Sephardic Jews

This is the Forward’s coverage of Sephardic Jews, a major Jewish diasporic ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal).

The Latest

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Spain Scraps Language Test For Jewish Law Of Return

(JTA) — Spanish authorities dispensed with language and culture tests for elderly applicants for citizenship under the country’s law of return for Sephardi Jews. The Spanish justice ministry decided to offer the dispensation from tests on the Spanish language and heritage, which used to be necessary for all applicants for citizenship under the 2013 law,…

By Cnaan Liphshiz Mar 1, 2017 | < 1 min read
Fast Forward
Rare Cache of Ladino Documents Tells History of Los Angeles Sephardic Jews

(JTA) — Last year UCLA launched a Jewish history with an ambitious goal — to be “one of the world’s largest collections of Sephardi Jewish life.” Now, the UCLA Sephardic Archive has made its first major acquisition, obtaining what it says is “one of the most significants collections ever assembled” telling the history of Sephardi Jews…

By Josefin Dolsten Jan 17, 2017 | < 1 min read
Fast Forward
Sephardic Chief Rabbi: ‘Women Can Do Laundry’

JERUSALEM — Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi said women should not serve in the Israel Defense Forces and should not perform national service. Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef made the pronouncements on Saturday night during his weekly Torah lesson, according to reports. He cited the Rambam as saying that women who go out to wars commanded by the…

By Marcy Oster Dec 11, 2016 | < 1 min read
Opinion
For Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews, Whiteness Was a Fragile Identity Long Before Trump

“I have lived for 26 years under the illusion that I am unconditionally white…. Recently I have started looking at my face and going, ‘Oh man, do I look too Jewish?’” Sydney Brownstone, the reporter who voiced this question in a recent Blabbermouth podcast, is not alone in wondering this. Many Ashkenazi Jews who have…

By Sigal Samuel Dec 7, 2016 | 3 min read
Life
Crossing the Bosphorus: My Great-Grandmother’s Sephardic Memoir

Exactly one hundred years ago, on September 8th, 1916, my great-grandmother Estrella penned the last entry in her French notebook. At the time she was attending an elite preparatory school for Jewish students in Paris. Like hundreds of other Sephardic teenagers from around the Mediterranean, Estrella had been plucked from her tiny Jewish community on…

By Hannah Pressman Sep 14, 2016 | 4 min read
Fast Forward
After Brexit, 300 British Sephardic Jews Seek Portugal Citizenship

— One of Portugal’s Jewish communities said it was observing an increase in requests for naturalization by British Jews following the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union. About 300 British Jews who are descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews requested Portuguese nationality from the Porto Jewish Community, compared to five before the June 23…

By Cnaan Liphshiz Jul 18, 2016 | < 1 min read
Fast Forward
Shearith Israel Will Appeal Loss in $7M Shul vs. Shul Feud With Touro Synagogue

— Congregation Shearith Israel in New York will appeal a federal court ruling last month stripping its control of the historic Touro Synagogue in Rhode Island. The Manhattan congregation filed a notice Tuesday saying it will appeal to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an effort to reverse last month’s decision concerning its…

By Julie Wiener Jun 15, 2016 | < 1 min read
Fast Forward
1941 Baghdad Pogrom Commemorated With Candle Lightings

WASHINGTON — The author of a work on the Nazi-era massacre in Baghdad believed to have precipitated the Jewish exodus from Iraq is commemorating its 75th anniversary with candle lightings in four cities. Edwin Black, who in 2010 published “The Farhud,” about the June 1-2, 1941 massacre of at least 180 Jews in Baghdad, will…

By Ron Kampeas May 30, 2016 | < 1 min read

Explore

Sephardic Jews

The Latest

Spain Scraps Language Test For Jewish Law Of Return

Rare Cache of Ladino Documents Tells History of Los Angeles Sephardic Jews

Sephardic Chief Rabbi: ‘Women Can Do Laundry’

For Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews, Whiteness Was a Fragile Identity Long Before Trump

Crossing the Bosphorus: My Great-Grandmother’s Sephardic Memoir

After Brexit, 300 British Sephardic Jews Seek Portugal Citizenship

Shearith Israel Will Appeal Loss in $7M Shul vs. Shul Feud With Touro Synagogue

1941 Baghdad Pogrom Commemorated With Candle Lightings

Most Popular

In Case You Missed It

Why a forgotten teacher’s grave became a Jewish pilgrimage site

Olympics committee defends sale of T-shirt commemorating 1936 Nazi-era Games

Muslim and Sephardic Jewish college students are connecting over shared heritage

The one Jewish value everyone should hold dear in the age of AI

Sephardic Jews

The Latest

Spain Scraps Language Test For Jewish Law Of Return

Rare Cache of Ladino Documents Tells History of Los Angeles Sephardic Jews

Sephardic Chief Rabbi: ‘Women Can Do Laundry’

For Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews, Whiteness Was a Fragile Identity Long Before Trump

Crossing the Bosphorus: My Great-Grandmother’s Sephardic Memoir

After Brexit, 300 British Sephardic Jews Seek Portugal Citizenship

Shearith Israel Will Appeal Loss in $7M Shul vs. Shul Feud With Touro Synagogue

1941 Baghdad Pogrom Commemorated With Candle Lightings

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In Case You Missed It

Why a forgotten teacher’s grave became a Jewish pilgrimage site

Olympics committee defends sale of T-shirt commemorating 1936 Nazi-era Games

Muslim and Sephardic Jewish college students are connecting over shared heritage

The one Jewish value everyone should hold dear in the age of AI

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