#David Reubeni

[hyperpotamianarch]

All right. So, first: if you are either Jewish, like His Dark Materials, or both, please reblog. If you aren't any of those but know someone who is - please share it with them. I want to get as many thoughts on this as possible.

In essence, I just want to ask two simple questions. I have the beginnings of answers for myself, but Judaism is nothing if not full of discourse and many opinions on one topic. So, again: reblog. Share your thoughts and opinions. Hopefully, it will give us a wide variety of possibilities and answers.

The two questions are: where are Jews in Lyra's world? And what are the theological and Halachic concequences of having dæmons?

I intend to share my opinions in two separate reblogs, but please share your thoughts even if you don't see mine. The short version is that I looked about events in Jewish history around John Calvin's time for the first question (pope John Calvin being the major alternation of history in HDM). As for the second question - I have some thoughts relating to the Chabad thought stream. Elaborations, again, going in reblogs.

Thank you in advance!

(PS, question number 1 was handled once by the sadly deactivvated user the Tea Detective, though their full post disappeared. Link to a reblogging of the first half: here. Note, another reblog mentions other religions - feel free to discuss them, I'm focusing on Judaism because I'm Jewish. Another post asking this question was posted here, so have fun with it. Meanwhile, this post is about dæmons and religions in general and lightly touches Judaism.)

[sajaraworld]

TODO HUELE A SANGRE (11)

  INGLATERRA. “Los romanos la llamaron ‘Britania’. Los francos:

‘Anglae-terra--Tierra de los anglos’. Posteriormente los propios

ingleses lo tradujeron como ‘England’.

De chico me enseñaron que la pérfida Albión nos había robado las islas Malvinas. Quizá lo hizo para vengarse de sus dos fallidas incursiones para apoderarse de Buenos Aires.

Yo al escritor WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (n. 1564), lo odiaba por su antisemitismo pestilente. Así lo sentí cuando vi la obra El mercader de Venecia.

De pequeño yo sentí una enorme admiración por LADY GODIVA, la mujer que cabalgó desnuda, apenas tapada por su larga cabellera, por la ciudad de Coventry, en señal de protesta por los altos impuestos que Guillermo I, el conquistador (n .1027), obligaba a pagar a sus súbditos.

LOS HEBREOS. Nosotros no llegamos aquí acompañando a las legiones romanas sino que huyendo de ellas.

El 20 de marzo de 1144, Sábado Santo, apareció el primer libelo: era una infundada acusación contra nuestra gente de Norwich por la aparición del cadáver de un joven con muestras de haber sido apuñalado durante un rito satánico. El muerto fue tratado como a un mártir. Los peregrinos con su diezmo llenaron las arcas de la iglesia local.

En el año 1189 estábamos participando de la coronación de Ricardo Corazón de León cuando una multitud nos atacó.

Al año siguiente, nuestra gente de Norwich fue asesinada en sus propias casas. Unos pocos lograron salvarse.

La desaparición de un niño de ocho años (1255), provocó una nueva masacre. Su cuerpo fue descubierto en un pozo perteneciente a un hebreo llamado Copín. El muy cobarde involucró a varias personas de la comunidad, porque un juez le había prometido que nadie sería condenado.

Copin fue ejecutado. Noventa hebreos que habían sido apresados fueron enviados a Londres. Dieciocho de ellos fueron ajusticiados y el resto indultado por pedido de los franciscanos. []

 En el año 1290 la comunidad en pleno, unas dieciséis mil almas, abandonó la isla rumbo a Francia, cuando se nos acusó de haber hecho sangrar la hostia (sacramento.)

Los pocos que decidieron quedarse fueron asesinados, a pesar de que el Papa, el francés Benedicto XII (n. 1280), reconoció públicamente que todo era UNA PATRAÑA orquestada por personeros de su propio clero.

Recién, en el año 1655, volvimos a la fuck England.

Un hombre sencillo, temeroso del Creador, OLIVERIO CROMWELL (n. 1599), estableció un régimen parlamentario limitando el poder del rey y dándonos un trato igualitario con el resto de la población.

Hay quienes se involucraron en la vida social y política del país.

En 1647 los marranos Antonio Fernández Carvajal y Simón de Cáceres, emprendieron viajes a las Indias Orientales y a América del Sur.

Cáceres quería conquistar Chile para quitarle a los españoles su dominio sobre el Pacifico. No consiguió el objetivo.

A comienzos de su reinado Jorge III (n. 1738), exigió a la población un juramento donde se incluían las palabras “Por la verdadera fe de cristiano.”

Muchos hebreos optaron por el bautismo, como el sefardí Samson Guideon, jefe de su comunidad, quien obligó a sus hijos a comportarse como cristianos.

Lo mismo sucedió con David Ricardo (n. 1772), quien fue un destacado miembro del Parlamento y creador de la Economía Política como ciencia.

La reina VICTORIA (n. 1819), se relacionó desde el afecto con nuestra comunidad a tal punto que un descendiente de sefardíes, convertido al anglicanismo, Benjamín Disraeli (n. 1804), fue su Primer Ministro y uno de sus más estrechos colaboradores.

 RECORDANDO A LOS JUSTOS. El empleado inglés de origen hebreo de la Bolsa de Valores, NICHOLAS WINTON (n. 1909), logró salvar la vida de seiscientos niños atrapados en la República Checa y a punto de ser deportados. Entre ellos se encontraba quien ha sido un consagrado director de cine: Karel Reisz (n. 1926.)

Durante más de cinco décadas Winton no reveló a nadie su gesto humanitario.

La historia se hizo pública cuando su esposa Greta descubrió en el ático de su casa un maletín que contenía listas de niños salvados y cartas de sus padres.

El sargento mayor CHARLES JOSÉ COWARD (n. 1905), rescató a cientos de hebreos que estaban en el campo de exterminio de Auschwitz III (Monowitz.)

Charles que de coward ---cobarde no tenía nada,--- llegó a intercambiar con los alemanes chocolate por cadáveres de presos que habían intentado huir. Utilizando sus identidades les salvó la vida a unos cuatrocientos presos.

Es recordado en Yad Vashem.

El oficial de inteligencia FRANK FOLEY (n. 1884), ayudó a unas diez mil personas escondiendo a muchas de ellas en su propia casa, a pesar de no gozar de inmunidad diplomática.

Foley estuvo entre los que interrogaron al jerarca nazi Rudolf Hess cuando desertó a Gran Bretaña para intentar, por su cuenta, una paz negociada.

Entre los refugiados en el departamento de Foley estaba Leo Baeck, el líder de la Asociación de Rabinos alemanes, quien aprovechó el

lugar para informar a periodistas extranjeros acerca de la persecución de los hebreos en su país.

Una de las personas salvadas por el agente británico, Sabine Comberti, se unió a la campaña para que Foley fuera reconocido como "Justo…" por el Museo del Holocausto de Israel, distinción que finalmente recibió en 1999.

El embajador inglés en la República Dominicana Jacob Benardout, emitió numerosos visados. Sólo dieciséis familias aceptaron radicarse en el país caribeño.

IRLANDA. “En inglés, “Ireland; en gaélico ‘Éire—fértil’, que era la diosa de la fertilidad de los celtas.”

LOS HEBREOS. Nuestra presencia aquí data de la Edad Media. El país se mantuvo neutral durante la SGM, aunque no faltaron los que admiraban al régimen nazi.

El primer ministro, EAMON DE VALERA (n. 1885), permitió la llegada de cien niños polacos a pesar de tener que soportar las trabas impuestas por el Departamento de Justicia de su propio país. En cambio, los cuatrocientos niños católicos alemanes no tuvieron problema alguno para radicarse en el país.

De Valera volvió a intervenir para permitir el ingreso de otros ciento cincuenta niños. Y en 1952 logró la localización de cinco familias ortodoxas que huían del comunismo.

En 1966, la comunidad hebrea irlandesa honró a De Valera con un bosque que fue plantado en Nazaret.

RECORDANDO A OTRO JUSTO. El sacerdote católico HUGH O'FLAHERTY (n. 1898), salvó cerca de cuatro mil soldados aliados y hebreos, escondiéndolos en apartamentos, granja y conventos. Uno de los escondites fue un local al lado de una Central de la SS.

La esposa del embajador irlandés en Italia Delia Murphy fue una de las más estrechas colaboradoras del eclesiástico.

 ITALIA. “Es probable que su nombre esté relacionado con la del griego antiguo ‘Ítalos-toro’.”

LOS HEBREOS. La primera comunidad se radicó aquí en el año 49 adC.

Durante el gobierno de Julio César (n. 100 adC), pudimos ejercer nuestros derechos civiles y religiosos mediante el pago de un impuesto, que en parte se destinaba al mantenimiento del Templo de Jerusalém.

Cuando el Imperio se convirtió al cristianismo, se nos pasó a culpar de todos los males pasados, de los que ocurrían en el presente y dejando algunas muestras para el futuro.

La madre del emperador Constantino (n. 272) ELENA, dejándose llevar por su frondosa imaginación dijo saber el lugar donde Jes��s estaba enterrado.

Los curas la querían matar. Si a Cristo se lo convertía en el común de los mortales, se quemaba un gran negocio al clero católico. La mujer no volvió a abrir la boca.

¡OTRA VEZ SOPA! En el año 1475, en la localidad de Trento, había desaparecido un niño de dos años, y su padre acusó a nuestra comunidad de haberlo secuestrado y asesinado.

Quince de los supuestos criminales fueron quemados. El niño, de nombre Simón, fue considerado santo, y canonizado por el papa

Sixto V en 1588. Esta decisión fue revocada en 1965 por el Pablo VI (n. 1897 Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini.)

En 1493 familias enteras que habían escapado de la Inquisición, se radicaron en Milán, Calabria y Sicilia desarrollando distintas actividades laborales: tejedores, tintoreros, sastres, artesanos, buhoneros y campesinos.

Muchos jóvenes, rompiendo con la tradición familiar, fueron actores, escultores y hasta militares.

Durante el Renacimiento muchos cristianos se interesaron por la cultura judaica. Los curas se brotaron.

EL CUENTO MESIÁNICO. En 1524 la colectividad veneciana se vio conmovida por la presencia de un extranjero que decía venir de un reino de Oriente ( comarca de Jaibar, al Norte de Arabia) y descendiente de la tribu de Reuben (el hijo mayor de Yaacov y Lea.)

El visitante se llamaba DAVID REUBENI, hablaba hebreo y respetaba la fe judaica a ultranza.

Según él, su hermano era el monarca de su comunidad y le había encomendado una delicada misión diplomática: conseguir el apoyo de soberanos cristianos para poder reconquistar la Tierra Prometida que estaba en poder de los turcos.

Reubeni fue recibido por el papa Clemente VII (n. 1478), mientras una muchedumbre aguardaba el resultado de este encuentro, que resultó ser un fracaso.

El Papa estaba más preocupado por el disidente Martín Lutero, quien había provocado el Cisma en el catolicismo.

David viajó a Portugal para una entrevista con el rey Juan III.

El visitante permaneció cinco años en este país esperando un

encuentro con el monarca. Finalmente fue expulsado porque se consideraba que su presencia perjudicaba a los marranos.

Reubeni se mudó a Francia y luego a Venecia.

Finalmente confesó que lo suyo era una fábula. Que era un simple mortal venido de Egipto y que su sueñoera devolver a sus hermanos a Tierra Santa.

Los inquisidores ordenaron el traslado del falso Mesías a España, donde fue quemado vivo.

Reubeni sacó de su apatía a los conversos. Diogo Pires, se circuncidó de grande y adoptó el nombre de SHLOMO MOLJO.

Predica la llegada del Mesías. Sus discursos son compilados en un libro que se publica en Salónica en 1529.

En el año 1530 Roma sufrió los efectos de una inundación que Moljo había vaticinado. El papa Clemente VII (n. 1478) le entregó un salvoconducto para qu no fuese molestado por los inquisidores.

El médico romano Jacob Mantino, un flor de ben zoná, denunció a Moljo como alguien que perjudicaba a la comunidad.

Condenado a muerte fue el Papa quien le salvó la vida.

En 1532 Moljo viajó a Alemania para entrevistarse con el emperador Carlos V (n. 1500), a quien le propuso conformar un ejército de hebreos para luchar contra los turcos.

El hijo de Juana la loca lo hizo detener y lo entregó a la Inquisición. El falso Mesías, murió en la hoguera porque no quiso renegar de su fe.

En 1740 hubo un nuevo Mesías en danza: Nehemías Jayún, oriundo de Saboya (región entre Francia e Italia), quien organizó una peregrinación a Tierra Santa que no se concretó porque fue detenido y desterrado a África.El último falso mesías, MOSHÉ JAIM LUZZATTO (n. 1707), prometió recuperar la tierra de sus antepasados.

Agitó a las masas pero no tomó en cuenta la reacción de los sectores ortodoxos que decidieron enfrentarlo.

Luzzatto se recluyó en Ámsterdam donde pasó diez años tranquilos escribiendo dos obras sobre Ética y Moral: “El sendero de los virtuosos y Gloria a los virtuosos.”

Falleció en Palestina a los cuarenta años de edad.

EL PAPA MALDITO. Los pontífices, el florentino Clemente VII y el toscano Pablo III (n. 1468), eran sensibles, comprensivos e

indulgentes con nosotros. En cambio, Pablo IV (n.1476), resultó ser un gran inquisidor y maestro de la tortura.

Este mensajero de Dios aterrorizó a todos aquellos que no comulgaban con los católicos.

Su mayor logro fue convertir la Inquisición en un arma fuerte en la Península, en los Países Bajos y en Oriente.

Creía tanto en la tortura que gustoso pagó de su propio cofre los instrumentos de tormento más sofisticados.

Este son of a bitch dio a conocer una Bula (edicto) recordando a sus fieles que nosotros hemos matado a Cristo y, por lo tanto, se nos debía tratar como a esclavos.

Encerrados en un gueto, se nos obligó a usar un peculiar sombrero amarillo para diferenciarnos del resto de la población.

Tuvimos que vender nuestras propiedades a los cristianos a precio vil: una casa a cambio de un burro o un viñedo por una prenda.

Solamente podíamos dedicarnos a un comercio de poca importancia como la strazzaria (la venta de ropa de segunda mano.)

Culminó su obra macabra, QUEMANDO miles de libros sacros. Y de paso también tiró a las llamas el Decamerón del toscano Giovanni

Bocaccio (n. 1313) y Gargantúa y Pantagruel obra del médico, escritor y humanista francés François Rabelais (n. 1494.)

Cuando el execrable Papa murió el pueblo quemó el Palacio de la Inquisición y destruyó sus estatuas.

En 1547, Cosme I invitó a marranos portugueses a instalarse en Pisa. Y en 1597 el duque Fernando hizo lo propio en Liorna, convirtiendo a este puerto sobre el mar Tirreno, en una próspera ciudad que fue conocida como la “Jerusalém italiana”.

En este ambiente de concordia, pudimos desarrollar una próspera actividad tanto económica como profesional.

OTRA AFRENTA CATÓLICA. El niño Edgardo Mortara (n. 1851), de seis años, fue separado de sus padres por orden de las autoridades católicas. Una vez bautizado como cristiano, se lo envió a una institución de educación católica.

Sus padres lucharon durante doce años para conseguir su liberación, chocando permanentemente con la negativa del papa Pío IX (Giovanni María Mastai Ferreti.)

La kehilá se movilizó reclamando por Mortara. La respuesta del papa fue: “Me río de todo el mundo.”

También el papa romano Pío XII (Eugenio María Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli n.1876) se rió de nosotros mientras los nazis nos asaban.

Según el historiador, antropólogo y escritor, David Kertzer, el benemérito Pontífice nunca se opuso a las disposiciones raciales existentes en Italia.

Siendo ya adolescente a Edgardo se le dio la libertad de volver con sus padres. Al mes de estar con ellos decidió retornar a la ciudad de Roma, en razón de los conflictos que tenía con ellos porque no compartían su catolicismo. Poco después tomó los hábitos.

Durante la invasión napoleónica nos escapamos de los guetos. Quemamos las puertas del encierro veneciano en señal de repudio a tanta opresión.

En 1858 el rey Víctor Manuel, el estadista Camilo Benso de Cavour (n. 1810) y el patriota Giuseppe Garibaldi (n. 1807), pusieron fin al poder temporal del Papa. CERRARON EL GUETO ROMANO y nos concedieron la autonomía necesaria para el desarrollo de nuestra gestión comunitaria.

Bajo el fascismo se nos permitió ingresar al Partido creado por Benito Mussolini. Fue una minoría la que aceptó afiliarse.

Pío XI que no fue ningún santo se horrorizó de la violencia antijudía en Alemania.

Después de que Italia entrara en la SGM, refugiados hebreos fueron internados en el campo de concentración de Campagna. 

Aquí lo recluyeron a un primo de Mi Padre que vivía en Milán.

Antes que los nazis lograran deportarlos tanto él como muchos otros hebreos huyeron hacia las montañas, donde fueron acogidos por la población local.

Al primo de Mi Padre, que era médico de profesión, lo protegió un colega suyo, que pocos años después pasaría ser su cuñado.

 En 1942 el comandante militar italiano en Croacia se negó a entregar a los hebreos que estaban en su jurisdicción.

En enero de 1943 los italianos se negaron a cooperar con los nazis en la captura de los hebreos que estaban bajo su control en  Francia y evitaron su deportación.

 El ministro de Exteriores alemán Joachim von Ribbentropp se quejó a Benito Mussolini que "los círculos militares italianos carecen de una comprensión adecuada de la cuestión judía."

No todos los hebreos italianos tuvieron la suerte de Yaacov Levin, el primo de Mi Padre.

Los residentes en Génova y Florencia fueron deportados a Auschwitz.

Se estima que unos siete mil hebreos italianos fueron víctimas de la barbarie nazi.

RECORDANDO A UN JUSTO. El italiano Giorgio Perlasca, que ejercía funciones diplomáticas en Hungría, en el invierno de 1944 dio cobertura y alimento a miles de hebreos; expidiendo salvoconductos basados en la ley de derecho a la ciudadanía

española que había aprobado Miguel Primo de Rivera en 1924 para los sefaradim.

Un grupo de mujeres húngaras dieron a conocer los actos humanitarios de Perlasca lo que le valió ser reconocido por el Estado de Israel como benefactor de la Humanidad

[rabbibejaranogutierrez]

David Reubeni and the Ten Lost Tribes

David Reubeni and the Ten Lost Tribes

An excerpt from Conversos and the Sabbatean Movement

The prominence of the idea of the Ten Lost Tribes in Jewish circles is also reflected in the much earlier reference by David Reubeni to this theme. David Reubeni was born around about 1490 possibly in central Arabia, in Khaibar. He died in Llerena, Spain, sometime after 1535. He left Khaibar in 1522 and traveled to Nubia in Egypt, where he…

[sinusoidalisay]

BALABAL NI SOLOMON MOLCHO (1500-1532) Gawa sa puting telang lino na binurdahan gamit ang sinulid na silk. Tinatayang ginamit ang balabal/stole o “robe” na ito sa sinaunang sinagoga sa Bohemia o kanlurang lupain ng mga Czech noong ika-15 siglo. Medyo nakakakilabot ang istorya sa likod ng balabal na ito. Si Solomon Molcho (Hebrew: שלמה מולכו‎ Shlomo Mol'kho, ay isang batang hudyong Portuges, isang martyr, na naniwalang ang hinihintay ng mga hudyo na Mesias o ang hinihintay na hari ng Israel mula sa lahi ni David at lulupig sa mga kaaway ng mga Judio at magbubuklod muli sa mga tribo ng Israel ay nasa katauhan ni David Reubeni, isang hudyong manlalakbay. Sapamamagitan ng inquisition, ipinasunog ng buhay sila kapwa ni emperador Charles V noong 1532 dahil sa salang apostasiya. Halos magkasing edad kami ni Solomon Molcho nang isuot nya ito. Sinubukan kong tumayo sa harap ng balabal sa eskaparate para kunwari ay nakapagsuot na rin ako ng ganito karangyang balabal. Pero sobrang laki, at hindi sukat para sa isang asyanong gaya ko. Masyadong mahaba, malapad at mukhang mabigat. Marahil nga ay iba ang balabal na nakalaan para sa akin at para sa atin.🙂 #SPBBDay2 #Prague2020 #Europe2020 #EchuserongPrague (at Maiselova Synagoga) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-kNA8FJLgf/?igshid=qbjc0nquxn0s

[hiddurmitzvah]

David Reubeni an adventurer in the early 16th century who pretended to be the ambassador and brother of the King of Khaibar, a town and former district of Arabia, in which the descendants of the "lost tribes" of Reuben and Gad were supposed to dwell. He claimed he was sent to the Pope and the powers of Europe to secure cannon and firearms for war against the Muslims, who prevented the union of the Jews living on the two sides of the Red Sea. He denied expressly that he was a Messiah or a prophet, claiming that he was merely a warrior. The credence which he found at the papal court in 1524, the reception accorded to him in 1525 at the Portuguese court (whither he came at the invitation of John III, and where he at first received the promise of help), the temporary cessation of persecution of the Marranos—all gave the Portuguese and Spanish Marranos reason to believe that Reuveni was a forerunner of the Messiah. Selaya, inquisitor of Badajoz, complained to the King of Portugal that a Jew who had come from the Orient (referring to Reuveni) had filled the Spanish Marranos with the hope that the Messiah would come and lead Israel from all lands back to Israel, and that he had even emboldened them to overt acts. David Reuveni and his partner, Diego Pires, a Marano youth of noble birth, who took the name of Solomon Molcho were arrested in Regensburg on the orders of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and king of Spain. He was taken to Mantua, in Italy, where, being a baptized Catholic he was convicted of being a heretic and burned at the stake in November, 1532.. Reubeni was carried to Spain and placed in the Inquisition at Llerena, where probably he died.

[hyperpotamianarch]

The Jewsade

So, this isn't the first time I write about it. That honour belongs to the post I've made about Judaism in the world of His Dark Materials. However, that particular post was always meant to serve two branches - the one about history and the other about the Jewish outlook on dæmons. So I don't think it's a good post to introduce the idea. Thus, I'm honoured to present to you the new introduction to the Jewsade.

Firstly, I would like to tell you about a fascinating event from our world, the one that offers the basis to this story.

Imagine this: you are a Venetian Jew, living in the ghetto. Not too long ago, about two to three decades, there has been a wave of Sefaradi immigrants, escaping their banishment from their land. They don't have much hope anymore for things to get better, with friends and family suffering under the Spanish Inquisition.

Then, one day, an odd man comes to town. He's Jewish, relatively dark skin, on the shorter side, and wears exotic clothings. He speaks odd Hebrew, and claims to come from a Jewish kingdom far away to talk to the Pope. He needs some degree of financing from you so that he could go to Rome.

The community eventually finances him and he heads to Rome, riding a fine horse. He is accepted by the Jewish community there, and using the ties of one of their members, he manages to get an audieance with the Pope. To him, he explains: as he's the general of said Jewish kingdom (and the king's brother), he wants cannons and artillery from Europe to help him fight the Ottomans and take the Holy Land. He simply wants the Pope to give him recommendation letters to the kings of Europe, to persuade them to lend him their aid - in the form of weaponry, as he already has the people.

All that is real, historical events. Which, I really don't know how otherworldly it sounds, but it's not exactly normal. The story doesn't end here, but since the story of this Jewish (supposed) general is later intertwined with that of another person, and it would probably lengthen this post a little too much if I told it. And so, I prefer pausing here - especially since this is very close to the point of divergence.

The Pope geve this man - David Reubeni - recommendation letters to the kings of Portugal and Ethiopia. Reubeni got stuck in Italy for a while because the Portuguese ambassador didn't like or believe him, but he eventually went to Portugal where the Inquisition stopped for the duration of his visit. This sparked excitement among the conversos, the Jews of Portugal who were forced to convert to Christianity just about two and a half decades earlier - which kind of annoyed king João I of Portugal, who asked David if he came to make the conversos go back to Judaism, which the latter denied. However, when one converso by the name of Diogo Pires came to David repeatedly, trying to talk to him about returning to Judaism and later circumcising himself of his own accord - well, that was the last straw. Diogo, who renamed himself Shəlomoh Molcho, was forced to flee Portugal and David had to leave later as well. Molcho went on to study much Torah and became something of a mystic. He prophecied an overflowing of the Tiber and an earthquake in Portugal, and even received official letters of protection from the Pope despite being a Christian who abandoned Catholicism to become a Jew. David went through some stuff, including being arrested in Spain and later freed, and the two of them eventually met and went to emperor Charles V of Germany (who was also Carlos I of Spain), hoping to... cpnvince him to help them, or convert to Judaism, or both. It doesn't matter, because they were arrested, tortured and executed (on separate occasions).

The world of the Jewsade tries exploring the question: but what if they did obtain the weaponry David Reubeni wanted so much? What if they managed conquering the Holy Land? Well, the first problem with that is David's claims about a Jewish kingdom, which he claims was located "in the desert of Ḥabor". To be more accurate, the problem is this kingdom being fake.

As far as modern historians know, there has not been any independent Jewish kingdom anywhere ever since Khazar, which is itself a debated topic. The likelihood of an actual Jewish kingdom existing around the 16th century is slim at best. The historians also don't really know where David came from exactly - was he from the Arabian peninsula? Ethiopia? India? Was he, perhaps, an Ashkenazi Jew who spent a lot of times around southern or eastern areas? All those are theories that were raised.

For the sake of my story, I'm considering having it be that he told the full truth: somewhere in the Arabian peninsula, in areas not fully controlled by the Ottomans, there's a Jewish kingdom of people from the tribes of Re'uven and Gad, ruled over by a king of the Davidic line and a council of 70 elders. Another option is David managing to bluff his way through to the king of Portugal while simultaneously recruiting Jewish men from across Europe to serve as his army. Though I'm considering doing both - maybe the Jewish kingdom exists, but it's way smaller than David made it out to be and they don't really have enough soldiers to man many cannons and weaponry alone isn't really enough.

In this continuity, maybe the Pope gives David more recommendation letters. Maybe Shəlomoh Molcho manages to hide his return to Judaism and helps convince the king of Portugal to lend David the weapons and ships, then joins him with a bunch of conversos to escape Portugal and return to Judaism. I don't really know yet what happened, and the way I'm trying to tell the story right now doesn't really require me to know much outside the final outcome: an independent Jewish kingdom in Israel, in spite of both the Ottoman empire and European rising colonial powers wanting to control it.

This kingdom might be in a precarious situation. It might be destroyed by the Ottomans in any minute, or have to bow down before Christian rulers. However, for the time being, there's a Jewish kingdom in Eretz Yisra'el. The Temple might be rebuilt, Jews might flood the newly established kingdom... and we'll have to see.

As mentioned in a different post, the format I'm currently trying is telling the story through various documents, so far including the preface and Hascamot on a halachic book and a letter from this kingdom's king to Jews in diaspora. Since this is supposedly in the world of His Dark Materials, there should probably be dæmons, and by the time the kingdom is founded the Pope will be replaced by John Calvin. Depending how long the kingdom will stand, it might get a chance to put its hands on an Alethiometer as well. The likelihood of that, though, is low.

[hyperpotamianarch]

So, for the time being, I pretty much dominate the #alternate jewish history tag. By which I mean, all posts under this tag are ones I either wrote or reblogged. This is, of course, meaningless. Even so, I intend to take care of this little corner of my supposed kingdom, though invaders are fully invited. Please, it would be my pleasure if you add to this tag.

Either way, this tag currently has three AUs. As the purported owner of this tag, I intend to list them - while tagging the original creator when necessary.

The first AU is going to be the one I conceived of, naturally, since there can be no ownership disputations of it: the Jewsade.

The Jewsade is an AU based on the historical divergence of His Dark Materials. However, it's an AU worth exploring for its own merit IMO. Its divergence point is around the 1520s, with the Jewish false Messiah David Reubeni and Shəlomoh Molcho. In our world those two ended up eventually killed by the Spanish Inquisition; in the world of the Jewsade, they succeeded in getting the artillery David was trying to obtain and used it to conquer Eretz Yisra'el from the Ottomans. What happened with it later? Currently it's a riddle I can't answer, possibilities range from a disaster by the hands of the Ottoman Empire or Portugal to the continued existence of a Jewish kingdom in the Middle East, barely holding its own against both Christians and Muslims who want to take the Holy Land to themselves. Exploration of it is still at work, and I'm considering presenting it in random documents of various sorts from the period. It doesn't currently have a clear masterpost, I might work on that in the future.

The second AU I've put under this tag belongs to @aviad1b. This is the Hasmonean independence AU. It's not too well-built as of yet (and might also be related to the next AU, we'll see), but the basics are: the Hasmoneans don't give up their independence to the Romans and remain a kingdom for longer. This is a bit of a hard feat, because the Hasmoneans were sort of allies to the Romans even prior to that and the civil war is what caused them to turn to a passing Roman general to solve the dispute. After you avoid that... well, the Hasmonean dynasty still needs to keep its independence between the ever-greedy Rome and the rising Perthian empire, which is not going to be easy by any means. Even if they manage surviving one civil war... well, there will be others. However, it might be interesting to picture them somehow still prevailing, despite all the odds.

The third and more recent addition comes from @magnetothemagnificent's idea of a world where the 2nd Temple was never destroyed, the 2nd Temple Still Standing AU as I chose to call it, if you have different suggestions I'm open to hear them. A lot of the discussion on it includes the note of how much we don't know what the world will look like. Christianity might not exist, or be way smaller. The Jewish Diaspora would be way smaller adn would be mostly merchants. New technologies would be applied to old traditions and sometimes adjusted to them - the beacons to indicate the start of the month will stay, but their role would be fulfilled more with modern communication technology; flights to Eretz Yisra'el will commonly have space for cattle for the Korbanot; Cohanim would dominate the field of dermatology in order to be experts on Tzara`at, some working in construction (and some with textiles?) for the other types of it as well; religious institutions will be vastly different, with structures from 2 milennia ago surviving to the Modern Day in some form; Levyim maybe being dominant in fields of music and poetry; maybe melodies used for written texts in the place of punctuation; no written Mishnah or Talmud, things are mostly kept oral; and a lot more stuff.

There's the question, with that latter AU, of how that might happen. No rebellion against the Romans might be a possibility, though a bit hard to pull up. The Hasmonean Dynasty retaining independence can help, hence the reference I've made earlier. The Great Rebellion could also (maybe) fail before it escalated to the level of besiegeing Jerusalem. I really don't know. And unless you go by the "History is a rubber band" theory of time travel, there really isn't any way to know. So I suppose we should all just think about it a little more, and making stuff up can work, as long as you keep an eye on historical events.

Now, you might accuse me of certain hautiness in writing this. Please don't. Believe me when I say, I'm just enthusiastic about alternative Jewish histories, and would like to popularize the use of that tag. I would really like seeing farther AUs based on Jewish history - I had the pleasure to encounter a couple on Facebook, following a workshop on writing alternate Hannukahs in a meet-up organized by a group of interest on Jewish Fantasy in Israel. But there can be many more, and while I would love to contribute where I can and where my help is wanted, I prefer not to start any more than the one I'm already working on. So thank you to all the participants.

Note: the reblog chain for the Hasmonean Independence AU I shared here is only an exchange between me and Aviad. However, the 2nd Temple Still Standing thread includes (beside my and Magnetothemagnificent's posts) contributions from @alyssumlovesthecosmere and @fromchaostocosmos, hope you don't mind I'm tagging you as well.

[hyperpotamianarch]

May I randomly commision the artists of Jumblr to draw Shlomo Molcho's Tzitzit? This might not sound like the most interesting concept, but this is a cloth that has created various Halachic precedents: it was made of silk and the tzitziot are also silk - unlike most Tzitziot, in which at least the hanging threads are wool; the hanging threads were the same color of the cloth, which wasn't white or azure/Techelet; and it appers that the 10-5-6-5 for the number of times the longest thread goes around between the knots thing started with him.

I should probably find a more specific artist and commission drawings of both him and David Reubeni, but I honestly don't know what to do with that. I'm not much of an artist myself, and I don't really know anyone who might be willing to do this.

[hyperpotamianarch]

-Hey, Arch?

Yes, fake audience voice?

-Why are you reblogging your question a third time?

I'm so glad you've asked! See, I've went over some historical stuff and came across a completely different answer for the first question. So, since the other reblog line (the Jewsade) has become too long, I've decided to start over.

-Why not reblog some other post that discussed that topic? Also, why the heck did you not do the proper historical research while working on the origi-

All right, that's quite enough.

So, another answer to question one! How exciting! Especially since everybody loved the original so much. So, you see, it has come to my attention that some 17th century events might have greater bearing on-

-It's because you liked the idea of the Jewsade too much, isn't it? You've spent a whole whopping Shabbat researching David Reubeni, Shlomo Molcho and John Calvin, and it was so darn exciting-

Shut up!

-on the presence of Jews in certain places by the time HDM occures at. You see, Menasseh Ben Israel-

-You were so caught up in your idea of a Jewish Messiah getting somewhere and then failing miserably. Why? Was that a commentary on the State of Israel or something?

Shut UP! I'm trying to-

-Trying to nothing, you keep allow me to break you because you enjoy this way of portraying stuff and don't have a proper outline to anything about Menasseh Ben Israel!

All right, fine! I'll admit it.

So. Umm. That.

Yeah, as my fake-audience-voice (-Hi!) said above, I did get caught up with research on David Reubeni, even though I knew about Menasseh Ben Israel's bearing on the history of Judaism at the time. The truth is, the thought hit me on my way to the Synagogue on Shabbat eve and I got so excited I kept it in mind for the entirety of the Shabbat. Then I wrote my post immediately when Shabbat ended where I live.

Those are not very important details, but I think they explain my odd focus on the Jewsade on the other post. I got excited. It was a cool - if slightly disturbing, considering its relation to the crusades - event that didn't happen in our world but could happen elsewhere. Only problem is, the alterations were slightly too early.

I don't know at what year was John Calvin elected pope in Lyra's world. However, besides it changing very little (the people who mattered for the sake of the Jewsade are the kings more than the pope), it was also likely after both Reubeni and Molcho were imprisoned by Charles V. It doean't have to be that way - slight alterations, even prior to the major deviation point, are not hard to make - but it makes it more of an independant idea.

Menasseh Ben Israel, however, held an important role in the history of Judaism, and lived during the 17th century, placing him in an easy place to be affected by this alteration. I will admit to lazyness in my historical research - when galvanized during the Shabbat I can do a lot, but Ambaric and Computing devices tend to distract me easily during the weekdays. That's a weak excuse, but this is why my reading on Ben Israel was mostly just his Wikipedia article.

Either way: Menasseh Ben Israel was the son of Porugese Anusim, forced converts. His family lived in La Rochelle for a time as a way to escape the Inquisition, but later moved to Amsterdam, where Menasseh Ben Israel spent most of the rest of his life. For the record, the time cite in Wikipedia for their move to the Netherlands is 1610.

Now, it's probably important to note that the Netherlands were only starting to become independant - there was a war, which was somewhat related to the Netherlands being mostly protestant while Spain, which sort of controlled them, was famously Catholic. This is probably significant, since most Netherlanders were not just any type of protestant - they were Calvinists.

To get to the point, though, Menasseh Ben Israel apparently attempted to explain Judaism to the Christians of the world - he was in a good position for that, I guess, having been raised in a family of Anusim. He also made efforts to convince Sweden and Britain to allow Jews to live in them, under the belief that the salvation of the Jewish people will only come once they reach the farthest corners of the Earth. He had limited success with Sweden - a small Jewish community was founded there during 1680s, but was later expelled. He didn't live to see that, though, or the eventual success of his efforts in Britain, because he died at 1657 while trying to bring his son's body to burial in Amsterdam.

To be fair, it took about a century more for Sweden to truly allow Jews in again, but Menasseh Ben Israel is, in some ways, the man who caused those two countries to accept Jews. Incidentally, if you follow Lyra's journey, most of the time she's in her own world is in one of those countries. Plus a portion in Greenland (Svalbard and Lord Asriel's hut, possibly the Station as well) and some time in India (I think? I'm pretty sure it was a mountain range in Southeast Asia in the book. In the series it was a somewhat forsaken island, IIRC). Though, considering she was unconcious for most of her time in that last place I'm not sure it counts.

Well, I just checked and it turns out there were Jews in Denmark earlier than in Sweden - it's not clear if there were Jews there during the Middle Ages, but Jews were allowed there in 1622, when Menasseh Ben Israel was about 18. So maybe I exaggarated his influence a bit. I'm not sure what bearing it has on Greenland, though. Anyway, attempting to avoid uncomfortable topics: with changes in how the church functions, a lot of stuff in Europe will change. I've said so in the other line of reblogs already, but I don't know if the Magisterium will start by giving the Inquisition more authority or close it entirely. We know that by Lyra's time the Inquisition isn't active anymore, but the hints that it was active in the past might indicate it survived Calvin's reforms to the Catholic church. So, in short, the Ben Israel family might have nowhere to go in fear of the Inquisition. It can affect Menasseh's life in a myriad of ways - he may have went to live in America, for example - and many of them can lead to no one raising to Cromwell, or whoever else might be controlling Brytain at the time, the topic of allowing Jewish return to it.

Without the Jewsade (assuming I'm dissuaded from it. I'm not yet - still attempting to work on a fanfic, which doesn't mean much considering it has been less than a week), the results of simply not having such an important figure will mostly just be no Jews in Sweden or Brytain. For the same reason Menasseh Ben Israel doesn't fulfill his function in our timeline, it may be that there won't be Jews in Denmark and Norway either. It might be that there would be mass emigration of Ashkenazi Jews to North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, or America due to expulsions. Alternatively, there will be much more Anusim.

What you may have noticed by now in this attempt at historical research and alternative history is the prominence of Portugese Anusim and Expelled people. Or you might have chucked it to the "two is a coincidence" bin. I'm not sure what to think of that myself, as I'm usually more focused on the Spanish Expulsion as a significant event for Judaism in that era. The Portugese one usually comes as an afterthought. I do think it points out to a significant fact: the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula were very well educated and strongly affected every community they got to. There were Jews in Italy prior to the Banished Sepharadim, but instead of joining those local congregations - the Sepharadim started their own. In North African and Middle Eastern Congregations they're considered to have had a significant effect on practices.

If you're wondering what I'm getting at, you should know I myself don't know. Maybe that instead of talking about some French theologian I have to focus on Spain and Portugal when talking about the History of Judaism at the beginning of the Modern Era? Also, a lot of religious development in Judaism at the time occured in the Ottoman Empire, where Rabbi Joseph Karow wrote the Beit Yosef and Shulchan Aruch. One religious and political shift in Christianity isn't enough to change that. The Jewsade possibly has the largest effect because it's shaped by European politics and will change the state of affairs for Jews in the Ottoman Empire. Other than that, though, it's just a question of more oppression or less oppression.

And I'm starting to ramble. Main takeaways:

a. Shifts in the timeline might result in Jews not only being kept out of Brytain and Sweden for the forseeable future, but also migrating from Christian countries to Muslim ones or to the newly-sprouted coloniess.

b. Most everything related to that is shaped by the Spanish and Portugese Expulsions, forced conversions and Inquisition. Considering the possibility of those expanding all over Europe, I'm not sure what role Spaniard and Portugese Jews might play. They had a significant role at this period already, to be honest, but they might even have an even bigger one here, if very different.

c. Honestly, I'm not very good at this historical research thing. I love reading lore details about alternate histories and such, and feel that Judaism is usually ignored in the grand scale of things in most works about that (excepting WW2 related works, which is something of a tired trope to my understanding), but I don't see myself as the right person to change that. I just decided to drop History as a topic for my BA, and got a barely decent grade in the only class o the topic I took this year. I'm fascinated by history, but some things in its study are slightly boring me. In short, I really want someone else to take this from me. That might be why I just wanted to see the post by the Tea Detective instead of doing all this work: I knew, if subconciously, that I don't have the willpower to do it well. So please, if anyone reading this is as interested as I am in the topic and actually knows how to do historical research, please help.

Huh. Glad to have this off my chest, but not sure I expected it.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading that and found it interesting. Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

All right. So, first: if you are either Jewish, like His Dark Materials, or both, please reblog. If you aren't any of those but know someone who is - please share it with them. I want to get as many thoughts on this as possible.

In essence, I just want to ask two simple questions. I have the beginnings of answers for myself, but Judaism is nothing if not full of discourse and many opinions on one topic. So, again: reblog. Share your thoughts and opinions. Hopefully, it will give us a wide variety of possibilities and answers.

The two questions are: where are Jews in Lyra's world? And what are the theological and Halachic concequences of having dæmons?

I intend to share my opinions in two separate reblogs, but please share your thoughts even if you don't see mine. The short version is that I looked about events in Jewish history around John Calvin's time for the first question (pope John Calvin being the major alternation of history in HDM). As for the second question - I have some thoughts relating to the Chabad thought stream. Elaborations, again, going in reblogs.

Thank you in advance!

(PS, question number 1 was handled once by the sadly deactivvated user the Tea Detective, though their full post disappeared. Link to a reblogging of the first half: here. Note, another reblog mentions other religions - feel free to discuss them, I'm focusing on Judaism because I'm Jewish. Another post asking this question was posted here, so have fun with it. Meanwhile, this post is about dæmons and religions in general and lightly touches Judaism.)

[hyperpotamianarch]

Well, since this post got a bit less traction so far (as much as it means anything, which, I'll be fair, it doesn't), I have decided to update it a bit! The most important part, right now, is Eastern Europe. Apparently, there has been an explosion in Jewish population there around that era in our world, so it might do well to understand why:

Expulsion.

You see, every self respecting European country had, once in its history, banished its Jews. Be it from Britain in 1290, France during the 14th century, various Italian states during the 16th, Spain in 1492 or Portugal in 1497... And I've skimmed over most of it, really. Scandinavian countries can boast to never requiring any such thing, because no Jews were allowed there until the 19th century. And yes, I'm going to keep restating that because I find it genuinely surprising.

Anyway, apparently the 16th century was full of expulsions not only from Italy, as mentioned, but from Germany as well. And right after a bunch of banishments in the 15th century - including, apparently, from Sardinia, Sicilia, Provence and Austria as well as Spain and Portugal. Those expulsions, in turn, followed the Black Death and the pogroms stemming from the antisemitic theory that Jews brought it about. So, basically, Western Europe wasn't very nice to Jews at the time.

The Polish kings, however, took a liking to the economical boost Jews regularly offered, and were more than willing to accept them - which eventually led to Eastern Europe becoming the largest center of Judaism until WWII.

Now, I'll be honest: there was one actually effective Jewish Expulsion - the one from Britain. The rest didn't really cleanse Jews from their lands, though the Spanish and Portugese Expulsions were very effective in erasing signs of the Jewish religion in their lands. The other expulsions, though, weren't as thourough and there tended to be some Jews left there. That might change with the advent of the Magisterium, though only might.

Another point, before I go on to explain how screwed the world's Jews are in a world where the Jewsade occure: many of the banished Jews from Spain went to the Ottoman Empire. If we do want to be more precise about things, they went just about anywhere: the Netherlands, Italy, France, North Africa... But the Ottoman Empire accepted them especially with open arms, with the Sultan Bayezid the Second proclaiming that Ferdinand and Isabella were foolish to give up their economic superiority on a silver platter to him. For the next couple of centuries, the Ottoman Empire was very warm toward Jews. In addition, they were the ones backing theJewsih pirates in their efforts against Spain.

All right, now we can talk about the Jewsade and why it's so stupid. You see, the Ottoman empire controlled the Holy Land at the time. The very same Ottoman Empire that helped the Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal. And who does David Reubeni turned to for help against them? To the Portugese king, of course!

All right, I can get it. From what I'm given to understand, whoever Reubeni was - he probably came from some Muslim country in the east, perhaps Yemen. He was described as dark skinned, and apparently spoke Arabic in addition to Hebrew. My guess is, the guy knew Muslim opression up close, but watched the Christian one from afar. He may not have realized that the Ottoman Empire was better for Jews than any European power.

It's a good thing he failed gaining their support, then, because otherwise I suspect he'd have caused a disaster. Beyond the mere fact he won't be the one ruling the land even if he conquered it, antagonizing the Ottoman Empire is... not a good idea. Even if he had any semblance of success, he'd have been immediately assaulted by Portugese soldiers claiming he conquered the land for them on one side, and by angry Ottomans on the other. Not to speak of the likelihood of Chales V, the Holy Roman Emperor, deciding he wanted a bite as well. And no matter who got the land in the end, the Jews there and in the rest of the Ottoman Empire are screwed.

Why do I think so? Well, it's easy to understand if we're talking Christians. Portugal wasn't nice to Jews at the time, remember? Emperor Charles V Might be better, but I'm not really sure. The real question, though, is about the Ottoman Empire. And my answer is simple enough. Antagonizing people for belonging to the same nation and religion as the people who attacked you? Where have I heard that one before?

The Sultan himself might actually try to protect his Jews, honestly. He might actually think better of it. The people won't, though. So, the Jewsade would likely be disasterous to all the Jews, involved and uninvolved.

However, the Jewsade isn't a necessary result of the actual alterations Lyra's world has compared to ours. Even without it, though... John Calvin as pope might want to create a unified front behind the Magisterium over the entirety of Western Europe at the very least. He apparently had clear views regarding the involvement of the Church in matters of the state. Him taking over Catholicism and turning it into the Magisterium...

Experts disagree regarding how antisemitic Calvin was. Some say he was the least antisemitic than the other reformators, such as Martin Luther. Others claim he was a little more than that. Either way, he wasn't a huge Judophile. It is plausible, but not certain, that under him most of Europe will carry out expulsions like the ones in Spain and Portugal.

Now, it gets really complicated. Because... remember Poland? With the whole "accepting western Jews with open arms" thing? Yeah, they're Catholics. As a matter of fact, outside of Greece, Ukraine and Russia, most eastern European states were Catholic at the time (not that greece and Ukraine existed, exactly, as independant states, but you get what I mean). I don't know what was their relationship with the pope, but transferring the Papal seat to Geneva will make it ever-so-slightly closer. I'm sure experts on Polish Catholicism could go on in explaining how they would react if told to banish their Jews, but they might comply.

That leaves us with Ukraine/Russia - which were heavily antisemitic, barely giving the Jews the Pale of Settlement to stay at - and the Ottoman Empire.

So, yeah. Ashkenazi Judaism might not be a thing anymore in Lyra's world. Maybe. Also, if it'll go closer to our world, there are still the Ukrainian Revolts to worry about - the Eastern European Jewish commuinity managed to survive them, but not very easily. If you add the Jewsade and assume every other Catholic country (and Protestant ones that were force to get into the fold) expelled its Jews...

Let's just say that even a century after it ended, the Jewsade could still screw Judaism up pretty badly.

There are other options, of course. The Magisterium won't take a firm hold on the entirety of Europe in one year. A lot might be surprisingly similar to our world. However, I think it's possible to say that by Lyra's time - most of the world's Jews live either in central Asia somewhere or in America. It might be a slight exaggaration, though.

All right. So, first: if you are either Jewish, like His Dark Materials, or both, please reblog. If you aren't any of those but know someone who is - please share it with them. I want to get as many thoughts on this as possible.

In essence, I just want to ask two simple questions. I have the beginnings of answers for myself, but Judaism is nothing if not full of discourse and many opinions on one topic. So, again: reblog. Share your thoughts and opinions. Hopefully, it will give us a wide variety of possibilities and answers.

The two questions are: where are Jews in Lyra's world? And what are the theological and Halachic concequences of having dæmons?

I intend to share my opinions in two separate reblogs, but please share your thoughts even if you don't see mine. The short version is that I looked about events in Jewish history around John Calvin's time for the first question (pope John Calvin being the major alternation of history in HDM). As for the second question - I have some thoughts relating to the Chabad thought stream. Elaborations, again, going in reblogs.

Thank you in advance!

(PS, question number 1 was handled once by the sadly deactivvated user the Tea Detective, though their full post disappeared. Link to a reblogging of the first half: here. Note, another reblog mentions other religions - feel free to discuss them, I'm focusing on Judaism because I'm Jewish. Another post asking this question was posted here, so have fun with it. Meanwhile, this post is about dæmons and religions in general and lightly touches Judaism.)

[hyperpotamianarch]

All right, then. Question number 1: Where are Jews in Lyra's world?

Now, you might find this interesting that with a somewhat theocratic Christian Europe - it's not that surprising that Lyra encounters no Jews. Not just due to some assumption that they'll be heavily oppressed and likely subject to genocide - though it's certainly possible - but because during the 16th century (when Lyra's world deviated further from ours), Jews weren't allowed in Britain or Scandinavia, which covers most everywhere Lyra went to. Jews weren't allowed to Scandinavia until the 19th century, and were only allowed back Britain during the 17th century - during the time of Cromwell.

Now, obviously the Magisterium isn't exactly the Catholic church, and we don't know of any possible doctarine changes due to Calvin becoming pope. If anyone who sees this has some ideas - please do tell me. Also, I have no idea how this will affect the Anglican Britain. It's obvious from the books that the Magisterium has a hold there, and I find the lack of mention of the monarchy in the book very interesting, but Henry the 8th predates Calvin by a couple of years. I'm hoestly curious to know what happened on that end.

But, I promised you a review of Jewish historical events of the time. Well, you may not expect this but it's time for... THE SPANISH INQUISITION!!!

Yeah, well. he Jews of Spain were either banished or forced to convert by 1492, and following that - the same happened in Portugal in 1497. Since Calvin was active around the 1530s, it means that the last big historical event for Jews was that. Not very pleasant, really. In other, slightly happier news - with the advent of printing press, books could be more available - and books are essentially the basis of Jewish faith. The Shulchan Aruch, one of the most basic books of Jewish Halacha, was printed at 1565. But yeah, that's a bit later.

Going back to the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula, though - some of the banished became pirates. So, in the case you want to write an adventure story in the 16th-17th centuries, you can definitely have a Spanish-Jewish pirate in it, likely with a vendetta against Spain or Portugal (or both).

On another note, and here we get to what I really wanted to talk about, this was the time two very interesting False Messiahs came to be: David Reubeni and Solomon (Shlomo) Molcho. David Reubeni was a mysterious wanderer, claiming to come from the Israelite kingdom of Khabor - supposedly a kingdom of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Menasseh. He claimed to be descende from King David, though, and that he's the leader of the kingdom military while his brother Joseph is king. He said he was sent by his brother to ask the Christian kings for modern weaponry (such as cannons) and aid in retaking the land of Israel from the Ottoman Empire.

Shlomo Molcho was the son of two Prtugese Anusim - forced converts to Christianity - who converted back to Judaism following Reubeni's visit to the court of king John (João) III of Portugal. He had somewhat different views on how salvation might come to the Jewish people - he thought it would include salvation from Christians as well as Muslims, and considered it to be more spiritual, though predated by a flood in Rome and an Earthquake in Portugal. Both of which apparently occured. Also, he may or may not have been more knowledgeable about Judaism than Reubeni, especially after going to study from Rabbi Joseph Taitazak in Salonica. He considered Reubeni his superior, however.

In our world, they didn't manage to do much. Reubeni didn't get the European military aid he hoped for and likely spent his last days in a German prison, while Molcho was executed for returning to Judaism and was considered a Jewish Martyr - a Jew who died to sanctify G-d's name, choosing death over returning to Christianity.

Now, all of that did happen around the 1430s, somewhat close to the time Calvin would've been elected Pope in Lyra's world. I'm not sure it'll matter much, since Clemens VII liked Molcho and it didn't save him from execution, but it might have some effect. All things considered, the likelihood of Reubeni and Molcho becoming more significant figures in the histiry of Judaism is slim. However, I now have an idea for a fic called "the Jewsade" in which these two lead a Jewish army to retake the holy land (and failing, perhaps resulting in some of the effect of Sabbateanism earlier on), so I might write that.

All that doesn't give us much to work with. We don't know what Calvin and the Magisterium might decide regarding Jews - will they have more or less strict policies than our world's contemporary Catholics? Dependig on that, Judaism in western Europe might either take a huge blow or continue as usual. I'm not sure what will happen in Eastern Europe, and if the Jewsade will come to be... let's just say that the Ottoman empire isn't going to like it, and it's going to have a lasting negative effect. Which is really bad, because many of the Iberian Jews went there after their banishment. So, essentially, the Jewsade likely will do more harm than good. Can't say it's surprising.

Anyway, I think I do have cause to believe that there will be a major Jewish center in Eastern Europe, living in constant peril as it always was. No Jews in Britain or Scandinavia, probably. Depending on whether the Jewsade will actually happen, Judaism might live on in the Ottoman Empire as it did in our timeline, perhaps even flourish - or it might not. Oh, and there should be a Jewish community in the Netherlands, made mostly of Portugese Jews. Italian Jews might have a really hard time - with the Papacy seat moving to Geneva, the Papal State will be likely abolished. Apparently it was anyway in our timeline, but in certain periods it offered relative safety to Jews.

During the long time of Papal unquestioned authority, the Catholic higher-ups sometimes got involved in making sure Jews survive. Occasionally. It might be that with a theocracy that doesn't have a pope, especially with Enlightenment (maybe) not really happening and Emancipation not existing even in people's dreams, Jews will have a much rougher time. No possibility of a State of Israel, I'm afraid (and sure some of you are relieved to hear it) - without emancipation, the thought likely won't cross people's minds.

Those, at least, are my thoughts. What do you think? What will the alterations in history in Lyra's world bring to Jews and Judaism?

All right. So, first: if you are either Jewish, like His Dark Materials, or both, please reblog. If you aren't any of those but know someone who is - please share it with them. I want to get as many thoughts on this as possible.

In essence, I just want to ask two simple questions. I have the beginnings of answers for myself, but Judaism is nothing if not full of discourse and many opinions on one topic. So, again: reblog. Share your thoughts and opinions. Hopefully, it will give us a wide variety of possibilities and answers.

The two questions are: where are Jews in Lyra's world? And what are the theological and Halachic concequences of having dæmons?

I intend to share my opinions in two separate reblogs, but please share your thoughts even if you don't see mine. The short version is that I looked about events in Jewish history around John Calvin's time for the first question (pope John Calvin being the major alternation of history in HDM). As for the second question - I have some thoughts relating to the Chabad thought stream. Elaborations, again, going in reblogs.

Thank you in advance!

(PS, question number 1 was handled once by the sadly deactivvated user the Tea Detective, though their full post disappeared. Link to a reblogging of the first half: here. Note, another reblog mentions other religions - feel free to discuss them, I'm focusing on Judaism because I'm Jewish. Another post asking this question was posted here, so have fun with it. Meanwhile, this post is about dæmons and religions in general and lightly touches Judaism.)