TAVIRA KABBALAH STONE (500 YEARS OLD)
COMMENTARY ON THE INSCRIPTION
(anonymous contributor)

Photoshop was used to raise the letters in this photo.

The first thing that we need to do is orient the circle. You notice that there is a “V” incised in the circle. You should have that facing up or North.We’ll come back to that position shortly.

Surrounding outside of the Magic Square are the letters – Yud, Hay Eyin, Nun, Nun, Yud. They appear around the circle 15 times. 4 times in the North position, 3 times in the West position, 5 times in the South position, and 3 times in the East position.

These letters I believe are a contraction of two words. Yud Hay and Eyin Nun Nun Yud. The Yud Hay is G-d’s Name, and the Eyin Nun Nun Yud means answer me. Anayni. So together they say “ G-d should answer me.” And they appear 15 times mirroring the the number 15 of the Magic Square.

In the East position to the right of the 3 words are the letters Yud Hay Vov Hay. This is the name for G-d that is used after G-d reveals himself at the burning bush in the wilderness. It is G-d’s name Yahweh, which we are not allowed to pronounce.

In the West position behind the three words I believe, although it is difficult to make out are the letters Yud Kof, Mem, which means “To Arise” there is difficulty discerning one of the letters, but I think that I’m on the right track.

G-d’s name is in the East position because that is where the Temple was situated, and the Messiah will come to the Temple , therefore I assume from the West, that’s why I think the word is Arise is in the west.

Why the West & East have the word “G-d should answer” me 3 times? Maybe the answer is that on the third day of creation G-d says twice that “It is Good” where on the other days he doesn’t say it at all or only once. Another explanation for the number three is that you need a man, woman, and G-d to create a person, and lastly the first two letters of the Aleph-Bet have a gematria ( numerology) of 1 and 2 = 3. They spell the word AV, which means father. But these thoughts on the number three are only suppositions.

AÇORES/AZORES, 1604, 1623 LIST OF NEW CHRISTIANS TAXED FOR A GENERAL PARDON ( click on tables to increase text size)

(Source: Paulo Drumond Braga, A Inquisição Nos Açores/The Inquisition in the Azores, PHD thesis, 1996, Universidade Nova Lisboa, published by the Cultural Institute of the Azores)

500 YEAR OLD KABBALAH STONE LOCATED IN PORTUGAL
HEBREW CHARACTERS IN REVERSE ETCHED ON SLATE STONE TO CREATE A MASTER MOULD

500 YEAR OLD KABBALAH STONE LOCATED IN PORTUGAL
mlopesazevedo 

Part I

Following a circuitous search, a 500-year-old Kabbalah
stone has been located in an obscure village museum in
Portugal. The grey-black slate stone, of a trapezoid
shape and about the thickness of a finger fits on an
extended hand. It is engraved with a disc about the
size of an American coffee cup and contains a square
the size of an average letter stamp within the disk.
The square is further divided into nine smaller
squares containing Hebrew lettering. Surrounding the
square on all sides there is additional Hebrew
writing. The Hebrew characters have been etched in
reverse into the slate to create a "negative" suitable
for making copies in wax, clay or plaster.
The engraving is in remarkably good condition.
The writing within the square has been deciphered as a
series of numbers, namely,
8 1 6
3 5 7
4 9 2

totalling 15, regardless of how the numbers are added
up. This type of square is known as a "magic square".

The Hebrew characters surrounding the
square on all sides have not yet been definitively
interpreted.

The stone may have been an amulet or perhaps a
Kabbalistic seal. Further research is being conducted.

From an anonymous source:
"The number 15 is composed of the letters 'yud' with a
gamatria of 10 and the letter 'hay' with gamtria of 5.
yud & hay form G-d's name.

There were 15 steps leading up to the Holy of Holies
in the Temple, and the Levites would sing songs on each
one.

The priestly blessing contains 15 words.

The numbers 7 plus 8 equals 15.  Seven represents nature,
time, and the days of the week.  Eight represents the
spiritual world, Brit Milah a covenant with G-d.
Together they form the physical and spiritual realms."

(see also amulet exhibition, Yale University library,
http://www.library.yale.edu/judaica/exhibits/asch/pages/amulets.html)


In addition to the stone, a bronze Hamsa or
Khamsa, a hand shaped amulet and lever were found
nearby. The Hamsa, an open hand with the wrist resting
on an arc with two fleur de lis flowers at each end,
has a keyhole and a hole in the middle of the palm,
perhaps to secure it to a door.
The Hamsa, somewhat smaller than the stone, has a
small Hebrew inscription that has been interpreted as
G_d Omnipotent. There is also a small bronze scoop, or shovel
about the size of a thumb.
(see http://www.templeinstitute.org/vessels_gallery_10a.htm)

The bronze lever is about the length
of four average fingers and has a Magen David attached
to it by a swivel.

According to Vanessa Paloma (www.flordeserena.com ),
the bronze Hamsa, has "Gd's name... on the back side
of the mezuzah.  (Sha - dai).
It's the name that represents giving--it's also connected
to the Hebrew word for breast.  So, it has to do with
Gd's giving to us like a mother gives breast milk...  
It would make sense to have that name on this object
if it's on a door because of the mezuzah presence too."

According to another source,
" Hamsa means five.  On the amulet is the word Shaddai.
The letters shin - dalet- yud.  It's the name used
in the Torah for G-d prior to G-d revealing himself
to Moses at the burning bush.  Then g-d's name is
Yaweh - Yud-Hay- Vov-Hay. Shaddi also stands for
Shomer Deldot Yisreal - Watch Over the Doors of Israel.
The bottom of the amulet looks like a shovel,
which was used to remove the sacrificial ashes
from the alter in the temple.  It was a popular
religious symbol for the Temple in earlier times,
much like the Chai and Star of David
is used today."


This Kabbalah stone artifact is unique in Portugal, perhaps
Sepharad, perhaps the world!
Pictures of the stone, Hasma, key and lever can be
viewed at www.ladina.blogspot.com.

  
(Part II, what,who, how and where the stone was found;
Part III, Where the stone may be viewed)

JEWS OF CAPE VERDE (CABO VERDE)
Professor Alma Gottlieb at ISCSP in Lisbon on June 5, 2007.

JEWS OF CAPE VERDE

Cape Verdeans of Jewish Heritage, Some Preliminary Thoughts on Two Intersecting Diasporas, was the title of a recent talk in Lisbon by Dr. Alma Gottlieb, professor of Anthropology, African Studies & Women’s Studies, University of Illinois, and associate researcher at ISCSP in Lisbon. Dr. Gottlieb is at the start of her project and hence the preliminary nature of her presentation. She has interviewed subjects both in Cape Verde and Lisbon but has yet not conducted archival research.

The professor noted the paucity of research in this area. She detects a surging interest of a “significant minority” of Cape Verdeans in their “remote” Jewish roots, similar to the relatively recent phenomena in Iberia. Today, people are increasingly using the Internet to research their roots and learn about the significance of sometimes-strange family practices and stories.

In broad terms, there were at least two distinct waves of Jewish immigration to the previously uninhabited islands, the first in the 16th century by Portuguese Jewish traders before the forced baptism of 1497 (the islands were discovered in 1444) and the second in the 19th century by Moroccan Jews via Gibraltar and Portugal. Both waves were mostly of men, some of who took on African wives or mistresses. Both waves have been absorbed by the dominant Catholic culture, although descendants of the latter are much closer in memory and time, often with vivid memories of Jewish grandparents. While the former have been completely assimilated, there are vestiges or ‘flimsy memories’. Dr. Gottlieb related how one interviewee told her of a 17th century family story of a granddaughter braving a fierce storm to bring food to her grandmother on a Saturday. For some strange reason, the grandmother did not cook on Saturdays! The grandmother was so thankful that she blessed her granddaughter and all future generations of the family. Another subject kept two sets of dishes, one for meat and one for dairy but was unaware of the reason for the family tradition.

Dr. Gottlieb noted that in 1995 seventeen Cape Verdeans witnessed the founding document of the Cape Verde-Israel Friendship society. In Lisbon, some descendants of the second wave have started attending synagogue and are hoping to start a newsletter. On the island, there is a movement to restore the gravestones of Jewish immigrants. Her research continues.