This morning, when I woke up at about 4:30, I didn’t get up. I turned on Channel 13, the Public Broadcasting Station, with the volume low, rolled over, and slept some more. When I woke again, a program called “The Ornament of the World” was on.[1] I hadn’t heard of it. It’s about the period in Medieval Spain when instead of strict boundaries among Christians, Jews, and Muslims, each of these communities was profoundly influenced by the other two. The military successes of the Christian kingdoms would conclude the expulsion of Jews, Muslims, and the persecution by the Inquisition of converted Jews and Muslims who had tried to stay. But early on, it was different.
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