In Toledo, 500 years ago my great, great, great,
Great, great grandmother Regina,
Fleeing the Inquisition's torture wheels
Poured her Spanish tears into heart of velvet black veil
And sailed over the crimson waves with thousands of sisters
And brothers to Izmir, to Izmir
She had to leave behind her beloved illuminating poems,
Her ancient Bible and painted Haggada, her father's illustrious
Scientific parchments – her whole Spanish Golden Age
Floating on Golden Fleece as she sailed with the stars
On purple waves to Izmir, to Izmir
The bird stopped flying –« El Pasharo vola »
The heart stopped crying – « El Koarasson yora »
As it preened its traumatic feathers
And nestled cosily on quaint warm roofs
In the new Turkish mosaic haven lavished by filigree hospitality
Sheltering a new hope in Regina's amber eyes
On the azure, silvery shores of Izmir, of Izmir
Suddenly Regina's beautiful, noble figure
Stands majestically before me
Whispering a Ladino message:
« What we should be celebrating today
is the saving of a quarter of a million of our brothers
and sisters
500 years ago by brave Turkey,
and not their cruel expulsion by Spain… »
I listen closely then nod vivaciously.
Now Regina smiles and flies straight
To the wide open gates of Izmir, of Izmir
On the way to upper Jerusalem's peaceful
Golden Gates.
Prof. Ada Aharoni