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Sephardic Jews

Israel's Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, listens during a meeting with US President Donald Trump, Lebanon's Ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and Leiter, at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2026. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
May 10, 2026, 4:35 pm
Israeli envoy takes rare swipe at US Jewish groups for cosponsoring Spanish exhibit
Yechiel Leiter says partnering with embassy for show on Jewish life in Moorish Spain ‘risks lending legitimacy to government working to vilify Israel’; World Jewish Congress responds: Disengagement not the answer
By Jacob Magid
Tamara Cohen has sold challah along with bagels every week since she opened Mazál. (Shira Li Bartov/ JTA)
January 29, 2026, 5:21 am
Her ancestors were expelled from Spain. Now she’s bringing bagels to Madrid
After proving ancestry and getting Spanish citizenship, Tamara Cohen found herself in a Jewish food desert. Her restaurant, Mazal, is providing a nosh for Jews and non-Jews alike
By Shira Li Bartov
Ultra-Orthodox girls walk to school in the neighborhood of Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, on August 30, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
October 23, 2025, 11:06 pm
Weeks into school year, some Haredi girls still at home due to discrimination
For almost two months, entrenched bias against Israelis of Sephardic origin has left some ultra-Orthodox students without a place to study
By Rossella Tercatin
The Musaf prayer for Rosh Hashanah in a page of the rare 15th century Lisbon Mahzor now at the National Library of Israel. (Courtesy Kedem Auction House via JTA)
September 21, 2025, 1:01 pm
15th-century Portuguese High Holiday prayer book completed with discovery of lost pages
Rare manuscript was divided into 3 sections at some point in history; final 2 parts found when they came up for auction, were purchased on behalf of National Library of Israel
By Grace Gilson
Ultra-Orthodox girls make their way to school in Jerusalem, November 24, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
September 5, 2025, 2:49 pm
Education Ministry threatens to slash school’s budget for refusing to admit Sephardim
Warning undercuts Jerusalem mayor’s claim of solving the admissions issue. Beit Shemesh denies knowledge of proposal to create ‘new educational framework’ for unplaced students
By Sam Sokol and Rossella Tercatin
Illustrative: Ultra-Orthodox girls make their way to school in Jerusalem, November 24, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
September 2, 2025, 11:35 pm
Education Ministry intervenes after Haredi schools refuse to admit Sephardim
Ministry says offending schools in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh could be subject to ‘denial of funding’ and revocation of their licenses to operate
By Sam Sokol and Rossella Tercatin
Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, during a weekly teaching at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, on June 7, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
August 17, 2025, 3:48 am
Ex-chief rabbi pans Haredi leaders for trusting ‘atheist’ Netanyahu on conscription bill
Shas spiritual leader Yitzhak Yosef accuses military police of disproportionately targeting Sephardic draft dodgers, repeats threat that Haredi community will leave Israel en masse
By ToI Staff
Ultra Orthodox girls at their seminary in Jerusalem, on September 2, 2014. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 8, 2025, 4:47 pm
Prominent Haredi school to operate separate program for Sephardi girls – report
Development follows years of discrimination against students of Middle Eastern origin in ultra-Orthodox educational frameworks and vain attempts to crack down on it
By Rossella Tercatin
ILLUSTRATIVE: Man holds Spanish passport, June 9, 2009. (LEON NEAL / AFP)
July 1, 2025, 3:38 pm
Spain uncovers ring of fraudsters behind fake Sephardic citizenship applications
Multi-million-dollar fraud scheme allegedly exploited Spain’s ‘law of return,’ which grants citizenship to Jews who can trace their roots to pre-Inquisition Iberia
By Orge Castellano
Portrait of a man thought to be Christopher Columbus by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1519.(public domain)
October 13, 2024, 12:32 pm
Study finds Christopher Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe
Researchers analyze DNA fragmented remains believed to be world-shaping explorer’s; they say any further narrowing down of his origins remains elusive
By Graham Keeley
A sheet from early US president James Madison's ledger, containing the name of Haym Salomon, a Sephardic Jewish financier involved in the American Revolution. (Courtesy The Raab Collection)
September 25, 2024, 8:09 am
Rare document shows Jewish financier’s role in American Revolution
Surviving page from James Madison’s ledger shows contribution of Haym Salomon, a Sephardic Jewish immigrant from Poland, who gave equivalent of $23m to revolutionary cause
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Howard Teich, the founding chair of the Manhattan Jewish Historical Initiative, speaks at a monument in The Battery that marks the Jewish arrival in New York in September 1654, New York, September 13, 2023. (Julia Gergely via JTA)
September 12, 2024, 9:51 pm
NYC Council to vote on recognizing anniversary of first Jewish arrivals in city
Bill aims to mark little-known Landing Day, marking date of 1654 arrival of first Jews in then-New Amsterdam, and ‘celebrate the continuing importance of the Jewish community’
By julia GERGELY
Cover art from Nani Vazana's most recent album, 'Ke Haber.' (Courtesy)
October 8, 2023, 11:39 am
This Israel-born musician is spearheading a Ladino revival, from Taiwan to Toronto
Taking her show on the road, singer and trombonist Nani Vazana brings a lost language and culture to audiences familiar with it and to newcomers alike
By Martin Rosenberg
This portrait of Benjamin Melendez was included in the 2010 exhibition 'Only in New York.' (Julian Voloj/JTA)
September 8, 2023, 4:22 am
How a Puerto Rican-Jewish gang leader helped create hip-hop in the Bronx
New 5-part podcast ‘Can You Dig It’ explores the story of ‘Yellow Benjy’ Melendez, who brokered peace and whose influence allowed an emerging musical genre to take root and grow
By Andrew Esensten
The former metro building on Calle Castelló in Madrid, Spain is the intended seat of the Hispano-Jewish Museum, the first of its caliber on the Iberian Peninsula. (Google Maps)
July 27, 2023, 3:03 pm
Hispanic Jewish group signs lease for $40 million museum
Institution in the city’s upscale Salamanca district will be the first of its caliber in Spain and the Iberian Peninsula, a founder says
By Canaan Lidor
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