CHAPTER 18 WINE AND TAVERNS – JOY AND CONVIVIALITY

CHAPTER 18 WINE AND TAVERNS – JOY AND CONVIVIALITY Series: Medieval Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza Narrator: Ibn Gabirol Direction and Production: Javier Bona López SUMMARY In this chapter, Ibn Gabirol invites us to descend into the underground cellars of the Jewish quarter of Zaragoza and to sit in the taverns where life was shared cup by cup. Wine, that "liquid poetry," was not just a drink: it was memory, sanctification, and community. From the vineyards of the Ebro to the cilleros excavated underground, we will discover how kosher wine was produced following strict regulations: the exclusivity of Jewish personnel, the purification of equipment with boiling water, the prohibition of animal additives. We will learn about mevushal wine, the cooked wine that allowed coexistence with Christians without losing its ritual purity. Through the documents of the notary Antón Maurán (1462-1466), we will explore the wine sisa system, that tax that financed community life. And we will enter the taverns, where Samuel the storyteller narrated stories of Baghdad, where Jafudá lost his money at dice against Azarías, and where Moshé the innkeeper kept the peace with a firm hand. Wine sanctified Shabbat with the Kiddush, celebrated weddings with the Sheva Brachot, and marked the journey from slavery to freedom in the four cups of the Passover Seder. But after 1492, that same wine became a dangerous secret for the conversos watched by the Inquisition. An episode full of aromas of ripe grapes and fermenting must, of purple and golden colors, of sounds of splashing in the wine presses and clinking of cups. A story of joy, coexistence, and resistance. Direction and Production: Javier Bona López If you have enjoyed this journey to the heart of our aljama, I invite you to share it. You can listen to other chapters and series about the medieval Jewish quarters of Aragon on the main podcasting platforms, such as those about Calatayud, Tarazona, and Híjar. Zakhor. Remember. Shalom. CREDITS AND SOURCES Narrator: Ibn Gabirol (Shelomó ibn Gabirol, 1021-1058/70) Direction and Production: Javier Bona López Documentation and Advice: Miguel Ángel Motis Dolader (San Jorge University of Zaragoza) If you have enjoyed this journey to the heart of our aljama, I invite you to share it. You can listen to other chapters and series about the medieval Jewish quarters of Aragon on the main podcasting platforms, such as those about Calatayud, Tarazona, and Híjar. Zakhor. Remember. Shalom. Main Bibliography: [1] Blasco Martínez, Asunción. La Judería de Zaragoza en el siglo XIV. Institución Fernando el Católico (IFC), 1988. [2] Grinval, Zeev. Las Puertas de la Ley. Buenos Aires, 2006. [3] Blasco Orellana, Meritxell; Lleal Galcerán, Coloma; Magdalena Nom de Déu, José Ramón; Motis Dolader, Miguel Ángel. Capítulos de la sisa del vino de la aljama judía de Zaragoza (1462-1466). Institución «Fernando el Católico», 2010. [4] García-Arnal, María-Elisa. "Los judíos de Aragón y los juegos de azar". Aragón en la Edad Media, Nº 10-11, 1993, pp. 335-352. [5] Motis Dolader, Miguel Ángel. "Régimen fiscal de las comunidades judías de Aragón en la Baja Edad Media: la aljama de Huesca en el siglo XIV". In Homenaje a Alfonso García Gallo, tomo II, vol. 1, 1995, pp. 322-333. [6] Motis Dolader, Miguel Ángel. La Inquisición de Aragón y sus relaciones con la comunidad judeoconversa de Zaragoza en el siglo XV. Institución Fernando el Católico (IFC). Other documents consulted: • Canellas López, Ángel. La Judería Zaragozana. Cuadernos de Zaragoza, nº 2, 1974. • Pérez, Joseph. Los judíos en España. Marcial Pons Historia, 2005. • Sanagustín Palomar, Jesús Óscar. Comunidades, oficios y élites judías aragonesas a comienzos de la Baja Edad Media. Master's Thesis, University of Zaragoza, 2022. • Blasco Martínez, Asunción. Instituciones y vida de la aljama judía de Huesca: (siglos XIV-XV). Institución Fernando el Católico (IFC), 1999. Series: Medieval Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza © Direction y Production: Javier Bona López