Jan. 21, 1393- The Jews of Majorca were guaranteed protection. Following a massacre of Jews at Majorca, the governor of Majorca issued an edict for the protection of the Jewish inhabitants, providing that any citizen who injures a Jew will be hanged. The advantageous position of the islands, (one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea), as well as their newly found protection, attracted many Jews from Provence, Sicily, Tunis, and Algiers, amongst other African cities. The Jews even had their own organizations and representatives by sanction of the King.

This was "forgotten" about 20 years later, when persecution started up again in 1413. Twenty-plus years later, by 1435, the Jewish community had been completely destroyed, with many Jews forcibly converted to Christianity. These forced converts retained Jewish practice in private, but they publicly boiled pork lard in large pots, as a way to appear non-Jewish. (Hence these Jews were nicknamed Chuetas -- "pork lard.")

 

Torah Portion

unknown

 

 

or view this week's triennial cycle reading.

Today is

Yom Shishi, 19 Adar II, 5784

Friday, March 29, 2024

 

Learn more about this date in history.