Domingos took us to see his personal project, the Yitzhak Cardozo Jewish Center he established in the heart of the Jewish neighborhood. Cardozo, a Marrano who had lived in the seventeenth century, was Philip IV’s, the king of Spain personal physician, as well as a Portuguese cultural hero. The name of the street on which the center is located also bears his name. Domingos’ excitement increases as he tells us that an engineer had come to the building across the way from the center and begun surveying in preparation for renovations and linking it to the center. We climbed the steep stairs into the small apartment. “Come, let me show you something”, said Domingos, taking us to the back room. There he opened a window that led to nowhere. “This was the access to the neighboring apartment,” he told us. “The Jews used to pass food for Shabbat and candlesticks to each other without having to go into the street and risk exposure. All the homes here are linked by secret passageways.” The mayor of Trancoso, Julio Cermanto, is proud of the openness toward the Jews shown by his city. “I understand that people are always searching for their roots and want to know where their families came from. Here in Portugal the law permits dual identity. In fact, Portugal was always a safe haven for Jews.” consultável em : esra-magazine/blog/post/portugal-talking-stones
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 16:48:37 +0000
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