Exploring Jewish History: Kollel Frystak Trip to Portugal, Spain & Gibraltar

I'm very excited to share with you our upcoming nia, our journey through the Spain, Portugal, and Gibralta where we're going to be exploring and learning about the rishim and aim that went through the Spanish Inquisition and the rebirth of the Amisurl, Gibralta, and other nations. and I welcome you to come join us at this sometimes painful but memorial journey >> by the Inquisition when they wanted to forcibly convert the Jews in Spain. Uh the Pak out there was much more in favor of of converting um and secretly living as a Jew as is famously known. We know the the word morirano. Um but uh morirano actually was a derogatory term. It means pig. >> Put you here. >> So rather >> and we have our >> guys that are joining us that showed out before >> and this is okay. Let's go now. we could start >> Christian and in their secret of their homes uh they they they held on to different and hug him and things um and that was all happening here um in in this Jewish court you know hundreds of years ago it was in these windows you know that's where secretly shabas candles were being lit in clay pots hidden inside of cabinets and basement um >> as well a tradition ition that we've done. >> We are in now Rosario Square. This is Portuguese executions and Inquisition I think. Rosio Rosia Rosia Square and we're going to see very soon um our tour guide Dove and Mattel going to give us the story on what this all about. We are now in Madrid. We're in Puerto Dal. This is the center of the whole Madrid. If you look around, we'll look around. All the streets go from there. This is they call ground >> kome zero. This is kilometer zero. And this is where >> zero right there. Thank you. >> Right. That's the zero. This is where unfortunately Spain took all the yidden and they said leave, go. All the roads lead out of Madrid and out of Spain and they kicked everybody out and we're back over here. We're saying the world, look, we came back. We want let's we're going to all buy apartments over here and uh we're going to establish a yeshiva that's going to be a mikvah and uh and we're we're we're here until until Msiah comes. But uh this is where we are and uh in mitem we're going to take everybody out and all the roads are going to lead to Jerusale. >> Amen. >> We're in exactly what we're going to talk about. We're in Maaga um the city of Maaga in southern Spain. I just want to tell you a little um so this is what kind of church is it? This is a church. >> This is the Malaga Cathedral. >> Malaga Cathedral. So just a different before I I give it over to David is that there is a that you are not allowed to um use a church as a um guiding point to say here go to the church make a when you see the church make a left you're not allowed to do that however you um and another thing by the way somebody just asked me David asked me are you allowed to say how beautiful it is and the answer was absolutely not. That's one of our you can't look at a church and say, "Wow, how how no it is, how beautiful it is." The reason why we picked this for the historical significance to show um what how anti-semitism, what could happen to the Jewish world and to give assuming that that's that's allowed. I want to turn this over to um to our uh tour tour guide. tell us a little bit about this David. >> All right. So, a little bit of history on Maago is that from the 8th to 11th centuries under Muslim rule uh the Yidden mainly resided in Zidaria, the Jewish quarter which was near the front of the Alakazaba fortress which is a little bit over from here. um they participated in trade uh government as well and uh at the height in the 11th century uh the Jewish uh population the Jewish community was about 200 in the city of about in of about 20,000 so uh sounded sounds small but >> 01%. >> Is that what it is? Yeah, I think so.1 or2 >> but we'll but we'll see in uh we'll see in a minute that that that small number had a had a large effect. Basically the siege of Malaga took place in 1487 uh when Catholic monarchs captured the city and basically what they did was they took all of the Jewish families roughly about 100 families and they took them as prisoners and then sold them as slaves. So Magoa was Jewish community was done for traded them off as slaves sold them off as slaves and you think that that was the end of them. However, word sped word spread throughout Spain and a raven called Zelaz Spain Spain Jews were not doing well uh altogether but they banded together. They heard about their brethren in Maaga. They banded together and raised a tremendous amount of money in order to to pay the different people uh that they were sold to to pay a very they paid a very very handsome ransom uh to free them and they actually succeeded in this. Uh unfortunately that their freedom uh were free. It did not last too long because five years later is when the Alahham decree of 1492 took place in which all the Jews were expelled or forced forcibly converted um around Spain and ending which ultimately ended the the uh centuries of Jewish life in Maaga and throughout Spain. Now why is this area here uh significant? because it was here that um this cathed this cathedral was built after the siege of Maaga in 1487 and that was basically the stamp of of the end. This was the Jewish community here. Cathedrals didn't exist here but they got rid of us. They they they took us out and the stamp of of the end of Judaism here was this cathedral uh to to prove that this new era would begin. Ultimately, we know we've become them where they are. We're back. >> We're here. We're back. We're back. Better than ever. Thank you so much. >> Very special gift that everybody's getting is by going to Jibralta. It's worth traveling the whole world and spending a million dollars to get to Jibralta just for this. The thing that the never got to come the would have loved to have this one opportunity and that is there's one place in the whole world that you can make a braha and that's in Jialto. There's a special braha that's called uh and we're gonna make that bra that was not able to make the bra and stifler and and even and that is the reason why we can't make the is what is the yamagod is it the Mediterranean or the Atlantic. So we since we didn't know the you can't make it and say you could only make of it's a beautiful thing that you can make any big ocean of water but since you can't you don't know what it is you can't make a bra there's one place in the world on the rock of Jibralta overlooking the straight of Jibralta where both yam the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean come together where you're allowed to make the braha and I've heard this many people but I wasn't sure I asked my father who wrote many many onus and I confirmed it and I thought for sure he said nah it's a suffic it's not sure and he confirmed that yes when they come together you seeing make sure you see both of them we're up on the rock we're going to make the braha which were not able to make that braha so it's a tremendous opportunity there's another that we're going to make there. And it's also the only bra, not in the world, but in Europe. One of the special things about Jibralta in the whole of Europe that doesn't have in this little tiny place is monkeys. Very cute monkeys, by the way. Aggressive monkeys. And they will steal your yarmaka. They like yamaka. So, hold on to your yamaka. Don't bring in They'll tell you about it. Don't bring in the breads and the uh extra sandwiches. They will go crazy over that. They'll actually open up. Here we are. We just walked across the border from Spain. Buses can't go in unless there's special permits. They drop you off. And we're going from Spain to Gibralta. Where we're going. Um the way many Jews have come in the past, they have crossed this to escape the uh tyrantry of Spain. The Inquisitions later on Jibralta let them in. And besides for that, it's an amazing Haflabra. That mountain is a mountain made of rock. a flabber that's natural from my subbracious that the solid the whole mountain is all one piece of rock. So um enjoy it. Now we're on an airfield right now. The way into the country is we have to cross this airfield. They close it down, make sure no planes come and um that is a strip where planes land. and we're crossing it. Here's some of the some of the uh >> air strip is this way. The runway is that way and then that way. We're right in the middle. Uh obviously when a plane lands and take off, we have to clear it and not be here. So, um here is we're finally here. Here is we're in Jibralta, the place uh at the at the rock the rock of Jibralta. Here is the place where we're going to go up a little further, but right now you could see the two the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coming together. The only place in the world, this is the straits of Jibralta. >> Morocco is right there. >> That's Morocco. >> That's Morocco, right? >> That's Portugal, right? >> And that's Spain. >> So, um, just an interesting measure. By the way, we're we're talking about the water. The med says that the water, you see waves. You ever wondered why there's waves? Ever wonder why there's waves? It's uh the reason there's waves, the measure says, is that the water, the s of the water wants to take over the world. So, it's crashing in to because it wants more territory and it wants to make the whole world, it's true, make the whole world water and Hashem stops it. So, it comes and stop gets pulled back. The Hashem doesn't let them. we we uh he wants us to live all the all of mankind together and he stops it so that that's why the waves coming. So here we could see this say that if you look closely you could see the Atlantic which is a little bit more rough coming to the here looks very calm but if you go out there you supposedly you could see that it uh stops at one place. So we are za to make this braha. The bra is let me just make sure that it's the correct one. We're going to all make the sha mus and uh have in mind that should continue to protect us to stop us to watch us and uh to continue to make great things and to allow us the enjoyment and the wonder to see and to experience it. Hey, >> that's pretty wild. >> That's pretty wild. >> Imagine imagine that the would have given to be able to make that braha that we were able to make. So, thank you for allowing us to be here and to be able to uh come. I think we need to make it. saw that we saw. made a good