Synopses & Reviews
On August 3, 1492, the same day that Columbus set sail from Spain, the long and glorious history of that nations Jewish community officially came to a close. The expulsion of Europes last major Jewish community ended more than a thousand years of unparalleled prosperity, cultural vitality and intellectual productivity. Yet, the crisis of 1492 also gave rise to a dynamic and resilient diaspora society spanning East and West. After Expulsion traces the various paths of migration and resettlement of Sephardic Jews and Conversos over the course of the tumultuous sixteenth century. Pivotally, the volume argues that the exiles did not become “Sephardic Jews” overnight. Only in the second and third generation did these disparate groups coalesce and adopt a “Sephardic Jewish” identity. After Expulsion presents a new and fascinating portrait of Jewish society in transition from the medieval to the early modern period, a portrait that challenges many longstanding assumptions about the differences between Europe and the Middle East.
Review
"After Expulsion charters the (literally and metaphorically) troubled waters of the sixteenth-century Mediterranean with deftness and elegance. It takes us on a journey from Seville to Fez, Salonica and Venice. It fills a notable gap in the literature by offering a synthetic and yet thought-provoking narrative of the most complex period in the early modern history of the Sephardic diaspora."-Francesca Trivellato,Frederic W. Hilles Professor of History, Yale University
Review
“Rays exciting volume contains a wealth of original insights on the subtle and complex process that transformed the Jewish outcasts of Spain of 1492 into a new society that would become known as the Sephardic diaspora. Based upon a careful reading of a wide variety of Spanish and Hebrew primary and secondary sources, Ray provides a new and rich understanding of the crucial sixteenth century in Jewish history. His refreshing historical analysis provides fruitful and novel interpretations of Sephardic and early modern Jewish history.”-Jane S. Gerber,Professor of History and Director, Institute for Sephardic Studies, City University of New York
Review
"This valuable and readable scholarly work will attract academics"-CHOICE,
Review
"After Expulsion is a rich and compelling history" -Jewish Currents,
Review
"After Expulsion is a rich and compelling history...With its intense focus on one century, Ray's book makes a distant time and trauma painfully vivid and immediate to the reader." -Jane Mushabac,Jewish Currents Magazine
Review
"It should serve as useful supplementary reading for undergraduates and a lucid general survey for lay readers."-Norman Roth,Renaissance Quarterly
Synopsis
Honorable Mention for the 2014 Jordan Schnitzer book award in Medieval and Early Modern Jewish History presented by the Association for Jewish Studies
On August 3, 1492, the same day that Columbus set sail from Spain, the long and glorious history of that nation s Jewish community officially came to a close. The expulsion of Europe s last major Jewish community ended more than a thousand years of unparalleled prosperity, cultural vitality and intellectual productivity. Yet, the crisis of 1492 also gave rise to a dynamic and resilient diaspora society spanning East and West.
After Expulsion traces the various paths of migration and resettlement of Sephardic Jews and Conversos over the course of the tumultuous sixteenth century. Pivotally, the volume argues that the exiles did not become Sephardic Jews overnight. Only in the second and third generation did these disparate groups coalesce and adopt a Sephardic Jewish identity.
After Expulsion presents a new and fascinating portrait of Jewish society in transition from the medieval to the early modern period, a portrait that challenges many longstanding assumptions about the differences between Europe and the Middle East. "
About the Author
Jonathan Ray is the Samuel Eig Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at Georgetown University.