MEN FROM CARÇÃO WORKING IN BRAZIL IN THE 1930s
THE JEWS OF CARÇÃO

Carção (Karssaou) is a small village in the district of Vimioso in the province of Tras os Montes (Behind the Mountains) in northern Portugal. Its present of coat of arms consists of what appears to be a mezuzah and a menorah and is described as, "a candelabrum of seven gold fires and a shuttle loom with a blue thread" (thanks to Oscar Barroso). In 1662, the unHoly Office of the Inquisition initiated a reign of terror against New Christians living there, resulting in over 200 people being charged with "Judaizing". These files are in the national archives (Torre do Tombo) in Lisbon.
Recently, Ladina collaborator, Fernanda Guimarães* started researching the Carçaõ files and discovered a wealth of information which will be the subject of a new book. It will include amazing stories such as the barber who went to Livorno and returned a rabbi and another of an accusation against a New Christian that while he was decorating the church, he stood on the high altar with his feet facing the tabernacle, ready to urinate on it. The local priest was a afraid that the New Christians would urinate in the holy water and wine!
The “Man from Carção” (O Homem de Carçaõ) was a legendary figure in Tras os Montes. It was said, and it is still remembered today, that the Man from Carção was born with a mule, which he then mounted to roam Tras os Montes and Beira provinces selling his wares. With the reins of the mule gripped in his teeth, the Man from Carçaõ sold every imaginable item: furs, leather goods, raw silk, hemp rope, bolts of cloth, herbal remedies, honey, wax candles, almonds, olives, olive oil, pots and pans, and even under-garments, all displayed on his heavily laden trusty mule!
Modernity destroyed the Man from Carçaõ, the coming of the highway sealing his fate. To view a 20th century Man from Carção, or the Carção coat of arms, visit http://www.ladina.blogspot.com/.

* Fernanda’s other publications (in Portuguese) include, Os Judeus de Torre de Moncorvo, Os Judeus de Bragança and Os Judeus de Mogadouro, (forthcoming). Some of her publications are available from Ladina. She is available for hire for private research of Inquisition files.

JUDAISM, MARRANISM AND IDENDITY
by Jorge Martins, author of the recent three volume "Portugal e os Judeus" (Portugal and the Jews)

Judaísmo, marranismo e identidade

Jorge Martins

Os judeus viveram um longo período de afirmação e crescimento em Portugal até que, em 1496, sob a pressão dos ventos adversos que sopravam forte da vizinha Espanha desde finais do século XIV, D. Manuel I não soube ou não quis resistir às exigências políticas espanholas, quando desposou a filha dos "Reis Católicos". Pior do que a expulsão, ao contrário do que haviam feito os seus sogros, o nosso rei tentou a todo o custo impedir a saída dos judeus e, com eles, os seus cabedais, o seu saber, a sua competência, a sua experiência, a sua capacidade empreendedora, o que arruinaria o tecido sócio-económico do reino. Enganou-os, não cumpriu o seu próprio édito intolerante e forçou-os ao baptismo. Mas, mais do que o incomensurável drama humano que provocou numa boa parte da portugalidade, foi a incompatibilidade que introduziu na sociedade portuguesa. Os judeus, agora não-judeus, mas sempre tidos como tal, eram rejeitados, quer como judaizantes quer como espúrios, condenados à eterna mácula do "pérfido" sangue judaico, uma gota que fosse.
Verdadeiramente anti-semita, D. João III daria o golpe final na situação que seu pai criara, mas que oscilava o suficiente para vir em socorro das vítimas do massacre de 1506, decretando a extinção da distinção entre cristãos-novos e cristãos-velhos, vedando as inquirições às práticas judaicas, autorizando a sua saída do reino, não pedindo com a devida veemência o Santo Ofício para o Reino. Seria, efectivamente, seu filho, o incansável inimigo dos judeus, quem porfiaria nas pretensões intolerantes do estabelecimento da Inquisição, que compraria à Santa Sé, após mais de uma década de esforços, de corrupção activa e de imensos cabedais.
Importada que foi a expulsão, sem qualquer alteração substancial da relativa aceitação do judeu na sociedade portuguesa, apesar da existência de alguma animosidade, quiçá ampliada pelos infelizes acontecimentos no resto da península, a Inquisição viria alterar irreversivelmente a relação entre cristãos-novos e cristãos-velhos. Apesar do terror inquisitorial, a resistência cristã-nova e a persistência do culto judaico durante os séculos XVI a XVIII, pode ser atestada pelos próprios processos do "fero monstro", pela conversão de inúmeros cristãos-novos portugueses que se exilam para poderem desenvolver as suas actividades económicas e assumir a sua verdadeira religião e pela espantosa emergência do criptojudaísmo durante as primeiras décadas do século XX.
Não partilhamos a (insuficientemente fundamentada) justificação da introdução da Inquisição como uma necessidade de regulação da relação entre cristãos e judeus, ou como uma tentativa de evitar o mal maior do antijudaísmo popular. Um dos argumentos mais utilizados para legitimar o Santo Ofício como uma resposta aceitável para a época, é o do massacre de 1506, que foi sanado por D. Manuel, que castigou exemplarmente os instigadores, comandados por dois frades dominicanos, que também foram executados por ordem régia. Mas, uma vez mais se comprovava assim que a acção tolerante dos nossos monarcas poderia ter evitado o crescendo do antijudaísmo encorajado e acicatado por clérigos intolerantes. Contudo, a política prosseguida por D. João III foi a grande responsável pela inviabilização da conciliação possível de judeus e cristãos, como acontecera no passado. A Inquisição não foi, pois, uma necessidade, um impulso natural, uma tentativa de evitar um mal maior. Bem pelo contrário, o Tribunal do Santo Ofício encarcerou o país nas teias da estreiteza anti-humanista da visão de um clero racista que empenhou o futuro de Portugal a todos os níveis.
Não obstante, não se pode deixar de assinalar que houve homens corajosos que se opuseram aos crimes inquisitoriais, sancionados por D. João III e todos os monarcas que lhe seguiram as pisadas. O primeiro grande filo-semita foi António Vieira, que, apesar de não ter sido bem sucedido nos seus intentos tolerantistas, acabaria por influenciar outras personalidades, como D. Luís da Cunha, Xavier de Oliveira, Ribeiro Sanches e Melo Freire, que retomariam as propostas de reforma dos métodos da Inquisição ou, mesmo, de aceitação do livre culto aos judeus. Quando Pombal legislou favoravelmente às pretensões judaicas, ironicamente, poria em prática as teses de um dos principais lutadores pela tolerância, o jesuíta António Vieira, membro da odiada Ordem a quem Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo acusaria de responsável por todos os males do Reino.
Ceifada pela raiz a intolerância antijudaica, designadamente na sua expressão literária e na inaceitável discriminação persistente em pleno Século das Luzes, estava delineado o caminho para a emancipação judaica, que começaria pela criação de comunidades israelitas em Lisboa, Açores e Faro, veria consagrada tacitamente na lei a sua existência, embora como "colónias" estrangeiras, com a extinção da Inquisição, e alcançaria o reconhecimento legal após a implantação da República. Seria justamente durante o novo regime republicano que emergiriam à luz do dia das conservadoras terras interiores das Beiras e de Trás-os-Montes as comunidades marranas, esquecidas do judaísmo oficial, esquecidas do país, esquecidas do mundo, até esquecidas de si próprias. Novo abalo se sentiria nas hostes anti-semitas, que haviam sido emudecidas por Pombal desde o último quartel do século XVIII. Com efeito, se o século XIX não foi favorável ao crescimento dessas ideias entre nós, a proclamação da República e o resgate do criptojudaísmo veio proporcionar novos argumentos aos paladinos da intolerância, adversários da liberdade e da democracia. Barros Basto tornava-se assim o centro das atenções anti-semitas, enquanto se invocavam os Protocolos dos Sábios do Sião para confirmar as pretensões dominadoras do mundo e derruidoras do edifício católico por parte dos israelitas.
O criptojudaísmo, assolado por anti-semitas cada vez mais intervenientes e por judeus receosos da estabilidade, paulatina e sofridamente alcançada ao longo de mais de um século de dificuldades, de dissenções internas e de precauções externas, depois de um momento de euforia internacional, ver-se-ia remetido a um criptomarranismo forçado. O país nunca mais recuperaria a alma judaica, enterrada pela Inquisição e inviabilizada na sua forma única de sobrevivência: o marranismo.
Forçados a abjurar o judaísmo, perseguidos por nos termos tornado cristãos-novos à força, impossibilitados de regressar ao judaísmo oficial e incapazes de criar uma igreja marrana, tornámo-nos um povo com identidade, não apenas múltipla e miscigenada, mas difusa e sempre dominada por uma angustiante duplicidade, que nos tem impelido, ora para a exagerada euforia optimista, ora para o recorrente pessimismo de não termos assumido uma identidade, qualquer que fosse, mas uma identidade assente em inequívocas raízes de pertença, interiorizadas em todas as suas dimensões.
Foi este o mais perene dos muitos crimes da Inquisição, que os dois séculos posteriores à tri-centenária história da intolerância não conseguiram reconciliar no ser português que somos hoje. Na verdade, perdemos a nossa plena identidade a partir do início do século XVI e nunca mais a recuperámos até hoje. Por outras palavras, apesar da tão propalada presença judaica no ser português, ainda não somos capazes de assumir, no século XXI, a dimensão judaica da nossa identidade.
Isto é consequência da bem sucedida acção de desmantelamento da sociedade das três culturas – cristã, judaica e muçulmana – que Portugal esboçou na aurora da nacionalidade e se poderia ter aprofundado, não fora o infamante decreto de expulsão e o terrorista tribunal da Inquisição. Com efeito, as comunidades judaicas portuguesas crescem entre os séculos XII e XV, revelando um claro sinal de que a tolerância – aceitando-lhe a natureza contraditória –, assumida pela generalidade dos nossos monarcas até D. Manuel I, possibilitaram o enraizamento da dimensão judaica do ser português do século XVI. Mesmo o rei que decretou a expulsão de judeus e mouros sabia que isso seria – como, infelizmente, para eles e para nós, foi – uma catástrofe económica, social e cultural irreversível. Por isso, não deixou sair os judeus e baptizou-os à força, mesmo contra a vontade dos seus conselheiros.
A desestruturação mental que o baptismo forçado e a acção inquisitorial operaram na sociedade portuguesa, obliterou o (embora precário e desigual) convívio inter-religioso e intercultural que se estava a construir ainda antes da fundação da nacionalidade e se aprofundou durante os séculos XII a XV. Foi a intolerância católica que impediu o português de quinhentos de ser o que era de facto: um povo de raízes diversas. Essa amputação social, cultural e mental teria repercussões incomensuráveis em todos os domínios da vida portuguesa, acabando por atravessar a história dos judeus, dos marranos e dos cristãos (novos e velhos), que não mais puderam assumir-se em toda a plenitude do seu ser. Dos escolhos da(s) intolerância(s) emergiria um novo português, o português que todos nós somos um pouco: o marrano, que, quer queiramos ou não, nos ficou como uma marca identitária indelével.

.

JACOB ABRAHAM CAMILLE PISSARO (PIÇARRO), FATHER OF IMPRESSIONISM

Born St. Thomas, Danish Virgin Islands, 10, July, 1839, died Paris, 13 November, 1903
The Vagabonds, 1896, Lithograph

Photo from the archives of the Musée Camille Pissaro, Musees de Pontoise, France


Pissaro, the father of French impressionism was a descendant of Portuguese judaizing New Christians (marranos, anousim) from Bragança in northern Portugal. We asked Fernanda Guimares, independent researcher at the Torre de Tombo to search for ancestors. Here are her findings:

1.Pedro de Lafaia Pissaro, merchant, native of Bragança, resident of Lisbon, 38 yrs. old, son of Manuel de Lafaia, silk manufacturer and Maria Nunes, married to Leonor da Costa, New Christian, sentenced on 07-09-1706, confiscation of assets, attend Auto de Fé, abjuration in form, perpetual jail, and spiritual penitences.

2. Manuel Mendes Piçarro, New Christian, accused of Juadism, weaver, native of Bragança, 40 yrs old, son of Alonso Rodrigues Piçarro or Pisarro, accusation presented 1749.

3.Lúisa Maria, New Christian, accused of heresy and apostasy, native of Bragança, daughter of Alonso Rodrigues Piçarro or Pissarro and Isabel Nunes, married to José Rodrigues Gabriel, merchant, imprisoned on 01-04-1717, sentenced 19-12-1718,Auto de Fé 19-12-1718

50,000 INQUISITION FILES TO BE DIGITALIZED IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS

The Lusa news agency of Portugal reported that the Ministry of Culture and REN, the national electrical distributer, will contribute one million euros (60-40 split in favour of the ministry) to diditalize 50,000 Inquisition documents in the national archives, Torre de Tombo. The minister, Isabel Pires de Lima, made the announcement at the Portuguese Centre of Photography in Porto,


see also report in Diario de Noticias, national newspaer-http://dn.sapo. pt/2007/07/ 12/artes/ papeis_inquisica o_net_apoio_ mecenas.htm

Porto, 14 Jul (Lusa) - A ministra da Cultura, Isabel Pires de Lima, anunciou hoje, no Porto, que a Rede Eléctrica Nacional (REN) vai apoiar a digitalização dos 50 mil documentos relacionados com a Inquisição existentes na Torre do Tombo em Lisboa.

Esta iniciativa vai ser financiada pela REN, na sequência de um protocolo de mecenato assinado sexta-feira entre a Direcção-Geral de Arquivos (DGA) e aquela empresa, que detém a rede de distribuição de energia eléctrica em Portugal.

A digitalização dos 50 mil documentos sobre a Inquisição em Portugal dará lugar a cinco milhões de imagens.

O processo de digitalização tem uma duração prevista de três anos, e custará um milhão de euros, cabendo 60 por cento (600 mil euros) do financiamento à REN e os restantes 400 mil euros ao Ministério da Cultura.

Isabel Pires de Lima sublinhou "a importância de envolver, através do mecenato, uma empresa neste projecto, que, apesar de ter pouca visibilidade pública, é culturalmente muito relevante".

A ministra falava no Centro Português de Fotografia, no Porto, à margem da inauguração de quatro exposições de fotografia que têm em comum o facto de serem todas constituídas por imagens de Portugal, do italiano Danilo Pavone ("Landscapes Theories"), do francês Georges Dussaud ("Crónicas Portuguesas") e dos portugueses David Infante ("À Flor da Pele") e José M. Rodrigues ("Dez Fotografias de Obras de Álvaro Siza Vieira").

A ministra anunciou também que o espólio do CPF e do Arquivo Fotográfico de Lisboa, num total de 14.500 imagens, vai ser colocado na Internet, no sítio do CPF.

O responsável da DGA, Silvestre Lacerda, referiu que a digitalização do espólio está em curso, graças ao financiamento do Plano Operacional da Cultura, devendo estar disponível na Internet em finais de Outubro, gratuitamente.

PF.

Lusa/Fim

SHEMA YISRAEL with father Julio Grangeia, Catholic priest in Aveiro Portugal! ( Sacerdote Católico da Diocese de Aveiro).

PORTUGUESE SEPHARDIM PIONEERS IN AMERICA

On July 4th we remember:

Isaac Pinto, 1766, Colonial New York, translator from Hebrew to English of a High Holiday prayer book, the first in the USA.

David Da Costa, tobacco importer , Virginia, 1658.

Judah Monis, author of the first complete Hebrew grammar in the USA, the first American Jew to receive a College degree, and the first Jew to obtain a degree from Harvard where he taught Hebrew.

Judah Monis, A Grammar of the Hebrew Tongue, Cambridge, MA, 1735.

Dr. Jacob Lumbrozo, Maryland in 1656, North America’s first Jewish physician, known as “Ye Jew doctor”.

Moses Lindo, Charleston, 1756 who introduced the indigo industry in the 13 colonies.

Aaron Lopez (born Duarte Lopez in Lisbon), the first Jewish merchant “Prince”, who with Jacob Rodriguez Rivera from Spain created the first American trust in 1761, the United Company of Spermaceti Candlers. He laid the cornerstone of the Touro synagogue in Newport Rhode Island. He contributed to Washington’s army with money and ships from his whaling fleet.

http://www.cjh.org/nhprc/AaronLopez.html


James Lucena, who introduced soap manufacturing in the 13 colonies.


Reverend Gershom Mendes Seixas, the first American-born rabbi in 1768 of the first Jewish congregation in the USA, Shearith Israel in New York city.





Francis Salvador, a plantation owner in Carolina, the “Southern Paul Revere” , the first Jew in America to die for his country leading a small army of 330 men against a British attack.

Benjamin Nones (Nunes), 1777, America’s first Jewish major.



Haim Hendricks (Henriques), New Jersey, 1812, the first copper-rolling mill in America.


Major Mordecai Manuel Noah, the first American Zionist (there is a legend that Washington attended the wedding of his Sephardic mother and Ashkenazi father), who purchased 2,555 acres on Grand island in the Niagara River northwest of Buffalo, for a temporary haven for all Jews before their eventual return to the Holy Land.

Mordecai Manuel Noah (1785-1851)






David Carvalho Nunes, one of the dissenters from the largest and richest synagogue in America, Kahal Kodesh Beth Elohim of Charleston, who contributed to the creation of the first Reform congregation in America.
Kahal Kodesh Beth Elohim of Charleston which burned down.







Solomon Nunes Carvalho, a descendant of Portugal’s enlightened despot of the 18th century who shut down the Inquisition, the Marquis de Pombal, pioneer photographer, painter, explorer and inventor.



self portrait-http://www.amuseum.org/jahf/nomination/nomination2.html


Dr. Sabato Morais, founding president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America which opened in New York in 1886.



Dr. Benjamin Adolph Rodriguez of Charleston, a pioneer dentist in America and inventor of orthodontic devices.

Uriah Phillips Levy, America’s first Jewish Admiral ( Commodore), who ran away to sea at 10 years old. He sucessfully fought to abolish flogging in the navy. He purchased and preserved Thomas Jefferson’s house, a national treasure.



Judah P. Benjamin, the first Jewish statesman, first Jew to be elected to the Senate (1845), the brains of the Confederacy, held three cabinet posts under Confederate president Jefferson Davis. His picture even appeared on confederate money! At 54, he began a new career in England, becoming the first American Jew to become Queen’s Counsel.

Photograph of Judah P. Benjamin (National Archives)

Dr. John De Sequeyra, pioneer in the treatment of the insane and public health.

Jacob da Silva Solomon Solis, teacher and ritual slaughter in New Orleans.

Samuel Ribeiro Nunez, pioneer Georgian doctor straight from the court of Lisbon!

Esther Nunez, pioneer grape grower in Georgia, then farmer in Pennsylvania.

Isaac Miranda, Indian fur trader.


SOURCES They Led the Way, The Creators of Jewish America, Harry A. Ezratty
First Facts in American Jewish History, Tina Levitan
The Jews in Early American, Sandra Cummings Malamed
Jews on the Frontier, Rabbi I. Harold Sharfman

LADINA TERTÚLIAS, SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2007, 21.30, Literary Club of Porto

Lisbon 1506, The Massacre of the Jews, Susana Bastos Mateus

Personalities and Stories from the Inquisition of Porto, Maria Fernanda Guimaraes

Marranos in Brazil, Sergio Mota

The Synagogue of Tomar, Portugal

(The Museum of the Jewish People ONLINE, see below for contact info)

Tomar (formerly spelled Thomar) is a small, historic town in central Portugal, about 145 km north east of Lisbon, best known for the remnants of an impressive Templar fortress and a superb monastery that attract many visitors. Less well known is the synagogue of Tomar, the oldest extant Jewish prayer house in Portugal.

There seems to have been a Jewish settlement in Tomar already during the early 14th century, as suggested by an inscription on a gravestone mentioning a rabbi Josef of Tomar who died in Faro, in southern Portugal, in 1315. An official Spanish document issued in Zamora on October 26, 1475 by D. Alfonso V mentions the Jewish community of Tomar. The synagogue appears to have been built in the 15th century, sometime between 1430 and 1460, when the local Jewish community acquired some prominence. The synagogue was situated in the middle of the Judearia (Jewish quarter), on what was later known as "Rua nova que foi judaria" ("the New street that was the Jewish quarter") corresponding approximately with area now located between the modern streets of Rua Direita dos Açougues and Rua dos Moinhos.

The entrance to the Synagogue of Tomar, 1989 Beth Hatefutsoth - Visual Documentation Center Courtesy of Isaac Bitton, USA

Well in the courtyard of the Synagogue of Tomar, 1989 Beth Hatefutsoth - Visual Documentation Center Courtesy of Isaac Bitton, USA

The synagogue of Tomar was in use until 1496, when King Manuel I "The Fortunate" of Portugal issued an edict, according to which the Jews had the choice to either convert to Christianity or to leave Portugal by October 1497. As a result of the new policy, the synagogue ceased to function, probably in 1497. The building was consequently sold to a private person. It was sold again in 1516 and converted into a prison serving the town and its region, instead of an older prison that previously functioned in the local castle. The prison continued to function in the building of the former synagogue until probably the middle years of the 16th century, when it was transferred to the city hall. An Inquisition tribunal was established in Tomar in 1543, but its activity was suspended in 1548, not before two executions (auto-da-fe) took place. According to some notes in the parish records of a local church in Tomar, it seems that the building of the formar synagogue was used as a Christian chapel in the early 17th century. In late 19th century the building served as a hay loft. Jose Joaquim de Araujo, its owner, sold it to Antonio Vieira da Silva Neves and upon his decease the building was inherited by his son-in-law Joaquim Cardoso Tavares. The building, used as a grocery warehouse at the time, was recognized as a national monument in 1921.

Interior of the Synagogue of Tomar Beth Hatefutsoth - Visual Documentation Center Courtesy of Isaac Bitton, USA

Interior of the Synagogue of Tomar Beth Hatefutsoth - Visual Documentation Center Courtesy of Isaac Bitton, USA

The modern story of the Synagogue of Tomar is linked to the activities of Samuel Schwarz who purchased the building in 1923. A native of Zgierz, Poland, and a mining engineer, Samuel Schwarz (also spelled Szwarc) (1880-1953), is best known today for his discovery of crypto-Jewish families in north-eastern Portugal, chiefly in the town of Belmonte. Because of the outbreak of WW I Samuel Schwarz and his wife could not leave Portugal where they were honey-mooning. They decided to stay in Portugal for good, where Samuel Schwarz dedicated himself to restoring and organizing Jewish life in that country, even serving for a time as President of the Jewish Community of Lisbon. Samuel Schwarz undertook at his own expense the works of cleaning and excavation of the synagogue of Tomar. Plans to transferring the building to the State of Portugal could not be realised because of a lack of funds. Only in 1939, following a donation by Samuel Schwarz, the building was converted into a museum. In return Samuel Schwarz and his wife were granted Portuguese citizenship that protected them during the Second World War.
Located at 73 Rua Dr. Joaquim Jaquinto, the Synagogue of Tomar features a white painted plain façade. The interior boasts a rectangular main prayer room of about 8 meters on each side. The ceiling is supported by four pillars with twelve pointed arches in the Moorish style much appreciated in the Iberian countries during the middle ages. In Sephardi tradition, especially among Jews of Portuguese origin, the four pillars symbolized the four mothers of Israel: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, while the twelve arches are thought to represent the twelve Tribes of Israel. The four upper corners of the room contain clay jars incorporated into the walls upside down, an ingenious traditional method employed in the Middle Ages for improving the acoustics. Modern additions include wooden chairs facing from three sides the central bimah. The Torah scrolls are being kept in a wooden cupboard. Old stone carvings that apparently ornamented the original structure are exhibited around the room walls.

A second smaller room is situated next to the main prayer hall and is partially below the current street level. Discovered in 1985, it was originally used as a mikveh - a ritual bath. It houses a collection of artifacts, especially ceramic bowls that are displayed around the pool of the mikveh. A well, half covered by a more recent wall, has been discovered in the patio behind the mikveh, its edge bears deep cuts from ropes.

The building of the synagogue houses the Museu Luso-Hebraico Abraham Zacuto (the Abraham Zacuto Portuguese Jewish Museum). Named after Abraham Zacuto (c.1450-c.1522), a mathematician and author of the celebrated Almanach Perpetuum, a book published in Leiria in 1496 that contains mathematical tables largely used by Portuguese navigators during the early 16th century and beyond. The exhibits include various archeological findings attesting the Jewish presence in Portugal during the Middle Ages. Among numerous gravestones that form the bulk of the collection, mention should be made of an inscription, dated 1307, from the former main synagogue of Lisbon, and a second notable 13th century inscription from Belmonte on which the Divine Name is represented by three dots in a manner reminiscent of the ancient Hebrew manuscripts from the Dead Sea. The museum also holds a small collection of modern artifacts describing Jewish way of life that have been donated by individuals and Jewish institutions from various parts of the world

HFG

"The Museum of the Jewish People ONLINE" is the website of Beth Hatefutsoth, the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, located on the campus of Tel Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Israel.
The Web site was born in November 1996, due to the generous sponsorship of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, New York. Beth Hatefutsoth’s Web site has proved to be an indispensable link to Jewish people in the Diaspora and in Israel, allowing us to reach out to people who otherwise would not be aware of the Museum’s cultural and educational activities.
Planning and developing our Web site has been a labor of love for us - and it owes part of its success to the feedback and comments of our visitors. In the future we plan to add some more content relating to Beth Hatefutsoth's previous exhibitions. We will also invest a major effort in providing our visitors with even more links to resources related to Jewish Life and Heritage to be found in Cyberspace.
But, to continue and grow, we do need your feedback and comments and we always appreciate your remarks and welcome your suggestions - to be sent to @post.tau.ac.il

FARO CEMETERY MUSEUM

JCA NEWSLETTER

Sivan 5767 – ז״סשת ןויס – 3 June 2007

Vol 2 - Nº 4 - First published in April 1995.

Copies of JCA NEWSLETTER are archived at the British Library, Hebrew Section

Isaac Bitton Synagogue Museum Opening Ceremony

at the

Historic Faro Jewish Cemetery

Sunday the 3^rd of June 2007 was a warm and sunny day in Faro. Approximately 200 people from as far afield as England and Ireland, Ilinois and even Jacksonville U.S.A., also a contingent from Lisbon and of course the Algarve, were present to witness this milestone event to honour the memory of Isaac “Ike” Bitton. One of Ike’s memorable philosophies was that ”if you do not honour the dead, you cannot respect the living! The Câmara Municipal de Faro (CMF), as at previous ceremonies, provided the sound system, awnings with seating and arranged covers for the monuments that were to be unveiled. The CMF also put down a permanent calçada’d pavement from the Rua Leão Penedo, along the cemetery wall, round the front lawns, providing proper access to the entrance of the Cemetery. This, combined with a decorative new fence enclosing the well-kept front lawns backed by 18 tall cypress trees, give visitors and tourists a new appreciation of the beauty and serenity of this historic site. This cemetery is after all the only remaining vestige of the 1^st post inquisition Jewish presence in Portugal !

Our sincere thanks also go to the parking area concessionaries, Sient, for allowing free parking for all those attending our ceremony!

The M.C., Dr. Arnaldo José Guerreiro, welcomed those present. He called on Dr José Oulman Carp, President of the Comunidade Israelita de Lisboa, to speak before the 3 new flagpoles respectively flying flags for the Faro Cemetery Restoration Fund Inc.: the Comunidade Israelita de Lisboa: and the Jewish Community of Algarve. Dr Oulman Carp expressed his pleasure at seeing the progress made in keeping this important Jewish Heritage in Faro alive for future generations. He recorded his community’s appreciation for the work being done.

The next speaker was the Vice President of the Restoration Fund, Eng. Ralf Pinto, who unveiled a new signpost, listing the new Museum, the monuments and the all the homages paid at the Cemetery. He pointed out that the additions and developments at the site during 15 years since it’s restoration had turned it into a true tourist attraction and this demanded that it be appropriately renamed to “The Faro Jewish Heritage Centre”. He also mentioned that the Ministry of Culture would now include the site in the official “ Portuguese Cultural Route ”. It was his wife, Judith that had, in December 1991, in his absence, held a small Channuka party at their flat in Portimão, and that in lighting the Menorah that day she had rekindled the

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Flame of Judaism and established the Jewish Community of Algarve (JCA) and that she is the true driving force that keeps it going. He thanked the members of the JCA for their constant support of this project, mentioning that the Faro Jewish Heritage Centre and the JCA were interdependent.

Eng. José Saul Pinto then unveiled a replica of the tombstone of Joseph de Tomar, who had died in 1315. It is mounted on a granite pillar sculpted by Fernanda Assis, The stone was found in a military embattlement (near the present cemetery), in c. 1870, whence it was moved to the cemetery wall and later to the Tomar Museum . In Portugal it is one of only 7 remaining ancient stones with Hebrew lettering, José expressed his pride at being his father’s son.

The Ceremony then moved to the tiled Monument to Samuel Gacon. This was a gift from the Câmara of Faro and was unveiled by its President, Dr. José Apolinário. The President explained that it was Gacon, who had in his shop in Faro carried out the first ever printing in Portugal – The Pentateuch (5 books of Moses) in Hebrew, which was published on the 30^th of June 1487! The monument was designed in traditional Portuguese tiles (azuleijos), painted by D. Célia Mendes of Quartro Elementos in Faro. It depicts a Guttenberg press and the 1^st page of the Pentateuch, comfortably legible to the Hebrew reader. The British Library has the only known original edition of this book in its Hebrew section and in 1991, the Civil Governor of Faro commissioned a limited facsimile edition – a copy of which may be viewed at the Museum.

David and Joseph, Ike Bitton’s grandsons, also directors of the FCRFInc., then unveiled a memorial plaque honouring their late grandfather with reference to a new hand wash fountain, an indispensable facility for persons leaving the cemetery.

Late Ike’s son, Michael I. Bitton, cut the ribbon for the Isaac Bitton Synagogue Museum. He expressed his thanks for all the effort that had been made over 15 years, since his father’s dream of seeing the cemetery restored, become reality.

The furniture of the original 1820 synagogue at Rua Castilho nº4 in downtown Faro were now restored, and safe in their new home. The fact of their preservation over 40 years since the demolition of the Synagogue was the tireless effort of Advocate, the late, Semtob Dreiblatt Sequerra – we owe him a great debt of gratitude! A Jewish wedding is depicted before the Ark with suitably attired mannequins under a real hand painted chupa (canopy) and with wedding music adding to the occasion.

The closing speech was by the Hon. Aaron Ram, Israeli Ambassador to Portugal . He expressed his pleasure at having been invited to this important event. He thanked all the persons involved, from the donors to the well-wishers, for what had been achieved!

Michelle Pinto then presented copies of Isaac Bitton’s award winning DVD “Without the Past” and a souvenir escudo coin set to each, the Mayor and the Ambassador.

Jewish Community of Algarve Rua Júdice Biker 11 – 5º 8500-701 Portimão

tel +351 282 416 710 fax +351282416515 Móbile 968440414

Cemetery 351 289 829 525

Ralf.Pinto@sapo.pt

http://www.farojewishheritagecentre.org

Se full list of Graves athttp://www.commandvideo.com/Faro/default.asp

www.cilisboa.com (see sub-headings: tourism/Algarve)