
750 AD to 770 AD, Psalm 85: New World.
This generation is that of the 750 and the 760s.
- Great merchants [1], carried by the wave of migration that the Roman legions bring to the western shores of the Mediterranean: such are the Jews of Gaul. […]
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- The Jews [2] resume, under the authority of the Carolingian kings, a much more advantageous place. They know, the Jewish merchants, to be discreet, to resettle in the place without ostentation, with great obstinacy, with that perseverance which is one of their first virtues. They also know, and this is one of the secrets also of their strength, to be useful. Their commercial relations are marvelous: they have « antennas » everywhere, « correspondents » to the far reaches of the East and are thus able to bring to the Christian West precious products that amaze and serve. Already, on the land of Gaul conquered by Christianity, some of them build fortunes. Charlemagne and Louis le Débonnaire (« debonair »), who have valued the presence of the Jews in France, take them under their protection.
Fleeing further and further west, Abdar Rahman first tried unsuccessfully to impose his authority on his maternal tribe (in Sabra, Morocco today).
- The [3] most dangerous rivals Abdar Rahman eliminated, the Umayyad dynasty was thus restored to the other end of the Mediterranean, just six years after being almost destroyed in Damascus. It will rule al-Andalus for nearly three centuries.
This new Islamic dynasty on the sidelines of the official Abbasid dynasty, struggling to cope with minorities in order to survive, becomes a fertile ground for the development of Jewish communities:
- In the middle [4] of the eighth century, following a coup, the Umayyad caliph of Damascus was dethroned, and the caliphate was transferred to Baghdad. Abd al-Rahman, the only survivor of the royal family, fled to Spain and reestablished the reign of the dynasty in Cordoba in 756, at the head of which he remained until 788. He and his successors strengthen the army and the bureaucracy to stem tensions in a widely divided country, and want to recreate on the spot the splendor of Baghdad under Abbasid rule, his art of living, his culture and his craft. Jewish prosperity
began at that time to reach its peak in the 10th and 11th centuries. Independent of the Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad and more tolerant towards non-Muslims, the Umayyad regime strongly encourages it.
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(extract of the psalm 85 associated to this generation, verses 1 and 2 )
- For the conductor, a song of the sons of Korah.
- O Lord, You have appeased Your land; You have returned the Captivity of Jacob.
(extract of the psalm 85 associated to this generation, verses 3 and 4 )
- You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have concealed all their sin forever.
- You have taken in all Your wrath; You have retreated from the fierceness of Your anger.
- His envoys [5] (of Abd Al Rahman) made the trip from Syria to bring back to him trees that did not grow in Al Andalus, palm trees and pomegranates that he had planted in Al Rusafa and in the gardens of the new Alcazar , built on the grounds of the Palace of Governors, on the edge of the Guadalquivir. When today we look over the roofline of Cordoba, the top of a palm tree and its regimes of orange dates, we see a landscape invented a thousand and two hundred years ago by the will and nostalgia of a man.
- For [6] the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land with brooks of water, fountains and depths, that emerge in valleys and mountains,
- a land of wheat and barley, vines and figs and pomegranates, a land of oil producing olives and honey,
- a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, you will lack nothing in it, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains you will hew copper.
- And you will eat and be sated, and you shall bless the Lord, your God, for the good land He has given you.
- Your threshing [7] will last until the vintage, and the vintage will last until the sowing; you will eat your food to satiety, and you will live in security in your (– possessive not used in the similar passage of Deuteronomy -) land.
- And I will grant peace in the Land, and you will lie down with no one to frighten [you]; I will remove wild beasts from the Land, and no army will pass through your (- again -) land;
- And I will place My dwelling in your midst ( – no equivalent in the corresponding passage of Deuteronomy – ) , and My Spirit will not reject you;
- I will walk among you (- again -) and be your God, and you will be My people.
(extract of the psalm 85 associated to this generation, verses 5 to 14)
- Return us, O God of our salvation and revoke Your anger with us.
- Will You be wroth with us forever? Will You extend Your anger to generation after generation?
- This questioning of the psalmist marks the rejection of the state of grace which is only temporary in favor of a true peace.
- Will You not return and revive us so that Your people will rejoice with You?
- Show us, O Lord, Your kindness, and Your salvation You shall give to us.
- I shall hear what God will speak when He speaks peace to His people and to His pious men, and they will not return to folly.
- Truly, His salvation is near those who fear Him, so that His glory dwell in our land.
- This ultimate peace can only be achieved through the long journey of the people of Israel into the nations, which will lead to its redemption on earth.
- Kindness and truth have met; righteousness and peace have kissed.
- Truth will sprout from the earth, and righteousness will look down from heaven.
- God too will give good, and our land will give its produce.
- Righteousness will go before him, and He will place it on the way of his steps.
[1] Philippe Bourdrel: « History of the Jews of France » Chapter: The tolerance of origins. (French: « Histoire des Juifs de France » Chapitre : La tolérance des origines. (p.13/14) ).
[2] Philippe Bourdrel: « History of the Jews of France » Chapter: The tolerance of origins. (French: « Histoire des Juifs de France » Chapitre : La tolérance des origines. (p. 22/23) ).
[3] André Clot: « Muslim Spain ». Chapter: « The long wandering of Abdar Rahman the emigrant » (French: « L’Espagne musulmane ». Chapitre : « La longue errance d’Abdar Rahman l’émigré » (p. 44) )
[4] Esther Benbassa and Aron Rodrigue: « History of the Sephardic Jews ». (French: « Histoire des Juifs sépharades ». (p.23/24) )
[5] Antonio Munoz Molina: « Cordoba of the Umayyads ». Chapter: « The Fugitive Prince » (French: « Cordoue des Omeyyades ». Chapitre : « Le prince fugitif » (p. 66) ).
[6] Devarim – Deuteronomy – Chapter 8,verses 7 to 10
[7] Vayikra – Leviticus – Chapter 26, verses 5, 6, 11 and 12