Author: Noah Gordon

ISBN: 0312300530

The following review has been contributed by Lily Azerad-Goldman: CLICK TO VIEW Lily Azerad-Goldman's Reviews 

The Last Jew is set historically from Aug 23, 1489 to April 3rd, 1509, when the Spanish Inquisition was at its worse.

Noah Gordon recounts in micro-history format the vanished world of the Spanish Jews. With zest and eloquence, he is able to capture the sociological, political and moral elements of the clashing worlds of Catholicism and Judaism.

Gordon’s characters are credible, as exemplified by their true-to- life dialogue within their vivid settings. From the opening pages the thrill of intrigue, theft, murder, ethics of killing in self-defense or in revenge, all contribute to a great page- turner. Although descriptions of the inquisition tortures and murders are horrible, we are nevertheless forced to keep on reading, we want to know what comes next!

The story revolves around a silver reliquary containing a bone of Jesus’ grandmother, a treasure coveted by many priests and noblemen. Because of this reliquary, Friar Bonestruca, a high priest of the Inquisition, and his cohort, a nobleman,Count Vasca of Tembleque, murder Yonah’s older brother Meir and his father Helkias Toledano. Subsequently, Yonah goes on a quest to avenge their murders.

By zeroing in on the life of the Toledanos, a Jewish family in Spain, Gordon exposes his readers to the bigger picture, the persecutions, denunciations, tortures and murders and expulsion of a whole people, who had been living peacefully in Spain for the past eight hundred years.

We follow Yonah through his passage from a young boy to manhood. His wanderings through Spain, always searching, always running away from the Inquisition, but never losing his identity as a Jew.

Yonah even adopts a Christian name, Ramon Callico, and he undertakes a variety of jobs, eventually becoming the Physician of Saragossa, who is a healer rather than a killer.

Following the commandment of the Torah, Yonah kills only in self-defense. However, to some extent, he also experiences a certain amount of sweet revenge in that God casts horrendous ailments on some of the murderers of Yonah’s family.

Even though Yonah questions himself as to why remain a Jew: “What can be the Divine Plan that causes so many of us to be Hanged Men? And for what purpose have you made me the last Jew in Spain? - he still remains faithful to his forebears.

He also raises the ethical question: “If God was a righteous God, why was he sacrificing the Jews of Iberia? He knew what his father and Rabbi Ortego would say to such a question. They would say that man could not question God’s motives, because man could not see God’s larger design. But when the design included burnt offerings, Yonah questioned God.”

Moreover, Yonah poses the question, if the roles were reversed and the Jews were in power, would they act as ruthlessly? Troubling to him, was the twelfth benediction of the Amidah (the prayer recited while standing)-a prayer calling for the destruction of heretics.

To close the circle, Yonah finds the stolen reliquary and the silver goblets so lovingly carved by his father Helkias, and builds a special hidden room for his Jewish past and the future of his children, therefore remaining to the end THE LAST JEW in Spain.

It is a truly remarkable tale that encompasses elements of suspense, thrill, horror and fear, where one Jew triumphs in spite of the horrible Inquisition, the murders, and the expulsions.

Upon my second reading, I found a lot of resonance in the names of places and their vivid descriptions.

At the Toledo Synagogue/museum, where I visited with my husband not too long ago, I had the feeling that I could still hear the Moors carving the delicate filigrees of the ceilings, as well as the chants and liturgy of happier times.

Walking in the Jewish quarters of Spain we can trace the footsteps of the ancient Jews, visualizing how they lived peacefully for nearly 800 years. On the other hand, we can also hear their cries on all of the Plazas Mayor, where they were burnt at the stake.

Noah Gordon has succeeded in bringing them back to life, if only for the span of “THE LAST JEW”.

As a last note, I was appalled by the revisionist literature of some members of the Catholic Church, as exposed on the Internet, where they stated that the Inquisition was pure fiction.

They further went onto deny their very records that kept note of the thousands, who were murdered or punished in a variety of ways. Another example of how anti-Semitism can once again raise its ugly head.