
1770 AD to 1790 AD, Psalm 135: Mendelssohn.
This generation is that of the years 1770 and 1780.
The psalm of the previous generation, that of the years 1750 and 1760, is the last of a series of fifteen psalms called « Song of Degrees ». The first « canticle of degrees » is Psalm 120 and the last Psalm 134. In fact we have seen that Psalm 119 was a double psalm which is the closing of three series of forty psalms (if we consider Psalm 119 as two half-psalms, each associated with a generation of twenty). Each series of forty psalms corresponding to one of the three periods of forty days of fasting of the Jews in the desert when leaving Egypt following the three major faults of the Jewish people in the desert.
The third fast, as we mentioned in Psalm 119, is the end of the illusion that the Jewish people can exist outside the promised land. This evolution [1] is materialized by in 1453, an action of the Jews implanted in the Land of Israel who send emissaries in diaspora to push their brothers in exile to carry out their aliyah. 1453 marks the hinge between the Middle Ages and modern times.
But this generation is indeed a pivotal generation, which in the line of the Age of Enlightenment, is that of the Declaration of Independence of the United States, the French Revolution and the Edict of Tolerance of Joseph II which are three events that seal the emancipation of the Jewish people. This emancipation, associated with an anti-Semitism that does not disappear, facilitates the return to the promised land which will be the long and difficult result of the next fifteen generations, the last of the night.
This political shift is also the starting point for these new nations of the industrial revolution accompanied by a revolution of ideas, which is the result of the Age of Enlightenment.
Thus [2] the political thoughts of John Locke and Montesquieu influence American insurgents whose belief that America is a sovereign state. The struggle against English power first made economic considerations, such as the Boston Tea Party of 1773, where settlers sank English boats laden with tea, which England wanted to impose on America. The struggle then turns into a war of independence.
- Hallelujah, praise the name of the Lord, praise, you servants of the Lord,
- Who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.
(extract of the psalm 135 associated to this generation, verses 3 and 4 )
- Praise God for the Lord is good; sing to His name because it is pleasant.
- For God chose Jacob for Himself, Israel for His treasure.
Behind the Enlightenment, there is hope for man to control nature definitively.
Thus in 1752, thanks to Benjamin Franklin, one of the co-founders of the declaration of independence of the United States, the first lightning rods are installed in Philadelphia. Isaac Newton had a few generations ago defined the rules of universal gravitation. Previously everything was explained by the divine will, the Enlightenment rationalizes our universe and therefore hopes to master it eventually.
It is then that a new natural event takes place in the previous generation, which upsets the spirits: the earthquake of Lisbon, which shakes a land attached to obscurantism.
- Suddenly [3], , at the court of Portugal, as in the entourage of the Pope, an attempt was made to break the power of the Inquisition. At the head of this opposition was a Jesuit father, Antonio Vieira, very skilful and very fine, who showed a marked predilection to the Jews and Marranos.
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This autodafé produced the desired effect on the Roman curia, because Pope Innocent XI ceased to oppose the functioning of the inquisition tribunals in Portugal. The missed opportunity by Portugal and Spain to join the race of nations towards the Enlightenment is confirmed in the following decades:
At the dawn of the earthquake in Lisbon, a last mass-produced autodafé takes place in Madrid:
- Between 1721 and 1727 [5], the Jew was expelled to Madrid, where, more exactly, the Judaism marran: eight hundred and twenty people were arrested, seventy-five burned. Last mass burn and ultimate sign of weakness more than real political force.
- The earthquake [6] struck on the morning of the Catholic All Saints Day, November 1st. Contemporary sources indicate that three separate shocks occurred over a period of about ten minutes, causing large cracks (up to 5 meters) and devastating the city. The survivors rushed to the open space and assumed that the wharves were there, and witnessed the ebb of the sea, leaving bare seabed littered with wrecks of ships and lost goods. Several tens of minutes after the earthquake, a huge tsunami with waves from 5 to 10 meters in height submerged the port and the city center before reaching the Tagus River. It was followed by two new waves. The areas spared by the tsunami were hit by fires (chimney falls that spread the fire of domestic fires) that raged for five days.
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- The earthquake [7] shook more than cities and buildings. Lisbon was (and remains) the capital of a deeply Catholic country, which was renowned for the faith of its inhabitants and the vigor of evangelization in its colonies. The disaster also came on the day of an essential Catholic holiday and destroyed most of the most important churches. Theology and philosophy of the eighteenth century could hardly explain such a manifestation of divine wrath.
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(extract of the psalm 135 associated to this generation, verses 5 to 7 )
- For I know that God is great, and our Lord is more than all powers.
- All that the Lord wished, He did in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all the depths.
- He raises the clouds from the edge of the earth; He made lightning for the rain; He finds wind [to send] out of His treasuries.
(extract of the psalm 135 associated to this generation, verses 8 and 9 )
- He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, from man to beast.
- He sent signs and wonders in the midst of Egypt, upon Pharaoh and upon all his servants.
(extract of the psalm 135 associated to this generation, verses 10 to 18 )
- He struck down great nations and slew mighty kings.
- Sihon the king of the Amorites and Og the king of the Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
- And He gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to Israel His people.
- O Lord, Your name is eternal; O Lord, Your remembrance is throughout all generations.
- For the Lord will judge His people and relent for His servants.
- The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the handiwork of man.
- They have a mouth but do not speak; they have eyes but do not see.
- They have ears but do not listen; neither is there any breath in their mouth.
- Like them will be those who make them, all who trust in them.
- A truly astonishing [9] and truly unique spectacle is to see an expatriate people having no place or land for nearly two thousand years, a people mixed with foreigners, perhaps no longer having a single offspring of the first. races, a scattered people, dispersed on the earth, enslaved persecuted, despised by all nations, yet retain its
characteristics, its laws, its manners, its patriotic love of the first social union, when all the links seem broken. The Jews give us an amazing spectacle; the laws of Numa, Lycurgus, and Solon are dead; those of Moses, still more ancient, still live. Athens, Sparta, Rome perished and no longer left children on earth; Zion destroyed did not lose his.
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- Those [10] of us who are in a position to converse with Jews are hardly more advanced. The unfortunate people feel at our discretion! The tyranny we exercise towards them makes them fearful! […] In the Sorbonne, it is clear as the day that the predictions of the Messiah relate to Jesus Christ. Among the rabbis of Amsterdam, it is equally clear that they have not the slightest connection. I will never believe that I have heard the reasons of the Jews, that they have a free State, schools, universities where they can speak and play safely. Only then can we know what they have to say.
(extract of the psalm 135 associated to this generation, verses 19 to 21 )
- The house of Israel, bless the Lord; the house of Aaron, bless the Lord.
- The house of the Levites, bless the Lord; those who fear the Lord, bless the Lord.
- Blessed is the Lord from Zion, He Who dwells in Jerusalem. Hallelujah!
[1] According to www.histoiredesjuifs.com, « chronology » section.
[2] From: (led by) Jean Delumeau: « The history of the world from 1492 to 1789 ». Chapter: « The birth of the United States of America ». (French: « L’histoire du monde de 1492 à 1789 ». Chapitre : « La naissance des Etats Unis d’Amérique ». (p. 502 à 507) )
[3] Heinrich Graetz: « History of the Jews, volume 5 ». Chapter: « Clement X and the Marranos of Portugal ». (French: « Histoire des Juifs, volume 5 ». Chapitre : « Clément X et les marranes du Portugal ». (p. 214 à 218) )
[4] (Collective directed by) Henry Méchoulan: « The Jews of Spain, history of a diaspora, 1492-1992 ». Chapter of Anita Novinsky: « Jews and New Christians of Portugal ». (French: « Les Juifs d’Espagne, histoire d’une diaspora, 1492-1992 ». Chapitre « Juifs et nouveaux chrétiens du Portugal ». (p. 91) ).
[5] Riccardo Calimani: « The Jewish Wandering ». (French: « L’Errance juive ». (p. 356) )
[6] Source : www.wikepedia.org
[7] Source : www.wikepedia.org
[8] Devarim – Deuteronomy – Chapter 31, verses 1 to 6.
[9] Léon Poliakov: « History of Antisemitism, 2 – The Age of Science ». Chapter: « The Age of Enlightenment ». (French: « Histoire de l’Antisémitisme, 2 – L’âge de la science ». Chapitre : « Le Siècle des Lumières ». (p. 44) )
[10] Léon Poliakov: « History of Antisemitism, 2 – The Age of Science ». Chapter: « The Age of Enlightenment » (quote from a passage from « L’Émile ou De l’éducation » by Jean-Jacques Rousseau). (French: « Histoire de l’Antisémitisme, 2 – L’âge de la science ». Chapitre : « Le Siècle des Lumières ». (p. 42) (citation d’un passage de «L’Émile ou De l’éducation » de Jean-Jacques Rousseau) )
[11] From: Simon Sebag Montefiore: « Jerusalem: Biography ». Chapter: « Families ». The passage on Potemkin comes from the note on page 373. (French: « Jérusalem : Biographie ». Chapitre : « Les familles ». Le passage sur Potemkine est issu de la note de la page 373. )