
950 AD to 970 AD, Psalm 95: Hasdai Ibn Shaprut.
This generation is that of the 950s and 960s.
- Rarely [1] a sovereign will have left to his successor a country so prosperous, so protected from his enemies, as glorious as the one that inherited, on October 15, 961, the mature man who was al-Hakam II al-Mustansir billah ( name which means « he who seeks the victorious help of Allah »).
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- In the 10th century [2], the Cordovan caliph’s court housed a host of poets and scientists who wanted to show their production to their protector and win his favors. It is in this oriental world of great wealth, under the sun of southern Spain, that Hisdai ibn Shaprut evolved. He did for his people what the caliph had done for Spain, he brought him art and knowledge.
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This evolution allows the emergence of a European Judaism:
(extract of the psalm 95 associated to this generation, verses 1 to 3 )
- Come, let us sing praises to the Lord; let us shout to the rock of our salvation.
- Let us greet His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout to Him with songs.
- For the Lord is a great God and a great King over all divine powers.
(extract of the psalm 95 associated to this generation, verses 4 to 6 and first part of verse 7 )
- In Whose hand are the depths of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are His.
- For the sea is His, He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.
- Come, let us prostrate ourselves and bow; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.
- For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the flocks of His hand
Virtually no remnants of Cordova have gone through time, and from the great library almost no books have escaped destruction. The Jews will have to resume their wanderings until they find their way back to the promised land. Even if the Andalusian episode remains in the Jewish collective memory as a climax, it must not fill the following generations with bitterness that will go through less comfortable times.
(extract of the psalm 95 associated to this generation, second part of verse 7 and verses 8 to 11 )
- if you hearken to my voice.
- Do not harden your heart as [in] Meribah, as [on] the day of Massah in the desert.
- When your ancestors tested Me; they tried Me, even though they had seen My work.
- Forty years I quarreled with a generation, and I said, « They are a people of erring hearts and they did not know My ways. »
- For which reason I swore in My wrath, that they would not enter My resting place.
[1] André Clot: « Muslim Spain ». Chapter: « The Caliphate ». (French: « L’Espagne musulmane ». Chapitre : « Le Califat ». (p. 129à 137, extraits) ).
[2] Chaim Potok: « A story of the Jewish people ». Chapter: « Islam: Nightingales in the Sandstorm » (French: « Une histoire du peuple Juif ». Chapitre : « L’Islam : les rossignols dans la tempête de sable » (p. 417-418) ).
[3] Henri Graetz: « HISTORY OF THE JEWS / THIRD PERIOD – DISPERSION ». Second epoch – Science and Jewish poetry at their peak. Chapter 1 – Saadia, Hasdai and their contemporaries (928-970). (French: Henri Graetz : « HISTOIRE DES JUIFS / TROISIÈME PÉRIODE — LA DISPERSION ». Deuxième époque — La science et la poésie juive à leur apogée. Chapitre premier — Saadia, Hasdaï et leurs contemporains (928-970) ).
[4] Antonio Munoz Molina: « Cordoba of the Umayyads ». Chapter: « The Doctor of the Caliph » (French: « Cordoue des Omeyyades ». Chapitre : « Le médecin du Calife » (p. 145-146) ).