Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

July 27, 2023

Tisha b’Av in Catalonia, and a Torrent of Emotion

According to tradition the fast of Tisha b’Av—which began last night and extends until sundown this evening—marks not only the destruction of the First and Second Temples, but also the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. The late Frank Talmage, a scholar of Jewish history, recounts spending this day in northern Spain: the scene of centuries of Jewish hopes, achievement, and catastrophe. Visiting the cathedral of Tortosa, he is overcome by emotion (1981):

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