The Jews of Lorca, Spain
Summary
In 2003, during the initial round of excavations to build a national hotel ("parador nacional") on the grounds of the 15th-century Castle of Lorca in the southeastern Spanish province of Murcia, workers discovered a stone wall and several fragments of glass that would turn out to be the remains of an early medieval synagogue and Jewish quarter previously unknown to archeologists and historians.
The synagogue is the only one of its kind in Spain: while all other synagogues of its era were converted to mosques or churches, this synagogue has never been used by another faith. Since its discovery, archeologists have excavated the synagogue in its entirety, as well as a treasury of artifacts and a complex Jewish quarter of streets, plazas, and eleven houses, two of which contain mikvehs or Jewish ritual baths.
In the province of Murcia, Spain, it is estimated that 25-35% of the population of 1.4 million inhabitants are of Jewish origin. There are currently few resources for those interested in learning about Jewish activities and ritual, and no resources for those who would like to convert. The restoration of the synagogue and the availability of Jewish cultural and educational activities would provide a vital center of Jewish life for those potentially thousands of b’nei anusim who could be interested in returning.
Project Descriptions
Traveling Museum Exhibition
The Municipal Archeology Museum of Lorca and the Regional Government of Murcia have gathered the artifacts into a bilingual exhibition, with plans to travel first to Madrid and then to several cities in the United States. The exhibition includes both quotidian objects such as coins, pottery, and thimbles, as well as religious objects like glass lamps, hannukiyot, and ornamental plasterwork from the Ark that once held the Torah.
Center of Jewish Study and Culture
The restoration of the synagogue is scheduled to be completed in 2008, and the regional and national governments plan a dual use for it: as a central component in an interactive museum complex on the castle grounds and as a living house of worship for the Jewish community. The center of Jewish study and culture will support the community and the synagogue.
Project Goals
Museum Exhibit
A museum exhibition will be created to be shown not only in Spain but in Jewish and secular museums in the United States and around the world. It will capture the essence of pre-Expulsion Sephardic culture on the Iberian Peninsula that was subsequently transported to Holland, Italy, Greece, and elsewhere.
Center of Jewish Culture
A center of Jewish culture will be created in the restored synagogue in Lorca, Spain, that will provide Jewish education, a communal gathering place, and conversion classes for anusim who want to return to Judaism. This will require an on-site rabbi, teaching materials, and program resources. The center will be called Sefarad Beitenu (Our Home Is Sepharad).
Government Investment
Three levels of government in Spain—municipal (the city of Lorca), regional (the province of Murcia), and federal (the Ministry of Culture of Spain)--are investing in these important projects. We will be seeking additional outside resources to fulfill the matching requirements of the public investment.
Project Leadership
The leader of the archeological and museum project is Ángel Iniesta, Deputy Minister of Culture, Province of Murcia. The leaders of the Jewish educational and cultural center are Aharon Franco, President of Sefarad Beitenu, based in Murcia, working with Rabbi Manny Vinas and Be’chol Lashon staff in the United States.
Sefarad Beitenu
Sefarad Beitenu (Hebrew for "Spain, Our Home") is a nonprofit organization incorporated under Spanish law with headquarters in Lorca, Murcia Region, Spain and a branch office at the offices of Institute for Jewish & Community Research in San Francisco. It has the following purposes:
- Research into subjects related to the cultural, social and historical world of the Jewish people in the Murcia Region and the promotion and publication of that research to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences.
- The organization of conferences and seminars related to the past, present, and future legacy of Sephardic Jews.
- The establishment of relationships and agreements with Jewish and non-Jewish associations, institutions and organizations at the regional, national and international levels.
- The promotion of education, instruction and the cultural, social, historical, and religious formation of adults, young people and children in the values of inherited from Judaism.
- Promotion of the ethical and moral values of tolerance and the eradication of xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and judeophobia.
- The promotion of the Murcia Region as a key toward understanding of the Judaism of ancient Spain as well as the contemporary Jewish community in Spain.
- The management and promotion of tourism for the synagogue and Jewish quarter of Lorca. The management of the Jewish religious space in the museum complex of the Great Synagogue of Lorca, once it is restored.
- The promotion of tourism and investment for the spreading of the legacy of Sephardic Jews.