We visit Toledo tomorrow. I have been there once before, over 50 years ago, and am excited for the chance to return with a more complex consciousness. We delighted in reading this ‘post - me reading aloud, Emily laughing aloud at the funny twists that highlight the narrative.
We both agree that, more than historical particulars, tomorrow we want to enter Toledo more focused on the ‘feel’ of Jewish presence and experience there over the centuries: the overwhelming intellectual fervor, the balancing thread of Jewish mysticism, the suffering and abuse in the wake of a golden age, the stubborn persistence of our ‘stiff-necked people’. The rabbi’s detailed history, combined with his own feelings about being there, give us the foundation to let our experience wash over us.
This is our last of ten days in Spain this time around. Throughout this time, Ray’s wisdom and love of this Spanish world has accompanied us. It is bittersweet to leave.
i have just finished reading "Toledo" in three sections. I have never been in that city, but now I feel I have. What a wealth of detail, embedded in , as always, Rabbi Zwerin's lively descriptions. He unfolds the tangle of the city's history with its mystery and ironies, usually with tongue-in-cheek humour. I also love the way he sprinkles in Spanish phrases for extra flavour.
We visit Toledo tomorrow. I have been there once before, over 50 years ago, and am excited for the chance to return with a more complex consciousness. We delighted in reading this ‘post - me reading aloud, Emily laughing aloud at the funny twists that highlight the narrative.
We both agree that, more than historical particulars, tomorrow we want to enter Toledo more focused on the ‘feel’ of Jewish presence and experience there over the centuries: the overwhelming intellectual fervor, the balancing thread of Jewish mysticism, the suffering and abuse in the wake of a golden age, the stubborn persistence of our ‘stiff-necked people’. The rabbi’s detailed history, combined with his own feelings about being there, give us the foundation to let our experience wash over us.
This is our last of ten days in Spain this time around. Throughout this time, Ray’s wisdom and love of this Spanish world has accompanied us. It is bittersweet to leave.
i have just finished reading "Toledo" in three sections. I have never been in that city, but now I feel I have. What a wealth of detail, embedded in , as always, Rabbi Zwerin's lively descriptions. He unfolds the tangle of the city's history with its mystery and ironies, usually with tongue-in-cheek humour. I also love the way he sprinkles in Spanish phrases for extra flavour.