Sephardim

'Melodies of Hope': Days of Jewish Music festival dives into Jewish music’s diversity

Bar-Ilan’s Days of Jewish Music festival explores global Jewish sounds under the theme “Melodies of Hope.”

|ByBARRY DAVIS
Clarinetist Gilad Harel and accordion player Ilya Magalnyk will provide the sonic backdrop to Avi Bar Eitan’s talk on a broad range of musical genres.
RABBI JOSEPH DWECK teaches at The Habura.

'The Restoration of Israel': Recovering a forgotten Sephardi Zionist voice - review

Zionism is too often framed as a late 19th-century Eastern and Central European, largely secular movement, born in response to modern nationalism and antisemitism.

|ByASHLEY PERRY PEREZ
Historian Jonathan Sarna views a facsimile of a letter from Jonas Phillips, an 18th-century German-Jewish trader, in the exhibit "The First Salute" at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, April 22, 2026.

Did this tiny island’s Jewish community help win the Revolutionary War?

The Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius had become one of the busiest free ports in the Atlantic world, and Sephardic Jewish merchants played an active role.

|ByANDREW SILOW-CARROLL/JTA
THE EMPTY chair: Thomas Chippendale chair, c. 1772, mahogany, covered in modern red Moroccan leather, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

'Inspirational Reflections for the Seder Night': A Haggadah for empty chairs at the table - review

With reflections and prayers for each stage of the Seder, this Haggadah invites you to engage with tradition, family, and your own journey of redemption.

|ByRACHEL PARNESS

How did a proud Sephardi Jew build a global financial empire?

Sitting down with writer Daniel Gross, whose new book details the life and legacy of Edmond J. Safra, who made monumental contributions to Israel.

SEPTEMBER 3, 2022ByLIANE GRUNBERG WAKABAYASHI
BANKER JACOB SAFRA and his wife, Esther, built a large family that was a pillar of Beirut’s Jewish community.

Crypto-Jews: What is the history of secret Jews? - explainer

Crypto-Jews are Jews who practice Judaism in secret while professing another religion publically. They are an ancient phenomenon but are largely associated with Sephardi Jews from Spain and Portugal.

AUGUST 23, 2022ByAARON REICH
Painting depicts crypto Jews holding a Passover seder in secret.

Are Sephardi Jews not welcome in Israel's haredi girls' seminaries?

There is a fixed quota of Sephardi girls who are admitted to the seminaries, ranging from 30% to 40%. Year after year, the same shameful situation repeats itself.

AUGUST 6, 2022ByPEGGY CIDOR
DIFFERENT POLICIES? On the way to school in Jerusalem.

Portuguese police search home of lawyers helping Jews get citizenship

A list of 20 rich Jews who received citizenship was displayed to the lawyers.

JULY 18, 2022ByZVIKA KLEIN
A PORTUGUESE passport conveys all the benefits of a standard EU passport.

Israel: A Jewish, democratic and secure state - opinion

A potential new Zionist vision for the four camps (Right, NNC, Center and Left).

MAY 27, 2022ByJEREMY SALTAN
AN IDF SOLDIER posted near the Syrian border bears a message of responsibility on his uniform. The desire and thirst for security is as much part of the Israeli DNA as the Jewish and democratic pillars.

Grapevine May 25 2022: Joining forces on behalf of Ukrainian artists

Movers and shakers in Israeli society.

MAY 24, 2022ByGREER FAY CASHMAN
PRESIDENT ISAAC HERZOG and the spiritual leader of the Druze community, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, in July 2021.

Still possible for Sephardi Jews to obtain Portuguese citizenship, but process is more difficult

Since 2015, more than 137,000 Jews applied for citizenship as permitted by law. So far, over 57,000 of them have received it.

APRIL 25, 2022ByZVIKA KLEIN
Flag of Portugal (illustrative).

'Sephardi voices': The tragedy, triumph of expelled Jewish communities - review

How Sephardi communities were expelled, but forged new lives in new lands.

APRIL 14, 2022ByDVORA WAYSMAN
LIBYAN JEWISH exile David Gerbi prays inside Dar Bishi synagogue in Tripoli, 2011. Gerbi and his family fled Tripoli when the Six Day War broke out in 1967. Most Tripoli synagogues were destroyed or converted to mosques.

Hispanic-Jewish foundation introduces monument to mark 530 years since Alhambra Decree

Spanish Jewry that left due to the decree went on to form some of the largest Sephardic Jewish communities in the diaspora.

APRIL 2, 2022ByGADI ZAIG
The Cartagena Monument that marks 530 years since the Alhambra Decree in Spain.

Sephardi Jews are no longer Spaniards without land - opinion

“The Spain of today wants to take a firm step toward the definite reconciliation with the Sephardic communities.”

MARCH 30, 2022ByDANIEL SANTACRUZ
KING FELIPE OF SPAIN speaks at a ceremony at the royal palace in Madrid in 2015 celebrating a law that allowed people who can prove they are descendants of Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 and maintained ties with the country to apply for Spanish citizenship.