The Times of Israel https://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/inquisition/ News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World Wed, 10 Jun 2026 14:03:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://static-cdn.toi-media.com/www/uploads/2018/11/toi_icon_512-200x200.png Inquisition | The Times of Israel https://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/inquisition/ 32 32 Inspired by Purim heroine Esther, Inquisition-era crypto-Jews feasted in her honor https://www.timesofisrael.com/inspired-by-purim-heroine-esther-inquisition-era-crypto-jews-feasted-in-her-honor/ Mon, 06 Mar 2023 14:48:17 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=2963819 Church records tell of a Jewish woman's 1688 confession to admiring Queen Esther, who also hid her Jewish identity. Her community prepared special foods for 'St. Esther's Feast'

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]]> Initiatives help descendants of Crypto-Jews reconnect with stolen Sephardic heritage https://www.timesofisrael.com/initiatives-help-descendants-of-crypto-jews-reconnect-with-stolen-sephardic-heritage/ Tue, 27 Sep 2022 05:05:21 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=2838710 Certificate of Sephardic Ancestry validates identity, while an online ancestral database of 45,000 Sephardic family names makes searching for roots easier

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]]> Portugal’s government steps back from plan to change ‘law of return’ for Jews https://www.timesofisrael.com/no-drastic-change-to-portugals-law-of-return-for-jews-government-says/ Thu, 16 Jul 2020 12:06:27 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=2348337 After months of threatening to derail the 2015 nationality law with draconian requirements, Socialist Party says it will instead insist on applicants showing a 'genuine connection'

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]]> How Jews expelled from Spain forged a diaspora with ties to 25% of Latin America https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-jews-expelled-from-spain-forged-a-diaspora-with-ties-to-25-of-latin-america/ Fri, 25 Oct 2019 23:50:41 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=2169361 Film 'Children of the Inquisition' examines forced conversion of Sephardim from the Iberian Peninsula 500 years ago and why their descendants still feel ripple effects

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]]> 500 years after Inquisition, 10,000 Sephardi Jews close circle with citizenships https://www.timesofisrael.com/500-years-after-inquisition-10000-sephardi-jews-close-circle-with-citizenships/ Wed, 31 Jul 2019 18:44:20 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=2118752 While some apply for Portuguese and Spanish citizenship to celebrate their family's roots, most look to economic opportunity and a future that an European passport can offer

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]]> In Mallorca, Purim was once the most important day for its persecuted Jewry https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-mallorca-purim-was-once-the-most-important-day-for-its-persecuted-jewry/ Thu, 21 Mar 2019 05:37:47 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=2035600 The forcibly converted community of a small Spanish island used to exploit Purim's relative obscurity to mourn their situation and sustain their faith and culture

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]]> Galileo sought to pacify Church in early exchanges, newly unearthed letter shows https://www.timesofisrael.com/galileo-sought-to-pacify-church-in-early-exchanges-newly-unearthed-letter-shows/ Sat, 22 Sep 2018 02:48:12 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=1929244 Document, which lay forgotten in Royal Society library for hundreds of years, reveals astronomer tried to soften position on bible-science clash to avoid angering Inquisition

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]]> Abbas adviser compares Israeli security at Temple Mount to Nazism, Inquisition https://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-adviser-compares-israeli-security-at-temple-mount-to-nazism-inquisition/ Sat, 07 Jul 2018 07:23:44 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=1884681 Mahmoud Habbash laments restrictions on Muslim access to Al-Aqsa Mosque: 'Are they trying to do to others what was done to them?'

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]]> Memoir of secretly baptized Jewish boy kidnapped by Vatican under fresh scrutiny https://www.timesofisrael.com/memoir-of-secretly-baptized-jewish-boy-kidnapped-by-vatican-under-new-scrutiny/ Fri, 20 Apr 2018 16:31:24 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=1834207 New evidence in 160-year-old affair shows that Edgardo Mortara's memoir was altered to take the edge off his anti-Semitic views and enhance details favorable to the Catholic Church

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]]> Why Amsterdam’s beloved nickname is a centuries-old Yiddish word, ‘Mokum’ https://www.timesofisrael.com/why-amsterdams-beloved-nickname-is-a-centuries-old-yiddish-word-mokum/ Sun, 25 Mar 2018 01:03:38 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=1784594 Recalling a golden age for the Netherlands and Dutch Jewry, on today's streets of Amsterdam, mamaloshen still peppers local slang

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]]> A soaring number of Jews acquired Portuguese citizenship in 2017 https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-soaring-number-of-jews-acquired-portuguese-citizenship-in-2017/ Sat, 24 Feb 2018 00:41:05 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=1797885 Increase in naturalization under 2015 law comes amid host of government initiatives to strengthen country’s ties to Jewish world

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]]> Food makers in Portugal are going kosher — and not why you think https://www.timesofisrael.com/food-makers-in-portugal-are-going-kosher-and-not-why-you-think/ Thu, 28 Dec 2017 04:26:09 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=1754849 With about 20% of Iberians thought to possess Jewish ancestry, factory owners seek to get closer to Judaism through the products they make

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]]> How a 15th-century Hebrew Bible survived the Inquisition unscathed https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-this-pristine-15th-century-hebrew-bible-survived-the-inquisition/ Thu, 19 Oct 2017 02:22:56 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=1713619 Home to the Abravanel manuscript, 737-year-old University of Coimbra outsmarted and outlived the 1536 Portuguese campaign of persecution against Jews and free thinkers

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]]> Aerospace pioneer Simon Ramo dies at 103 https://www.timesofisrael.com/aerospace-pioneer-simon-ramo-dies-at-103/ Thu, 30 Jun 2016 19:28:52 +0000 http://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=1419143 Son of Jewish immigrants was a key figure in America’s intercontinental ballistic missile development

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]]> Skeletons in Portugal may be Jewish victims of Inquisition https://www.timesofisrael.com/skeletons-in-portugal-may-be-jewish-victims-of-inquisition/ Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:18:55 +0000 http://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=1235918 Archaeologists find remains of 12 people whose bodies were flung into prison garbage dump in 16th century

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