Reigns in Spain – Mainly All the Same!

 

“Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off,

....” (Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 2 – Shakespeare)

Yesterday, I posted  an item showing how the events at the Rototom Sunsplash Festival in Spain involving Matisyahu, the ex-Chassid rapper, bore an uncanny resemblance to historic anti-Jewish riots in the same area.

Below is my own take on the affair.

It Was Just Spain Again

Matis, the lapsed converso rapper

who’s cast his kosher colours off,

shaved his beard, bleached his hair,

yet dared to face a baying anti-Jewish

mob by praising Zion.

what was, was; what will be, will be –

lo que fue, ha sido y lo que será, será

“Funny,” he said, as Spain’s new

inquisitors sneered, jeered, offering

a thousand exquisite ways of dying.

 

“The fervour here’s so hot,

I’m frying in the déjà vu glow

of a classic way of burning.

 

“The shades of Isabella and her

spouse still walk the walk in

modern Spain –

it’s plain for all to see!”

 

what was, was; what will be, will always be –

you gotta learn lessons from history -

lo que fue, ha sido y lo que será, será

 

“Spain’s past is no strange land; things

still look the same as in Barcelona

six hundred years away – and more –

when Jews like me were among four

hundred souls butchered in cold blood.

“Just as now, when the few with

power strived to quell unrest,

the antique city fathers tried in

vain to save their Jewish

neighbours.

 

what was, was; what will be, will be –

lo que fue, ha sido y lo que será, será

 

“This year Rototom Sunsplash

flung love and peace around

one-quarter-million people,

including sixteen thousand kids

young enough to sit upon my knee.

 

“Still, there’s been no spare

kindness left for me and still

most adults care more for

spraying pain, knifing notes

of discord than spreading

comfort by strumming

happy notes of harmony

in the sun.

what was, was; what will be, will be –

lo que fue, ha sido y lo que será, será

 

“I am Jewish, not Israeli.

Yet those who hate put me on trial;

forced my public view on Zion and

Israel’s battles with her foes.

Know Torquemada yet

lives! Please also know I just

want grace, goodwill for all.

“Let my music ring a pure note

to embrace each of those who seek

its shelter. True artists want only

this. No more”.

what was, was; what will be, will be –

lo que fue, ha sido y lo que será, será

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© Natalie Wood (29 August 2015)