Erotic Love Poetry in the Alhambra
Trip Start
Aug 17, 2008
1
6
9
Trip End
Aug 25, 2008
Granada,
Andalusia,
Spain and Canary Islands
Thursday, August 21, 2008
impressive mini-city/fortress that protected the Muslim state of
Granada until 1492 when Isabella and Ferdinand's army finally conquered
the city. The story of the Alhambra is much more about Arab life in
Spain than about Jews, so we took time on the grounds to do a poetry
reading of Shmuel Ha-Nagid, the chief Jew of Muslim Spain in his time,
military leader and poet (yes, imagine if the American
commander-in-chief was also the poet laureate!) It turned out that
despite the awesome spectacle of the gardens and buildings, which we
toured in the blazing heat of day and under the stars at night, the
poetry reading that we did sitting on the floor of a mini-coliseum was
the most meaningful part of the visit
Hevruta Study in the Alhambra
. Poetry reading is
something I do with all of my students, but Russians have such a rich
tradition of poetry as part of both their culture and identity, that it
seemed imperative to make Shmuel Ha-Nagid's poetry, read on the grounds
of the Alhambra, the centerpiece of our visit to Granada. We read a
short poem about a gazelle in hevruta and then the questions started:
"What is the gazelle?" asked one group member. "Clearly his lover,
because she comes in the middle of the night," responded someone from
across the courtyard. "Wait a minute," interrupted another. "It says
'he,' not she. Who is Shmuel Ha-Nagid writing to? Is this an issue of
Hebrew grammar or, um, um..." Shmuel Ha-Nagid's poetry, so deeply
shaped by Arabic poetic forms, provoked these kinds of amazing
conversations about homoeroticism in medieval Hebrew poetry
Generalife Gardens, Alhambra
.But
perhaps the most interesting conversation of the day happened when one
of the participants from Kiev and I started talking about the future of
Judaism and Jewish life. I already knew that most Russian-speaking
Jews have little experience with the pluralism of American Jewish
life. For Russian Jews, as for most Jews outside the U.S., Judaism is
an all or nothing affair-one is either Orthodox or secular. This model
makes little sense in an American Jewish context that is now defined by
terms like "post-denominational" and "Do-It-Yourself" Judaism that puts
the individual, rather than the collective, at the center of Jewish
identity and practice. But what was so striking about this
conversation was having secular Russian Jews so adamantly argue that
Judaism has no future outside of Orthodoxy. "So then you, and all of
our group, is part of the problem of Judaism." "Yes," as he began
railing against Reform Judaism, which "isn't Judaism at all."
The
questions about what is "real" or "true" Judaism came up in our bus
conversation about planning for Shabbat. Here I was with a group of
six Russian-speaking Jews, most from Chicago, not Kiev, who kept
"wanting to do it right. So a man does Kiddush and a woman will light
candles." This from Jews who today have little regular Jewish practice
in their lives. Despite ten or twenty years of life in America, these
Russian Jews are so disconnected from American Jewish pluralism that
doing it right means replicating Orthodoxy's gender hierarchy. "Do you
want to do a halachic Kabbalat Shabbat, with all of the zmirot and
prayers and choreography?" " No, no, no, David...It's too much for
this group. But we should at least teach them that men make Kiddush
and bless the challah; women light candles."
It turns out that
Do-It-Yourself Judaism for Russian-speaking Jews is two parts
Chabad-style Judaism (which picks and chooses, but does so in a
traditional gendered way), one part radical secularism (which thinks
that Jewish ritual like kashrut and full Shabbes observance makes no
sense), and one part disdain for American notions of Jewish pluralism
(which thinks that women shouldn't be rabbis and Reform is the death of
Judaism). This is a group that isn't into saying blessings over meals
but insists that if you write the word "G-o-d" that it be G-d and that
a genizah be on hand at all times.
And note to reader: we have
not even talked about the fact that I, the official voice of Jewish
wisdom on this trip, am traveling with my husband (sic), who will be
leading Saturday morning Torah study (at least he's a man!). See
future entry for that conversation!
