Legend: Blue = Subjects connected with Judaism;
orange = dual rites, in different religions; brown = reference to
the bibliography.
“Matron Rabbis” or Rabbis?
Sara
Molho (2001-2005)
Translated to English (and partly rewritten) by author
(2008)
Feminization
of the Marrano-Religion in Belmonte
Jewish
Travelers Reflect Male-biased Preconditioning
Male-biased Preconditioning in Other Translations and in
Graphic Presentations
Itzhak Navon in Yigal
Losin’s Film
Feminization
Expressed in the Texts of Marrano-Prayers
She Who
Holds Both Talitot (Jewish prayer-shawls)[1]
Feminization of the Marrano-Religion in Belmonte
In
Under such circumstances a collapse of the Jewish communal-institutions occurred - no more synagogues, neither Rabbis, Khazanim (cantors), nor Religious Slaughterers among others, all male-oriented. In their past, men had to mingle with the Christian social-milieu more often than women, while making a living as peddlers in the neighbourhood. In order to protect their fathers/husbands/sons from the risk of being exposed as heretics, women were willing to discreetly take over religious functions. The probability of women being caught while preserving traditional rites and practices at home was lesser, but not nil.
Since none could possess any Jewish books such as the Hebrew Old Testament, the Aramaic Talmud, or any prayer books, these languages were totally forgotten! Therefore the obligation kept by Jewish males all over the world - of studying and interpreting the Holy Scriptures - could not be accomplished here, and gave way to other commandments housewives used to keep, such as educating the next generation, kashering-food, celebrating religious-feasts, keeping rites of purification etc. Women started to pray for the benefit of the whole family, in Portuguese, actually freeing male-members from this and other obligations (like some minor-fasts too). Centuries later, researchers called these aged ladies “khazaniot” (“female cantors”).
A feminization of religious-life imperceptibly emerged among the Belmonte Marranos.[2] Religious tradition was transmitted by heart from then on mainly from mother to daughter, contrary to Jewish conventions of transmitting in writing from father to son. Everybody started to revere the elderly sage-matrons, considering them as authorities concerning religious norms. In fact, I could trace this phenomenon in my own observations.
Since they also
lost touch with the Hebrew-calendar (including
the complex system of adding a 13th month seven times within
19 years), these sage-matrons did their best by assuming the
authority of determining the calendar and the dates of Jewish-feasts,
basically accepting the Christian-calendar, but “correcting” it according to
the moon. Therefore from time to time they used to discreetly roam together in
the fields, so as to have a good look at the appearance of the moon.
Also, women took over the religious-roles of the “rites de passage”, be it the clandestine marriage-ceremonies, or mourning and burial rites. Consequently elderly-women were called either Matron-Rabbis or Priestesses, according to the bias of those researchers who later discovered the phenomenon.[3] Sociologists, though, would prefer to treat them – according to their own biases of impartiality - as “opinion-leaders on religious matters”.
After being introduced to our normative Judaism throughout the 20th century, this roaming “Board of Sage-Matrons” or, on a smaller-scale, the female family-circle - still decided what should be done in religious matters. Inacio Steinhardt[4] cites Benvinda’s answer to his request at the end of the ‘80s:
– “With your
permission, madam, could we – Frédéric, the photographer and myself - attend your “Ceremony
of the Marror” (bitter-herbs)
at your place? Is it all right?
– I do not know,
sir. I shall consent to whatever you decide with my daughters and my
daughters-in-law. Once we did not let in anybody except family-members. But
by now you are family, are you not?”
Collecting Research Data
Gathering social-findings while living within
a group of people is multifaceted. Apart
from my own (anthropological) participant observations and
personal experiences during the years 1994-2000 and on, I relied on data
supplied by informants, whom I consider as a very reliable source
of information. It is understandable why I consulted on matters concerning the
Marrano-tradition[5]
mostly women, my black-aproned sisters,
and to a lesser degree men. Some of the women were young,
but 3-4 others were elderly. All were kind enough to answer my probing
questions, or share with me their own experiences, especially as to these
topics:
1. The Marrano-past, after historical
circumstances unknowingly widened the gap between their (Marrano) tradition and
mainstream normative–Judaism;
2. Their personal opinion on the
multi-stage process of conversion to normative,
Halakhic-Judaism in Belmonte, a very slow
process marked by fluctuations;
3. Their personal experience before
and after their personal return to Judaism in the first half of the ‘90s.
Apart from women who did not convert to Judaism, most women I interviewed – both young and old – were respectable within the newly-converted group, and manifested devotion to their new normative-Judaism. The middle-aged Isabel Morão Rodrigo[6], always accompanied by her elderly mother, relies on her while relating the stories about the Marrano-past, e.g.: about marriage in Church, after the covert-marriage at home: “Isn’t it so, my Mother? Am I not right?” She would turn to her for confirmation.
With the assertive Aurora da Costa Diogo
I chatted a lot, asking questions about the Marrano-rites, often learning a lot
from her, for instance: about the cleansing-rites on the (X2) 40
days-of-purification preceding either Yom-Kippur (Day
of Atonement) or Passover. The Israeli Rabbi S.S. and his wife, too, might investigate or
consult her in my presence, seeking sometimes for her help. Her authoritative
tone might stem from the fact that her late mother, born in the nearby town of
Covilhã, was considered as an energetic Matron-Rabbi [7],
whose influence spread beyond the boundaries of her nuclear-family,
encompassing all the Marranos in Belmonte. As a matter of fact, she moulded
their religious norms.
Jewish Travelers Reflect Male-biased Preconditioning
Benjamin
Minz’s Book
As mentioned, Aurora da Costa’s mother was revered by Marrano circles far beyond her own nuclear-family.[8] We can learn about it even from Jewish travelers’ literature. Her religious authority used to be so obvious that the learned Yiddish-journalist Benjamin Minz, writing about his visit to Belmonte in the early ‘30s, erroneously concluded that rather… her husband “is the Rabbi of the community”, as he labelled him.[9] However, it should be stressed that even after Samuel Schwarz’s appearance in Belmonte (1917) religious-authority continued to be held by the Matron-Rabbis! My own findings indicate that even after conversion to Judaism in the ‘90s, husbands/sons/grandsons went on seeking the guidance of their wives, mothers, grandmothers or mothers-in-law (especially if they were senior, but sometimes even if not). No doubt it even occurred among families whose male members were personally involved in the (male) creation of the new Community-Council. Such deeply imprinted practices - lasting for about 500 years - cannot be uprooted at once!
It seems that we – belonging to whatever section of normative-Judaism - cannot easily accept the fact that women constitute the religious-authority in the Marrano-ambience. Because of our male-biased preconditioning, typical of mainstream-Judaism, some of us – not only Benjamin Minz – ignore/misunderstand/forget the notion that religious-roles are feminized in Belmonte. Those of us who are sometimes mistaken include even such important researchers as Nahum Slouschz or Itzhak Navon, let alone those of lesser importance, like myself and my generation.
Nahum Slouschz’s Book
Thanks to the
same male-biased preconditioning, when Nahum Slouschz translated into Hebrew
the Marrano-prayers which he added to his book (1932) - in fact, most of them
borrowed from Schwarz’s (1926) book in
Portuguese - he applied the masculine-gender in Hebrew. That is not
so! Most prayers were uttered (in Portuguese) by women,
the Matron-Cantors, not by men - therefore the verbs
should be conjugated either neutrally or clearly in the feminine-gender![10]
Even though Slouschz studied and wrote about feminization of religious-roles, on p. 141 he treats the person praying as masculine. On the same page, dealing with the Benediction
for the
New Moon, he remarks that it seems this benediction (only?) had
been created by a woman, since in his translation he refers to the
person praying as: “God’s devoted maidservant”. Again, on page 170 he
deals with women’s crucial role in the clandestine Marrano
betrothal-ceremonies - in the masculine gender. In another prayer Slouschz translates from Schwarz’s appendix,
he calls this hymn “a
women’s hymn” (again: only this one?). According to him it might allude to the last chapter, in Psalms 150.[11]
÷åîå, éìãåú, äùëéîå,
ëáø äàéø
äùçø,
ðäìì ìàì
òìéåï,
äåà éçæ÷
øåçðå.
äììåéä á÷åì
ðáì,
ùëåìå àåîø
ëáåã,
äììåéä, éìãåú,
äììåäå
á÷åìåú ã÷éí,
äììåéä, áúåìåú
äììåäå
á÷åìåú òøáéí,
äììåéä, ðùåàåú,
äììåäå
á÷åìåú öìåìéí,
äììåéä àìîðåú
äììåéä
á÷åìåú èäåøéí,
ìàãåï ëì
äàäáåú
äììå éìãåú
åôøçéí!
This is Schwarz’s original Portuguese hymn, along with its
English translation:[12]
|
Levantai-vos meninas cedo |
Get up early young girls |
|
Já quere amanecer, |
Dawn is aproaching, |
|
Louvaremos ao Altisimo Senhor, |
Let us praise the Most High God, |
|
Que nos ha de fortalecer. |
Who would strengthen us. |
|
Louvai o ao som da viola |
Halleluia to the sound of viola |
|
Ele é tudo som e tudo gloria. |
He is all sound and all glory. |
|
Louvai o Senhor meninas |
Halleluiah young girls |
|
Louvai-o com vozes finas, |
Halleluiah with fine voices, |
|
Louvai o Senhor donzeias |
Halleluiah maidens |
|
Louvai-o com vozes belas |
Halleluiah with pretty voices |
|
Louvai o Senhor casadas |
Halleluiah married women |
|
Louvai-o com vozes claras |
Haleluiah with clear voices |
|
Louvai o Senhor viuvas |
Halleluiah widows[13] |
|
Louvai-o com vozes puras |
Halleluiah with pure voices |
|
O Senhor de todos os amores |
The Lord of all the loves |
|
Louvai
meninas e |
Halleluiah young girls and flowers. |
Psalms 150 is not a feminine
hymn, it is general.
Therefore it is surprising that Slouschz
does not wonder why the parallel masculine age-groups and/or personal-status are altogether missing in
this Belmonte-hymn. I presume they were
dropped since in Belmonte almost all prayers were chanted by
women of all age-groups and/or personal-status. In the Marrano-ambience it was the women’s duty to chant “Halleluiah”, instead of men and for them, too!
Male-Biased Preconditioning in Other
Translations and in Graphic Presentations
Minz or Slouschz are
not to be blamed. I myself slipped into the same pitfall of the male-precondition! In the first drafts of my translation to Hebrew of
“A Prayer to My Guardian Angel”, cited in A. Canelo’s booklet[14], I too
automatically applied the masculine conjugation instead of the neutral
Portuguese first person. All of us are preconditioned! It took me some time to
realize my own mistake and correct it.
Supposedly, also
the translator (into Hebrew) of Brenner et al’s
documentary film Les Derniers Marranes,[15] about
Passover among the Marranos - acted according to my own precondition as
well, (or maybe he translated the written
text without comparing it to the photographs themselves?). Regarding the
film, one obviously notes that it is a housewife, dressed in white, who
is chanting the prayer while kneading dough preparing the Matzah (unleavened-bread), though the Hebrew-text
written beneath it is erroneously again in the masculine gender.
Another comparable example is the graphic illustration on the
invitation to the inauguration of the new synagogue
in Belmonte at the end of 1996. It is not
important whether the artist was gentile
or Jewish, since either way he surely used stereotypes describing normative-Judaism – not Marrano - as demonstrated
here:
Trilingual invitation to
the inauguration of the Belmonte synagogue,
on the 500th anniversary of the publication of the Decree of
Expulsion
of the Jews from
One could spot visual elements that could have never occurred in Belmonte in the last 500 years! Namely: A gathering of Jewish men arround a table in order to study the Holy Scriptures. They wear particularly Jewish hats (some of them typical of Sephardi religious-sages, others probably Ashkenazi). But all these Jewish symbols have nothing to do with daily life in secretive Belmonte. After the publication of the Decree of Expulsion (1496) and its application (1497), Marranos could not congregate overtly in safety anywhere in town. The word synagogue (Greek) is originally composed of two Hebrew words: “Beit-Knesset”, literally signifying a house of assembly. As a matter of fact, the only safe places Marranos could assemble peacefully were… the noisy, colourful, crowded marketplaces.[16]
Please note: I do not
criticize neither the artist, nor the one who ordered his graphic-work!
God forbid! It only goes to show that their notions belong to mainstream-Judaism, rather
than to the divergence
of Marranism. These stereotypes could not exist in
Itzhak Navon in Yigal Losin’s film
In Y. Losin’s (1992) documentary film,[17] one sees Mr. Itzhak
Navon, former 5th President of Israel,
standing among a group of Belmonte Marranos. At that time they were not yet
converted to Judaism; conversions would start
only 2-3 years later. One gets the impression that he desires to hear a
Marrano-prayer. Although Navon accumulated a
lot of knowledge on the subject before arriving, he turns instinctively
(precondition!) to a man, wishing he would recite the prayer. But - being
a male - the perplexed
person is not sure he could fulfill the honourable visitor’s request: knowing
prayers was never a male prerogative in Belmonte for the last 500 years!
Therefore he looks around - maybe a woman might approach and save him,
while he starts murmuring in hesitation a refrain
connected to Navon’s request: “Adonaio,
Adonaio”… Calling God by name is the introductory refrain to the
Marrano-parallel in Portuguese of the biblical Song on
Crossing the Red-Sea[18],
covertly sung in Belmonte on the eve of the Marrano-Passover. Alas, God alone
knows whether this poor man remembers how to go on chanting… On a
normative Yom-Kippur in the early ‘60s, a few
Belmonte Marranos appeared at
“We do fulfill religious-commandments.
But it is women’s obligation to know the laws and preserve
our mothers’ religion.” Thus they
referred all those asking probing questions - too difficult to be answered by men
- to their wives, who gathered upstairs, in the synagogue’s women’s gallery.”[19]
Feminization Expressed in the Texts of Marrano-Prayers
I described above how historical circumstances compelled women to fulfill male important religious-roles. It resulted in a unique prestigious-status of women within the family. Could ancient Marrano-prayers reflect similar attitudes traceable even today?
One example is found in a Marrano blessing. It seems that the morning female Halakhic prayer, saying: “Blessed be He for having made me according to His will” (in contrast to the derogative male equivalent: “Blessed be He… for not having made me a woman”), inspired the female Marrano Blessing for Hand Washing, but here she is not degraded at all:[20]
“The angels praise God who created me and
gave me a good life, who granted me water to wash, a towel to dry with, eyes to
see, hands to gesticulate, ears to hear, and has made me a woman...”
Given their duty to pass on
their tradition to the forthcoming generations from mother to
daughter, it seems appropriate, if not necessary, to implore God to protect
women in particular. This is reflected in the Marrano Grand-Prayer for Yom-Kippur, based on a normative one (although women
prayed, again Slouschz
erroneously uses the masculine
gender at the beginning not cited here):
“…May Thou take my daughters into Thy holy and
divine consideration, o Lord, and grant them a blessed-lot, so they would be
able to comprehend Thy holy and divine Law, and to serve and praise Thou;
better trust the Lord than any human dignitaries…[21]
She Who Holds Both Talitot (Jewish
prayer shawls)[22]
At the end of the ‘80s, about 6-8
Marrano young men started the process of return
to the male-oriented normative Judaism.
However, they would not have done anything before seeking the permission, and
assuring the support, of their mothers and wives in advance, as
some of them told me afterwards. As to these Matron-Rabbis, they did not
put up any obstacles, and willingly consented to give up their prestigious
role, without evoking any leadership-struggle or personal-crisis. Actually,
they always considered their role as a temporary one, which should be given back
whenever possible.
After the 1992-93 formal return, wives were sometimes compelled to
remind their husbands it is time to go to synagogue
to pray, since men were not yet accustomed to fulfill newly-acquired
duties as praying, let alone the gathering of a Minyan
(a quorum of 10 males needed for praying) at the synagogue.
Unconverted
Marrano women preparing the “sacred-wicks “
together with their converted to normative-Judaism relatives, 1994
One should not ignore the actual double practicing of rites, though very different
from the past one. Then the overt Christian religious-rites competed with
the covert Marrano tradition; but my observations - shortly after the return - revealed rather a dissimilar double-practice: that of the covert Marrano
ramification versus the overt mainstream-Judaism.[23]
One example is of mourning-rites in the case of a deceased person in 1997. The double mourning-rites held at his home included on
one hand the male Minyan-reunions[24],
and on the other - at different times and in a somewhat covert manner - the female
Marrano mourners’ reunions[25],
which included also several newly-converted ladies, along with their unconverted
relatives.
Another
example is that of Marranos who did not return to
Judaism, but despite it, they used to
celebrate meticulously their own Marrano Kippur
or Passover according to the Hebrew calendar. Some of these women (more
often than men, since they are considered responsible for the well-being
of their families!) even tend to approach the synagogue
and participate in normative-rites as much as
they can! It did occur several times in my presence around 2000 and on. This
fact still places women in their high prestigious status as ever.
According to
both examples, women are apparently still “holding
both Talitot” - that of the Marrano-past together with the contemporary Halakhic “new” religion. This applies to those who
did convert to Judaism as well as to the
unconverted women. Many other examples pointing to the same conclusions
are unfolded elsewhere on this site. Nevertheless, it
must be stressed that this type of performing
double sets of religious rites (Marrano
versus Halakhic, both
“Jewish” in their eyes) is altogether rather scarce. Many observers
assume it is temporary and might soon vanish for ever.
An attire similar to that of the
Elderly Matron-Rabbis
© All rights reserved to Sara Molho, 2001-2008
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