title: The Lies of the Lion
author: Ocean, Suellen
description: The Lies of the Lion brings us into the lives of Sephardic Jews who went to Amsterdam and posed as Christians for almost two hundred years. They're proud Dutch, French, Spanish or Portuguese Jews who must hide their ethnicity to the outside world. Their stories are told through each generation's Chronicler, who provides the community with an heir who then becomes the next Chronicler.   Sephardic Frenchman, Monsieur Soeira, has enough wealth to be a boon to the beginning of what will be a large community of Sephardic Jews south of Amsterdam. His daughter's courtship with the optimistic, free-spirited, first Chronicler, Jacob, son of a Jewish cabinetmaker from Friesland, begins this long line of Chroniclers. When Jacob's friend, Abraham tells Jacob that to make life easier on the Jews, Rabbi Samuel is bribing the Pope with paintings thereby enabling two Jewish scholars to alter the Bible they're translating, Jacob realizes what lengths his community must go through to protect themselves against the severity of the Catholic monarchy. Jacob's astute observations set precedence for future Sephardic Chroniclers as he aspires to keep the community informed of changing political winds and maintain calm and continued secrecy in the hamlet. Each Chronicler suffers amid his responsibility to his ethnic roots, the Chronicler before him and his own personal conflicts.   In this story we watch the gradual slide from Judaism to Christianity, each generation growing closer and closer to Christianity.