Sephardim

Hinenu at 10 million: 100 lives that tell Israel’s real story

As Israel reaches 10 million citizens amid war, one photographer captures 100 lives that reveal a quieter, more human story.

Ortal Pelleg connected to the author through surfing.
Tamara Cohen, founder of the Mazál bagel restaurant in Madrid, immigrated from the United States through  Spain's Sephardic ancestry law.

Tamara Cohen's ancestors were expelled from Spain, now she’s bringing bagels to Madrid

Baba Baruch, heir of Baba Sali, speaks to prime minister Yitzhak Shamir during traditional ceremonies in Netivot, 1988.

This week in Jewish history: Nobel prize winners, biochemists, and the Baba Sali

A supporter of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds up a portrait of him in Caracas, Venezuela, January 3, 2026.

Maduro has claimed Jewish ancestry, here is what is known - explainer


Ex-Sephardi chief rabbi slams Tel Aviv rabbi as 'heretic' after he calls for haredi IDF enlistment

Rabbi Tamir Granot's son, Capt. Amitay Zvi Granot, was killed shortly after Hamas's October 7 attack in an incident on the Lebanon border while fighting Hezbollah. 

 Shas spiritual leader and former Sephardic chief rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, seen during a weekly lecture at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, June 07, 2025; illustrative.

Two-thirds of a 15th-century Portuguese High Holiday prayer book were lost to history. Until now.

The Lisbon Mahzor is now complete after the National Library of Israel reclaims its missing parts, preserving a key piece of Jewish history.

The Musaf prayer for Rosh Hashanah in a page of the rare 15th century Lisbon Mahzor now at the National Library of Israel.

Gafni urges Shas to open Sephardi schools, party responds amid renewed discrimination debate

Shas put out a letter thanking Gafni, thanking him for stressing the need for Shas to remain strong and independent, as no other party properly represents the Sephardic public.

MK Moshe Gafni in the Knesset plenum, in Jerusalem, December 4, 2024

International Sephardi Congress in Zamora deepens knowledge about the Spain-Portugal border

The congress has become a July highlight on Zamora’s calendar of events, attracting locals and visitors to the city.

 PARTICIPANTS IN the 13th International Sephardi Congress in Zamora listen to a presentation.

Fraudsters sold fake Sephardic citizenship for cash, say Spanish police

The immigration scheme allegedly exploited a 2015 law, dubbed the “Law of Return,” that allows the descendants of Jews expelled in the 1492 Spanish Inquisition to obtain Spanish nationality. 

 A ceremony at Spain's Royal Palace in Madrid marked the passing of a law granting citizenship to Sephardic Jews, Nov. 30, 2015.

Hacham Zvi Ashkenazi: Anomaly of a religious scholar

The combination of his highly developed scruples, stubbornness, and independence contributed to the difficulty that he had in holding down official rabbinic positions.

 INTERIOR OF Amsterdam’s Sephardi synagogue, the Esnoga, by Romeyn de Hooghe, 1695.

The forced converts of the Inquisition: Rediscovering Spanish, Portuguese roots - interview

A descendant of forced converts persecuted by the Inquisition has a suggestion for the Jewish state.

 CASTLE OF CALATRAVA. Garcia discovered that his Judaizing family lived under the protection of the Knights of Calatrava, near Almagro in the Spanish province of Ciudad Real, for 500 years, thus avoiding discovery by the Inquisition.

The Crypto-Jews of Ecuador: Exploring Loja’s Jewish past and future

Diaspora Affairs | While their ancestors may have been forced to hide or abandon their Judaism following the Alhambra Decree of 1492, these Bnei Anusim are returning to their Jewish roots

 GABRIEL GUALÁN MALDONADO (left), president of Ecuador’s Sephardi History Cultural Center, seen here with his family, spoke to the ‘Post’ about the lives of Ecuador’s Bnei Anusim and their rediscovery of their Jewish faith.

It's our responsibility as Jews to revisit, educate ourselves on our own history - opinion

"A generation without history is a generation that not only loses a nation’s memory but loses a sense of what it’s like to be inside a human skin.”

 IN ‘THE STORY of the Jews: Belonging,’ Simon Schama shows us that in order to understand history – and those figures we revere or despise – we must constantly dig deeper into what we do not know as well as what we already believe we know.

'The 2,000 Kidnapped Spanish Jewish Children’ film honors families of October 7 hostages

The documentary outlines how 2,000 Jewish children were sent to the hostile island of São Tomé after the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492.

 Stills from the film 'The 2,000 Kidnapped Spanish Jewish Children.'