Sephardic Jews
The Latest
-
The Schmooze Enrico Macias, Sephardic Superstar
If you’ve grown up as a Sephardic Jew, there’s one singer that you’ve reliably heard at every single wedding, bar/bat-mitzvah, engagement party, Shabbat, or celebration of any kind. His name is Enrico Macias. Born Gaston Ghrenassia in Constantine — then in French Algeria — in 1938, the Jewish “Pied Noir” singer has come to embody…
-
News Is Sephardic Spanish Citizenship ‘Fever’ for Real?
(JTA) — News that Spain is proposing to offer citizenship to the descendants of Jews expelled in the 15th and 16th centuries spread like wildfire in Israel. Within hours of the Spanish government’s announcement last month, the Israeli website Ynet published a list of family names supposedly eligible for citizenship that contained some obviously Ashkenazi…
-
Fast Forward Orthodox Parties in Israel Issue Ban on Yeshiva Students Enlisting in IDF
The rabbinic councils of three Orthodox parties in Israel have issued a statement prohibiting their yeshiva students from enlisting in the Israeli military. The senior rabbis of the Lithuanian haredi Orthodox Degel Hatorah and Hasidic Agudat Yisrael, and the Sephardic Orthodox Shas parties issued the statement following a joint meeting on Monday night. It was…
-
Fast Forward Ancient Mikveh Unearthed Near Barcelona
A 15th century mikveh was discovered at the location of the last synagogue in the old Jewish quarter of Girona in Catalonia, Spain. The discovery of the Jewish ritual bath is significant since there are very few preserved mikvehs left in Europe and it further highlights the importance of Girona’s rich Jewish heritage. Girona is…
-
Food The Galapagos of Sephardic Food
While researching about Sephardic food, I realized that what for many were exotic flavors and foreign cooking techniques; for me was just average home food. So I started wondering why the Chilean and the Sephardic cuisine are so alike? I started comparing recipes and doing some research on their origins, to finally be able to…
-
Fast Forward Moroccan Nationalists Protest Exhibit on Sephardic Jews in Tangier
Moroccan nationalists protested the opening of an exhibition on Moroccan Jews in Tangier. At least 150 people gathered Feb. 18 in front of the venue where the Spanish government’s cultural Cervantes Institute opened an exhibition entitled “The Spanish Jews in Morocco and their Diasporas,” the Spanish news agency EFE reported. The protest in the northern…
-
Fast Forward Muslims Demand Same Spain Return Right as Sephardic Jews
Spanish Muslims urged their government to grant citizenship to descendants of Muslims who were expelled from Spain in addition to Jews. The demand was made this week in a statement by the Association for Historical Legacy of Al-Andalus, the Spanish news agency EFE reported on Feb. 17. “The Spanish state should grant the same rights…
-
Fast Forward Portugal To Offer Passports To Sephardic Jews
Following Spain’s lead, Portugal announced this weekend that it will grant citizenship to descendants of Portuguese Jews who were expelled during the Inquisition. The drafted legislation is identical to Spain’s, according to Haaretz. While the principles of the bill are set, the specific wording and criteria still need to be finalized. Spain’s bill provides a…
Most Popular
- 1
News A pioneering Reform synagogue makes way for a booming Iranian Jewish community
- 2
News Hampshire College closure reverberates for alumni who treasured a Yiddishist hub
- 3
News Brad Lander joins call to end U.S. aid to Israel, in quest to replace Rep. Dan Goldman
- 4
Opinion Viktor Orbán may fall. Netanyahu should be next
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Who’s responsible for deadly antisemitism? Everyone will hate the answer
-
Looking Forward Stumbling across Jewish history in a vintage store
-
Film & TV Remembering Siskel and Ebert’s great debate: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen?
-
News A Jewish gun club teams up with the NRA, in pursuit of self-defense
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
