Adultery, Intermarriage, and the Theme of Group Destruction in the Eastern Judeo-Spanish Ballad Tradition

Abstract

The ballads, or romansas, sung by the Sephardic Jews of the modern world recall in their themes and structures the medieval Spanish Romancero , or ballad singing tradition a tradition vital in Spain at the time of the Jewish expulsion. Investigations into the meaning of ballad singing amongst the Sephardim today thus inevitably raise the question of the relationship between these descendants of the Spanish Jews and the country from which their ancestors were expelled almost five hundred years ago. The fact that these ballads have been jealously guarded by the Sephardim for so many years seems to indicate a tenacious clinging to the group's historic past and to its Spanish roots. Yet it is difficult to conceive of the Sephardim as harboring great feelings of affection or nostalgia for the land from which they were so cruelly jettisoned. The question thus arises of why they would wish to continually pay homage to Spain in their songs. In analyzing the large corpus of texts perpetuated in Sephardic communities throughout the modern world, it becomes evident that ballad singing does not serve the purpose of keeping alive for the group the Spain of its ancestors, but is rather a symbol of identity abstracted from its historic roots and maintained because it has become a clear and visible sign of the essential character of the Sephardim.1

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