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ArribaAbajoAlmudena and the Jewish theme in Misericordia

Sara E. Cohen


Perhaps one of the most intriguing, yet least understood characters of Galdós is the blind beggar of Misericordia, the Jewish Almudena, to whom the Christian Benina turns in her hour of great need. Though many studies have dealt with the thematic structure of the novel,198 few have succeeded in clarifying the mystery surrounding the personality of Almudena and his final union with Benina. Since this union ultimately leads to the Promised Land, we must see in that relationship an implicit Galdosian model for the Messianic Age, the time when the conflict between the Jew and the Christian will be reconciled and the brotherhood of all men will prevail. It is vital, therefore, to examine the religion of Almudena, to establish once and for all the nature and origin of his convictions, and to evaluate his moral and personal worth in order to appreciate the crucial role that he and his faith play in the novel. In the process we will see how carefully and poignantly Galdós introduces the beggar to us and how he transforms him from a secondary character into a principal figure in the work.

The personality of Almudena is unravelled slowly, within a context of mystery and paradox.199 The author is very discreet not to reveal too much too quickly about the blind stranger and particularly about his Jewish qualities. In conformity with such a technique of concealment it is not surprising that initially Galdós only insinuates that Almudena may indeed be a Jew. This suggestion, however, is not given until after we are able to appreciate the blind man's innate kindness and generosity, to compare him both with the other beggars and with the wealthy and respected Don Carlos, and most importantly, to understand why Benina approaches and befriends only him.

Much of what we initially learn about Almudena comes from Benina, who in evaluating and introducing him to us, underscores his industriousness, his self-reliance, and his independence. Though blind, poor, and alone, he is yet able to live with self-respect caring for his own needs:

Eres el hombre más apañado que hay en el mundo. No he visto otro como tú. Ciego y pobre, te arreglas tú mismo tu ropita; enhebras una aguja con la lengua más pronto que yo con mis dedos; coses a la perfección; eres tu sastre, tu zapatero, tu lavandera... Y después de pedir en la parroquia por la mañana, y por las tardes en la calle, te sobra tiempo para ir un ratito al café... Eres de lo que no hay; y si en el mundo hubiera justicia y las cosas estuvieran dispuestas con razón, debieran darte un premio...


(p. 1881).200                


In addition, he displays moral and spiritual qualities not shared by others, specifically an appreciation of human dignity that Benina particularly admires. For, as she says: «tú sólo puedes sacarme de un gran compromiso, tú sólo, porque los demás conocimientos de la parroquia para nada me sirven... la dejarán a una morirse de vergüenza, y si a mano viene, se gozarán en ver a una pobre mendicante por los suelos» (p. 1880). Indeed, Almudena does not betray Benina's trust, and though himself a destitute beggar, gives her, without ever questioning to what purpose she needs the   —52→   money, his best suit to pawn and whatever coins he can find in his pockets and in the clothing of Petra, his drunken roommate.

After this unselfish act of charity Almudena turns to solitary prayer in his poverty-stricken room. There he drowns out the drunken curses of Petra with passionate proclamations of the oneness of God. And it is precisely at this moment that Galdós first hints that the blind Moroccan exile might indeed be a Jew, since he prays «en lengua que no sabemos si era arábiga o hebrea». Ironically, Almudena prays in neither, but rather in a simple and primitive Spanish, declaring again and again: «No haber más que un Dios... uno sólo, sólo, sólo.» This universal proclamation of the oneness of God is none other than the Jewish Shema («Hear O Israel, The Lord is our God, the Lord is One», Deut. 6:4-9) that Almudena himself will later invoke in the Hebrew language. Almudena's credo is a formulation which is reiterated in the Mohammedan cry «There is one God and Allah is his name.» Having grown up in Morocco in a Moslem environment, it is understandable that this originally Mosaic principle, now incorporated into Islam, should have been inscribed in Almudena's consciousness and partially invoked by him in his daily prayers. However, the beggar's religious connections with Islam are very tenuous. Nowhere else does the novelist allow the character to express a religious conviction that could be interpreted as Mohammedan rather than Jewish. Later references to Almudena's alleged Moorish rituals are in truth only distortions by ignorant outsiders.201 They do not represent the inner Jewish reality of the blind beggar. Yet, Galdós' initial ambiguity on the exact identity of Almudena's prayer is evidence of the author's belief that all religions are basically identical.

There can be no doubt that the blind man's prayers at this early point in the novel are a positive act that is meant to predispose us favorably towards him. His unaffected and solitary form of worship offers us a clue to the intentional contrast between inner spirituality, which will be modeled by both him and Benina, and the formalistic ritualism exemplified by Don Carlos, the religious hypocrite who tries to buy his way into God's graces with measured charity and punctilious attendance at Mass. Almudena, in contrast to that wealthy and socially prominent man, does not pray to invoke God's favors, pity, or forgiveness. Though blind and poor, he asks for neither heaven, wealth, nor a miraculous cure for his blindness. Instead he is able to declare his belief in the existence of the one God and to extol him even in the depths of his misfortune. Almudena's religious convictions are perhaps an example of the historic allegiance of the Jew to his God, a loyalty, that, as observed by Galdós in Gloria, was never shaken by either persecutions or suffering.

Furthermore, though it is through his prayers that Almudena's idiosyncratic Jewishness is specifically identified, at the same time it is precisely through his prayers that we come to see his spiritual affinity with Benina. Like her he is able to praise God openly and deeply and to seek comfort and solace within himself and away from the established religious and social hierarchy of others.

Benina's understanding of God springs, like Almudena's, from a positive and affirmative faith. In a revealing conversation with Doña Paca, she is able to praise God despite her own chaotic and unhappy situation. Her behavior is a model of Christian stoicism, most deeply expressed at the end of the novel, where she is able to accept without bitterness the undeserved rejection by her adopted family. Benina believes that the workings of God are for the good of man («Dios es bueno» p. 1885) and does not question the wisdom of His acts or the purposes of Creation. From the   —53→   very beginning, in answering Doña Paca's rebuke that she is too easily satisfied, she expresses her vital conformity with the possession of only the bare essentials of existence: «Venga todo antes que la muerte, y padezcamos con tal que no falte un pedazo de pan y pueda uno comérselo con dos salsas muy buenas: el hambre y la esperanza» (p. 1886).202 The interdependence of religious convictions and moral fiber is characteristic of both Benina and Almudena. Though Almudena is the more mystical and passionate of the two, both evince an acceptance of life on this earth and a willingness to confront it with a strength and dignity that is exclusive to their character.

Almudena and Benina share similar attitudes not only towards God and life, but also towards other people. Though Almudena's circle of beneficiaries is not as extensive as Benina's, his kindness is not limited to Benina. We learn, as the novel progresses, that Almudena's relationship with his roommate Petra is one of generosity and concern on his part; one that had developed from his desire to help and protect -even to discipline- the girl after her parents had both died. We slowly come to understand that it is the readiness to share the little wealth they possess which makes Almudena and Benina fitting companions. Furthermore, Benina's relations with Doña Paca and Almudena's with Benina show a sensitivity not only to the material needs of the person for whom they care but also to his personal and psychological demands. Benina protects Doña Paca from starvation by begging for her, but without revealing the degrading source of her aid, and Almudena does much the same for Benina by satisfying her needs without embarrassing her with questions about her situation or the purpose of the money she requests.

After the initial oblique references to Almudena's Jewishness, the subject of the beggar's religious affiliation is abandoned as the novelist turns his attention to matters regarding Benina and her adopted family. When the theme is reintroduced the beggar's religion is no longer concealed, and interestingly enough, the sequence of events in this section of the novel again parallels those at the beginning since once more Almudena's Jewishness is examined in conjunction with the religion of Don Carlos. If in the earlier episode we saw Don Carlos within the confines of the church, mocking its very values with his restricted form of charity, in the subsequent scene we observe him at home, where once more he models the moral hypocrisy and religious formalism that were so repugnant to Galdós. Don Carlos, therefore, must be understood as the shield upon which to contrast the lowly Jew as well as the truly Christian Benina. Once he has served this function he disappears from the novel.

Almudena's disclosure of his religion is propelled by the miserliness of Don Carlos, who in an interview with Benina offered her nothing more than a pittance of money and a humiliating lecture on bookkeeping and thrift. Following the meeting with Don Carlos, Benina communicates her frustration to Almudena, and the blind beggar, obviously moved by her disappointment, tries to comfort her by suggesting a magical method of obtaining the rich man's money. The method is a highly complicated ritual that effects the appearance of Samdai, the «King of the Underworld», the possessor of infinite wealth. Almudena considers himself qualified to deal with Samdai because he had supposedly encountered him in his youth, at which time the «King of the Underworld» had offered him the choice between great wealth or a woman to love. (Almudena had chosen love - «gustar mí muquier, y sin muquier migo, no querer pieldras finas, ni diniero, ni naida» [p. 1907] -but the woman whom Samdai left behind promptly ran away, leaving him totally destitute once more, pursuing   —54→   «por toda la grandeza del mundo» the always elusive figure that had escaped him.) Nevertheless, what is significant is that a part of the magical procedures recommended by the blind beggar entails the recitation of the Shema in the Hebrew language. His use of Hebrew prompts Benina to ask Almudena what his religion is, and he tells her that he is an «ebibrio» (p. 1902), that is, a Hebrew.203 Furthermore, Almudena then discloses the entire story of his life and reveals that in his youth his name was Mordechai.204 An offense against his father forced him to leave his beloved Africa, a place he describes in poetic and nostalgic imagery that echoes biblical passages on the Promised Land:

ser yo nacido en un puebro mu bunito que llamar alla Ullah de Bergel, terra de Sus..., ¡oh!, terra divina, bunita..., mochas arbolas, aceite mocha miela, frores, támaras, mocha güena.


(p. 1905)                


The beggar's yearning to return to Morocco will subsequently be replaced with a passionate desire to journey to Jerusalem, his true historic and spiritual homeland.205

The stories of Almudena serve not only to describe him but also to reveal characteristics that both he and Benina have in common. We have already pointed out the shared traits of kindheartedness and generosity; however, we now see that they share not only their virtues but even their faults since they have both been dishonest in matters of money. Benina was, and still is, an adept «sisona»,206 while Almudena had stolen money from his father.207 However, what is engaging and revealing about the motivation of both Benina and Almudena is that they take the money not for themselves but primarily to assist and benefit others even though it involves robbing. Although Benina steals, she uses her lifetime savings to help Doña Paca settle her pressing financial problems and thus avoid «un desahucio vergonzoso» (p. 1888), while Almudena took money from his father, not primarily for his own use, but in order to make his father a wealthy man. Money, therefore, for both of these characters has a function and a value which it does not have for the others. They do not need it for themselves, for their own prestige or well-being. Content with what they have, they take money in order ultimately to share it, an attitude which is totally different from that of either Don Carlos, Juliana, Obdulia, Ponte, or Doña Francisca. Moreover, unlike Don Carlos or Juliana, who practice charity in a hierarchical relationship, that is, from the rich to the poor, from the high to the low, both Benina and Almudena dispense charity to equals. In their philanthropy they do not seek the humiliation of the receiver nor the pious prayers of the grateful.

A careful examination of the characters of the novel reveals that money is the dominant theme and goal of all their lives, for they all long for, and are obsessed by, the comforts and luxuries it brings. Only Benina and Almudena transcend this preoccupation: Almudena by refusing Samdai's offer of wealth and choosing instead a woman's love; and Benina, at the end of the novel, by declining the comfortable refuge of the «Misericordia» old-age home to remain with Almudena.

Almudena's encounter with the «King of the Underworld» serves also to shed light on the character of Benina and to point out the similarities between her and her blind friend. While Almudena invokes Samdai out of the underworld, Benina achieves an equally extraordinary feat: she fashions a man, Don Romualdo, out of her imagination and projects him into the real world.

  —55→  

The significance of the Romualdo episode has received much critical attention208 although not from the point of view of a parallel to Almudena's Samdai.209 But Don Romualdo's very presence is foreshadowed by that of Samdai, as Benina herself realizes:

Le había inventado ella, y de los senos oscuros de la invención salía una persona de verdad, haciendo milagros, trayendo riquezas, y convirtiendo en realidades los soñados dones del Rey Samdai.


(p. 1973)                


That man is able to create the possibility of his own redemption, as the Don Romualdo episode testifies, is the ultimate lesson of Misericordia. Benina creates Don Romualdo out of her desperation. He represents self-assertion in the face of misfortune and the triumph of the vital instinct in man. Galdós clearly had in mind the idea that man's creativity can triumph over the deepest states of deprivation and frustration and, indeed, that precisely out of such depths of despair and hopelessness is man's spirit most capable of fashioning his own salvation.210 What is unique about this concept is that man actualizes this desired salvation through the exercise of charity. Had Benina not gone begging for her mistress, her need to create Don Romualdo would not have arisen; had Almudena not been willing to help Benina and share his limited goods with her, the fulfillment of his life goal -to find a loving partner -would not have been possible.

Almudena's magical interests and elaborate rituals can be very difficult to reconcile with his simple monotheistic proclamations if one does not appreciate the fact that the legend of the Jew as sorcerer is one of the oldest Christian legends of the Jew, a legend which dates back to the Middle Ages, when the Jew was indeed often involved in highly developed and sought-after practices of magic.211 The superstitions of the Galdosian beggar link him, therefore, not with an Arabic or pagan past as is often misunderstood, but with an ancient Christian legend212 which serves to further corroborate his Jewish identity.

What, then, is Jewish magic and how does it relate to Almudena? Jewish magic is founded on the powers of good and the invocation of the personalized attributes of God and the angels.213 Though Jewish folklore abounds in tales of demons and other magical beings, these are never as powerful as the Christian Satan: Jewish demons are mortal and never in open conflict with God. Almudena's Samdai falls within this tradition. He is neither evil, dangerous, nor harmful, but rather a «rey bunito» (p. 1902) as Almudena tells Benina. Furthermore, since Jewish magic does not deviate far from the Jewish religion214 and uses both Hebrew prayers and the Hebrew language itself to effect its means, it is not surprising that Almudena should evoke the Shema in his magical schemes.215 For, it seems that the evocation of God is particularly effective in manipulating, calling, and even overpowering demons.216 In addition, there is no doubt that Samdai is an alternate form of the Hebrew Ashmedai, the king of the demons. Ashmedai, or as he is also known, Asmodeus, is a popular hero of biblical legends. He is often found in stories about King Solomon and as a result is associated with wealth, women, and wisdom, a role he certainly plays in Misericordia. The legend is that for a period of years Ashmedai dethroned Solomon and personified him while the true king, in atonement for his sins, was forced to wander the earth, unknown and in utter poverty.217 Another well-known trick of Ashmedai is to plot against a newly-wedded couple «so they may not know   —56→   one another».218 It would seem from Almudena's story that Samdai was practicing precisely this piece of mischief when he gave him a girl who promptly escaped him.

Almudena's tales of hidden treasures fall within yet another ancient tradition. In the Middle Ages, Jews, as well as Christians, felt that it was possible to discover lost treasures of wealth through the help of magic.219 Since the Jews are identified with the Devil, it was generally believed that they, more than anyone else, knew how to find these treasures. In this connection it is interesting to note that one of the reasons given by Pope Pius V to explain his expulsion of the Jews from the Papal States in 1569 was that they

seduce a great many imprudent and weak persons with their satanic illusions, their fortune telling, their charms and magic tricks and witcheries, and make them believe that the future can be foretold, that stolen goods and hidden treasures can be recovered, and much else can be revealed.220


Almudena's superstitious inclinations languish as the novel progresses, for instead of talking about Samdai and miraculous schemes which he will use to create money for Benina's needs, he turns to reflect upon the Psalms and the Song of Songs. Significantly, this return to a more traditional Jewish form of worship takes place after Almudena strikes Benina in a fit of anger and passion. And, it is in order to seek forgiveness and atonement for that particular sin that the blind beggar returns to the worship of his God. Atop a mountain of garbage which he identifies with Mount Sinai221 he asks for redemption through fasting and prayer. Almudena's attack on Benina is compared by the victim herself to that of Saint Peter upon Christ. Watching him cry in bitter regret, she says to him: «estoy viéndote llorar como San Pedro después que hizo la canallada de negar a Cristo» (p. 1933).

The theme that Galdós broaches in this incident is a particularly difficult and painful one for both the Christian and the Jew. He had dealt with it in Gloria, twenty years earlier. Yet his treatment of it at that time was both awkward and contrived. Morton was both Judas and Christ,222 in an unclear presentation that forces him at the end to search for the abolition of all religions, including his own. In Misericordia, however, the more mature and the more morally sensitive Galdós does not need to abolish all religions and substitute an intellectual universalism in order to resolve the religious conflict of the Jew and the Christian. Almudena can find salvation, meaning, forgiveness, and atonement for his sin within the context of his own religion. He is permitted to pray to Adonai, to chant the Psalms, and to reaffirm his Judaism. There is no doubt that Galdós uses the reference to Saint Peter not to rekindle an old prejudice against the Jew, not to urge his conversion to Christianity or to an abstract universal religion as in Gloria, but rather to absolve and accept the Jew as he is. For this reason it is at the lowest point in the relationship between Almudena and Benina that Benina comes to him, forgives him, and takes him with her, and that he, in turn, asks her to marry him. In spite of Benina's amused reaction to the marriage proposal, the union between these two characters can thereafter no longer be broken, for it will lead them away from ingratitude and rejection to a Jerusalem of love and tolerance.

It is interesting to note that in the Mount Sinai episode the imagery used by Almudena in connection with Benina is similar to that which is found in the traditional Jewish liturgy for welcoming the Sabbath, the day of peace and fulfillment.   —57→   Galdós had in his library a copy of the Jewish prayer book entitled Orden de Ros Asanah y Kypur,223 which he used as a source for the prayers found in Aita Tettauen.224 The possibility that he had already consulted this, and perhaps other Jewish sources as well, for the Mount Sinai episode of Misericordia cannot be ignored. The repeated invocation of this particular part of the Jewish liturgy and its imagery in Almudena's speech are too suggestive to be mere coincidence.

The service for welcoming the Sabbath begins in the traditional prayer book with the Song of Songs, followed by selections from the Psalms, which compare the Sabbath to a bride whose arrival comforts Israel in its sorrow and amidst its ruins.225 Benina's coming to the fallen and ashamed Almudena is perhaps a personification of this metaphor, also found in the passage in the book of Isaiah (52:2-60:21) in which the people of Israel are described as living among the dust and the ruins awaiting the redemption of God. Galdós, who knew and loved the Bible, must have been very familiar with this type of poetic language so prevalent in the Old Testament and so often associated with the suffering of the Jewish people. Thus, it is possible that Benina, the true Christian, represents in Misericordia the beginning of the fulfillment of the Messianic ideal of the Jew and of his promised return to Jerusalem. Her love, compassion, and concern for Almudena are a model for the relationships that are necessary to bring about the age of peace and harmony, so long awaited by both the Christian and the Jew.

Thus, the entire context of Benina's ascent to Mount Sinai is given in an overwhelmingly Jewish mystical setting, for Benina is undoubtedly the «Woman of Valor», «worth far more than rubies», that was promised to Almudena by Samdaiuna mujer buena, bella y laboriosa, joya sin duda tan rara que no se podía encontrar sino revolviendo toda la tierra» (p. 1906) -and first envisioned by Solomon in Proverbs 31: 10-14. Her coming to Almudena appears to symbolize the realization of a traditional Jewish ideal as well as the personal yearnings of the Moroccan dreamer. Her arrival is a form of divine revelation, the long-awaited culmination of a life's search.226 As Benina approaches Almudena on his Mount Sinai, he greets her with biblical and apocalyptic allusions to heaven, angels, and fire, and ultimately praises her with the words of the Song of Songs, choosing a selection that identifies the beloved with Nature, with goodness, and with joy:

Tú ser com la zuzena, branca... Com palmera del D'sierto cintura tuya..., rosas y casmines boca tuya..., la estrella de la tarde ojitas tuyas... Donzellas tudas, invidia de ti tenier ellas... Hiciéronte manos Dios con regocijación. Loan ti ángeles con citara.


(p. 1946)                


In a gesture that expresses both tolerance and deep love, Almudena reconciles and harmonizes Christianity with Judaism and offers to marry Benina by both her religion and his: «Casar yo tigo..., dirnos terra mía... Yo casar por arreligión tuya si quierer tú... Tú casar por arreligión mía, si quierer ella... Mi ser d'Israel...» (p. 1947). Almudena repeats almost the same words to Benina at the end of the novel, reinforcing the theme once more: «...tu casar migo y ser tigo migo uno... Casarnos por arreligión tuya, por arreligión mía..., quierer tú... Veder tu sepolcro; entrar mi S'nagoga rezar Adonai» (p. 1976).

In conjunction with the marriage proposal, Almudena tells Benina that he had been baptized by the «señoritas confirencia» and given the Christian name José María de la Almudena. The surprising revelation of a hidden Christian past at this point   —58→   might suggest that unconsciously Almudena was trying to sway Benina by reducing the gap between their religious backgrounds.

Although Benina does not reject Almudena, she expresses a typically Catholic attitude of condemnation of other religions, particularly of Judaism: «José María de la Almudena. Si eres cristiano, no me hables a mí de otras arreligiones malas» (p. 1947). Whereupon Almudena, disturbed by her negative reaction, reasserts his Jewish convictions and exclaims: «No haber más que un Dios, uno solo, sólo Él.» Furthermore, he reminds her of the loving union of God, Man, and Nature revealed in the harmony of the cosmos:

El melecina a los quebrantados de corazón... El contar número estrellas, y a tudas ellas por nombre llama. Adoran Adonái el animal y tuda cuatropea, y el pájaro de ala... Halleluyah!


(p. 1947)                


Whereupon, half-jokingly yet half-seriously, Benina is willing to join him in singing halleluyas. Almudena then quotes the entire Psalm XXIX,227 thereby affirming the unity of all creation and Benina, now no longer amused, «le oía con respeto».

In spite of the deep bond that is established between the characters after the Mount Sinai episode, Benina is, nevertheless, not yet ready to join Almudena on a permanent basis. Her life goal had been to love and care for Doña Paca and her family. From this, nothing, no outside hardships and humiliations, not even the unjust and sarcastic attacks of Doña Paca, had been able to deter her. It is only the utter ingratitude, selfishness, and rejection shown her by her adopted family, after they no longer need her, that permits Benina to end this relationship and to turn to Almudena, in whom she recognizes a companion and partner worthy of her last days: «Vámonos, Almudena, vámonos de aquí, y quiera Dios que te pongas bueno pronto para tomar el caminito de Jerusalén, que no me asusta ya por lejos» (p. 1980).

We, thus, see that Almudena's Jewishness does indeed play a vital and significant role in the symbolic structure of Misericordia. If in the beginning his religion is veiled and presented in a context of mystery and paradox, when it finally emerges in its fullest intensity it permeates the character's personality, captivating Benina and sustaining her spiritually. Almudena's Jewishness serves to give direction and meaning to their love and mutual respect, and in the Jerusalem of the future both beggars will experience the spiritual richness and fulfillment so long awaited.

State University of New York at Albany



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