Jewish Warriors

Spain before the Expulsion The earliest Jewish settlements in Spain may have predated the destruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, and possibly even the construction of that Temple. One tradition, according to which Israelite trading stations were in Spain around the 11th century BCE, identifies the region of Seville, in Andalusia, with the distant port of Tarshish mentioned in the Bible:
For the king had a Tarshish fleet on the sea, along with Hiram's fleet. Once every three years, the Tarshish fleet came in, bearing gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks."
(I Kings 10:22)
More common are traditions that Israelites settled in Spain (including Granada and Seville in Andalusia) upon being exiled by Nebuchadnezzar (586 BCE).
Whatever its origin, the Jewish presence in Spain was so substantial that when the Moors came in, in approximately 711 CE, they called one region of Andalusia "Granada of the Jews" ("Granada" most likely derived from their word for pomegranate). That region remains named Granada.
The Visigoths invaded Spain in roughly 400 CE, introducing Christianity into the area - a particularly intolerant form of Christianity. One rule after another decimated the Jewish communities through dispossession, forced conversion, enslavement, and slaughter. As well as the texts of the actual laws, some anti-Jewish polemics by Isidore, the archbishop of Seville, still survive.
There is fragmentary evidence that Berber (North African) Jews became aware of the oppression of their brethren in Spain and mounted a military campaign against the Visigoths at the end of the seventh century (roughly 694 CE). The Visigoth Christian kingdoms were finally destroyed when the Moors (North African Muslims) conquered Spain in the early eighth century (roughly 711 to 715 CE).

Poems of a Jewish Warrior
Samuel Ha Nagid of Granada
(993 - 1055)

All put on their swords in that day of danger,
and stripped of their cloaks to join battle,
running to the slaughter in good heart and in joy.

On a day of danger and distress I remember your message.
You are good, and there is justice in your mouth and your heart.
I remember the message which comes to console me
When sorrow appears. I put faith in your help.
When your servant in his youth lay asleep in his bed,
you sent Seraphim to tell him of your great goodness.
They sat down beside me, and then Michael said:
"This is God's message who pleads your cause:
On the day that you cross waters of sorrow I am with you."
And Gabriel, too, his companion, who heard of me
As he stood in your chariot's retinue, said to me:
"When you walk into the fire, it shall not burn you.
I shall speak to the flames, and they will never destroy you."
This is the message which I grasp like a sword in the hand.
I see swords before me. I trust in your sword.

You owe it to your Maker to pursue
a righteous course, and He must give you your just desserts.
But do not pass all your days in
His service; set aside a
time for God and times for yourselves
Give half the day to Him, half to
your own needs – and then give
wine no respite all night long!
Put out the candle light –
let your goblets shine instead.
Scorn the voice of singers –
let your jugs sing for you.
Since you will not find wine, song,
or company in the grave –
let this, O fools, be your reward for all your labors.

Jewish warriors were then charged with defending the newly liberated areas. For example, in Seville, in 712 CE, a Jewish militia had the sole responsibility of city defense. Elsewhere, the garrisons and city militias had a substantial Jewish presence.
Under the rule of enlightened Muslim kings, the Jewish communities prospered and, in turn, contributed greatly to the prosperity of Spain. Unfortunately, between the mid twelfth and early thirteenth century (1140ies through the 1240ies CE), the Almohades, a fundamentalist Muslim force from North Africa, overran the Muslim and Christian kingdoms of Spain.
Almohade oppression ranged from stringent religion-based restrictions in some regions to forced conversion elsewhere (thus, to the benefit of Yemen's and Egypt's Jews, the family of Maimonades left Spain under the threat of forced conversion to Islam).
As a result, in Seville, in 1248, the Jews welcomed the Castilian, Christian, navy with open arms and joy, presenting Ferdinand III with the key to the city. Though Jewish taxes under the Christians were heavy, nevertheless life was preferable to Almohade rule and the Jewish community prospered for at least the next hundred years. However, as the Christians of Seville became more secure, the help of the Jews was no longer appreciated. As a result of anti-Jewish agitation by archdeacon Martinez, the confessor to the king's mother, Seville's Jewish community was nearly destroyed in 1391, and the synagogues were converted to churches. Seville was the first site of an Inquisition Tribunal in 1481, and the Jews were finally exiled in 1483.
There were few places where enlightened Muslim governments were able to regain control from the Almohades. One of these, and the last Muslim kingdom in Spain was Granada. There, the Naserite dynasty took control in 1232 and ruled until Ferdinand and Isabella conquered the city in 1491.
March 31, 1492, was the end of Jewry in Spain, when Ferdinand and Isabella signed the edict of expulsion in "Granada of the Jews."
The most renowned Jewish Warrior in Spain was born in 993 - Samuel HaLevi, the son of Joseph. In Arabic, he was known as Ismail ibn Nagrel'a, and became known to the Jews as Samuel Ha'Nagid (the ruler).
As a youth in a privileged family in Cordoba, Samuel received a thorough education in Jewish law, religion, and culture, as well as the Koran, Muslim culture and Arabic calligraphy.
When the Berbers sacked Cordova in 1012, Samuel escaped to Malaga, in the kingdom of Granada, where he opened a spice shop. The shop was situated near the home of Abu alKasim ibn al-Arif, the vizier to king Habbus son of Maksan, of Granada. A servant of the vizier hired Samuel to write letters to the vizier, who was away at the capital for some time. The vizier was so impressed with Samuel's writing that, upon coming back to Malaga, he hired Samuel as a personal secretary.
A biographer of Samuel Ha'Nagid reports "After some time the vizier... became mortally ill, and King Habbus, who came to visit him, said to him: 'What shall I do? Who will advise me in the wars which encompass me?' 'I have never advised you,' he answered him, 'out of my own mind, but at the suggestion of this Jew, my secretary. Take care of him, and he will be as a father and a minister to you. Do whatever he advises you, and God will help you.'". Whatever the reality of this exchange, Samuel Ha-Levi indeed became vizier to the king of Granada by approximately 1020.
Samuel's wisdom in Jewish matters earned him the position of Nagid (ruler) of the Jewish community in 1027. He wrote poetry and composed an important religious work called "Hilchot Ha'Nagid". Throughout his life he worked tirelessly on behalf of Jewish communities in Spain, in Northern Africa, Egypt, Sicily, Babylon, and Jerusalem - donating money and books to schools and individuals engaged in Jewish study.
When the king died in 1038, Samuel survived a power struggle between the king's sons and retained his position as king's vizier. By many reports, the new king, Badis, indulged only his own pleasures and left the government of the kingdom of Granada to Samuel Ha'Nagid.
Samuel skillfully steered Granada through eighteen years of virtually continuous warfare, personally leading the important campaigns. He died in battle in 1055 or 1056 CE.

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Articles and Illustrations by Norman J. Finkelshteyn.
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