Some graphics are from other sites without
permission but with a link to the site

Rabbi Shalom Sharabi (rashash)-Judaica fine art Jewish oil Painting
Reproduction

This is a Museum quality, hand painted oil reproduction, painting of  "Rabbi Shalom Sharabi" from known as The Rashash.
http://judaica-art.com/Judaica-Artists/Omanut-Yehudit/Rabbinical
/Sefardic-Rabbis/cat_103.html

Only descendants of Jews from the Iberian Peninsula are Sephardim, not all those of the lands in which they settled.  The Jews from Syria, Iraq. Persia, Yemen ... are properly referred to as Eydot Hamizrach, communities of the East. The story of Iberia's Jews begins with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE, and the Diaspora of the Jewish people around the world, including Catalonia.

The first evidence of a Jewish community is in 880-890, when a group of 25 families moved into Gerona from surrounding areas.  A real estate document of 963, mentions a house belonging to Doucerella, a Jewish woman, while a 998 document indicates the existence of a synagogue inferring a community requiring it.  The Call is mentioned for the first time in a document dated July 1160, describing its borders.  A mid-13th century document describes 11 heads of family, new immigrants from north of the Pyrenees mountains, who had purchased property.  In 1320, more rural families moved to the city of Gerona.  In 1348, the Black Plaque struck the city, with Jews being accused for the epidemic.

Sephardi is a term also used to distinguish between the two major divisions (actually the differences are quite minor) in Jewish customs and rituals.  Two thousand years ago there were two major traditions, that of the Holy Land, known as Yerushalmi, and that of the Babylonian exile, known as the Bavli.  Again, the differences were actually little more than skin deep.  There was a slight difference in pronunciation and in customs and catillation.

To many Ashkenazim, especially outside of Israel, there are two types of Jews - Ashkenazim and Sephardim.  To the average Ashkenazi, being called an Ashkenazi, and not a Litvak or Galicianer, or what not, probably doesn't make a difference.  However, to a "Sephardi", there is a difference based on countries of origin.  Many Sephardim consider only those who come from Spain to be a Sephardi, i.e. Jews of Turkey, Bulgaria, Amsterdam etc. 

This to differentiate from a North African, Mizrachi (which includes many Asian countries - Syria, Baghdad, Iraq, Persia, etc. ), Yemenite and Adanite, to name a few.  (Try telling the difference between Yemenite Adanite pronunciation of prayers.  I know I can't.  Then try calling an Adanite a Yemenite and you could be in serious trouble.)

Obviously, for the most part, calling a Bavli (Iraqi), or a Parsi (Iranian) a Sephardi won't upset them.  Even the Shas party is called the "Sephardi" party.  But, I don't think the average non "Sephardi", i.e. Mizrachi, would call himself a Sephardi, rather he would be more particular in his ancestral roots.  

There are many Jews (or were!) in Syria, Baghdad and India whose roots are traced to Spain and the Expulsion.  Many Iraqi Jews went to Bombay and other Indian cities (as did a smaller number of Persian Jews, who throughout history also settled in Baghdad and other cities.)

And an entire community of Iraqi Jews settled in Teheran in the 1950s (while others went to New York or to Israel), leading an existence alongside the Persian Mizrahi Jews.  It took several decades before the two groups began intermarrying on an extended basis.

The entire area has seen individuals and families moving back and forth.  About 100 years ago, a rather large number of Persian families moved to Baghdad and to Damascus as well, among them rabbis from Isfahan. This was taken from a posting between Nachum Tuchman of Israel and Schelly Talalay Dardashti

Mount Sinai Alliance
Rabbi Abraham Tobal stated in a recent talk that "Assimilation threatens the future of Sephardi Jewish communities in Latin America."  Of Latin America's 450,000 Jews, about 180,000 are Sephardi, with ancestors from Spain and Portugal who later settled in Syria, North Africa and the Balkans.  About 20 percent of the world's Jews are Sephardi; the rest are Ashkenazi with ancestors from Germany and Eastern Europe.  The two groups have different liturgy, religious customs and Hebrew pronunciations.

Of interest to all, is the fact that three hundred and fifty years ago, 23 Sefardic Jews landed in the harbor of New Amsterdam (New York) Several of the men in the group were certified shohets and slaughtered their meat themselves. 

"The massacres and forced conversions of at least tens of thousands of Jews of Spain in 1391, starting in Seville and sweeping across Spain, did not mark the last years for Jews in Spain.  The process of Christian victimization of the Jews of Spain had started long before, and continued also for the next century.  The year 1391 was a watershed event because it split Spanish Jewry into two communities that evolved quite differently.  The many thousands who were forcibly converted to Christianity in 1391, and their descendants, were known as New Christians, or as Conversos. 

Many, many of them practiced Judaism secretly, or at least continued various Judaic practices.  Very often, they were related by blood and marriage to families who survived the horrors of 1391, rejected attempts at conversion, and remained Jewish afterwards.  Also, conversionary pressures, which had persisted for centuries, intensified in the early 1400's and many thousands of Spanish Jews joined the New Christians of 1391.

There was no Inquisition in Spain until 1480's. As a result, it was possible for many New Christians or "Anusim" (forced ones) to outwardly appear as Christians and yet inwardly retains aspects of their Judaism, their firm belief in one G_d, and the observance of Jewish religious practices.  At the same time, while the Christian rulers of the Spanish kingdoms of Aragon and Castille, and the Church, continue to victimize the Jews and subject them to oppressive restrictions and confiscatory taxes, New Christians or Conversos were permitted to prosper.  In time, there was much jealousy among Old Christians and the Conversos became targets of violence - just as Jews had been earlier.

In January 1492, the Christian monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and his wife Isabella of Castille conquered Granada, the last Moorish outpost in Spain.  Seeing Spain unified as a Christian kingdom, Ferdinand and, Isabella, at prompting of the Church (through its holy office of the Inquisition and its grand inquisitor Torquemada), issued a declaration expelling all Jews from Spain (except for Navarre, which they did not control, and from which the Jews were expelled in 1498 at their urging). The purported purpose of the Expulsion was to extinguish the contacts between Conversos and Jews that supposedly had prevented many Conversos from becoming faithful Christians.

In the aftermath of the expulsion of the Spanish Jews in 1492, the Inquisition continued to function with exceptional savagery as it claimed to look for Jewish practices among the Conversos.  Much of this same history was later repeated in Portugal, where the Jews were forcibly converted en masse in around 1497, and then subjected to the Inquisition that was adopted about 40 years later.

As has been noted, many name changes occurred.  In time, many of the Conversos of Portugal left for other places and openly declared their Judaism.  Along with them they brought their Spanish and Portuguese surnames.  I might guess, for example, that my great-great-grandmother, Catherine Hererra (who lived in Antalya, Turkey around the early 1800s) came from one of those families of Spanish Conversos.

I hope that this provides some light as to the mystery of the Jewish roots for many who live in Spain (and Portugal too).  There is some much valuable literature on this subject. If you would like a few good references, please let us know.  From a posting by Leon Taranto, LBTEPT@aol.com

Found!  An interesting web site for Sephardic women and especially for those whose roots are from Egypt.
http://womenslens.blogspot.com/

Books  
          

"And Everything Began At Urla (Turkey); The Chronicle of The Varon
Family" 
("Y Todo Commenzo En Urla; Cronica de la Familia Varon")
Authored by Frid Mayo, Nissim.  The book includes documents, genealogical tree beginning from 1859 and is a part of the Library of Congress collection.

"Bibliography About Sephardi Families History and Genealogy in Two
Major Libraries of Jerusalem"
An article by Mathilde Tagger and published in the Winter issue of ETSI (Sephardi Genealogical and Historical Review of 1999

"The Cross and the Pear Tree"
Authored by Victor Perera who has written several books about his ancestors' global wanderings from medieval Spain throughout several countries in Europe to Jerusalem. 

"Dicionário Sefardi de Sobrenomes" (Dictionary of Sephardic surnames)
In English and Portuguese - authored by Guilherme Faiguenboim, Paulo Valadares and Anna Rosa Campagnano - published by Fraiha Publishing House, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 528 pp, about $47.

 "This superb bilingual addition to the select library of essential books for Sephardic Genealogy has 528 pages divided into several sections. The first section,  dealing with a brief Sephardic history and explanations of Sephardic onomastics is printed on 150 pages of glossy paper, beautifully illustrated and reminiscent of an "art book". The right hand page is in Portuguese and the left hand in English, which - though translated by someone for whom English is obviously not a first language - is quite enjoyable and informative.

The remainder of the book, printed in non-glossy paper, consists of the dictionary of 17,000 Sephardic surnames. For this, the authors modeled themselves on Beider's Surnames of the Russian Empire, albeit with a few modifications necessitated by dealing with surnames written in a variety of alphabets and languages (instead of just Cyrillic), and covering a period of 6 centuries and 335 sources instead of the much narrower period and sources used by Beider. The dictionary section presents the surname, some spelling variants, geographical locations, type (patronymic, descriptive, etc.), meaning of, and sources where found. The dictionary does not include the rich individual biographic data and name variants occasioned by country and language changes due to the mobility of Sephardic Jews over the centuries as found in Abraham Laredo's landmark

"En Tierras Ajenas Yo Me vo Murir"
(The Judeo-Spanish Anthology) 
Authored by Gad Nassi and published in Istanbul by ISIS
http://www.sefarad.org/publication/lm/051/html/page23.html

"Finding Your Spanish Roots"
Authored by Dr. George Ryskamp

"The Fortune Teller's Kiss"
Authored by Brenda Serotte.  This an acclaimed memoir of growing up a Turkish Jew in the Bronx, in a fortune-telling belly-dancing family.  The author describes her Sephardic life, the foods, fear of the evil eye and her struggle to walk again after polio.
www.BrendaSerotte.comv

"From New Zion to Old Zion, American Jewish Immigration and
Settlement in Palestine, 1917 - 1939"
Authored by Dr. Joseph B. Glass

Image and Impression: Rare Prints from the Collection of the Library
of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America"

Sanctuary and synagogue: the experience of the Portuguese and Ashkenazic Jews in Amsterdam; visions of glory; engraved portraits of Jewish personalities in the 1600 to 1900s and much more.  Available from Dan Wyman Books,
dan@DANWYMANBOOKS.com
ISBN: 0873340892

"Jewish Journalism and the Printing Houses in the Ottoman Empire
and Modern Turkey"
Authored by Gad Nassi and published by Isis Press in Istanbul, Turkey 2001.  Nassi lists over 20 Jewish newspapers in Izmir, with the names of their editors or principals.

"Jewish Life in San Francisco"
Authored by Benjamin the Traveler and obtained from his 1862 travel book "Three Years In America"
http://www.jewish-history.com/WildWest

"Ladino-English / English-Ladino Concise Encyclopedic Dictionary (Judeo-Spanish)"
Authored by Dr. Elli Kohen and Dahlia Kohen-Gordon and published in 2000 by Hippocrene Books in New York

"Les Noms the Juifs du Maroc".
That would have required several volumes instead of one. On the other hand, Faiguenboim's book includes a much larger number of surnames difficult to find elsewhere and is a remarkable achievement for which we owe the authors a debt of gratitude. I would highly recommend this book as essential in any serious library of Sephardic genealogy books." From a posting by Jeff Malka on JewishGen 1/24/04
www.livrariacultura.com.br

www.sefer.com.br

"Sephardi Entrepreneurs in Eretz Israel" The Amzalak Family 1816 - 1918"
Authored by Dr. Joseph B. Glass and Ruth Kark.

"Sephardic Genealogy: Discovering Your Sephardic Ancestors and
Their World"
Authored by Jeffrey S. Malka, this profusely documented work explains how to trace Sephardic ancestry through archives as ancient as 12th century Spanish Notarial records to today's country repositories.
www.avotaynu.com 

"To The End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico"
Published by Columbia University Press.

 Book Resources  
                               

My link to Amazon.com has pre-sorted titles relating specifically to Jewish Genealogy for you. 

Libreria Judaica

http://www.libreriajudaica.com/

General 
Sephardic Information

http://www.esefarad.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/sephardic
-woman-morocco.jpg

"One of the problems with Sephardic genealogy is that few people are aware of the immense resources available." 

"Names and lots of personal information about Jews who lived in Spain prior to 1492 can be found in the Notarial records of Spain, of which there are about 2-3,000 per town per year and in which Jews are clearly mentioned as such.  Extracts of these Notarial records are found in books such as Leon Tello's 2 volume book "Los Judios de Toledo" and several others.

For more information check out Jeff Malka's  web site
http://www.SephardicGen.com/ 

and go to "Early Notarial and Inquisition records of Spain".  "Resources for Sephardic Genealogy" website:
http://www.SephardicGen.com/

http://www.zeek.net/804rabeeya/

American Sephardi Federation/Sephardic
House
http://www.americansephardifederation.org/sub/library/
periodicals.asp  

"SefardSIG: Sephardic Genealogy at JewishGen"
http://www.jewishgen.org/sefardsig/

http://www.jewishgen.org/sefardsig/SefardForum.htm

"Networking can provide useful ideas and practical, applicable tools to improve your overall research effectiveness."  One of the best sources of genealogical information is available to you whenever you logon to the Sefard Forum. Here you can exchange information about relatives, books, language, names, history, migrations, local customs, research techniques and the realities of researching public records and genealogical data archives."

"After just a few minutes of browsing through the messages, you may discover that another user has uncovered a vital piece of information for which you've been searching. Or, you may wish to post a general request for information and wait for the responses to arrive. Either way, you will find the other users in the forum eager to share their information and quick to provide tips and feedback."  From a posting by Bernard Kouchel List Manager, Sefard Forum
http://www.jewishgen.org/sefardsig/

ANUSIM list

For those who know/think/suspect or are just interested in whether they have Jewish ancestors that were forced to convert under duress and kept Jewish practices to any extent. 
http://members.tripod.com/~anak//anusim.htm 

Another interesting site to visit
www.gacetaanusim.com

The Sephardim often used different family names for different children - whether to confuse the Inquisition or just to confuse us.  So 3 sons of the same parents might have used different family names  maybe they all shared an alias and maybe not.

There is a list for people who think, know, suspect or are interested in the descendants of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews who were forced to convert in order to stay in the Iberian Peninsula.  They have been called various names like Marranos, Conversos, Crypto-Jews, etc.  The list is called Anusim, which is Hebrew for 'the forced' (i.e. forced to convert).  To subscribe to the LadinoKomunita list
http://www.onelist.com/

and follow the 'users' link.  The list is in Spanish, Portuguese and English.  Ana Kurland is the List Owner akur@loc.gov
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/

Aur Torah Sephardic Minyan

About the synagogue. Religious Art and new books
http://members.aol.com/otsm/

Aventuriel

Site of the Jewish culture in Murcia, Spain in Spanish, but if you use Google, it will translate the site into English
http://www.iespana.es/heberg/

http://www.ayto-murcia.es/Inicio/default.asp

Ben Porat Yosef Sephardic Yeshiva

Bergen County, New Jersey.  Sephardic Day School, Ladino, Hebrew Immersion, Ivirt b'ivrit, Spanish Jews, Ottoman Empire, Rabbi Bassous
http://www.benporatyosef.org/

Bibliography for Anusim Studies 

Recommended books to read
http://members.tripod.com/~anak/anusim.htm

Brazil, Porto Alegre Sephardic Community

www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/url/colls/judaica/pages/latinam.html

Carvalho - Solomon Nunes 

Solomon was the official artist of the 1856 Fremont expedition over the Rocky Mountains.
http://www.jewish-history.com/WildWest

Cemeteries

Generally, Sefardim typically placed gravestones flat on the ground, while Ashkenazim stood them up.

Cemeteries in London
All, including Sephardic
http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/brit/london.html

Conversos

Crypto-Jews, Marranos, Anusim, Judios, Conversos refers to Jews who either chose (or were coerced by the Spanish Government in 1492) to practice Catholicism or be expelled - or face death.  They were also called Marrano which when translated from Spanish to English means 'swine'.

Conversos in Majorca are known as Chueta (i.e. pig)*. "Chueta" is based on the word "Jueda" which is "Jew" in Catalan, the dialect in that part of Spain.

Converso Information
Are You Jewish? Converted Jewish In Spain - a web site developed by Jose Pardo Hidalgo E-mail: pardoinfo@ono.com 
http://usuarios.lycos.es/pardoinfo/crising.htm

*Conversos - * Chuleta=chop (as in lamb chop) - Chueta=pork lard.  The source for the latter which discusses the whole matters of Conversos in Spain.
http://shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/13-05.html

Rabbi Stephen Leon leads the Congregation B'nai Zion (Conservative) synagogue in El Paso, Texas.

Crespin Family

http://sephardichorizons.org/Volume1/Issue4/familyhistory.html

Crypto Jews (Anusim)

http://library.duke.edu/research/subject/guides/jewishstudies/special
_subjects/crypto_anusim.html

Efrat

A settlement in the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem, is a town that has a number of anousim.  Eliyahu Birnbaum, former chief rabbi of Uruguay runs a religious ulpan for students from the Spanish and Portuguese speaking worlds.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efrat

http://www.friendsofefrat.org/efrat.php

Espasfarad

A forum (in French) dedicated to Sephardic and Spanish/ Portuguese researches
http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/espasfarad

ETSI

Sephardi Genealogical and Historical Society
The Society publishes a splendid quarterly revue of Sephardic genealogy and history
http://www.oocities.com/etsi-sefarad/

http://www.sephardim.com/

Farhi Genealogy - Les Fleurs de L'Orient 

This site offers much Sephardic information
http://www.farhi.org/genealogy/index.html

Foundation for the Advancement of Studies of Sephardic Culture

http://www.sephardicstudies.org/entrance.html

Halapid

The Society for Crypto-Jewish Studies
http://members.tripod.com/~anak/anusim.htm

Hispanic Genealogical Society of New York 

Contact Murray Hill Station, PO Box 818 New York, NY 10156-0602  
http://www.hispanicgenealogy.com

Hispanic Heritage Committee at Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York City

Mount Sinai Medical Center
Madison Avenue and 100th Street, Annenberg Building,
Room 1201,
New York, New York

Hispanic Division, Library of Congress

http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/

Institute for Marrano-Anusim Studies

http://members.tripod.com/~anak/anusim.htm

Iranian Sephardic Jews

There is/was a Sephardic community in Iran.  They came via the Syria/Palestine of the Ottoman Empire, probably for commercial purposes.  They generally did not inter-marry with native Persian Jews, although since there existed a very rich and very notable Jewish upper class of merchants, it could have been possible for economic and status reasons.  The Sephardi Jews of Iran often have some very prominent genetic problems due to mixing within a limited population, both on the physical and molecular levels.  Native Iranian Jews, having lived in this place for over 2,000 years tend to consider themselves very Persian ethnically and traditionally.  From a posting by Menna siguiria@u.washington.edu

Jewish Agency for Israel TOP TEN; Britannica 2 STARS

"SefardSIG: Sephardic Genealogy at JewishGen"
http://www.jewishgen.org/sefardsig/

Jewish Language Research

Wow, what a site!  Here you will find:

Bibliography of printed resources on Jewish Languages
Jewish Language
Heblang (Hebrew Language)
Ladino Komunita (Discussions in Ladino)
Sephardi/Mizrachi Studies Caucus Mailing List
Hebrew Computing
Jewish Computing
And the list goes on and on.
http://www.jewish-languages.org/resources.html

Jewish Sephardic Genealogy Sources

First site on the web about Jewish Sephardic Genealogy.  Gives sources, methods, archives, links, history, News lists, Genealogy forms and the ability to search for names.  Webmaster is Jeff Malka
http://www.SephardicGen.com/

Jewish Bulgarian surnames

http://www.sephardicgen.com/databases/BulgarianSurnames
SrchFrm.html 

Jewish Sephardic Communities in South America

http://guides.library.ucla.edu/content.php?pid=23757&sid=273343

Jews in Places

A web site that is dedicated to learning about the various Jews around the world -- their culture, their religious practices and their particular interests.  A fascinating site
http://www.kulanu.org

The Journal of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian Crypto Jews

Founded by Abraham D. Lavender, a sociology and anthropology professor at Florida International University in Miami.
http://www.cryptojews.com/

Kulanu

An organization that helps lost Jewish Communities
http://members.tripod.com/~anak/anusim.htm

Ladino

The language of the Sephardim (Jews who follow the traditions of those who lived in the Middle Ages)  mostly in Spain, Portugal and Italy.

Ladino Language
Ladino Folk Dictionary
http://home.earthlink.net/~benven/ladino.html

La Diaspora Sefadita

The Sephardic Diaspora
http://members.tripod.com/~anak/anusim.htm

Luso Web - Portuguese-Brazilian Conversos

http://members.tripod.com/~anak/anusim.htm

Midrash Ben Ish Hai

A Sephardi organization in Great Neck, NY
http://www.midrash.org/

Mimouna Holiday

http://www.jafi.org.il/education/festivls/pesach/m3.html

Mocatta Family
 

Abraham Mocatta was a member of one of Britain's most famous Jewish families.
http://www.ancientfaces.com/research/surname/Mocatta

Moroccan Jewry

http://www.jewishglobe.com/morocco/

Music - Sephardic and Ladino

Global Village
E-mail toglobalvillage@aol.com

Flory Jagoda singing Ladino
http://celebrateseries.com/fj.html

Historic Music of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in the City
of New York
Produced on a collection of three CD's by the
Shearith Israel League
8 W. 70 Street
New York, NY 10023
E-mail: sil@sailtd.com

Nahmanides

He, in the famous Barcelona Dispute of 1263, defended Judaism against a convert, Dominican priest Pan Crista.  After five sessions in front of the king and church leaders, in which the rabbi defended his beliefs against accusations, both declared victory.  According to legend, the king sent a message to the rabbi, saying that it was the most eloquent defense of a wrong idea that had ever heard. Taking the hint, Nahmanides decided to leave for Palestine where he died in Akko in 1270

Names

"I am attempting to create a list of both Ashkenazi and Sephardic surnames.  If interested or if you wish to add a family name to my growing list, please see my Names Page.

Ashkenazi Family Names and Spanish Family Names
Examples of names are displayed
www.semiticroots.com

Benveniste Family
The Epstein family and the Horowitz family, both Leviim, are descended from the Spanish Benveniste family, which, after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, fled to Salonika.  Further movements took branches of the family to many places in Europe and two distinct sub-families arose which took the surnames Epstein and Horowitz.  It should be noted that these families, as others of Sephardi origin, merged with the local Ashkenazi communities and did not retain their Sephardi customs of prayer, etc. Chaim Freedman on JewishGen posting
http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2002/02/17/JewishWorld/Jewish
World.43575.html

Sephardic Names
Hundreds of Sephardic names (with source notations) taken from civil records of Amsterdam, Bevis Marks records, and other sources are included at a website about Portugal.
http://www.sephardim.com/html/translated_names.html

Sephardic Surnames Reference List
As of June 5, 2005, there are 5,230 names on the list
http://ifmj.org/pdf/sephardic_surnames

Recuerde que distingue entre mayúsculas y minúsculas) - (Not sure what this means)

 I am waiting for someone to translate this site  which appears to be created by Felipe Aira.  It is in Spanish, which unfortunately I cannot read and it also appears to require a password.  Help!
www.cidadesdixitais.org 

Sephardic Names
http://members.tripod.com/~anak/anusim.htm

Gerona (Girona)

The "street" leading to the synagogue and mikva in Gerona
Photo taken by Ted Margulis

Should you have the opportunity to visit Spain, and see Barcelona, I would heartily suggest you make it a point to take a short trip to Gerona, either by car or by train.  We took the train and found one of the most charming towns ever - with the highlight of our trip was to visit the synagogue and Mikvah at the top of the narrow street.  The walk is fairly steep but the visit is so rewarding to see this 14th century edifice and to know that it once was occupied by Jews.

This site, besides offering family history information about the Nahman family from Gerona, Spain has much Sephardic information, including Names of Jews from Toledo, Aragon, some Sephardic names, Converso names, Family Names from Torre Do Tombo Secret Archives: Portugal and more
http://home.earthlink.net/~bnahman

More than two dozen towns and villages around Gerona were home to Jews, according to scholars.

The Jews of Gerona were linked to the Crown of Catalonia, which protected them in return for financial contributions.  The king appointed the mayor as his representative, who governed with a council called the Aljama.  Council members were usually the wealthiest and most prominent individuals, who served as various secretaries and treasurer.  Public assets included the synagogue, schools, mikve, cemetery as well as various essential service such as the slaughterhouse, butcher and fish merchant

In 1413-1415, a Gerona rabbi, Bonastruc Desmestre, participated in the Tortosa Debates, organized by Pope Benedict XIII.  Twenty one rabbis from Aragon also joined in, but the debate did not end as well as a previous debate by Nahmanides as 14 of the rabbis asked to be baptized.

The Newish Jewish Group (Formerly The Jews by Choice Group)
Washington Metro Area

Plenty of information here that deals with Sephardic subjects including Crypto-Jews  
http://members.tripod.com/~lmerkin/jbcpage.htm

Nusach Sepharad amongst the Chassidim

"I believe that to really understand the divergence of the prayer style amongst the two communities, one must take a long look at the Jewish History of the 17th century and specifically at the absolute and utter destitution to which Polish Jewry was reduced by the ravages and rapine of Chelmnitsky, his Cossacks and his Tartar allies.  Those Jews who managed to remain alive were bereft of everything, communal institutions, synagogues, Torah scrolls, prayer books, etc.  They barely had the clothes to cover their backs.  It is said that the Jews preferred to surrender to the Tartars and be sold into slavery in the Ottoman Empire than be slaughtered by the Cossacks.  We could well compare this terrible period in Jewish History as a preview to the Holocaust."

"When it was all over, the Baal Shem Tov appeared on the scene with some like-minded rabbis and not having the means material and physical to restore a normal Jewish routine of prayer to the demoralized people, they evolved the system we call Chassidut by which they brought their people back to the Almighty through song and dance."

"One should remember that Lithuanian Jewry, although they had suffered in this period, their suffering was not nearly as great and they managed to preserve their communal institutions.  However their situation was such that they could not help their southern neighbors. Polish Jewry was dependent on the help of other branches of the Jewish people, presumably those to the south in places like Bulgaria and Greece including the great community of Salonika.  They received from there the prayer books which were all written in Nusach Sepharad.  One must also remember that the Great Jewish Printing houses of the time were in Italy and Holland again areas of Sephardi influence.  Lithuania got its first printing house at the end of the 18th century.  So what started off as a necessity, turned into an ideology in the course of time".

"It was not the mode of prayer that bothered the Litvaks so much as the institution of hereditary Courts amongst the Chassidim which often, in the early days, brought incompetent and superstitious leaders to the forefront, instead of men of learning.  The books of Balshevis Singer demonstrate this world in a most graphic way."

As for Nusach Ari, my guess would be that the Lubavitcher chose this as a middle road between their Chassidut and their Litvak heritage, but I am only guessing."  From a posting by Len Yodaiken

Resources for Sephardic Research

UCLA has a large collection of books about Sephardic and Mizrahi communities including:

"Les Noms des Juifs du Maroc"
Authored by Abraham Laredo in 1978 and written in French.  It offers a study of Jewish surnames and families in Morocco and includes  a dictionary of Jewish surnames in Morocco.

"Genealogica Hebraica"
Authored by Jose Maria Abecassis in Portuguese and published in 1990-91.  This is a five volume work that traces the genealogy of Jews from Portugal and Gibraltar.  It is based on families that returned to Portugal after the end of the Inquisition in 1821>URL Call Number: DS 135 P7A37 1990

"Marriage Registers of the Sephardic Community of Tunis, Tunisia"
Two volumes are available at the UCLA Library. Both volumes were published by Robert Attal.  The first volume is in Hebrew, while the second volume is in French.
URL, call numbers DS 135 T7 A838 1989 and DS 135 T7 A838 1991

"Matsevot Saloniki"
Authored by Isaac Samuel Emmanuel and published in Hebrew in 1963-58.  Contains 1,858 inscriptions taken from the Jewish cemetery in Thessalonike (Salonika), Greece, one of the largest and oldest Sephardic communities in Europe before the Holocaust.

RootsWeb.com

Offers a Sephardim Message Archives
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SEPHARDIM/

Sefard Cemeteries in the US

There are Sefardic cemeteries right in the heart of New York City.  There is one in the West Village, very near the Jefferson Market library and dates from about 1868.  It is Portuguese Sephardic.  Washington Square, only a short distance away, was a country area of  town houses and mansions. There is another tiny cemetery near Chinatown and Chatham Square.

According to an E-mail from Toni L. Kamins of New York, he stated that Chatham Square is in today's Chinatown. The Sephardic cemetery on Chatham Square was the cemetery of New York/New Amsterdam's first Jewish community in the 17th century. "Manhattan has three cemeteries that were founded by the Sephardic Community; the first on Chatham Square, the second on W. 11th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, and the third on 21st Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.  The fourth is in Queens."

Sephardic Cemeteries Worldwide

Israel
http://www.sephardicgen.com/israel_sites.htm

Sephardi Federation of Latin American (aka FeSeLa) 

The organization was founded in 1972 as a part of the World Sephardi Federation and includes members from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela and the U.S.

Sefard Forum

E-mail Discussion List for researchers of Sephardic Genealogy
http://www.jewishgen.org/sephardicsig/

SefardSIG - Sephardic Genealogy

Jeff Malka is the webmaster

http://www.SephardicGen.com/

At the  SefardSIG site you will find links to Sephardic websites, News lists, Archival Sources, Name Searching ability, Local Articles, How To, Family Pages, Archives and Genealogy Forms.  This is a 'must visit' site.
http://www.jewishgen.org/sephardicsig 

Sephardic Sites - Holland
Sephardic Sites - Egypt
Sephardic Sites - Turkey and Greece
Sephardic Sites - Israel
Sephardic Sites - North Africa
Sephardic Sites - France
Sephardic Sites - Italy
Sephardic Sites - Caribbean
Sephardic Sites - Iraq and Syria
Sephardic Sites - Mexico
Sephardic Sites - South America
Sephardic Sites - Anusim and Crypto Jews

Sefard Forum

E-mail Discussion Group for researchers of Sephardic genealogy
http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/SefardForum.htm

Sephardi Connection Discussion Forums

Interactive Sephardic cyber community with 15 forums; Genealogy; Israeli/Middle East; Social issues; Languages and Literatures; Education and Research; Customs; Cuisine and more -
http://jewishlist.com/Sephardi

Sephardi Web sites

At this link, you will find many links to other sites of interest; Sephardic News lists; Archival Sources; Books; a searchable database for names and Genealogy forms.
http://www.jewishgen.org/sephardicsig/ 

Sephardic History

http://gonartsephardic.blogspot.com/

Sephardic and Sephardim Genealogy

Jewish Genealogy - here you will find links to Sephardic sites for Family Pages, Holland, Egypt, turkey, Greece, Israel, North Africa, France, Italy, Caribbean, Iraq, Mexico, South America and Anusim and Crypto Jews.  This is a MUST site for anyone researching Sephardic Genealogy.
http://www.SephardicGen.com/

At this site, you can find additional Sephardic information including many articles by Jeffrey S. Malka, Lawrence Feldman, Ph.D. and Dan Leeson and others.  You can also find article links to Elephantine Island Temple in the Nile; Account of the 1492 Expulsion; and more
http://www.jewishgen.org/sephardicsig/ 

Sephardic History Magazine

http://sephardichorizons.org/Volume1/Issue4/familyhistory.html

Sephardic Genealogy Resources

http://members.tripod.com/~anak/anusim.htm

http://usuarios.lycos.es/pardoinfo/crising.htm

Sephardic House

Institute for researching and promoting Sephardic history, culture and genealogy.  
http://www.sephardichouse.org/ 

Sephardic Jewish Center of North Miami Beach, Congregation Magen David

Congregation Magen David
http://www.magendavidonline.com

Served the Sephardic community of North Miami Beach for over 30 years
http://www.maven.co.il/subjects.asp?ID=7&S=224

Sefardic Jewish Soldiers

Sefardic Jewish soldiers who fought in the American Revolution lie in a historic cemetery in New York's financial district.  This was the first cemetery of the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue consecrated in 1682 and closed in 1828.  Gershom Mendes Seixas, rabbi of the oldest congregation in the 13 Colonies, closed the synagogue and removed the Torah scrolls to Stamford, Connecticut, when British forces occupied New York.  The earliest tombstone is that of Benjamin Bueno de Mesquita, who died in 1683.  The cemetery is located in Chatham Square in Chinatown and is protected by a fieldstone wall and a wrought iron fence.

Sephardic Naming

"there is really no way of knowing whether a particular family is Sephardic or not just by last name or location" according to a posting on JewishGen dated March 3, 2002 by Leon Taranto LBTEPT@aol.com

Sephardic Studies

Sephardic Studies Material Arranged by Country of Origin
http://www.sephardicstudies.org/entrance.html

Sephardim

The Jews that came from Spain and their language, Djudeo-espanol, also known as Ladino
http://members.tripod.com/~anak/anusim.htm

Sephardim.com

A research tool for Sephardic Genealogy / Jewish Genealogy and offers the largest collection of Sephardic names and heraldry on the net
http://sephardim.com/ 

Shavei Israel Organization

An organization devoted to ministering to the descendants of the Anousim Jews who converted hundreds of years ago against their will.
http://www.123exp-orgs.com/t/00511170564/

Soletreo (Solitreo)

Comes from the Portuguese word 'soletrar' or the Austrian words 'soletrear' or 'solitrear' meaning 'to spell'.  The Soletreo is a way used by the Jews from Spain to write their spoken language (Spanish and later Judeo-Spanish), with Hebrew cursive letters.  It is different from Rashi characters, which are only printed.  Posted 3/-4-02 by Mrs. Laurence Abensur-Hazan 
laurphil@wanadoo.fr 

"The Rabbinate, in Izmir, Turkey, keeps Marriage Registers (entitled "Cazamientos") from 1909 until today, written in Judeo-Spanish, Latin characters.  Some of them, initially written in Solitreo (or Chatzi kulmus: Judeo-Spanish written with old Sephardic Characters of Rashi type) have been transcribed in Latin Characters."

Synagogues

The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
http://www.babylonjewry.org.il/

Congregation Bnei Shaare Zion
Brooklyn, New York
http://www.bsz.org/

Translating   Languages

There are many translating programs available, but I found one that is particularly great and put it on my computer.  It's called Word Magic Translation Software and it translates both Spanish and English either way.  They sent me a copy to try and I'll tell you, I am very impressed with the way it works and ease of installation.  My contact person is Katherine Ruffin 1 877 564 3022.  The company offers a free trial
http://www.wordmagicsoft.com/

LingvoSoft Dictionary software English <->Yiddish for Windows - 400,000 words
With this LingvoSoft smart dictionary software on your computer, you can easily switch between English and Yiddish, or any one of many languages) for prompt translations of 400,000 words both ways!
Download Free Trial now

World Sephardic Congress

Telephone: 718 205 3105
http://www.worldsephardicongress.org/

Yiddish and Judeo-Spanish: A European Heritage

Lots of information on this fascinating subject at
http://209.15.64.51/hosted/english/eblul/index.html

Please let me know if there is a favorite link of yours that is not included in my site and I will be happy to add it to Jewish Web Index          

Email Jwebindex@gmail.com

more to come ...