The Merchant of Vlore

"So shines a good deed in a weary world." I was reminded of this quote when a good deed was done to me yesterday.

Many of you may recognize the quote and know its source. If not, here is a hint: Willy.

Yes, that's right, Willy Wonka said it after Charlie Bucket returned the everlasting gobstopper. But in fairness, he didn't originate the saying. He was quoting his own namesake, another Willy almost as famous as the chocolatier himself. I refer to one Willy Shakespeare. If you didn't know he habitually went by Willy, I don't know what to tell you. All his peeps called him Willy. Pretty sure I am on firm historical ground with that claim.

What is not disputable is that "So shines a good deed in a weary world" is a quote from The Merchant of Venice. This is a play which, at its core, is steeped in antisemitism. Spoiler alert: In favor of antisemitism. It is one of Shakespeare's comedies, and what's funnier than a greedy Jew getting comeuppance? (You will find plenty of Shakespearean apologists who claim Shakespeare is parodying antisemitism and is not himself antisemitic. I don't know, I mean, even though I feel familiar enough to call him Willy, I can't say I ever discussed his views on the topic of Jews.)

If the plays of Shakespeare were written by Shakespeare, of whom we have no evidence that he ever traveled outside the island of Britain, then he didn't actually know any Jews. Jews were expelled from Britain in 1290 by Edward I, and they weren't allowed back until 1656 under Oliver Cromwell. The Merchant of Venice was written in 1596 or 1597, so this certainly happened in Britain's Jew-free Interval.

This is all somewhat of a tangent, as I am not in Britain, but instead in Albania. Albania has a long history of helping Jews and others who were expelled or fleeing persecution. The oldest record of any Jews in Albania goes back to 70 CE. Exactly how these Jews came to be there is unclear, but one hypothesis is that they were Sephardic Jewish slaves being transported by Rome and after a shipwreck they came to Saranda (called Onchesmos by the Greeks and Anchiasmon by the Albanians at the time), which is a city in the south of modern day Albania. A synagogue from the third or fourth century has been excavated by archaelogists.

The Albanians have a cultural idea called besa through which they feel bound to help peoples in need. In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella (of Columbus fame) expelled all the Jews from Spain. Many sailed the Mediterranean to find new homes, and many settled in Albania.

There is evidence that Jews reciprocated the care of those in need. In the early 20th Century, Albanian nationalists wanted independence from the Ottoman Empire. The Empire accused Jewish Albanians of sheltering and colluding with these nationalists. At this time, Vlorë was the only Albanian city to have a synagogue. That synagogue is no longer in use, but there is a street in the city colloquially called "Jewish Street" with Stars of David in the stonework.

The Jewish Street

Decorative Elements of the Street

Then came the 1930s and troubles in Germany and Austria. Many Jews fled those countries and many went to Albania. Albania continued to issue visas to Jews through its Berlin embassy after every other European nation stopped accepting them.

In 1939, Italy (fascist at the time) occupied Albania and when Italy surrendered to the Allies in 1943, Germany under the Nazis occupied Albania. But the Muslim and Christian Albanians helped their Jewish neighbors, creating false identity papers or hiding Jews in cellars and hidden rooms. It was one of the few European countries to have more Jewish people in it at the end of World War II than it had at the beginning.

After World War II, Albania was ruled by a communist dictator, Enver Hoxha. He outlawed all religions, not picking on only the small number of Jews in the country. The large numbers of Muslims, Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox citizens were equally unable to practice their religions. That period ended in 1991, but today there are estimated to only be between 40 and 50 Jewish Albanians. They almost all live in Tiranë, the capital city.

As is my wont, I have now taken you on a multi-paragraph journey that, while related, is far from the original impetus of my post. The question is what good deed was done to me that put me in such a contemplative mood? Last night, Alrica and I returned to a restaurant we have enjoyed several times called Natyral. (The y is pronounced like the "oo" in "foot", and this word in English is "Natural".) As I placed our order, the young man who works at the register told me that the previous time we had been there, he had made a mistake and overcharged me by 300 Leke. (This is about $3.25.) I hadn't realized I had been overcharged, I never would have known. He could have kept the money and I would have been none the wiser. But here he was, handing me 300 Leke.

That's honesty. That's character. In a time that feels increasingly contentious, xenophobic, and more and more tribal, such a good deed shines all the more brightly, making the world is a little less weary.