Numbering between 10,000 and 15,000, Barcelona’s Jews are not of the same opinion when it comes to Catalan independence.
By RABBI STEPHEN BERKOWITZUpdated: NOVEMBER 21, 2017 22:00Several Jews were among those attending a unity march in Barcelona on October 29, with a sea of Spanish and Catalan flags in the background(photo credit: STEPHEN BERKOWITZ)
NEXT YEAR, Barcelona celebrates the 100th anniversary of the creation of the Comunidad Israelita de Barcelona, the first synagogue established in Spain since 1492.It is a home to a very diverse population of native and foreign-born Jews of Catalan, Spanish, Turkish, Greek, Moroccan, Latin American, Central and Eastern European descent reinforced by the recent arrival of Jews from France, Israel, South America, the former Soviet Union and other parts of Europe.Numbering between 10,000 and 15,000, Barcelona’s Jews are not of the same opinion when it comes to Catalan independence. Moroccan and Argentinian-born Jews are more likely to show an attachment to both Spain and Catalonia and to oppose independence, whereas those in favor tend to be Catalan natives. A third group (of various origins) recently changed its position after the Spanish police attacked and tried to prevent Catalans from voting in the October 1 referendum. They now support independence either as a goal or as a tactic for obtaining from Madrid greater fiscal advantages.Some of the Catalan-born Jews who support the divorce from Spain frequent the two Reform congregations here, Atid (1992) and Bet Shalom (2006). This past Yom Kippur, the “Prayer for our country” at Bet Shalom was not recited in Catalan and not in Spanish. During the break-fast, when local residents began banging on pots and pans demonstrating their support for independence, several members joined them in the patriotic clangor.Historically, the Jewish people have been wary and fearful of European nationalist movements led by xenophobic and virulently antisemitic politicians. Catalan nationalism, however, is of a completely different nature.First of all, the independence movement has not expressed any public animus toward the Jewish community, although the anti- Zionist stance of the far-left nationalist Candidatura d’Unitat Popular (CUP) makes many Jews uneasy.Secondly, the Catalans have historically shown sympathy toward the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Herzl wrote “Der Judenstaat” (1896) four years after Catalan nationalist ideologues penned their first platform “Bases de Manresa” (1892). And, in the 1920s and 1930s, Catalan politicians and intellectuals openly expressed their solidarity with the Jewish people and support for a Jewish national home.Thirdly, the Catalans welcomed thousands of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism and were heartened by the presence of hundreds of international Jewish volunteers (most notably the Naftali Botwin Company) who courageously joined with them in the fight against Franco.Today, Barcelona is undergoing a Jewish cultural revival. A few years ago, the first Jewish intellectual journal Mozaika was created (www.mozaika.es). In 2016, the first Jewish Book Fair was organized, and this fall a new Jewish cultural center is expected to open in the historical Call (the Medieval Jewish neighborhood of Barcelona).The Catalan capital is also an Israel-friendly city with red double-decker tour buses covered with flags of many nations including that of Israel. Thousands of Israeli tourists visit annually, in some cases just to see a match of la Barça.On October 27, the Generalitat declared independence. Soon after, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dissolved the Catalan parliament, dismissed the Catalan government and announced regional elections for Catalonia on December 21.Unfortunately, there has been collateral damage. Fissures have appeared in Catalan society as suspicion and resentment have increased because of the confrontation between Madrid and Barcelona.In the eyes of some Catalans, those who did not openly embrace the cause of independence are no longer considered true Catalans.Conversely, those who supported independence are criticized by others for having placed the economic region in jeopardy.A month ago, a French Jewish pupil born in Catalonia was asked by a classmate at his junior high school to state his position on independence. He replied, “Viva Catalonia! Viva España!” The classmate became angry and shouted, “You immigrant piece of ____. Go back to France!!”At Friday night services in Bet Shalom, the ark was opened, and this time the “Prayer for our country” was recited mostly in Spanish and the last part in Catalan. The president, Jai Anguita, expressed the hope that reason and mutual respect will prevail and that a peaceful resolution will be found. The congregants then wished one another “Shabbat shalom” and “ánimo,” cheer up!Ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1986, Rabbi Stephen Berkowitz has served Conservative and Reform congregations in the US, France and Belgium. Since 2015, he is the spiritual leader of two Reform communities in Barcelona and Madrid. In January 2016, on the occasion of the commemoration of the Holocaust, he became the first American rabbi to address the Catalan Parliament. (see https://vimeo.com/154030540)
