Next time you visit Spain, set aside a day to catch a $20 flight from the mainland to Mallorca, a Spanish island located southeast of Spain’s Mediterranean coast.
But first, be sure to watch Menemsha Films’ documentary “Sueta: Mallorca’s Lost Jews,” which explores Mallorca’s hidden Jewish history dating back nearly 1,000 years.
Mallorca is about the same size as Puerto Rico, but has a smaller population.
The documentary’s director, Dani Rotstein, has lived in Spain for nine years and currently runs the tourism business Judea Mallorca, which offers tours of the island’s Jewish history in six languages. .
Rotstein grew up in a Jewish family in New Jersey. He found work in Mallorca after he worked for 15 years as a producer of television commercials. Although he lived in Madrid for a whole year and visited Ibiza many times, he never visited Mallorca.
The documentary chronicles how Rotstein first learned of Mallorca’s Jewish history during a visit to an Orthodox church. This is an exciting historical journey that shows how a chance encounter led to Rotstein’s new life mission.
Rotstein drew inspiration from the island’s secret Jewish community known as Suetas, who were forced to convert to Catholicism during the Spanish Inquisition but continued to practice Judaism in secret.
He was fascinated by the Shwetas’ determination to maintain their Jewish identity despite centuries of persecution.
The documentary also highlights the recent resurgence of Jewish life on the island over the past half-century and the growing interest in Jewish heritage among the island’s residents.
It is sometimes spelled “Mallorca,” but Rotstein says tour companies spell it with a “J” because they want to “put the ‘J’ back into Mallorca.”
One of the interesting parts of this documentary is how Jews from the late Middle Ages to the early Renaissance used secret methods to cook while observing the laws of kashrut. I mean Taka. In the challah sector, to emphasize their “conversion” to Christianity, some Jews intentionally mix lard and pork fat into their bread to signal a break from secret Judaism and devotion to Catholicism. Ta.
And then there are Shabbat empanadas. They served as natural ovens for cooking kosher ingredients such as scaled fish and vegetables inside the bread, resembling dumplings. These were prepared before the Sabbath, and the dish continued to slowly cook during the Sabbath, allowing it to be eaten throughout the day without reheating or further cooking. Pork was added to the top pan, but not directly mixed with the cooked contents. Instead, it was placed at the top as a symbol. After returning home, the pork was removed before eating, allowing the person to enjoy the meal without violating the rules of kashrut.
“That’s how I dedicate my life to telling this story not only to tourists but also to residents,” Rotstein told the Journal. “We go to public schools and talk about history, we talk about the Holocaust, and we try to make Judaism more visible on the island. Fortunately, now we don’t have the domination of the Catholic Church or the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. But it’s possible. The time has finally come for us to be open about our Jewishness.”
While the documentary delves into the history of Mallorca’s Jews, the Journal asked Rotstein some revealing questions about the history and his journey chronicled in “Isla de Sueta.” The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Jewish Journal: How would you summarize what happened to the Jews of Mallorca in two minutes?
Dani Rotstein: After 1391, when there were horrific attacks on the Jewish quarter of Parma. [on the island], not necessarily because they were Jewish, but simply because the rural people of the agricultural lands of Mallorca were heavily taxed and suffered from starvation. Many people died due to the Black Death, and the island of Mallorca did not fare well economically. So what do you do first? You look for a scapegoat, you look for someone to blame. Country people came to Mallorca and followed the aristocracy and authorities. In fact, they did not immediately go after the Jews. They chased all the wealthy upper class people who lived in the city, the city dwellers, and chased them to the safety of their castles. They couldn’t get to the aristocracy, so the peasants said, “If we can’t get to the aristocracy, the wealthy upper class, let’s get to the next group of city dwellers, the Jews.” Peasants destroyed Jewish settlements throughout Mallorca.
JJ: You mentioned that the documentary doesn’t include facts you recently learned.
DR: After this horrific destruction of the Jewish quarter, where 300 men, women, and children were murdered, the king actually went ahead and replaced the Jews who were killed. He paid for Jews from North Africa and Portugal to live in Parma so that Parma’s Jewish community would not be lost. That’s very true. It’s the only place in the world where that has happened at the moment. The people who committed murder and genocide were actually just like ordinary people. They were being told in church that the Jews killed Jesus, that the Jews were bad, and that they should try to convert the Jews. As an upper class king, he knew how important the Jews were. They didn’t want to lose their Jewish community. The Jews were very important economically and they all became moneylenders because they had nothing else to do. That was one of their jobs, right? Some Jews went to North Africa. About 40 years later, in 1435, another massacre occurred. But this time, instead of being killed, Jews were allowed to convert. So, I don’t know about you, but for me, if I had a choice between dying and converting, I would choose converting.
JJ: How did this Jewish community come back to life?
DR: A British Jew who started this synagogue 50 years ago. I was shocked to hear that in Catholic Spain under Francisco Franco, there were basically small Jewish communities in Madrid, Barcelona, and Mallorca. Around 1971, British Jews purchased land for a Jewish cemetery for the British expatriates who lived there. All they did was celebrate events like Passover and Rosh Hashana, and spend big holidays at the hotels they were time-sharing with. It wasn’t until 1987 that the synagogue featured in the film actually opened.
JJ: Tell me about your first synagogue experience in Mallorca.
DR: I moved there thinking I would be the only Jew on the island. Then I arrived there without knowing anyone and talked to some friends from work at this production company where I worked. It turns out that there is a synagogue that someone told me about. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if it was going to be a Sephardic transplant or an Ashkenazi transplant. The final result was an Ashkenazi transplant. So I went to this synagogue and at first I didn’t feel very welcome. It was very difficult to find it. We didn’t even have a website, let alone a Facebook page. It was just like this secret synagogue. When I went inside, there was no rabbi, and it seemed like volunteers were leading the prayers. It’s orthodox and surreal. They said they had to skip Kaddish because there was no minyan. I was told that there were fewer than 10 Jewish men, but I counted 14 in the men’s division. I was convinced that the global number for the minyan was 10. I asked the guy next to me why he was skipping when there was obviously a minyan. And he looked at me and said, not all these people are Jews. Some of them are Suetas. I had never heard that word before. He said that the Sweta family is of Catholic descent and is a Jewish converso in Mallorca.
JJ: What went through your mind when you first heard this?
DR: “Are you saying Catholics come every Friday to go to synagogue but don’t count as a minyan?” I was really shocked by this small island in the Mediterranean that not many people have heard of. . I was really intrigued and taken on a journey to find out more about this particular Jewish history of this random island in the Mediterranean called Mallorca.
JJ: What are the common reasons people move to the island?
DR: This is a beautiful place and obviously a great opportunity for health and wellness. There are many withdrawals. Many yoga enthusiasts go there for spirituality or training. For example, if you’re a big cyclist, you’ll probably want to visit Mallorca. Generally good weather. If you are a beach lover, you will definitely love the place. And Miolka tends to be one of her most cosmopolitan cities in all of Spain. After all, it has her third largest airport in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona.
“Sweta Island” is scheduled to open throughout Los Angeles in early 2024. For screening times, please visit the following website:
https://xuetaislandthemovie.com/. To set up a tour of Rotstein and Jewish Mallorca, please visit the following website: https://JewishMallorca.com/