Behukotai – Devotional Talmud Torah
How do you build a synagogue? That’s easy, fundraising. Also, bricks, brass and glass. Of course, religious objects, people and shelihei tzibbur. The real question though, is how does one […]
Author Archives: shalommorris
Behar – The Parnas and the Pauper
The term parnas is usually translated as the president or prince of the community. Indeed, the head of the mahamad in London is even called the parnas presidente. However, the […]
The Touro Trial and the Legacy of Anglo-American Jewry
The Jewish trial of the century has just concluded. The trial pitted the oldest American Jewish community against the oldest American synagogue. At stake was the legacy of America’s Colonial era Jews. […]
Kedoshim – and Canonicals
One of the most noticeable features at many of the Spanish and Portuguese synagogues are the canonical robes worn by the rabbis and hazanim (often called ministers). They are striking because they are so similar […]
The Venetian Ghetto – Birthplace of the S&P
Venice is where it all began for the Western Sephardim (though there may be some antecedents in Ferrara). It was there that the first openly Jewish Western Sephardic (“S&P”) community was […]
Ahare Mot – From Loss to Life
People process loss in different ways. We’ve previously explored the different ways that Aharon and Judah Leon Abrabanel mourned the losses of their sons. Aharon was silent, while Abrabanel wrote […]
Montefiore and the Splitting of the Sea
In 1827 Sir Moses Montefiore wrote, I “threw into the sea a piece of my Passover cake, at the same time praying to G-d to preserve us, as He had […]
Passover, Shakespeare and Cervantes
The first day of this year’s Pesah, the 22nd and 23 of April, marked 400 years since the passing of two great literary giants. Englishman William Shakespeare and Spaniard Miguel […]
North Manchester – Sha’are Tefila
Manchester is one of the most recent cities to establish a Spanish & Portuguese community. Theirs was inaugurated in 1874 along Cheetham Hill Road in North Manchester. Jews first arrived […]
Nidhe Israel – Bridgetown, Barbados
With its white sandy beaches, blue skies, and year-long warm weather, it’s difficult to imagine that the island of Barbados was once home to a thriving Spanish and Portuguese Jewish […]
Shalom Says Hello 