"O Primeiro de Janeiro", Portugal's oldest national newspaper
http://www.oprimeirodejaneiro.pt/

"O Primeiro de Janeiro", Portugal's oldest national newspaper reports today (September 24, 2007) on the European Day of Jewish Culture held in Porto on September 2, 2007 and the launch of a new book on Barros Basto by Alexandre Teixeira Mendes. In a two page comprehensive article the reporter quotes Yaacov Gladstone and Dr. Harold Michal-Smith of the the American friends of Marranos announcing the mounting of a petition to rehabilitate captain Barros Basto, rabbi Di Martino on Judaism in Portugal, Jorge Neves on the Jewish community of Porto and Ladina, and Alexandre Teixeira Mendes, author of Barros Basto, the Marrano Mirage.

(see ladina blog for text in Portuguese)

PISSARRO IN NEW YORK, PARIS, BRAGANÇA

CAMILLE PISSARRO FAMILY PLOT, PARIS


MANOEL ANTONIO PISSARRO FAMILY PLOT IN BRAGANÇA MUNICIPAL CEMETERY, PORTUGAL

The Moses Of Impressionism (courtesy of the Jewish Week, N.Y,)

In a long career, Camille Pissarro — one of his artistic movement's only Jews — painted a wide range of landscapes and got caught up in the Dreyfus Affair.

Caroline Lagnado - Special To The Jewish Week Camille Pissarro may have been reluctant to embrace his Jewish background, but his work is no stranger to New York's Jewish Museum. Opening this Sunday, "Camille Pissarro: Impressions of City and Country" is the museum's third exhibit about the 19th-century artist. This multifaceted show is drawn mainly from pieces borrowed from private collections, and is replete with many harvest scenes. Born Jacob Pizarro in 1830 on St. Thomas, Pissarro enjoyed a long and productive career, painting the French countryside in addition to England and the Danish West Indies. A founding member of the Impressionists, a radical group of 19th-century artists that decided to take their easels outside, use visible brushstrokes and embrace scenes of everyday life, Pissarro was one of the only Jews to exhibit with them. Considered the "Father of Impressionism," for sporting a long, flowing white beard, adopting the nickname Moses and being perhaps the most committed Impressionist artist, Pissarro exhibited in and helped coordinate each of the movement's eight shows until the group's dissolution in 1886. Joachim Pissarro, Camille's great-grandson and a preeminent scholar of the artist's work, notes in a catalog from a 1994 exhibit at the Israel Museum that though Pissarro didn't live a particularly Jewish life, he never denied being Jewish. In fact, Pissarro saw his espousal of Impressionism as somewhat ironic, "he himself a Jew, belonging to a millennia-old tradition, was making a total break with all forms of tradition." Pissarro's family, Sephardim originally from Portugal, were Marranos who later became re-involved with Judaism, enough to hold prominent standing in the St. Thomas Jewish community. However, his father Frederic's relationship with the community became strained when Frederic married his uncle's widow, Rachel. This arrangement is permitted in neither Christian nor Jewish law, and children born are considered illegitimate. It wasn't until Pissarro's mother gave birth to their fourth child that the synagogue legitimized the marriage. It is probable that after such an ordeal with the Jewish establishment, Rachel and Frederic raised their children to view religion with a critical eye. Until the Pissarro children were legitimized, they went to school with the children of slaves and were most likely among the only white and non-Christian children there. In choosing to become a painter instead of a businessman, Pissarro rejected his father's life. He moved to Paris to paint in 1855 and later married a non-Jewish servant. Adopting an anarchist ideology, he saw art as the philosophy of his time, despised authoritarianism and raised his children without religion, encouraging them to instead value their independence and autonomy. The France of Pissarro's time was relatively tolerant towards its sizable and mostly Ashkenazi Jewish population, a community in which the Sephardic Pissarro may have felt uncomfortable. Pissarro did fit in with the Impressionists, and enjoyed his position as an established, successful artist, discussing work with fellow artists like Degas and Cezanne. Associate curator Karen Levitov focuses on Pissarro's use of paths in his art, a natural intersection of nature and civilization. Pissarro's own path or his trajectory as painter of the country to painter of the city is followed throughout the show. As art historian Meyer Schapiro has noted, Pissarro began his career with bucolic scenes, and as he aged, painted streets and crowds, the opposite of his peer, Monet. His earlier works are signed C. Pizarro, the Sephardic spelling of the artist's name. He stopped spelling his name with a "z" in 1859, shortly before the writer Emile Zola took note of Pissarro's art and commended him on a landscape. Pissarro shows himself to be expert at integrating his figures into their backgrounds; it is sometimes hard to distinguish one from the other. In "Kew Gardens, London, The Rhododendron Path," from 1892, the figures shown walking on a path are tiny, almost overtaken completely by Pissarro's depiction of nature using bright and vibrant, sometimes unmixed, colors. In "The Haystack, Sunset, Eragny," from 1895, Pissarro adopts a familiar Impressionist theme. This foreground-heavy picture includes two figures at the left who are so small they seem almost like an afterthought. In her catalog essay, Levitov asserts that Pissarro felt a kinship with the peasantry because of his "marginal status in society as a non-French (Danish) citizen, an anarchist, and a Jew." Though France was one of the first European counties to grant Jews full civil equality around 1791, anti-Semitism was latent in the society, rising to the surface during the Dreyfus Affair, when Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer, was wrongly convicted of treason. While Pissarro and Emile Zola hadn't been in touch because of what Pissarro considered Zola's "critical attitude" towards Impressionism, once Zola published "J'Accuse," an open letter on the front page of L'Aurore newspaper, accusing the French government of mistreating Dreyfus's case, Pissarro immediately wrote a letter of support to Zola. The streets of Paris housed anti-Semitic mobs and Monet and Cassat joined Zola as Dreyfus supporters. Degas, a misanthrope and anti-Semite, blamed France's troubles on the Jews and was joined by Cezanne and Renoir in siding with the government. The artists still admired each other's work even though they couldn't stand each other. Renoir and Degas were said to have shunned Pissarro, who called Degas a "ferocious anti-Semite" in a letter to his son, Lucien. Throughout the Dreyfus Affair, Pissarro tried to remain focused on his work and continued painting prolifically: he produced nearly 50 pieces. By this point he was painting city scenes in addition to rural scenes; he never depicted the anti-Jewish riots. These later pieces, like the ethereal "Place du Theatre Francais and the Avenue de l'Opera, Hazy Weather," of 1898 from the Klapper collection, are often painted with a bird's-eye view from his hotel room high above Paris. They show Pissarro to be keeping "a certain distance while viewing the outside world," commented Levov. Following the success of a blockbuster exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 2005 (which also traveled to Paris and the Los Angeles) and a more recent exhibit in Baltimore last spring, Pissarro's name is well known. The Jewish Museum show is mounted on earth-colored walls, with the exception of a small red room that brings out strong contrasts on small yet lovely etchings hung there. This exhibit can appeal to different viewers with its three foci: a great Jewish artist, Impressionist art and a rare glimpse at many privately owned pieces rarely seen in museum settings. n "Camille Pissarro: Impressions of City and Country" runs from Sept. 16 to Feb. 3 at The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave. at 92nd Street. Saturday-Wednesday, 11a.m.-5:45 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Closed Fridays and all major Jewish holidays. For more information, go to www.thejewishmuseum.org or call (212) 423-3200.

FORMER RUA DIREITA OF THE JUDIARIA (JEWISH QUARTER) IN BRAGANÇA

Rosh Hashaná (and Jewish Directory)

Rabbi Elisha Salas, Kadoorie Mekor Haim sinagoga, Porto, Portugal

ROSH HASHANÁ/ ANO NOVO JUDAICO
(English text below)


Terça-feira, dia 12 de Setembro de 2007, ao pôr-do-sol, é o início do Ano Novo Judaico, Rosh Hashana, o primeiro dia do mês de Tishrei do ano judaico 5768. De acordo com a tradição judaica, o mundo foi criado em Rosh Hashana e nesse tempo, todas as coisas vivas da terra estavam sujeitas ao julgamento divino. Dez dias depois, Yom Kippur, é o dia do perdão . A preparação para as festas do Ano Novo
judaicas, começam durante o mês anterior, o de Elul. Durante esse mês, o shofar (chifre de carneiro) é tocado nas sinagogas e em muitas casas, para nos levar a
reflectir sobre os nossos actos e formas de estar com os outros e com D-us, durante o ano que passou. É um tempo de reflexão e de recomeço.

Em Israel, bem como em outros sítios, é costume as pessoas colocarem anúncios nos jornais desejando a todos um "Shana Tovah" (um bom ano), e pedirem perdão àqueles que inadvertidamente ofenderam ou magoaram. Durante estas festividades, comem-se pequenos pedaços de maça mergulhados em mel, simbolizando o desejo de bom ano novo. Famílias e amigos juntam-se em refeições festivas, e visitam-se uns aos outros

O ênfase da liturgia está no arrependimento, no perdão e na prática de boas acções (mitzvot). As orações na sinagoga não são apenas pela redenção individual, mas também pela redenção do Povo Judeu e por uma reparação e transformação de todo o mundo (Tikkun Olam).

No dia da expiação, a lei judaica estipula um jejum de 25 horas, a partir do pôr-do-sol do dia anterior ao Yorn Kippur. Este tempo de jejum, durante o qual até a água é proibida, é propício à contemplação e introspecção, levando-nos a procurar aquilo que podemos melhorar em nós mesmos, na comunidade e no resto do mundo.

Na véspera do Yorm Kippur, todos os judeus, mesmo os que não são praticantes, vão para as sinagogas ouvir uma das mais profundas e comoventes orações, chamada Kol Nidre (todos os nossos votos). Os judeus pedem perdão por terem feito votos contra a sua vontade, como foi o baptismo forçado em 1497 em Portugal. As palavras e melodias, levam os judeus a identificarem-se com os Marranos da Ibéria que foram forçados a assumir o compromisso de serem bons católicos, sabendo que a sua devoção estava com o Único D-us, Adonai, um termo jamais esquecido pelos Marranos.

Qualquer leitor que pretenda aprender mais acerca das Festas de Ano Novo, pode contactar em portugal as seguintes comunidades:

LISBOA

Beit Israel (Comunidade Judaica Masorti)
Rua Filipe de Mata, 103, 2º
1600-070 Lisboa
Contact: Adriana Souza
info@beitisrael.org
www.beitisrael.org
21 797 52 83

Shaaré-Tikvá Synagogue (Orthodox)
Rua Alexandre Herculano, 59
1250-010 Lisboa
cilisboa@mail.telepac.pt
21 385 86 04

PORTO

Comunidade Israelita Do Porto
Rua Guerra Junqueiro,340
Porto 4100
info@comunidade-israelita-porto.org
Jorge Neves, 91 755 30 42

BELMONTE

Sinagoga Bet Eliyahu
Apartado 18
Belmonte 6250-000
Pres. Abilio Henriques
27 591 31 57

ALGARVE

Comunidade Judaica de Algarve
Ralf Pinto
ralf.pinto@sapo.pt
96 844 04 14

THE JEWISH HIGH HOLIDAYS- ROSH HASHANA and YOM KIPPUR

Yaacov Gladstone
mlopesazevedo

Wednesday, September 12, 2007, at sundown, is the start of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, the first of the month of Tishrei, 5768. According to Jewish tradition the world was created on Rosh Hashanah and every living thing on earth is subject to G-d’s judgment at this time. Ten days later, Yom Kippur, is the day of Atonement. The preparation for the High Holidays started during the previous month of Elul. During that month, the shofar (ram’s horn) is blown in synagogues and in many homes to remind us to reflect on our actions and relationships with others including G-d during the past year. It is time for reflection and a fresh start.

In Israel and elsewhere it is customary for people to take out ads in newspapers wishing everyone a “Shana Tovah” (a good year) and asking for forgiveness from those whom we inadvertently offended or hurt. During the holidays apple slices dipped in honey are eaten to symbolize the desire for a good sweet year. Families and friends gather for festive meals and visit each other.

The focus of the liturgy is on repentence, forgiveness, and doing good deeds (mitzvot). The prayers in the synagogue are not only for individual redemption, but also for the redemption of the Jewish People and for repairing and transforming the whole world (Tikkun Olam).

On the day of Atonement. Jewish law stipulates a 25 hour fast starting at sundown on the eve of Yom Kippur. This time of fasting, during which even water is prohibited provides an opportunity for contemplation and introspection on how to improve ourselves, our community, and our ruptured world.

On the eve of Yom Kippur, all Jews, even the non-observant, flock to the synagogues to hear one of the most profound and moving prayers called Kol Nidre (All our vows). Jews ask for forgiveness for having taken vows against their will as it was with the forced baptism in 1497 in Portugal. The words and melody moves Jews to identify with the Marranos of Iberia who were forced to vow to be good Catholics knowing that their devotion was to the One G-d, Adonai, a term never forgotten by the Marranos.

Any reader who wishes to learn more about the High holidays can contact the following Jewish communities in Portugal:

BARROS BASTO, MARRANO MIRAGE

LAUNCH OF A NEW BOOK ABOUT BARROS BASTO, THE PORTUGUESE DREYFUS, PORTO, SEPT 2, 2007

(BARROS BASTO: A MIRAGEM MARRANA
DE ALEXANDRE TEIXEIRA MENDES,
por Pedro Sinde a seguir)

Author Alexandre Teixeira Mendes signing copies at launch (photo by Monica Delicato).

Yaacov Gladstone, Dr. Harold Michal-Smith and Isabel Barros Basto Lopes



(All photos copyright of Monica Delicato)

LAUNCH OF A NEW BOOK ABOUT BARROS BASTO, THE PORTUGUESE DREYFUS
Porto, Portugal
mlopesazevedo

It was standing room only at the magnificent Kadoorie Mekor Haim synagogue in Porto for the launch of a new book on the life and work of Captain Barros Basto. The book, by Marrano poet Alexander Teixeira Mendes offers a new vision of the man and his times. Written in Portuguese, (the English translation is underway), it is entitled “Barros Basto, the Marrano Mirage”.

Barros Basto, a former Marrano himself, was a leader and role model for thousands of Marranos hiding in the villages of northern Portugal. He established the first Yeshiva in Portugal, Rosh Pinah, since the forced baptism of Jews in 1497. Captain Basto built the Mekor Haim synagogue during the great depression (completed in 1938, the year 200 synagogues were destroyed in Europe) as a spiritual haven to encourage Marranos to return to their ancestral religion-Judaism.

The revival of open Judaism in Portugal was unacceptable to the totalitarian Salazar government and the Catholic Church. The captain was unjustly accused of homosexual acts and stripped of his military rank and honour for conducting circumcisions on returning Marranos. This was a near fatal blow to the revival of the Marrano movement. Those who came out fled back into hiding, many losing their jobs and ostracized.

Captain Arthur Barros Basto was devastated and died a broken hearted man in 1962. His granddaughter, Isabel Barros Basto Lopes is supporting a campaign being launched by the American and Portuguese Friends of Marranos to clear his name. A petition seeking justice for the captain will soon be launched.

The launch of Barros Basto, the Marrano Mirage, was made possible by the generosity of Dr. Harold Michal-Smith and Yaacov Gladstone, founder and president of the American Friends of Marranos. They were both honoured with a beautiful specially bound limited edition of the book. Mr. Yaacov Gladstone announced a further donation by the American Friends of Marranos to Ladina to support the upcoming publication “Marrano Women in the Inquisition” presently being researched by Fernanda Guimaraes. It is hoped that the women portrayed will be the subject of a play.

The book was presented by philosopher Pedro Sinde and Yaacov Gladstone. Pedro advised the attentive audience not to expect a traditional linear biographical story of the Captain and his work of rescue amongst the thousands of Marranos of northern Portugal. He resorted to a metaphor of a tree to explain the book; Barros Basto is the central trunk of the tree, surrounded by many branches. Accordingly, the author may in fact be describing biographical data, but then shifts to a question concerning the oppression of the Catholic church which in turn is linked to Salazar’s dictatorship, and ultimately returns to the tree trunk in a discussion of the oppression of the totalitarian state on Barros Basto because of his democratic beliefs.

This rich narrative permits the reader to imagine Barros Basto alive, accompanying him in his youth, during the war, in the mysterious Oryamita Institute, in his work of rescue, and in resisting the malicious connivance of the “new state” and the Church. Contrary to most authors, Alexandre transforms the object of his study into his subject, making this a passionate book, not an objective one.

Notably, this is the first time in Portuguese literature, (and this book IS literature, a book within a book with its one hundred and sixty or so lengthy footnotes), that a different concept of Portuguese identity is discussed openly. Following theories developed by Teixeira Pascoais, leader of the Portuguese Renaissance movement at the turn of the 20th century and of Antonio Telmo’s thesis of the secret history of Portugal (Professor Telmo, himself a Marrano, wrote the preface to the book), the author describes the Portuguese psyche as essentially Jewish, a golden thread of Portuguese literature revealed in Sampaio Bruno (the “Covered One” in the 19th century, Fernando Pessoa (the “Message”) in the 20th century, Camões in the epic Lusiadas and Bernardino Ribeiro in “Menina e Moça” in the 16th century, the latter published at the same Jewish printing house in Ferrara that published Samuel Usque’s “Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel” and the Ferrara bible dedicated to Dona Gracia.

A beaming and visibly moved Yaacov Gladstone said how proud he and Dr. Harold Michal-Smith were for helping to make Alexandre’s dream come true. They had met Alexandre four years previously when the book was only a dream.

Yaacov expressed the hope that other organizations such as the American Sephardic Federation, The Joint Distribution Committee, Jewish Federations, etc., will understand the urgency of continuing the work of Barros Basto to bring Jewish education to the Marranos or they will disappear like the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng.

The American and Portuguese Friends of Marranos are determined to help Marranos, wherever they may be, to regain their Jewish identity. Readers who wish to participate in this great mitzvah of bringing Jewish education to the Marranos can make cheques payable to “El Centro de Estudios Judios” and mail it to American Friends of Marranos, 310 Lexington Avenue, Ste. 5D, New York, New York, 10016 or email Yaacov at yanklegladstone@aol.com

mlopesazevedo, Yaacov Gladstone, Dr. Harold-Michal-Smith

 PEDRO SINDE




(photo: paulo.gaspar.ferreira@in-libris.pt)


BARROS BASTO: A MIRAGEM MARRANA
DE ALEXANDRE TEIXEIRA MENDES
por Pedro Sinde


Um livro subjectivo

Com este livro de Alexandre Teixeira Mendes estamos
perante uma nova forma de olhar a figura do Capitão
Barros Basto – o “apóstolo dos marranos” –, porque
agora vemos plenamente a sua silhueta bem desenhada
não só como o homem de acção que resplandeceu na
“obra do resgate”, mas também como o homem
contemplativo, místico. Não se trata, felizmente,
de um estudo objectivo, quer dizer,
daquele tipo de ensaios que procura transformar
o sujeito do seu estudo em objecto, para que, pela
distância o veja numa aparência de claridade; pelo
contrário, estamos perante uma clara apologia,
estamos perante um livro deliberadamente
comprometido. É por esta razão que lhe chamo subjectivo,
naquela medida em que Alexandre Teixeira Mendes transforma
o objecto do seu estudo em sujeito, mostrando com vida o
percurso incandescente de Barros Basto, Ben-Rosh.
Dir-se-ia que aquilo que o livro eventualmente perca em
claridade, ganha indubitavelmente em fecundidade.
Naturalmente, esta forma de estudar e apresentar um tema
não é muito bem vista pelas academias. Mas isso não tem
importância, porque deste modo, avisados, podemos
apreciá-lo melhor, isto é, apreciá-lo em si mesmo,
sem corpetes, sem preconceitos que podem ser prejuízos.

Os marranos na caverna de Platão

O marrano aparece-me, na leitura deste livro de Alexandre
Teixeira Mendes, como aquelas figuras da caverna platónica:
durante séculos aprisionados à noite do segredo e do
degredo, deliberadamente aprisionados a um culto que não
era o seu. Um dos seus – o capitão Barros Basto,
Ben-Rosh – libertou-se da caverna e descobriu que a luz lá
de fora já não lhes era adversa, vem então avisá-los,
chamá-los à luz. Mas o marrano está já demasiado habituado
à noite, a noite é o seu dia e, por isso, está relutante
em partir. De algum modo, pressente que no segredo se
esconde alguma coisa de precioso, como se o segredo fosse
para si o que a terra é para a semente. Barros Basto
aparece como o modelo do marrano, o herói. Através
dele podemos sentir a aspiração de cada marrano,
vivendo escondido, mas querendo mostrar-se; desconfiado
das instituições, mas querendo voltar a ver a luz do dia,
a claridade meridiana. É no momento da libertação de
Barros Basto, deixa-nos entrever Alexandre, quando se
liberta da caverna, que percebe claramente que há uma
identidade marrana, que deve ser preservada, mas que,
simultaneamente, o marrano tem voltar à luz do dia.

Um paradoxo tremendo

Esconde-se nesta demanda da identidade marrana um
paradoxotremendo, que Alexandre Teixeira Mendes aborda
delicadamente: se há uma identidade marrana, quando
o marrano for reconduzido plenamente à ortodoxia do
culto sinagogal, essa identidade poderá desaparecer?
Diluir-se-á gradualmente? A sua especificidade nasceu
precisamente da ruptura forçada com as formas do culto
oficial, o que fez com que houvesse uma degenerescência
a esse nível, mas, por outro lado, fez com que se
depurasse a atitude, a intenção,a seriedade; fez,
numa palavra, com que despertassem novas forças
criadoras que supriam a ausência do culto
na sua completude.

Um marrano necessita de conversão ou apenas de retorno?

Alexandre Teixeira Mendes ergue esta questão numa nota
discreta. Faz apenas, honesta e corajosamente,
a pergunta, não responde. Vista pelo lado de fora,
a pergunta parece um absurdo, pois a forma do culto
marrano não parecia ser senão já apenas residual,
em grande parte dos casos. Mas se olharmos esta pergunta
a partir de dentro, talvez haja um sentido fundo que
merece ser reflectido. A vida era mais ou menos fácil
para o judeu que podia praticar às claras o seu culto;
tão fácil que podia cair numa rotina exterior. Difícil
era passar o culto secretamente, como tinha de fazer o
marrano, com risco da própria vida e, o que é mais grave,
com risco de vida dos seus descendentes. Imaginemos um pai
no momento em que resolve transmitir ao seu filho a sua
herança marrana; o drama de saber que, por amor ao seu
Deus, por amor a Deus, tinha de o fazer, até por amor
ao filho; mas na sua mente devia estar bem presente a
ideia de que o seu filho passaria a correr risco de vida.
O quehá de pior para um pai do que pôr em risco a vida
do filho? Por amor ao filho, quer preservá-lo do perigo,
mas, pelo mesmo amor, não pode deixar de lhe dar o seu
melhor tesouro: a sua salvação. Só me ocorre o drama de
Abraão no momento em está prestes a sacrificar Isaac.
Este episódio ilustra que o maior tesouro do homem são
os filhos, mais alto só o amor a Deus. O judeu, que
eventualmente o seja apenas por rotina, será mais
judeu do que este que em nome de Deus põe a sua vida
e a dos seus em risco? É Alexandre que define,
significativamente, o marrano por este modo:
“Judeus exilados entre as nações e
também exilados entre os judeus.”

Subconsciente judaico e consciente cristão

Numa tese brilhante, fecundíssima, que espera ainda quem
retire todas as consequências que dela decorrem, António
Telmo concita a nossa atenção para uma definição do povo
português como sendo cristão no seu consciente e judeu
no subconsciente. Nesta perspectiva, muitos dos cristãos
são judeus que se ignoram como tal, judeus forçados a
reprimir para a sombra a sua identidade mais profunda.
Alexandre chama a atenção para este aspecto que merece
reflexão. Quando se começa a dar a ruptura, em Portugal,
com o judaísmo, acontece esse processo de descida de uma
parte da sua identidade às profundezas do subconsciente.
Esta ruptura é causa de inúmeros males; não são
apenas os judeus que sofrem com isso, é também Portugal
que se vê privado de uma parte essencial da sua identidade.
Não podem deixar de nos ocorrer aqui as figuras de Abel
e Caim.

O livro de Alexandre Teixeira Mendes espelha, curiosamente,
uma estrutura dupla, aquela mesma estrutura dupla que o
marrano adoptou para, simultaneamente, sobreviver e
preservar, como podia, o seu culto: o texto do livro é o
seu consciente;as notas (que ocupam quase outro livro) são
o seu subconsciente. A impressão com que se fica é que as
notas são um sussurro, como se Alexandre ali falasse
baixinho, na esperança de dizer o que
diz apenas para aqueles que o saibam e possam ouvir.

Barros Basto e a Renascença Portuguesa

Uma última palavra sobre o livro. Alexandre Teixeira Mendes
aproxima a acção de Barros Basto da acção da Renascença
Portuguesa. Creio ser a primeira vez que isso acontece,
em todo o caso, é seguramente a primeira vez que
alguém o formula nos termos em que Alexandre o faz.
Na mesma época e pelo mesmo impulso, o capitão procurava
a identidade marrana e os da Renascença a identidade
portuguesa. Não pode deixar de ser notável que Teixeira de
Pascoaes, epígono da Renascença, desse tanta importância
ao elemento semita na formação da identidade e até da
missão histórica de Portugal, sobretudo numa altura em que,
um pouco por toda a Europa, os movimentos anti-semitas
cresciam em violência, preparados por alguns sectores do
ocultismo e, essencialmente, pelo darwinismo. Este livro
único de Alexandre Teixeira Mendes bem merece ser lido por
quantos procuram compreender a identidade marrana em geral
e, em particular, a identidade portuguesa, que tanto tem
perdido com a desintegração de uma parte que sempre ajudou
a constituir a sua vitalidade. Não há-de ser por acaso que
o início da decadência de Portugal coincide com o momento
de ruptura com o povo judeu, que formava uma parte de si.
Mas Caim, destavez, não matou Abel.

(Reconstituição da apresentação)


Pedro Sinde