas deCeceas, in that the name of

Moses is not at all mentioned asa protagonist of the Haggadhstory.Interesting, isnt it?

Well come back to that an-other time. For now folks, I willfocus on the narrative back-ground of Pess. The Haggadhis an orderly narrative, whereeverybody participates the verywordsedermeans order. In the

beginning, we commence the

dialogue by reminding ourselvesThis is the bread of afflictionthat your forefathers ate inEgypt. And at the end, we fin-ish it with a blessing thanking G-d for taking us from slavery toherut.The Haggadh introduces thisdichotomy from the very begin-ning: This year, here, slaves.

Next year free, in the land ofIsrael.And it is interesting to note howwe begin treating the ceceas(massot) as a bread of afflic-tion, which is a coded form torepresent slavery, and then at the

same time we dare to drink thefour cups of wine reclined com-fortably on our left side, whichin antiquity this was a privilegedreserved only to free-men.

Why have the two extremes[slavery / freedom] horizontally,side-by-side subtly weavedthrough the entire narrative?Maybe the answer begins inancient times during bereshit, the

beginning of generations. In his

beautiful and polished 18th c.Spanish, Rabbi Aboab deFonseca wrote in his introduc-tion to hisNomologa:

After the L-rd had created allHis works, with proper, andparticular natures, all of whomobserve their effects without anychange: He only gave man freewill, with which (in imitation of

His Divine Majesty) voluntarilydoes whatever he wants, withouthaving anyone forcing him in hisdoings.

Now, what does Fonsecasbook, which explains the basisfor Jewish Law [gr. nomos =

Law; logos = speech, word, rea-son], have to do with the very actof G-d bestowing free will toman? And furthermore, what isthe point of this reasoning?

Rabbi Jos Faur, in ex-pounding Maimonides master-pieceDalalat alHairin (Guideof the Perplexed), points out inhisHomo Mysticus via the storyof Adam and Eve that the wordsata [Satan represented by the

serpent] means to deviate.Maimonides explains that man,through disobedience due to his

passions/imagination, left havingdirect access to G-d, he deviatedfrom G-d, and succumbed to hisdesires. Initially, these were thegrounds for idolatry, which is inessence the self-prevention fromknowing the one and true G-d.

The rabbis point out thatduring the slavery of Israel inEgypt, they fell into the lowestspiritual state, that all, except forthe tribe of Levi, forgot the com-mandment of circumcision. Tothis we must add (cont. p. 8)

As a gesture of gratitude -hakarat hatov - he volunteersonce a month to tutor children inthe Shas school near him, help-ing them also break out of thecycle of poverty.While many parties can only

promise to improve opportunitiesfor the less privileged, Shas has

an impressive track record ofaccomplishment. All Israel bene-fits from these initiatives.

The writer, a Technion graduate,is a translator in Netanya affili-ated with the Haredi College in

Jerusalem.

From The Jerusalem Post, March7, 2006

El tribunal de la InquisicinGoya


8/88

thinking vis--vis their rulers.The Haggadhdrives the pointof G-ds handas the directinstrument to

bring Israel outof

slavery:I will

pass overEgypt I and not angel. I willsmite every first-born I and notSeraphim. I will make justiceover all idols of Egypt I andnot messenger. I Amonai, I and not other.

The initial mental venombrought by Adams mentallydiverting passions Maimon-ides says allowed human

kind to develop projectionsabout divinity, which eventuallyallowed man himself to think to

be G-d, or at least an intermedi-ary between G-d and man. Notsurprisingly, Jewish Law speaks

of thisform ofmental

projectionsas a formofminut,i.e. apos-tasy. (Andas such we

can seethis behav-ioral men-

talities in our generation today.)More than the actual mate-

rial act of idolatry, Israels criesand action were against mentalidolatry, and them leaving Egypt

perhaps one of the strongestemancipation statements in an-cient antiquity.

The closest like-experienceagainst the absolutist will of

man over other men we have inour history is when our ances-tors in Sefarad fell prey to theChurch and the Crown, whothought themselves as infallibleand absolute holders of truth.

Congregacin Ess Hayim7626 Sanford, Houston, Texas

tel. 832.220.8016www.esshayim.org

Special ThanksGracias

Pess MessageFrom ourPresident

Our most sincere andhumble thanks to allthe Jewish communi-ties and familiesthrough out the fol-

lowing cities andcountries, for theirhelp and support:

Atlanta Jerusalem Johannesburg, SA London Miami New York Philadelphia San Diego, Ca Sao Paulo, Brazil Houston, Tx

Mushos mazales,mushos mils,

mushos quereres delos missws

Like the Israelites in ancientEgypt, Sefaradim were segre-gated away from the old Chris-tians, and not allowed to leavethe country. The Sefaradim,who had to live in captivity asCatholics, were thoroughly con-scious of their own G-d givenfreedom of thought and action,and protested accordingly. DiegoEnriquez del Castillo, one ofthese a Moses-like courageousmen, confronted queen Isabel:

The first [question you Maj-esty], if your nationals, just be-cause they are your subjects,could be called [i.e. regarded

as] captives? By which divinelaw, by which human laws, de-crees, or statues, could one de-

fend, argue, and demonstratethat those [nationals] may be

forced as if they were slaves, andbe obligated to serve you without

pay?Awareness of both their G-

d-given freedom, and their man-imposed slavery for over 400years (whether material or men-

tal) is a constant horizontal re-minder too when we drink thefour coups of wine in the waysofherut/ freedom. It is an act ofdefiance against the most ele-mental notions of suppressionand control, be it coming from

political, social, ideological orreligious minded people orsystems.

The given of the Torah,from which the Haggadah isanother threshold for the follow-ing Festival of Shabuot, is inti-mately tied to the constitution ofIsrael as a Nation; and themwondering and receiving the

Torh in the desert for fortyyears a necessary condition toenter eress Israel as a emanci-

pated self-governing Nation.And this is why also, RabbiAboab the Fonseca had to beginwriting about the foundations ofJewish Law departing with thenotion of freewill at creation ex-nihilo.

It is interesting also to notethat the People of Israel, and us

alone, is the only Nation unre-peated in history, who went intoa land with an already available

jurisprudence, working against

the pagan concept of nation-forming: Land before Law;whereas Israels idea of Nation isLaw before Land.

The captivity of Sefaradim isparallel with that of our ances-tors in Missrayim, a reminder totell our children for the sake andcontinuation of survival of kelalIsrael. Next year in Yerusha-layim!

Moadim leSimh yall !!

Maazya E. Villanueva,

Minyan

Shabbat- Minkhh Erev Shabbat,

7:30 PM- Shakharit, 8:15 AM- Minkhh, 5:00 PM- Arbit, 8:30 PM

Sunday- Shakharit, 9:00 AM

Daily; Mon - Thurs- Mincha / Arbit, 7:30 PM

that the ancient Israelites weresubject to a system where Phar-aoh was the sun-god incarnate,where he was thought infallibleand absolute.

But G-d had other plans forIsrael when hearing its cries of

suffering. The very ten plagues,say the rabbis, are designed to

bring down this notion of Phar-aohs absolute dominion overman and the world, concept thatwas ingrained in ancient pagan

Documents

La Prensa Sefaradí | April 2006 issue