Jewish Time-Travel A Travel Narrative and Guide to Jewish Historic Sites in Europe and Israel

by Sander, Mae E.

• ISBN13: 9780765760999
• ISBN10: 0765760991
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-03-31
• Publisher: Jason Aronson, Inc.

Summary

This original and highly informative book examines several eras of Jewish history through the author's travels in Israel, France, Spain, and Italy. Highlighting the colorful experiences of Jews in many diverse environments, Jewish Time-Travel can serve as a travel guide, or offer an imaginary voyage for the armchair traveler.

Table of Contents

Introduction---Traveling Backward in Time	1	(3)
Travel Narratives in This Book	4	(5)
Further Information	9	(4)
Part 1 Israel and the Romans
Overview---Ancient History	13	(3)
Masada	16	(24)
Discovering Masada	17	(6)
Flavius Josephus's Story	23	(1)
Herod and Rome	24	(9)
Modern Symbol and Myth	33	(7)
Background of the Diaspora	40	(17)
Israel before the Romans	40	(4)
The Jews in the Roman Empire	44	(5)
Israeli Geography, Climate, and Geology	49	(8)
Jerusalem	57	(39)
The Old City and Its Buried Treasures Revealed	57	(12)
The Vision of Herod the Great	69	(6)
The Destruction in 70 C.E.	75	(4)
Seeing Jerusalem	79	(7)
The Israel Museum---Lamps, Coins, Scrolls	86	(10)
The Land of Judea	96	(14)
Food and Agriculture in Judea	97	(4)
Visiting the Dead Sea	101	(5)
Bet Guvrin, Maresha, and Sussia	106	(4)
The Roman Coast Road	110	(16)
Ashkelon	111	(2)
Jaffa, the Oldest Port	113	(3)
Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv---Glass Blowers and Glass Technology	116	(3)
Caesarea, Herod's Pagan City	119	(6)
Akko, a Strategic Location	125	(1)
Galilee and the North	126	(33)
Galilee, Place of Rabbis and Emperors	126	(6)
Sepphoris and Its Ancient ``Mona Lisa''	132	(9)
Bet She 'arim, a Byzantine Burial Site	141	(3)
Bet She'an or Sythopolis	144	(1)
Bet Alpha and the Zodiac	145	(3)
Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee	148	(4)
Romans in the Golan	152	(3)
The End of an Era	155	(4)
Part 2 Medieval Jews in Southern France
Looking for Forgotten Places	159	(17)
The Jews, the Romans, and the Dark Ages	161	(1)
Europe in 1165	162	(14)
Following the Route of Benjamin of Tudela	176	(44)
The Life and Influence of Benjamin of Tudela	177	(3)
Travel Today and in 1165	180	(5)
Narbonne, Center of Jewish Life	185	(8)
Beziers and the History of a Slap in the Face	193	(7)
Montpellier, Home of a Controversy	200	(4)
Lunel and Its Sages	204	(3)
Vauvert---Posquieres, Home of the Kabbalah	207	(3)
Saint Gilles, a Lost Community	210	(3)
Arles	213	(4)
Marseilles and Its Coral Workers	217	(2)
Wrap-Up---Elsewhere in Languedoc	219	(1)
Tracing the Jews of Provence	220	(19)
After the Expulsions	220	(3)
St. Maximin	223	(3)
Cotignac---A Beautiful Town	226	(2)
Carpentras and the Pope's Jews	228	(4)
Cavaillon	232	(1)
L'Isle sur la Sorgue	233	(1)
Avignon	234	(5)
Part 3 Iberian Voyages
Introduction	239	(14)
Madrid, 1996	240	(3)
Madrid's Windows on History	243	(10)
Medieval Spain	253	(20)
Jews, Christians, and Moslems in Spain	253	(5)
Jews under the ``Reconquest''	258	(9)
The International Context	267	(2)
What Is Remembered	269	(4)
The Abravanels	273	(42)
The Abravanels in Spain and Portugal	275	(16)
Toledo, 1996	291	(3)
The Abravanels at the Portuguese Court	294	(5)
Portugal since 1483	299	(3)
The Castilian Court and the Jews in Segovia	302	(5)
A Modern Tourist's Segovia	307	(8)
Inquisition and Expulsion	315	(30)
The Context of the Spanish Inquisition	317	(4)
Granada, 1492	321	(7)
The Expulsion	328	(4)
Granada Today	332	(1)
The Sephardic Diaspora	333	(4)
Reminders of the Inquisition	337	(8)
Part 4 Italy, Renaissance Voyages
Introduction	345	(7)
Introducing Three Families	346	(3)
Itineraries in Italy	349	(3)
From Roman Citizens to Ghetto Dwellers	352	(20)
Italian Jewish Communities before 1500	352	(10)
The Renaissance Context	362	(6)
The Invention of the Ghetto	368	(4)
The Abravanels in Italy	372	(51)
Naples---Isaac Abravanel Arrives in Italy	377	(2)
Venice---An Ideal City?	379	(5)
Isaac Abravanel's Death	384	(1)
Jews and Humanists	385	(7)
Judah Abravanel and Renaissance Literature	392	(5)
Florence, Past and Present	397	(2)
Ferrara at Mid-Century---Benvenita and Samuel Abravanel	399	(19)
1998---The Jewish Museum of Ferrara	418	(3)
Later Abravanels and Later Myths	421	(2)
The Soncino Family---Jewish Printers	423	(42)
Modern Soncino	429	(3)
A Jew as a Renaissance Printer	432	(14)
Gershom Soncino's Wanderings	446	(6)
Modern Pesaro, Fano, and Urbino	452	(7)
The Final Years---Istanbul and Salonika	459	(6)
The Norsa Family of Mantua	465	(28)
Mantua's Renaissance Monuments Today	469	(5)
The Norsa Family	474	(2)
A Hostile Environment?	476	(3)
Mantua's Jewish Monuments Today	479	(7)
A Welcoming Environment?	486	(7)
Ordinary Italians in the Venetian Ghetto	493	(50)
Venetian Impressions	493	(7)
The Growth of the Ghetto	500	(10)
The Venetian Ghetto Today	510	(9)
Appendices Practical Information and References
Appendix 1---General Suggestions	519	(9)
Money and Prices	519	(1)
Hotels and Loding	520	(1)
Meals	521	(2)
Driving and Car Rental	523	(3)
Alternatives to Car Travel	526	(2)
Appendix 2---Obtaining Information	528	(7)
Tourist Information Offices	528	(1)
The World Wide Web	529	(1)
Guidebooks to European Jewish Sites	530	(1)
Guidebooks and Maps to General Sites	531	(2)
Israeli National Parks and Nature Reserves	533	(1)
The Jewish Museum, Paris	534	(1)
Appendix 3---References	535	(8)
References for Chapter 1	535	(2)
References for Chapter 2	537	(1)
References for Chapter 3	538	(2)
References for Chapter 4	540	(3)
Index	543