Sephardic Jews
The Latest
-
Fast Forward Rhode Island Congregation Wins $7M Shul vs. Shul Legal Battle Over Shearith Israel
The Rhode Island congregation that worships at the United States’ oldest synagogue owns that house of worship and its assets, a federal judge ruled on Monday, rejecting a New York synagogue’s claim to oversight. The ruling follows a four-year legal battle that began when members of the Touro Synagogue in Newport tried to sell a…
-
Opinion Jews of Color Get Personal and Political at First-Ever National Gathering
If you want to get black Jews, Mizrahi Jews and a Palestinian-American Muslim to burst into tears at the same time, invite Yavilah McCoy to talk about hair. Speaking at the opening plenary of the Jews of Color National Convening, which took place May 1–3 in Manhattan, McCoy gestured at the woman beside her, a…
-
News Meet the Congolese Politician with Jewish Roots — and Presidential Potential
The Democratic Republic of Congo is at a crossroads: Its next election, scheduled for the fall, could be the first open presidential race in 50 years. One rising star and potential candidate is a man named Moïse Katumbi, business tycoon and former governor of mineral-rich Katanga, in the south of the country. Katumbi is a…
-
Opinion When Ashkenazi Jews Eat Kitniyot on Passover, Is It Cultural Appropriation — from Sephardim?
How do millions of Ashkenazi Jews react when, after hundreds of years, they finally get permission to eat kitniyot on Passover? We’re about to find out. Last December, the Conservative movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards approved a teshuvah, a Jewish legal ruling, permitting the consumption of kitniyot on Passover. Kitniyot — foods like…
-
Fast Forward Portugal Right of Return Law Breathes New Life Into Tiny Community
(JTA) — Five years ago, this city’s tiny Jewish community was so strapped for cash it couldn’t afford to fix the deep cracks in its synagogue’s moldy ceiling. The Jewish Community of Porto was also too poor to hire a full-time rabbi because of its small size (50 members) and the paucity of donors in…
-
Fast Forward Spain King Honors 4,302 New Sephardic Citizens
Spain’s king honored Sephardic Jews at a ceremony recognizing a new law that confers citizenship on the descendants of those banished during the Inquisition. “Dear Sephardim, thank you for your loyalty,” King Felipe VI told representatives of Sephardim from various countries at the royal palace on Monday, The Local-Spain news website reported. “Thank you for…
-
Opinion Racist Israeli Hanukkah Video Mocks Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews
Today, November 30, is a special day in Israel. It’s “,” the day that the country commemorates the expulsion of Jews from Arab countries. It’s also supposed to be the day when the Israeli government recognizes its own historic discrimination against Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. How awkward, then, that today is also the day a…
-
Fast Forward Yitzhak Navon, Israel’s First Sephardic President, Buried in Jerusalem
Israel’s fifth president, Yitzhak Navon, was buried in a state funeral on Mount Herzl. Navon , Israel’s first Separdi president, died Friday at the age of 94. His body lay in state on Sunday morning before his funeral at noon, attended by his family, current Israeli leaders and former Israeli leaders. In his eulogy at…
Most Popular
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Netanyahu says ‘tragic mishap’ fueled Gaza hospital strikes that killed 20, including 5 journalists
-
Fast Forward Kneecap cancels sold-out US tour, one day after clash with Jewish protesters in Paris
-
News How the online knitting world unraveled over Israel and Gaza
-
Culture The Trump administration says it’s posting ‘banger memes’ — here’s why that’s a problem for Jews
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism