The City of Toledo, Spain, has opened an advanced studies of Spanish Jewry course for 50 tour guides. The program, which is the city’s first initiative of its kind, began on Oct. 14 and will offer two weekly classes until February, Silvia González Plaza of the Toldeo Municipal Tourist Office told JTA. Titled “The Toledo…
Representatives of Spain’s Jewish communities asked Catholic Church officials to return a former synagogue in Toledo during an interfaith conference in Madrid. Isaac Querub, the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain, or FCJE, made the request Sunday during the 22nd meeting of the Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee, a body set up by the…
Dr. William Greenfield of Libertyville, Ill., asks: “Are you familiar with George Borrow’s identifying a living marrano in 19th-century Spain by his speech pattern? It’s in his book ‘The Bible in Spain.’” Never having heard of George Borrow, I went to the Internet and found a digital copy of “The Bible in Spain.” A fascinating…
Two Spanish towns are preparing a Judaica festival featuring a mock wedding to celebrate their lost Jewish heritage. The event, co-organized by non-Jews from San Juan and Rio Jerte in the province Extremadura in northwestern Spain, will also include a Judaica market and songs on Sept. 28-29, according festival coordinator Antonio Gil. “This is a…
The Jewish community of Madrid has denied the authenticity of quotes attributed to its chief rabbi, in which he reportedly called homosexuals “deviants” who need “re-educating.” “For a very long time now, we have been supporting the gay community’s fight against discrimination,” read a statement by the community published Tuesday in Religion Digital, a Spanish-language…
Last March I visited a good friend studying in Spain. Being early spring, I packed scarves, boots, and jeans for our trip to Valencia. My friend and I arrived at the hostel in a full sweat, annoyed at just how inaccurate the weatherman had been. Tired and hot, I checked out the forlorn hostel kitchen….
A Spanish couple that built a Jewish museum in Granada celebrated its opening day by getting married there. Gabriel Perez and Beatriz Cavalier got married during the dedication ceremony earlier this month of the Sephardic Museum of Granada – a small institution they set up in the southern Spanish city after years of fundraising and…
A town in northern Spain is preparing to hold its first Passover seder since the areas Jews were forced to flee during the Spanish Inquisition of 1492. The festive dinner will take place in the old center of the town of Ribadavia on March 25 and is being organized by the municipality’s tourism department in…
100% of profits support our journalism
