Flames of Freedom

Flames of Freedom is a podcast that tells the incredible story of a Jewish family's journey to Savannah, Georgia, to escape oppression in Europe.

The story opens in 1790 as Zipporah Jacobs, the daughter of Samuel Nunes, feels called to share with her grandson, Benjamin Phillips, the tale of her ancestors as they traversed a world hellbent on eradicating Jews from Spain and Portugal, the forced conversions of her ancestors in 1497 in Lisbon, and her parents’ torture by the Inquisition for the crime of Judaizing.

In today’s episode, we start with part 1 of a 3-part conversation with Dr. Eliezer Papo, senior lecturer of Hebrew Literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be’er Sheva, Israel. He serves as Chairman of the Moshe David Gaon Center for Ladino Culture and is the chief editor of El Prezente – Journal for Sephardic Studies. In this first episode, Dr. Papo unravels the story of the Jews in the period leading up to the expulsion of the Jews in Spain in 1492 and the advent of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, which attempted to suppress Jewish practices even after Jews residing in these countries had been forcibly converted to Catholicism. We hope you find Dr. Papo’s extensive knowledge of the world of Sephardic Jewish culture and Conversos enriching and illuminating.

Beginning with the ruination of Diogo Nunes’s reputation after losing all of his possessions when he and his wife were arrested by the Portuguese Inquisition and tortured in 1703 for Judaizing, we trace the slow rehabilitation of his career culminating in his appointment as the physician to the new Inquisitor General as well as Portugal’s king, a position that Diogo uses to his advantage to assist other Conversos to escape the grip of the Portuguese Inquisition.

Our guest today is Dr. Eliezer Papo, who is senior lecturer of Hebrew Literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be’er Sheva, Israel. He serves as Chairman of the Moshe David Gaon Center for Ladino Culture and is the chief editor of El Prezente – Journal for Sephardic Studies. In the previous segment of our interview with Dr. Papo, we explored several issues related to the world of the Jews of Sefarad, and the many who converted and remained living in Spain and Portugal as Conversos, or as they were referred to at that time, New Christians. We concluded with an exploration of identity and how the Jews of Spain had actually resided there long before Christianity came to the Peninsula, yet the Jews never claimed Spain as their own. In this second part of a three-part interview, Dr. Papo continues to explore the world of Sephardic Jewish culture and Conversos, how Jewish, Spanish, and Portuguese cultures impacted each other, and how Judaism, as practiced by Conversos in secret, was deeply affected by generations of living outwardly as Catholics.

With the family’s rearrest on charges of Judaizing and aiding other Conversos to escape, Diogo confronts the Inquisitor General, who is also his patient. The Inquisitor General is faced with a dilemma—he needs Diogo’s medical care and can’t afford to jail him, but his reputation is also on the line if word gets out that he is being too lenient with apostates. His solution is to place two Inquisition priests in Diogo’s home to keep an eye on his every move. Gracia implores Diogo to find a path forward for this dilemma, even if it means finding a means to escape from Portugal.

Dr. Eliezer Papo is a senior lecturer of Hebrew Literature at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be’er Sheva, Israel. He serves as Chairman of the Moshe David Gaon Center for Ladino Culture and is the chief editor of El Prezente – Journal for Sephardic Studies. We concluded the last episode by discussing the distinctions between Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish traditions. This highlights an exciting development in our story of Samuel and Rebekah Nunes, formerly known in Portugal as Diogo and Gracia Nunez. We have two noteworthy things that transpired in our story. One is an Ashkenazi family from Prussia has immigrated to England to escape from mandates by the Prussian king who made it very difficult for Jews to earn a living. They came to England and were welcomed into Beavis Marks Synagogue, a Sephardic synagogue, one which traditionally served Spanish and Portuguese Jews. In this REVEALED episode, Dr. Papo speaks about how it was that an Ashkenazi Jew would end up finding refuge in a Sephardic synagogue. He also addresses the complex issues confronted by Conversos, who had great expectations coming to England with dreams of reverting to Judaism but confronted a reality that wasn’t nearly as welcoming as they expected.  

After the family’s daring escape from Lisbon aboard a British frigate, they face a host of unknowns upon their arrival in London. They have fallen from the pinnacle of society to become indigent. Not only are they facing economic ruin, but they must now face the gap between their expectations of what it means to revert to Judaism and leave the strictures of Catholicism behind and the reality of assimilating into a faith that is foreign and filled with its own set of dogmas. 

Dr. Ariel Hessayon is an early modern historian who is a faculty member at Goldsmiths, University of London. Dr. Hessayon discusses the increasing number of pogroms directed against the Jews before their expulsion from England in 1290, traces the history of the Jews in England up to and after their expulsion, and details the events that led to their absence from England for over 350 years.