Jews of Spain relationship with Islamic and Arabic Culture Assignment - 1

Jews of Spain relationship with Islamic and Arabic Culture - Assignment Example Ladino was a romantic language that borrowed much from Judeo-Catalan, Hebrew, and Old Castilian. However, Jews in Spain currently uses Spanish as their language. The adoption of the Arabic culture by the Spanish Jewish started in the twelfth century when Almohades seized the southern parts of the Spain. He gave three choices to the Jews in Spain: death, flee or adopt the Arabic culture. Some of the Arabic cultural practices that Spanish Jews adopted include using of the last name. Jews were renowned of using their first name, their fathers’ name, or even their tribal name but with adoption of the Arabic culture, they were compelled to use the last name. The Spanish Jews adopted washing of legs and hands before entering the synagogue just as the Muslims do; they also adopted Arabic tunes for their sacred songs (Attig 832). In addition, the Arabic rule made the Spanish Jews to shift from their native languages such as Hebrews and Aramaic to Arabic language. The loss of the Jewish language led to extinction of the central literary works that was a characteristic of the Jewish culture. Examples of the Jewish literary works are poetry, Torah, Mishnah, liturgy, and Midrash (Corrà © 172). Moreover, the wide spread of the Arabic language resulted into Bible translation into Arabic. Consequently, Jews shifted from their traditional habit of being religious to secular. Furthermore, the Spanish Jews adopted the court system of settling disputes. Additionally, Jews of Spain accepted the Arabic traditions and customs including clothing in their daily routine (Corrà © 172). Jewish of Spain never lost hope of their culture, however, they took advantage of the Islamic rule to revive their culture by collaborating with them. The Spanish Jews struck an agreement with the Islamic rulers so that they could exercise their religion and culture. This agreement came at a cost because they had to a pay a special tax called jizya. Therefore, they enjoyed