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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 538

Spanish Inquisition

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
Rabbi Gilberto Ventura leads the Jewish community of Catania in a recent service. (David I. Klein/JTA)
June 20, 2023, 6:57 am
With 1st rabbi in 500 years, Sicily’s Jews fight for mainstream Jewish acceptance
Despite decades of grassroots work, a community descended from Jews forced into hiding during the Spanish Inquisition fights an uphill battle against local religious bureaucracy
By David I. Klein
Illustration showing Jews burning during the Inquisition (public domain)
March 6, 2023, 4:48 pm
Inspired by Purim heroine Esther, Inquisition-era crypto-Jews feasted in her honor
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’
By Ronit Treatman
A site confirmed by archaeologists to be the remains of a 14th-century synagogue in Utrera, Spain, February 7, 2023. (YouTube screenshot: Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
February 8, 2023, 10:49 am
Archaeologists uncover rare remains of 14th-century Spanish synagogue
Historian Rodrigo Caro hinted at temple’s existence in 1604, writing that site was formerly used by Jews to pray; after years of analysis, archaeologist confirms prayer room
By AP
Doreen Alhadeff (center) poses with Mayor of Torremolinos Jose Ortiz (left) and David Obadia, president of the Jewish Community of Torremolinos and Spanish flags after signing her Spanish citizenship papers on February 2, 2016 in Torremolinos, Spain. (courtesy)
September 29, 2022, 5:38 am
Jewish woman to be knighted for helping Sephardic Jews gain Spanish citizenship
Doreen Alhadeff, who was 1st American Jew granted citizenship under 2015 Spain law and later helped guide people through process, says honor shows ‘unbelievable promise’
By Jackie Hajdenberg
From left to right: Genealogist Genie Milgrom, Reconnectar's Ashley Perry, and ASF Institute of Jewish Experience's Drora Arussy (Avrom Ariev)
September 27, 2022, 8:05 am
Initiatives help descendants of Crypto-Jews reconnect with stolen Sephardic heritage
Certificate of Sephardic Ancestry validates identity, while an online ancestral database of 45,000 Sephardic family names makes searching for roots easier
By Renee Ghert-Zand
Illustrative: Jews pray during Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, at the Magen Abraham Synagogue in Ahmedabad, India on September 28, 2020. (Sam Panthaky/AFP)
July 26, 2022, 10:58 am
Stone pillar in southern India may shed new light on region’s oldest synagogue
Jewish groups have history in India dating back to antiquity; pillar found not far from Chennai, where Sephardic Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition formed a community
By Jordyn Haime
Roman Abramovich, former owner of Chelsea, smiles following the team's victory during the UEFA Champions League in Porto, Portugal, on May 29, 2021. (Alexander Hassenstein/UEFA/Getty Images via JTA)
April 2, 2022, 11:55 am
Documents linked to Abramovich’s controversial Portuguese citizenship leak online
Russian-Israeli billionaire’s naturalization has become symbol for suspected abuse of Portuguese law; surfaced documents include testimonies from rabbis, copy of Israeli passport
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Photos of the mikvah at the Synagogue of Water in Úbeda, Spain. (Joaquín Fruiz/ via JTA)
February 1, 2022, 4:44 am
Spanish towns unearth ancient synagogues to bring back Jewish history — and tourists
Expelled in 1492, the once-prosperous Sephardic Jews left a striking medieval architectural legacy. Now, landowners are digging it up, along with a possible gold mine of tourism
By Orge Castellano
Toni Pinya enters the synagogue of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, February 11, 2019. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
September 21, 2021, 11:49 am
For Mallorca’s Jews, first ‘public’ sukkah is triumph over Spanish Inquisition
This weeklong holiday of Sukkot, which began Monday evening, marks the first time in centuries that the community has received municipal space and funding for the traditional booth
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Spain's King Juan Carlos, left, speaks with chairperson of the governing Sephardic Community of Jerusalem Abraham Haim before a meeting in the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, Spain, March 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Abraham Caro Marin)
August 27, 2021, 12:02 pm
Why is Spain suddenly turning down many Jews who apply for citizenship?
In the last quarter, thousands of applications have been rejected due to fear of fraud and what some experts call retroactively implemented bureaucratic standards
By Orge Castellano
A Spanish flag on a window ledge with a black ribbon in Madrid, April 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
July 25, 2021, 3:08 am
After welcoming Sephardic Jews, Spain rejects thousands of citizenship requests
Madrid reportedly has turned down 3,000 requests in recent months and hasn’t responded to 17,000 others who are seeking Spanish nationality under 2015 law
By ToI Staff and Agencies
Eric Lander, the incoming director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, participates in a swearing-in ceremony with US Vice President Kamala Harris in her ceremonial office, as his wife Lori Lander holds a 13-page fragment of a Pirkei Avot text from 1492 in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on June 2, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP)
June 3, 2021, 6:35 am
Biden science adviser takes oath on 500-year-old Jewish text
Eric Lander becomes 1st cabinet-level official to receive post using 1492 Pirkei Avot — a Mishnaic compendium of Jewish precepts — published in Naples by Jews fleeing Inquisition
By PHILISSA CRAMER
Clockwise from top left: 'The Secret Music at Tordesillas' by Marjorie Sandor; the Calle de la Juderia, or Jewish quarter, in Segovia, Spain; author Marjorie Sandor (all photos courtesy of Sandor); Oud instruments in Cairo (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser).
March 7, 2021, 9:45 pm
Echoes of lost music haunt an Inquisition-era love story between two crypto-Jews
National Jewish Book Award winner Marjorie Sandor discusses scouring an ancient history that Spanish monarchs worked hard to erase for her novel ‘The Secret Music at Tordesillas’
By Yaakov Schwartz
A rare scroll of the Book of Esther, believed to have been penned in mid-15th century in the Iberian Peninsula. (National Library of Israel)
February 22, 2021, 6:19 pm
15th-century Esther scroll, among oldest in world, gifted to National Library
Rare full text believed to have been penned in Iberian Peninsula around 1465, mere decades before Spanish and Portuguese expulsions
By ToI Staff
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