We, Hispanists and Jewish Studies scholars, are writing in response to Daniella Levy’s “Dear Spain: Want to Attract Jews? You’re Doing It Wrong” published in Scribe on July 24, 2017. We understand that the views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Forward. Nevertheless,…
(JTA) — Spain’s leading linguistic authority will create an academy in Israel dedicated to the study and preservation of the Ladino language. The institution will be the 24th branch of the Spanish Royal Academy, the Guardian reported Tuesday. Dario Villanueva, director of the Spanish Royal Academy, or RAE, said Ladino is “an extraordinarily important cultural…
Dear Spain, I couldn’t help but notice your overtures in recent years to appeal to Jewish tourists and immigrants. In an ostensible gesture of righting a historic wrong, Spain recently began offering citizenship to descendants of expelled Spanish Jews. A new museum dedicated to Jewish heritage is about to open in Málaga. There is a…
(JTA) — Spanish judges scrapped motions favoring a boycott of Israel which were passed last year by the city councils of two municipalities. The rulings last week by separate tribunals in two of Spain’s autonomous regions bring to 20 the number of municipalities that, over the past three years, either reversed their motions of support…
(JTA) — The main rabbinical seminary in Europe for Reform and Masorti Jews ordained the first ever Spain-born Progressive rabbi, the seminary’s spokesperson said. Rabbi Haim Casas, who was born and raised in Cordoba, was ordained at a ceremony in London last week along with six other rabbis of the Leo Baeck College, the institution…
(JTA) — For the second time in less than a year, a high court in Spain scrapped the adoption of a boycott against Israel by a municipality. The Superior Tribunal of Justice of Madrid in its decision last week affirmed a lower court ruling in January against the resolution last year endorsing the boycott by…
On June 21, 1967, with the Arab world still smarting from their stunning defeat in the Six Day War, the Spanish government undertook a secret operation to free hundreds of Jews from Egyptian prisons. At the outbreak of the Six Day War, Egypt arrested hundreds of Jews – “at least one from each family, in…
German neo-Nazis are traveling abroad to party in Spain, openly displaying tattoos and flags that are outlawed in Germany, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday. Following the fall of the Third Reich, Germany outlawed displays of the swastika, Hitler salutes and all other Nazi symbolism. Offenders can receive jail time. However, the British paper reported, a…
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