Sephardic Jews
The Latest
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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…
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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…
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Fast Forward Portugal Issues First Passport Under Sephardic ‘Law of Return’
Officials in Lisbon approved the naturalization of a Panamanian national who applied for a Portuguese passport under recent legislation benefiting descendants of Sephardic Jews. Alfonso Paredes is the first applicant to obtain Portuguese nationality since new regulations for the naturalization of Sephardic Jews went into effect in March, according to the Jewish Community of Porto,…
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Fast Forward Sephardic Rabbi Says Jews Sparked Temple Mount Violence With Visits
A leading Sephardic rabbi who advises the haredi Orthodox Shas party criticized Jews who have been visiting the Temple Mount, saying they “sparked all the current tumult.” Rabbi Shimon Baadani, a member of Shas’ Council of Torah Sages, said Thursday on a Shas radio program, according to Haaretz: “Do not provoke the nations, even if…
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Fast Forward Spain Starts Review of Sephardic Citizenship Claims
Spanish officials will begin reviewing citizenship applications by some 4,500 individuals who identified themselves as descendants of Sephardic Jews, the country’s Jewish communities said. The review is set to begin on Oct. 2 following the adoption and passing earlier this year of Law 12/2015 and a related amendment to the kingdom’s civil code, the Federation…
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Opinion Will Anti-Semitism Drive Turkey’s Sephardic Jews to Spain?
How about this for a Hollywood script? It’s 1492, and Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expel their Jewish subjects. In response, the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II sends ships to Spain to collect them. How nice of him. They flourish under Muslim rule and, centuries later, receive equal rights as citizens. Fast-forward to 2002 and…
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Opinion Ashkenormativity Is Twice as Common — and Harmful — in LGBTQ Jewish Spaces
After Kiddush on Shabbat, someone comes up to me to critique my recitation. Either the person asks why I pronounced the last word as “hagefen” rather than “hagafen,” or I am less-than-politely informed of the “correct” pronunciation. When I respond that my Sephardic custom is to say “hagefen,” the reply is always the same: “I…
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The Schmooze Can You Guess Osama Bin Laden’s Favorite Jewish Singer?
Here’s a guy you might not have expected would have had an extensive audiotape collection: Osama Bin Laden. Here’s who you definitely wouldn’t expect to be found in it: an Algerian Jew. on the findings in Williams College professor Flagg Williams’ forthcoming book, The Audacious Ascetic, on Bin Laden’s private music collection. Yes, it included…
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