JTS Mission to Spain, May 2008

“Poetry, Music, and Mysticism: The Jews of Spain”
The Jewish Theological Seminary Mission to Southern Spain

May 18–29, 2008

Few regions have been as important to Jewish history as Spain, which produced both the Rambam and the Inquisition. From Roman times to 1492, Spain was home to an unusual Jewish culture, combining features of northern European talmudism, Arabic poetry, philosophy and science, and the Kaballah. Spain was also the most bountiful producer of Hebrew poetry in the Golden Age of Hebrew literature.

Dr. Raymond Scheindlin, a noted authority on the encounter of Hebrew and Arabic cultures in Spain, will illuminate us with presentations on topics like the Inquisition, the last century of Spanish Jewry, the poet Judah Halevi, and Samuel Ha-Nagid, among others. We will also be accompanied by mezzo-soprano Janice Meyerson, who will sing examples of traditional Sephardic music.

Join us as we explore the historic synagogues of Toledo, the medieval synagogue of Cordoba, and the grandeur of Granada, with its magnificent palace, the Alhambra, and observe Shabbat in Seville, the city often considered “the soul of Spain.” Our trip will take us to sites of Jewish creativity under medieval Islam and through paths of tragedy and expulsion. We will visit medieval castles, mikva’ot, and synagogues as we learn about the golden age of Spain.

Dr. Raymond Scheindlin is professor of Medieval Hebrew Literature and former provost of The Jewish Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including A Short History of the Jewish People, and most recently, Song of the Distant Dove: Pilgrimage Poems by Judah Halevi. He has been a Guggenheim fellow and a visiting professor at Harvard University.

Janice Meyerson, mezzo-soprano, has sung as a soloist with organization such as the New York City Opera, the New York Philharmonic, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. A gifted interpreter of song, Ms. Meyerson will perform and give examples of traditional Sephardic Jewish music that will be informative and entertaining.

To view the trip brochure, please click here.

For the registration form (pdf), please click here.

Mission to Spain