Andalusia, Spain – Preserving ‘Sepharad’
Throughout much of history the Iberian Peninsula was divided amongst numerous kingdoms. In a sense, even today Spain remains not one but many different countries. I’ve previously visited Spain’s Catalonia […]
Tag Archives: Spain
Granada, Spain – The End of Sephardic Jewry
Granada is the Andalusia of people’s imagination, with its hills, white stucco buildings, flamenco, tea houses, and the Alhambra. It’s no surprise really that its Moorish influenced culture is still […]
Cordoba, Spain – The Beginning of Sephardic Jewry
Sephardic Jewry began in Cordoba. Cordoba was the seat of the Spanish Caliphate. It therefore was a major centre of Jewish life in early Muslim Andalusia, and it remained so until […]
Seville, Spain – Sephardic Centre Stage
Seville plays centre stage in the story of Sephardic Jewish history. Nearly every major development in the Iberian Sephardic experience was first manifest in this beautiful, historic, vibrant, and atmospheric […]
Basque Country – Following The Converso Escape Route
Basque Country is a unique and fascinating region. It preserves its own language – not like any other, though it straddles both sides of the French-Spanish border. Located just west […]
Catalonia – Barcelona and Girona
My recent trip to Spain reinforced my love of local history museums. Local museums typically orient broader historical developments around their own. In so doing they add new perspectives to historical developments that […]
Shofetim – Immigration, Portugal, and Prohibitions
I finally feel like the proverbial Jew. For the first time in my life I am an immigrant! All joking aside, Jews are accustomed to relocating, whether forced to do […]
Castelo de Vide – Portugal
This post will leave you stunned. I’ve returned to Portugal, this time with a group of 40 Jews from Israel and America. One place that we visited that was entirely […]
Rosh Hashanah – Martyrdom or Life?
The central Torah reading of Rosh Hashanah is Akedat Yitzhak, the Binding of Isaac (indeed, the first day’s reading may very well just be a lead up to it). The […]
Shemot – The Fifth Column Canard?
Pharaoh is the first world leader to levy an accusation that scores of others have since made throughout Jewish history. Pharaoh declares that the Jews must be enslaved lest ‘when […]
Shalom Says Hello 