I look out at cactus and scrub, whitewashed houses clinging to the side of a hill, ancient stones fortifying terraced vegetable plots. Only the olive trees remind me that I’m in Spain. I’m in the least-visited part of the Iberian Peninsula, the southeastern tip of Almeria province that was the last hold-out of the Moors over 500 years ago, the place where women still covered their faces to strangers as late as the 1950s.Here empires come and go; only the harsh land remains. There are no political protests here in Mojacar Peublo and Playa; I rely on the internet for news of the mass demonstrations raging across Spain on this weekend before local elections. Here there are only the half-finished condo developments with “Se Venda” signs plastered across their empty fronts – with the collapse of the Spanish construction bubble, and the downturn in the European economies, the wave of English and German expats and vacationers has dwindled to a trickle.
Here the illegal Africans travel by local bus to wander the empty beaches, hoping someone will buy their knock-off designer sunglasses. Here the Arab workers disappear under the stifling tarps of the ‘plasticulture’ fields, producing most of the fruits and vegetables eaten farther north; they emerge only to give their wages to the women wearing embroidered djellabahs, the women who are stared at by the local Spanish.
I am in southwestern Europe to find traces of Isaac the Blind, father of kabbalah, possible ancestor. I’m starting in the heartland of Sepharad, the Andalucian core of Mediterranean Jewry. Under the 500-year Moorish caliphate of the beginning of the first millennium, Jews lived across the entire peninsula. Farther north, as the Reconquista spread, Jews filled the Christian towns of Castile, Aragon, and Catalonia. Now, apart from small discreet new communities in Barcelona, Madrid, and Malaga, traces of the Jews of Spain are present only in government-tourism-motivated reconstructions, buildings without people, virtual Jewish life.
Here in Mojacar, there are not enough tourists to warrant such reconstruction; the ancient Jewish quarter is unmarked, and unreconstructed. Locals will tell you that Calle Arrabal was ‘the old Jewish street’, outside the medieval city walls that were torn down long ago. The Moors and their Jewish partners disappeared over 500 years ago; now the artists and the English expats stake their claim.
Great Post! More photos of Mojacar please!
Thank you for letting me tag along on a vision quest for Isaac the Blind … b’ezrat HaShem, may the force be with you
Kitty,
This is fascinating stuff. I will be most interested to hear your discoveries.
When we lived in Morocco I was fascinated by the rapidly vanishing traces of the Jewish heritage there.
Met a girl who had a fellowship to study Jewish folksong/dance in the Rif mountains.
So will discuss on your return.
Good to re-connect, Kitty. I look forward to new installments!
PS: Did BF contact you?
Dear Kitty, I’m very glad to be part of the experience here in Mojacar.I’m very glad we met.
Great post, and waiting for more to come.
Lucy
hi!!! been thinking of you. missing yr presence at kabbalah cafe and romemu services!
evocative photo… beautiful. love that you’re blogging. was wanting to hear how you are doing.
NYC is getting warmer and having lots of rain. romemu continues to grow and ran out of siddurs at 7:30pm… when i got there on friday night.
i heard david ‘stole the show’ last week on the bill with andrew harvey and deepak chopra at abc carpet’s rumi love discussion. 200 people maxed out the capacity. my roommate said it was special. sufi dancer and all. romemu recorded it.
me.. same old what’s the meaning of life and why are we here, and boy am i looking forward to getting off and finding out what’s on the side of this ‘illusion’ we’re living in.
(yes, kabbalah cafe is helping me w/this… david’s been brilliant there lately.)
big hug from big apple. xo
Kitty! Wonderful to be invited along on your voyage and search for Isaac the Blind. Your writing brings our conversations at Centrum in Port Townsend, when was it, 2008? to mind.
Question: If “Only the olive trees remind me that I’m in Spain,” what does the scenery remind you of?
Looking forward to more!
So long!
Judith
Dear Kitty,
This is very generous of you to share your news. I’m looking forward to learning more about your intriguing adventures as they unfold. May the way to Isaac the Blind be full of eye opening delights for you and the rest of us. Your news about him will be a great gift to the world. Even Wikipedia doesn’t have much on him yet. You are a true pioneer.
L’Shalom
Shoshana
Hello, I am a friend of Donna Miscolta’s. I was at FV during the wildfires in July of 2009. I assume the town is still recovering — my friend Geraldine Mills was at FV this past fall. I’m also Jewish and so am especially interested in your work. My own work includes a series of poems on Mojacar – mostly about the fire. All best to you, Susan
Glad you’re aboard! Mojacar looks fully recovered, and of course I’m grateful for this sojourn with an international group of artists. Stay tuned for more FV networks.
Hi Susan, welcome aboard! We were just talking about the fires today at lunch…rebirth is constant.
Kitty,
this is great stuff! Love the photo,
Tanja
You’re a wonderful writer on a wonderful quest, Kitty. I shall follow you, it, with great
interest and admiration.
x0
Penny
Thank you Kitty. Look forward to continuing the learning you are enabling.
michael’s friend don here, following along, representing the 56 rabbis of my ancestry especially the maharal of prague for this kabalistic unfolding. shalom alechem, d
Welcome aboard — Golems included!
what a fascinating and worthwhile project! so excited to be able to explore vicariously with you through your writing here ~ thanks for sharing. all best luck … we eagerly await updates!
Absolutely fascinating to travel this magical road with you, Kitty. I wonder if you could help me with some basic info; if these questions are just more work please just wish me silent and I will sit back and be patient. I wonder why Kabbalah started in Spain? Was it because Issac the Blind happened to be there? How did he get there? What took him to Mojacar? Why was there need for magic?
Well, I understand that everybody needs a bit of magic now and then. Cheers; Murray.
Yes! Subscribe me please 🙂
Kitty,
Your adventure looks–and reads–incredible! Hope you’re having an amazing time!
-Tara
Hi Kitty
Good to read your adventures and discoveries. Are you on a fellowship? Sounds really exciting.
Hoping to go to Spain Feb. Mar., also Andalucia to continue Sp. studies and to cycle.
How is youyr health, walking, etc.?
Abrazos
Sharon
Hello Kitty
Greetings from Saltspring Island. I really enjoy your travel memoir and look forward to a face to face visit when you return. Gail
Kitty,
This is wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing it. I will be following with interest and hope we can actually make a shabbat dinner for when you get back so I can hear more.
Toni
Ecircle brought me here. Love history. The pictures are stirring. Your prose enlightening. Susannah