About five minutes walk from the Samuel Halevi Synagogue, in the area which was once the Juderia (Jewish quarter), is the Maria la Blanca Synagogue. This synagogue, too, is known today by the name of the church into which it had been converted in the 15th century. After the building ceased to be a church it was used for various other purposes. Now it is a national monument.
It is situated in a small garden. After entering the portals, you find yourself in a large hall traversed by several rows of interlocking horseshoe-shaped arches which are supported by octagonal piers. The walls above the arches as well as the capitals of the piers are beautifully ornamented.
This magnificent house of prayer is believed to have been built around the year 1200 and some scholars have expressed the opinion that it was erected on the grounds of a former synagogue.
It was converted into a church in the beginning of the fifteenth century by Vincent Ferrer and his cohorts. Ferrer was monk who travelled through Spain calling upon Christians to repent of their sins. His speeches, filled with anti-Jewish remarks, inflamed the populace against the Jews. His appearance and that of his followers, groups of flagellants, struck terror into the hearts of the Jews, who were forced to attend his sermons. In various regions anti-Jewish laws were introduced at his behest. In some cities he entered synagogues and turned them into churches. The days of Vincent Ferrer’s stay in Toledo were dark ones for the city’s Jews.
In its long history, Toledo Jewry experienced many periods of tribulation. The community came to an end in 1492 when the Jews were expelled from Spain. The community had been one of the largest in Spain.
According to a tradition recorded by Don Isaac Abrabanel at the end of his commentary on the Book of Kings and in his commentary on the prophet Ovadia, Jews settled first in Toledo after the destruction of the First Temple. Regardless whether there is any truth in that tradition, it is certain that Toledo was one of the early Jewish settlements in the Iberian peninsula.
The city was the home of famous rabbis, Hebrew poets and Jewish scholars.
A few should be mentioned here:
Abraham Ibn Daud, author of the well-know chronicle, “Sefer Hakabbala” and of a Jewish-philosophical work, “The Sublime Faith,” originally written in Arabic, was born in Cordoba, but lived for many years in Toledo, where he died a martyr’s death.
Until not so long ago it was generally held that Judah Halevi, poet and philosopher, and Abraham Ibn Ezra, poet, grammarian and Bible commentator, were born in Toledo. IN recent years the view has been advanced that their birthplace in fact was Tudela. However it is true that the author of the “Kuzari” resided for some time in Toledo.
Toledo was the home of Rabbi Meir Halevi Abulafia, one of Spain’s outstanding rabbinic authorities. Abulafia, who in his youth had been an opponent of Maimonides, composed commentaries on the Talmud (some have been preserved and printed: “Yad Rama” on the tractates Bava Bathra and Sanhedrin), wrote a book on the Masora and in addition was a poet.
Rabbenu Jonah Gerondi, the famous moralist and author of well-know ethical treatises, taught in Gerona and in Barcelona. Passing through Toledo on his way to settle in the Land of Israel, he was asked by the local community to remain with them for some time. He consented and there he died.
In the beginning of the fourteenth century, Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel (Rosh) emigrated from Germany to Spain. After the imprisonment of his teacher Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg, he had become the leader of German Jewry, but fearing action against him by German rulers, he decided to leave his native country. Not long after his arrival in Spain he was chosen rabbi of Toledo. How could this Ashkenazic rabbi converse with his Sefardi brethren before having learned the Spanish language? One may safely assume that he spoke with them in Hebrew. He served the community of Toledo for more than twenty years, playing at the same time a major role in the religious life of Spanish Jewry as a whole.
After his death he was succeeded as a rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva in Toledo by his son Judah. Another son who resided in Toledo, was Jacob, the author of the “Turim”.
Other prominent Jewish figures who resided at that time in Toledo were: The astronomer Isaac Israeli, author of the book “Yesod Olam” and the bible commentator Joseph Nahmias. Both were students of Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel. Menachem ben Aaron Ibn Zerah, a native of Navarra and the author of “Tzeda LaDerekh” was a disciple of Judah, son of the Rosh. He died in Toledo. His tombstone has been preserved and can be seen in the Jewish museum in the rear of the Samuel Halevi Synagogue.
Rabbi Isaac Aboab, called “the last Gaon of Castile” lived in Toledo. Later he was Rosh Yeshiva in Guadalajara. When the Jews were expelled from Spain he emigrated to Portugal where he died not long afterwards.
By: Tovia Preschel
Jewish Press
September 15, 1978