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THE JEWS OF PORTUGAL
Between Persecution and Martyrdom
February 6-16, 2012

    Led by Professors Yom Tov Assis and Shalom Sabar
  The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Tour Map

Photographer: Debbie Zuberi	Photographer:Debbie Zuberi

Photographer: Debbie Zuberi	Photographer:Debbie Zuberi

The tragic story of Portuguese Jewry from the earliest times to the forcible conversion of 1497 and beyond is the theme of this study tour on the Jews of Portugal. The itinerary includes the main localities and remains of Jewish interest which enable us to reconstruct Jewish life in medieval Portugal and crypto-Jewish life for five centuries. Daily lectures survey various aspects of Jewish history in Portugal including the origins of Portuguese Jewry, communal and social life, the Jews in the service of the crown, cultural and religious life, science and literature, Hebrew books from Portugal, the arrival of Castilian Jews after 1492, Spanish and Portuguese Jewry between expulsion and conversion, exodus and flight, the Portuguese Inquisition and auto-da-fe, crypto-Jews from 1497 until today, and the Portuguese Diaspora in the east and west. Jewish art, Hebrew printing and ketubbot in Portugal, art and culture in the Portuguese Diaspora are studied and viewed. The seminar examines the fascinating chapters in Jewish history, the life of a community that reflects heroism, loyalty, martyrdom and suffering.

 

Monday Feb 6	Transfer to the hotel in Lisbon. Orientation in the hotel. LISBON
Tuesday Feb 7	Lecture: The Origins of Portuguese Jewry, Y. Assis Lecture on the bus: Communal and Social Life of Portuguese Jewry, Y. Assis Travel to Marvão, a small medieval village (170 km). Continue to Castelo de Vide where we visit the synagogue located in the old Jewish Quarter (long bus ride). Continue to Covilhã (127 km). COVILHA
Wednesday Feb 8	Lecture: Jewish Art in the Iberian Peninsula: Between Christianity and Islam, S. Sabar Visit the Jewish Quarter of Covilhã. Continue to Belmonte (15 km) where a crypto-Jewish community that has survived until modern times returned to Judaism. Visit the modern synagogue and the Museu Judaico de Belmonte with one of the best collections of its kind in Portugal. Travel to Sabugal to visit the site of the old synagogue. Continue to Coimbra (164 km). COIMBRA
Thursday Feb 09	Lecture: Jewish Culture in Medieval Portugal, Y. Assis Lecture: The Sephardi Ketubbah before and after the Expulsion, Including Portuguese Ketubbot from the 19th Century, S. Sabar Visit the old university town on the Mondego River which includes the square of Praco de Comercio, the Convento de Santa Cruz, the University, the location of the medieval Jewish quarter. Visit the site of the old synagogue. There is also a special visit to the splendid Biblioteca Ioanina. Continue to Oporto (105 km). OPORTO
Friday Feb 10	Lecture: Portuguese Jews in the Royal Court, Y. Assis Lecture: From Spain to Portugal: Hebrew Printing in the Iberian Peninsula, S. Sabar Visit synagogue of Oporto where Barros Basto founded his Yeshiva for crypto-Jews who wanted to return to Judaism. Meet descendants of crypto-Jews. Visit also the recently discovered medieval synagogue. Continue to the library and the university. Shabbat Services in the synagogue followed by a specially prepared dinner. OPORTO
Saturday Feb 11	Shabbat Services followed by a specially prepared lunch. Lecture: Spanish Refugees in Portugal, Y. Assis OPORTO
Sunday Feb 12	Lecture on the bus: The Forcible Conversion of Spanish and Portuguese Jews, Y. Assis Travel to Tomar (190 km) to visit the best-preserved medieval synagogue in Portugal which houses the Museu Abraham Zacuto. (long bus ride) Tour the Templar castle Converto de Cristo with special attention paid to the cloisters. LISBON
Monday Feb 13	Lecture: What is Crypto-Judaism? The Inquisition and the "Marrano Religion", C. Stuczynski Lecture: Circa 1492: The Last Phase of Jewish Art in the Iberian Peninsula and Its Aftermath (1450-1550), S. Sabar Travel to Evora (115 km), a beautiful town under the protection of UNESCO, where we see the Jewish quarter as well as the first century temple, the Manuelistic Loios Monastery now a Pousada, the Jesuit University and the cathedral. Continue to the Mouraria, the old Muslim Quarter. LISBON
Tuesday Feb 14	Lecture: The Portuguese New Christian Phenomenon: its "Hidden" Public Dimension, C. Stuczynski Lecture: The Portuguese Diaspora in the East and in the West, Y. Assis Tour the Alfama district where we visit the old Jewish Quarter. Visit the Arquivo Nacional de Torre do Tombo. Continue to the National Library with an exhibit arranged for us to view manuscripts on Portuguese Jewry. Visit the synagogue in Lisbon. LISBON
Wednesday Feb 15	Lecture: The "Discovery" of the Portuguese Conversos in the XXth Century, C. Stuczynski Travel to Sintra to visit the Jewish Quarter, the Town Palace. Return to Lisbon to visit the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian considered the finest museum in Lisbon and one of the best in the world. Vegetarian farewell dinner. LISBON
Thursday Feb 16	Transfer to the airport for departure.

PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Lecturers:
Prof. Yom Tov Assis, Dept. of the History of the Jewish People
                                      The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Prof. Shalom Sabar, Depts. of Jewish and Comparative Folklore and Art
                                      The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Dr. Claude B. Stuczynski, Dept. of History
                                     Bar Ilan University

Organizers of the Seminar:
Prof. Yom Tov Assis and Debbie Zuberi

CONDITIONS

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