Why Spain? Why now?

As we live in a time of strained interfaith relationships, can Spain provide a distant mirror for intergroup relations in our time?

When we think about Jews and Spain, one date looms large—1492 and the expulsion of the Jews.  But there is so much more to see and experience.  In southern Spain (Al Andalus) for hundreds of years, Jews, Muslims and Christians lived together, translated classics together, fought side by side, wrote poetry on common themes and built buildings that merged Muslim architecture with Jewish motifs.  Travel to Spain enables us to see a land where converso culture continues to exert influence (sometimes hidden, sometimes openly) and to reimagine what might have been.  As we live in a time of strained interfaith relationships, can Spain provide a distant mirror for intergroup relations in our time?

In Barcelona and Girona we will see the traces of a vibrant culture of science and the   arts in which Jews were full participants, as doctors and viziers, soldiers and writers, philosophers and legalists.  Travel to Spain enables us to locate this rich (and lost) Jewish world in the context of the beauty of modern Spain.  From Don Quixote’s windmills to Gaudi’s architectural creativity to the masterworks at the Prado in Madrid, our trip touches base in the past and the present, including meeting the Jewish communities that will welcome us for shabbat.

Today, more than ever, we need to find models for reshaping the Jewish future in a pluralistic world.  Join us for the journey