Annual Tribute to Maria Rosa Menocal
David Shasha
Friends,
Our dear friend Maria Rosa Menocal passed away back in 2012. I would like to once again pay tribute to her brilliant and deeply moving work on the Sephardic-Andalusian cultural heritage.
We live in a time when discussion of Muslim Spain has been severely curtailed, when the historical relevance of Sephardic Judaism and its rich legacy has largely been eliminated from public consciousness.
It was Maria’s great wish to have this brilliant Iberian culture be restored to its rightful place in our civilization. She worked tirelessly to make students and lay readers aware of the many aspects of Iberian Convivencia and its extraordinary literary heritage. Her pioneering scholarly works are cornerstones in the field of Sephardic Studies.
It is very important to note that there has been in recent years a very vigorous attempt to push back against the idea of Convivencia by many academics who have once again adopted the benighted perspective of Ashkenazim like Yitzhak Baer, Ben-Zion Netanyahu, Bernard Lewis, and Jane Gerber.
A central contribution to the anti-Menocal trend is a 2005 article by Jonathan Ray of Georgetown University which attacks the Convivencia model with great vehemence:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1NQdm28qvvXZWhfZXhjRV82Rkk/view
A number of academic books have been published that support this view, one of them – hard to believe – is a collection of papers from a conference honoring Menocal herself:
In that book the contribution of Ryan Szpiech is particularly noteworthy as a prime example of the dominant trend in Hispanic Studies that is now closer to Claudio Sanchez-Albornoz’s racism than it is to the open approach of Menocal’s favorite Americo Castro.
One of the most depressing books reflecting the new trend is from David Wacks; a person who I warmly befriended until I discovered that he rejects the Religious Humanist values of the SHU and has enthusiastically embraced the Right Wing Ashkenazi consensus:
There is also a popular book written by Brian Catlos of the University of Colorado that presents the same negative view against the idea of Convivencia:
One of the most egregious of the Anti-Convivencia books was written by the Catholic apologist Dario Fernandez-Morera, The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise:
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Andalusian-Paradise-Christians-Medieval/dp/1610170954
To illustrate the depth of this problem, I have included my two articles on the matter. I am harshly critical of Rabbi Marc Angel and the musician Vanessa Paloma for their support for the Anti-Convivencia platform as articulated by Wacks and Fernandez-Morera.
This rejection of the Spanish Golden Age under Islamic rule is largely due to the adoption of Ashkenazi Zionist values and the rejection of Arabic civilization that is so central to Jewish identity at the present time. Unfortunately many Sephardim have aided in the ongoing erosion of our classical heritage.
An important counterweight to all this negativity is the excellent anthology of articles in the special edition of the journal Critical Muslim, “Re-Claiming Al-Andalus,” which was edited by our good friend Ziauddin Sardar and features my article on Sephardic Jews:
In this toxic context I think that it is critically important, now more than ever, to read the special edition of the SHU I prepared to mark the anniversary of Maria’s passing in the sincere hope that her many books and articles will be embraced by an increasing number of people who will find in them one of the most important keys to understanding the heritage of Medieval Iberia.
In addition to the reminiscences of this great woman, I have included two of her articles, a couple of my own reviews of her work, and a reading list of her books.
May her memory be a blessing to us as we continue to do battle to restore our noble Sephardic heritage in the larger world.
David Shasha
On the Passing of Maria Rosa Menocal
By: David Shasha
Sterling Professor Menocal Passes Away
By: Sophie Gould
A Golden Reign of Tolerance
By: Maria Rosa Menocal
The Culture of Translation
By: Maria Rosa Menocal
Lecture Review: Maria Rosa Menocal at Congregation Beth Torah, May 29, 2002
By: David Shasha
Restoring the Andalusian-Arabic Tradition in Western Tradition: An Homage to Maria Rosa Menocal
By: David Shasha
Maria Rosa Menocal Resources
Rabbi Marc Angel Denies Convivencia!
By: David Shasha
The Deleterious Transformation of Sephardic Identity: Vanessa Paloma and the End of Convivencia
By: David Shasha