161 Abraham Gross GERONA: A SEPHARDIC CRADLE OF ...

Abraham Gross
Finally, we know that most of the Jews of
the shrinking community of Gerona converted to
Christianity during the 15 th century. Mentioning
this fact in the wake of the recent most important
discovery of the «Gerona Genizah», one could end
up by remarking that this community’s physical
fate has become bound with Spain in more than
one way.
Abraham Gross
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
e-mail: agross@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
SUMMARY
Gerona, a small Catalonian town, was prominent in the religious history of the Jews in Spain. The
second half of the thirteenth century – when figures like Jonah Gerondi and Moses ben Nahman
(Nahmanides) were active there – was of particular importance. Gerona’s location between Provence
and Spain made it a cultural bridge and a blending of the two regions. Gerona, with its Kabbalistic circle,
was a firm anti-rationalist center. The piety characterizing this community continued as late as the end of
the fourteenth century when its leaders died as martyrs in the persecutions of 1391. In contrast to many
other communities, they did not convert to Christianity.
KEY WORDS: Kabbalah, Talmud, Nahmanides, Martyrdom.
166