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I am writing a play that takes place during the Spanish Inquisition. A Rabbi is walking home from the King's court and his belongings are tossed to the ground by hooligans. A young Spanish girl picks up one of the flowers that was tossed and hands it to him. He says, "Baruch HaShem." then kneels down to her and says, "What is your name, my child?"

My question is - is the use of "Baruch HaShem" appropriate for 1492 Spain?

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    casserji, welcome to Mi Yodeya, and thanks for this interesting question! I wish you the best of success with your play, and I look forward to seeing you around. What does your rabbi mean by "Baruch Hashem" here? "Thank God for sending me this girl to pick up one of the flowers?" "Thank you for picking up the flower?" Something else? Please edit to clarify.
    – Isaac Moses ♦
    Commented Jul 28, 2015 at 18:39
  • By the way, probably less relevant to Judaism and therefore to Mi Yodeya, but you might want to look into whether rabbis in that era would have called random children "my child."
    – Isaac Moses ♦
    Commented Jul 28, 2015 at 18:55
  • I should note that "my child" sound more like the language of a priest. Of course that may just be the impression of the whay modern idioms are used. I have seen in the talmu where a rabbi addresses a woman as "biti" which could translate to that. However, he would have to know that she is Jewish as well or she would have to have done something more significant than handing him a flower.
    – sabbahillel
    Commented Jul 28, 2015 at 20:15
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    Even if that particular expression was used in that period, what motivation does the rabbi have to use it in that context (per the above comment by @IsaacMoses)? Is he glad to learn that at least some few Spanish children are not antisemitic or are willing to show kindness or courtesy to a Jew? Did the rabbi not realize this seemingly obvious fact before? (The flowers themselves can't mean that much to him, and even if they did, he would have picked them up by himself anyway, right?)
    – Fred
    Commented Jul 28, 2015 at 21:35
  • @sabbahillel Doesn't Spanish also use gendered terms (e.g. hijo or niño vs. hija or niña)? And if not, a rabbi speaking in Hebrew would probably say "my son" or "my daughter," but he would probably use the conventional expression when speaking in Spanish.
    – Fred
    Commented Jul 28, 2015 at 21:39

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