Sephardic Jews
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News When Sephardic Salonica Burned A Century Ago — Only To Be Destroyed Again
(JTA) — A century ago, on Aug. 18, 1917, a massive fire roared through the Mediterranean port city of Salonica, Greece, then home to the largest and most dynamic Ladino-speaking Sephardi Jewish community in the world. According to local legend, the fire erupted one Sabbath afternoon amid World War I when the coals of a…
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Food The Secret Jewish History Of Rum
Today is National Rum Day. Little-known fact: Rum has some very Jewish origins. Sure, it’s not the syrupy, cloyingly sweet atrocity known as Manischewitz. But rum, which is derived from the molasses of sugarcane, was perfected by Jews escaping another atrocity: the Inquisition. In the year 1500, Brazil was claimed by the Portuguese and many…
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News This 400-Year-Old Jewish Library Survived The Inquisition — And Hitler
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Livraria Ets Haim is the world’s oldest functioning Jewish library. As such, it is no stranger to the prospect of imminent destruction. Founded in 1616 by Jews who fled Catholic persecution in Spain and Portugal, the three-room library is adjacent to Amsterdam’s majestic Portuguese Synagogue in the Dutch capital’s center. The 30,000-volume collection…
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Fast Forward Fallout For England’s Top Sephardic Rabbi Over Statements About Homosexuality
(JTA) — The United Kingdom’s top Sephardic rabbi has “stepped aside from the day-to-day activity” of the country’s Sephardi rabbinical court amid a furor over his statements about homosexuality. Rabbi Joseph Dweck, who serves as senior rabbi at London’s S&P Sephardi Community, came under fire after saying at a lecture last month that societal acceptance of homosexuality…
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Community Sorry, Rabbis: Gay Men Can’t Be Happy With Women — I Married One And I Know
As some in the Sephardi world stand in an uproar as one rabbi opens a dialog around homosexuality, I am grief stricken. Rabbi Joseph Dweck, Chief Rabbi of the Spanish Portuguese community in London, recently gave a class discussing homosexuality in the context of Jewish texts. His words in no way permitted that which is…
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Opinion Rescue Ladino, The Language Of Sephardic Jews
Ladino, the language of Sephardic Jews, also represents a culture that has survived hundreds of years and is still relevant today. And more people need to know about it. Ladino is a pan-Mediterranean language that crosses geographic, linguistic and cultural boundaries. Otherwise known as Judeo-Spanish, Ladino is the hybrid dialect that Jews from the Iberian…
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Fast Forward Mexico City Mayor Trumpets Country’s Sephardic Heritage
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — The mayor of Mexico City praised his country’s Sephardi heritage during the opening of the global biennial Erensya summit on Tuesday. “In Mexico we have history, we have inheritance, we have language that comes from Sephardi history,” Miguel Angel Mancera said. “We are proud to host this congress here and for…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Cry Foul As British Chief Sephardic Rabbi Praises Acceptance Of Gays
(JTA) — The United Kingdom’s top Sephardic rabbi became the center of an international controversy after he praised societal acceptance of homosexuality as a “fantastic development.” Rabbi Joseph Dweck came under fire after making the comment at a lecture last month. An Orthodox rabbi in London asked a rabbinic court to look into removing Dweck from his position, and a…
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