Oι Εβραίοι της Κρήτης

Η προσφάτως επαναλειτουργήσασα συναγωγή του Ετζ-Χαϊγίμ στα Χανιά έχει ένα πολύ προσεγμένο και καλοφτιαγμένο ιστοχώρο, όπου μεταξύ άλλων παρουσιάζεται η ιστορία των Εβραίων της Κρήτης. Εξαιρετικού ενδιαφέροντος. Ένα μονάχα παράπονο: δεν έχει σελίδες στα ελληνικά!
Πρέπει να ομολογήσω ότι, δεν γνώριζα καθόλου την παρακάτω ιστορία που δείχνει ότι όλοι οι Κρήτες ανεξαρτήτως θρησκεύματος είμαστε βαθύτατα κουζουλοί:
It may well be that the difficulties they were facing in adjusting to the new Christian Roman Empire led to the appearance of a Cretan Jewish Messiah in about 430 CE, In that year a rabbi named Moses appeared in Crete and spent a year travelling about the island announcing that he was the same Moses who had led the Israelites through the Red Sea and into Sinai. He promised that in the following year he would lead Crete's Jews to the Holy land. Commercial and economic interests were abandoned in anticipation of the miracle and on a specified day the Jews of Crete met together at some point unknown to us and, to the horror and amazement of Christians watching the event, threw themselves off the cliffs and into the sea. Many were drowned; still others were saved by fishermen assembled in nearby boats to watch. In the account of the historian Socrates, special mention is made of the fact that there was a general conversion to Christianity on the part of the survivors. What happened to R. Moses is not known. Whether or not the Jews of Crete actually did convert through shame or despair at this point in their history is unknown, but for several centuries afterwards they are not mentioned in histories dealing with the island.
Ένας παράφρων Κρητικός Εβραίος Μεσσίας ονόματι Μωυσής... Πρέπει να το πω στον Δημήτρη, να τον κάνει τραγούδι!

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