Daily Video Updates
Dear All, With so many of us stuck at home and isolated from one another I’ve decided to put together some videos for you from within London’s Bevis Marks Synagogue. […]
Category Archives: Travels
My Odyssey to Discover and Touch Past and Present Spanish Jewish Life
Jerusalem – The City of Sir Moses Montefiore
A beloved Israeli children’s song honors the long and productive life of Sir Moses Montefiore. Released by Yehoram Gaon in 1969, the song imagines a conversation between Sir Moses, the renowned […]
Bemidbar – Making Census of the S&P
ב שְׂאוּ, אֶת-רֹאשׁ כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, The rabbinic name for Sefer Bemidbar is the same as its English name, ‘Numbers.’ The rabbis called it Sefer Hapikudim, ‘The Book of Countings,’ as […]
Naples, Pompeii and Amalfi – Two Millenia of Jewry
One of my more interesting heritage visits was to the city of Naples and its Western Sephardic community. Sephardic exiles moved there in 1492, however, when Spain took control in […]
Holland Park Synagogue – London
The Spanish & Portuguese congregation of Holland Park, London built their beautiful synagogue in 1928. I had the pleasure of celebrating its 90th anniversary on 10 March 2019. Despite my […]
Debarim – Traveling the S&P
Over the past ten years I’ve visited about fifty sites relating to the history of the S&P. These include historic and living synagogues, cemeteries, schools, and locations in Spain and […]
Sha’are Ratzon – Jerusalem, Israel
I recently visited one of the world’s newest S&P congregations, and it couldn’t be located in a better place! The congregation’s home is the Istanbuli Synagogue in the historic ‘Four Sephardi Synagogues’ […]
Yerushalayim – When Jerusalem Was Sephardic
Yerushalayim used to be a Sephardic town. Following the ravages of the Crusades, Sephardim led the way in restoring the Holy Land’s Jewish character. In the wake of the Spanish […]
Genoa, Italy – Columbus, Cinque Terre, and Sephardim
Up the Italian coast from Pisa is Liguria. This region encompasses the historic Republic of Genoa. Genoa was a major banking centre in the 16th century, and it maintained close […]
Pisa, Italy – Yup, Sephardic Too!
When you think Pisa, you think one thing and only one thing. To my delight, I discovered that Pisa should also be known for something else, and that is its […]
Shalom Says Hello 