Jewish Tour--Jewish Barcelona

My experience in Spain hails back to age 10, when I visited my step-mother’s family for the first time in Madrid, back in the early 80’s.

Her family’s last name translates as ‘pig,’ so while her family today is Catholic, it wouldn’t be surprising to trace her heritage back to Converso, or converted Jews, as ‘pig’ would be just the kind of name a Converso would be blessed with.

I was plunged into the world of Catholic Spain on my first visit there as we attended two of my cousins’ First Communion ceremony.

I don’t believe I’d ever been to a First Communion ceremony, and reflecting on it now, it was one of my only experiences at Catholic Mass.

When the priest called the congregation forward to take communion, I sensed it was going to get awkward ‘real quick,’ when my father, my step-ma, and I (my sister was not even a year old) would be the only 3 in the entire church not to step forward to partake.

My father saw me looking his way for instruction and shook his head ‘nope,’ to decisively convey: ‘We’ll be staying put for this part.’

Ok, so let it be awkward.

I was a little Jewish girl in Spain who could feel grateful for the option to decline communion graciously.

And later in the service when it came time to kneel, so, a little private Shema from the kneeling position never hurt anyone…

What I didn’t realize then was that I had ‘come a long way baby’ in the face of Spanish Jewish history-- private Jewish prayer in a cathedral at Spanish mass but with a ‘no thanks’ on communion… And let us all say, AMEN!


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