(Washing of the Hands) to the Baptismal Font

HISPANIA JUDAICA BULLETIN
Articles, Reviews, Bibliography and Manuscripts on Sefarad
Editors: Yom Tov Assis and Raquel Ibáñez-Sperber
No 9 5773/2013
Hispania Judaica
The Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Contents
Editorial
1
English and Spanish Section
Articles
SIMCHA EMANUEL, The Struggle for Provençal Halakhic Independence in the
Thirteenth Century
DAVID M. BUNIS, The Whole Hebrew Reading Tradition of Ottoman
Judezmo Speakers. The Medieval Iberian Roots
JOSÉ HINOJOSA MONTALVO, Indumentaria y signos de identidad entre los
judíos valencianos
RICARDO MUÑOZ SOLLA, Padrones y antroponimia judía del Condado de
Treviño en el siglo 15
ERIC LAWEE, Aharon Aboulrabi: Maverick Exegete from Aragonese Sicily
YOM TOV ASSIS, From Netilat Yadayim (Washing of the Hands) to the
Baptismal Font: A Hebrew Inscription from a Sefardi Synagogue to
the Church in Siculana, Sicily
SUSANA BASTOS MATEUS & JAMES W. NELSON NOVOA, A Sixteenth Century
Voyage of Legitimacy: The Paths of Jácome and António da Fonseca
from Lamego to Rome and Beyond
JUAN IGNACIO PULIDO SERRANO, Pedro de Baeça, un empresario de origen
judío: La administración de las aduanas españolas hacia 1600
LUIS GÓMEZ CANSECO, Lope hebraizante: La Jerusalén bíblica en la
Jerusalén conquistada
JOSÉ ALBERTO RODRIGUES DA SILVA TAVIM, “A Lover³s Discourse: Fragments”.
The Peninsula, Portugal and its Empire in the Iberian Jews³ Discourse:
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KENNETH BROWN, From Sepharad to Ashkenaz, from a Picaro to a Schlemiel:
The Distinctiveness of 17th and 18th Century Sephardic Creative
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5
15
69
97
131
163
169
193
233
Bibliography and Manuscripts
BIBLIOGRAPHY
NITAI SHINAN, Spanish Manuscripts of Works by Fifteenth Century Spanish
Authors
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Contributors
333
359
365
367
Hebrew Section
LIUBOV CHERNIN, 6RFLDO&RQÀLFWLQWKH/LWHUDWXUHRI0LUDFOHV(SLVWOHRI
Severus, Bishop of Menorca
SHALOM SADIK, The Structure of the Soul and Freedom of Choice in the
Thought of Rabbi Yehudah Halevi
HANNAH DAVIDSON, :RPHQDQG*DPEOHUVLQ6SDLQLQWKHth Century
YOCHEVED BEERI, Portuguese Judaizers³ Prayers in 17th Century Spain:
Continuity or Creativity?
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From 1HWLODW<DGD\LP(Washing of the Hands)
to the Baptismal Font
A Hebrew Inscription from a Sefardi Synagogue to the
Church in Siculana, Sicily
Yom Tov Assis
This short article deals with a Hebrew inscription found today
in a church in Siculiana in Sicily serving as a baptismal font. It
was originally donated in 1477-8 by Shemuel Yona Sibon to the
synagogue in Agrigento as a basin for the washing of the hands.
The donor or his family are of Castilian origin since on the basin we
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A most pleasant and exciting surprise awaited me about two years ago when I
visited the small village of Siculiana, west of Agrigento, Sicily. When I arrived
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absolute peaceful silence that dominated the place. It was early Sunday morning.
I had read somewhere that a Hebrew inscription is found in the village and I was
determined to see it. My destination was naturally the local church and I hoped
that I would arrive when there was no Sunday mass. In the church known as SS.
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great excitement and expectation.
In the baptistery on the left side I found the Hebrew inscription in the front
side of the baptismal font. It must have been taken from a local synagogue where
it may have served as a basin for washing hands that is for "netilat yadayim" (ĦĘĕĔĜ
ęĕĕďĕ). Contrary to the suggestion that the inscription was a funerary inscription,
there is no doubt about its original function, as the original hole for the running
ZDWHULVYLVLEO\DQGFOHDUO\¿OOHG,WPXVWKDYHEHHQRULJLQDOO\LQWKHFRXUW\DUGRI
the synagogue, near the entrance to the prayer hall.1
On a stone in front of the basin one can see the Hebrew inscription and on both
sides of the inscription there are two coats of arms. The Hebrew inscription is as
follows:
1
For the opinion that the origin of the inscription is from a Jewish cemetery, see
Benedetto Rocco, “Un’epigrafe ebraica inedita a Siculana (Agrigento)”, Nicolaus
XXII (1995), pp. 237-238. I was unable to get hold of this article. I wish to thank
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[Hispania Judaica௑@
Yom Tov Assis
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From Netilat Yadayim to the Baptismal Font
ĐĜđĕ ċĤ ċč ĘČđĚĥ ēċ Ęċ ċĤĐċ ĦĜĥ
Ğċ ċĜ ěđĞčĢ
The year 5238 Shemuel the son of the late R. Yonah Sibon
On top of the letters or words ēĘĤĐ, Ĥč, ĞĜ there are dots or more precisely signs in
the shape of squares with a short line stretching from each corner, one of which
hovering just over the letter. The year ēĘĤĐFRUUHVSRQGVWR2 while the letters
ʰʲ PD\ PHDQ ěďĞ đĦĚĥĜ, that is “may his soul be in paradise” or ěďĞ đēđĜ which
means "may he rest in paradise". The other possibility is that the letters may mean
ęĘđĞ đĦčĕĦĜWKDWLV³0D\KLV>ULJKW@SDWKUHPDLQIRUHYHU´,QRXUFDVHWKHIRUPHU
meaning should be accepted and the words refer to Yonah, Shemuel’s father who
was already dead. This means that the basin was donated by Shemuel who was
DOLYHDQGKLVGHDWKZRXOGRFFXURQO\DIWHU3
As mentioned above, on the two sides of the inscription there are two coats
of arms. On the left hand side, separating at the top, the two words Ĥč and ĐĜđĕ,
there is the coat of arms of the Crown of Castile, with the castle representing
Castile and the lion representing León. The coat of arms on the right hand side
with its top separating the words ĦĜĥ and ēĘĤĐ is that of the Catalano-Aragonese
dynasty ruling Sicily from 12835 and not of the Crown of Aragon as suggested by
Colafemmina.
With the conquests of territories in the south of the Iberian Peninsula by the
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half of the thirteenth century, the Crown of Aragon found any further expansion
impossible since the Crown of Castile reached the Mediterranean and created a
buffer zone between the former and Muslim Granada. From now on the Crown
of Aragon turned to the east, to the Mediterranean Sea. The Catalano-Aragonese
expansion brought several islands under the rule of the kings-counts.6
Pere II of Catalonia (Pedro III of Aragon), the Great conquered Sicily in 1282.7
Due to the extent of the use of Jewish courtiers by Pere II, it is not surprising to see
2
3
5
6
7
5RFFRPLVUHDGWKH+HEUHZGDWHDQGUHDGʤLQVWHDGRIē.
See below, note 13.
See Figure 1.
See Figure 2.
See V. Salavert, "El tratado de Anagni y la expansión mediterránea de la Corona de
Aragón", Estudios de Edad Media de la Corona de Aragón V (1952), 209-360; J. N.
Hillgarth, "The Problem of a Catalan Mediterranean Empire 1229-1327", The English
Historical Review (Supplement 8),1975.
On the conquest of Sicily by Pere II (Pedro III), the Great, see F. Soldevila, Història
de Catalunya, ,%DUFHORQDSS
[165@
Yom Tov Assis
Coat of Arms of the
Catalan Monarchs of Sicily
Figure 1
Coat of Arms of the
Crown of Castile
Figure 2
Jews involved, in various capacities, in the conquest.8 This conquest was strongly
opposed by the Papacy and France. The latter opened war which indirectly caused
the dismissal of numerous Jews in the service of the Crown. Sicily was to remain
under Catalano-Aragonese rule for a long time. Sicilian Jews were joined by Jews
from Catalonia and elsewhere from the Crown who decided to settle in the island.
The coat of arms of the rulers of Sicily from the Catalano-Aragonese dynasty on
the Hebrew inscription explains the situation of the Jews, including those from the
¿IWHHQWKFHQWXU\IURP9
The other coat of arms, that of the Crown of Castile, shows that either Shmuel
bar Yona Tsiv’on was an immigrant from Castile and/or the synagogue where the
inscription was placed belonged to Jews who came from Castile.10 The name ěđĞčĢ
is not widespread and is found in the Bible.11
8
See, for instance, D. Romano, "El judío Jucef Ravaya, tesorero real en la ocupación
GH6LFLOLD¿QHVGHXI Congresso di Storia della Corona di Aragona (Palermo,
SS
9 For a reproduction of the coat of arms see Fig. 1; for the coat of arms on the inscription
see p. 2.
10 Immigration of Jews from the Iberian Peninsula to Sicily, especially after its conquest
in 1282, is well documented. See, for instance, on Andalusian Jews in Italy I. Sonne,
"The Ritual of Andalusian Jews who Settled in Sicily", Journal of Jewish Bibliography
,,,SS+HEUHZ7KH,EHULDQRULJLQVRI-HZVLQ6LFLO\FRXOGDOVREH
LGHQWL¿HG DFFRUGLQJ WR WKHLU IDPLO\ QDPHV )RU D FHUWDLQ 6DPXHO &DVWHOODQL IURP
Agrigento, see S. Simonsohn, The Jews in Sicily, vol. 17, Leiden & Boston, 2010,
S7KH$URQ+D4RGHVKRIWKHV\QDJRJXHLQ$JLUDWKDWLVSODFHGWRGD\LQWKH
local church SS. Salvatore is believed to be from the synagogue of Catalan Jews who
settled there.
11 See, for instance, Genesis 36, 2.
[166@
From Netilat Yadayim to the Baptismal Font
Some time after my return from Sicily Simonsohn’s book on the Jews of Sicily
appeared. Simonsohn refers to a recent discovery of a basin that had previously
been at the entrance of the synagogue in Agrigento and now is found in the church
in Siculiana for the baptism of children. The donor was Shmuel ben Yona Sibuni
(ĕĜđčĕĝZKROLYHGDSSDUHQWO\LQ$JULJHQWRZKHQKHGRQDWHGWKHEDVLQLQ
to the synagogue.12 A certain Samuel Sibuni is mentioned in a document from
DV RQH RI WKH OHDGHUV RI WKH -HZLVK FRPPXQLW\ RI$JULJHQWR ,Q KH
was still among the living.13 The coats of arms that adorn the inscription on both
sides, that of the Kingdom of Sicily on the right hand side of the viewer, and that
RIWKH&URZQRI&DVWLOHUHÀHFWDQLQWHUHVWLQJDVSHFWRI-HZLVKOLIHLQWKHVHFRQG
KDOIRI¿IWHHQWKFHQWXU\6LFLO\7KHGRQRU6KHPXHOWKHVRQRI<RQD6LERQRUKLV
family came originally from Castile. Even though loyalty to Sicily is clearly
expressed, the old homeland, Castile, was not forgotten. The identity of Castilian
Jews did not change with emigration elsewhere. As will be seen very clearly in the
post-Expulsion period Jews the Iberian Peninsula remained attached to their old
kingdom, their region or their home town.
At the time the Crowns of Castile and Aragon were not yet united. In fact they
were not due to unite, as the unity of both Crowns was going to materialize after
the Jews were expelled and Spain, in fact, did not exist yet. Isabel and Fernando
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GHFODUHG.LQJRI$UDJRQLQ+HKDGDOUHDG\EHHQWKHNLQJRI6LFLO\IURP
)URP WKDW SHULRG RQ WKH\ MRLQWO\ UDQ ERWK &URZQV WRJHWKHU EXW WKH WZR
Crowns were not united. It is, therefore, clear that the Castilian identity of Shmuel
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identities of Sefardi Jews who found no contradiction between their continued
loyalty to the land or town of origin and their bitter feelings towards the authorities
who maltreated them with no mercy.
12 C. Colafemmina, "Il donatore del Kior di Siculiana (Agrigento)", Sefer Yuhasin XXI;;,,SS66LPRQVRKQBetween Scylla and Charybdis: The Jews in
Sicily, Jerusalem, 2011, pp. 188-189 (Hebrew). I could not locate the following article:
66LPRQVRKQ(SLIUD¿DHEUDLFDGL6LFLOLDAnnali della Scuola Normale Superiore
di Pisa IV, 2 (1999), pp. 509-529. The article is not found in the volume indicated in
6LPRQVRKQ
VBetween Scylla and Charybdis (Bibliography, p. 561).
13 66LPRQVRKQ7KH-HZVLQ6LFLO\9,/HLGHQ%RVWRQSS
LQ KH ZDV PHQWLRQHG DV 6DPXHO ,XQL LGHP Ibidem, p. 3713 (Iuni for
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QDPHZKLOHWKHVHFRQGLVWKDWRIWKHIDWKHULQKHRZHGPRQH\WRD-HZIURP
Palermo, Simonsohn, Ibidem9,,/HLGHQ%RVWRQS@
7KXVLQWKH6HIDUGL'LDVSRUDWKDWFDPHLQWREHLQJDIWHUIRUPDQ\\HDUVWRFRPH
Jews of different regions will adhere to their Iberian local identity as long as they
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[167@
IRXQGLQPDQ\SODFHVEHDULQJWKHQDPHRIWKHLUVSHFL¿FEDFNJURXQGV4DKDO4DGRVK
Castilia, QQ Aragon, QQ Catalan, QQ. Portugal, QQ Sicilia etc.
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