(JTA) The 40 leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations must have thought they had been mistaken for heads of states or soccer stars when they jetted into Madrid the other day. The visitors were treated like high-level diplomats, complete with round-the-clock police protection and motorcade escorts wherever they travelled. For…
Was Don Quixote’s impossible dream a Yiddisher one? The French author Dominique Aubier, whose study “Don Quixote: Prophet of Israel” has just been reprinted, apparently thinks so. Aubier’s book, which originally appeared in 1966, is based on the thesis now generally accepted by literary historians that the author of “Don Quixote,” Miguel de Cervantes, likely…
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…
A night-time scene in the historic district of Córdoba, Spain. / Josh Nathan-Kazis It’s only been a week since Spain’s cabinet approved a law offering citizenship to Sephardic Jews, but Israelis are already tripping over each other in their race to apply. Between 700 and 800 have sent email inquiries to Maya Weiss-Tamir, an Israeli…
The conferring of Spanish citizenship to Sephardic Jews will be automatic and independent of the government’s discretion, the country’s justice minister told a delegation of American Jews. Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon made the pledge during a speech Thursday before dozens of members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. He was referring…
Will I apply? That’s what people are asking me today, as news circulates of the law the Spanish cabinet just approved to offer citizenship to Sephardic Jews. Two weeks ago, the Forward published a long essay I wrote about this citizenship offer, which the Spanish justice and foreign ministers first proposed in 2012. I went…
A pro-Israel Spanish politician apologized for using the term “Jewish market” in describing budget negotiations. Jose Antonio Monago, the president of the local government of the Spanish autonomous region of Extremadura, said his statement was inappropriate but had been taken out of context. Monago, in an apology appearing Thursday in the Europa Press news agency,…
Kurt Hoffman How do you sum up 500 years of Sephardic history in just a couple of illustrations? That’s the challenge I had to answer in the pages of the Forward and on the web at forward.com. Josh Nathan-Kazis’ story tells about his attempt to make good on the Spanish government’s offer to issue passports…
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