The Need for a Sephardic Genealogical Society

Sephardic genealogy has taken great steps forward over recent years. Following the pioneering work of Jeff Malka and others, the Sephardic Diaspora Facebook group launched in 2014 to provide a home for serious discussion of Iberian Jewish genealogy. Over the last eighteen months, the Sephardic World meetings have made a useful contribution. Today we announce the creation of the Sephardic Genealogical Society.

Why the need for a specifically Sephardic society? This week we shall discuss the main differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardi genealogy, and some of the rabbit-holes that exist within the world of Sephardic genealogy. These can include the crypto-Jewish movement, ideas around Sephardic settlement in eastern Europe, and fantasies built around 'secret signs', surnames, and 'fleeing the Inquisition'.

The Portuguese and Spanish nationality laws have spawned a whole unregulated industry. The Sephardic Genealogical Society plans to introduce a voluntary Code of Conduct for those working in the field. Join us to discuss the exciting future of Sephardic genealogy.

The meeting is on Sunday 25 July 2021 at 11am in LA, 2pm NYC, 7pm London, 8pm Amsterdam, and 9pm Jerusalem. Patrons can join us on Zoom. The link is shared at our Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/sephardi

Everyone is invited to join us for free at: https://www.youtube.com/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory/

Please subscribe to the YouTube channel. It helps us a lot and reminds you when we are going live!

The Gomes da Costa - To Jamaica and Back

To escape poverty in London, four out of five of Aaron Gomes da Costa’s children moved to Jamaica. Did they succeed, and at what price? Along the way, we confront slavery, interracial and Sephardic-Ashkenazi marriages, and the societal pressures that took some of them away from Judaism. Ali Erginsoy returns to Sephardic World to share the incredible story of the Gomes da Costa family.

Ali Erginsoy is a former journalist at BBC television, including working on their flagship news programme, Newsnight. He is also a filmmaker and consultant. He is a regular contributor to the discussion of Sephardic genealogy.

The meeting is on Sunday 20 June 2021 at 11am in LA, 2pm NYC, 7pm London, 8pm Amsterdam, and 9pm Jerusalem. Patrons can join us on Zoom. The link is shared at our Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/sephardi

Everyone is invited to join us for free at: https://www.youtube.com/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory/

Please subscribe to the YouTube channel. It helps us a lot and reminds you when we are going live!

Watch Ali's previous Sephardic World talk, on the Gomes da Costa family's migration from Portugal to England, on the Sephardic Genealogy channel on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory/

Over the last year, Sephardic World has become the leading forum for learning about Sephardic history and genealogy. We have no commercial sponsorship or public funding. There is no charge to attend our meetings or to view our content. If you are not a patron and can afford it, please consider supporting our work: https://www.patreon.com/sephardi

Openly Jewish major Western Sephardic Communities - An historic Timeline

 

A short animation showing when major Western Sephardic communities "came out" as being Jewish!

 

 

 

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Where to find Sephardic burial records in England

 An introduction to where to find Sephardic burial records in England. 

Website: http://sephardicgenealogy.com/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory

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Zoom meetings on Jewish History and Genealogy

Join the Sephardic World mailing list for access to weekly talks on Jewish history and genealogy.  https://mailchi.mp/sephardicgenealogy/ars1w3v45e

Menasseh ben Israel vs. The Rabbis

Do you think conflicts within Jewish communities are something new? It is possible that the re-admission of Jews to England was a consequence of a squabble between Amsterdam's leading rabbis.

With the merger of the three original Amsterdam Sephardic communities, the city found itself with four rabbis. All of them were strong characters. Inevitably, there were disputes over who had religious authority and who should be paid the most.

It is possible that Menasseh's trip to London, and the establishment of a Jewish community there,  partly had its roots in his differences with Saul Levi Morteira, Isaac Aboab, David Pardo.

Sephardic World's expert speaker this Sunday 8 November 2020, Professor Steven Nadler, is Professor of Philosophy and of Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on philosophy in the seventeenth century. He has written extensively on Descartes and Cartesianism, Spinoza, and Leibniz. He also works on medieval and early modern Jewish philosophy. His publications include biographies of Spinoza and Menasseh ben Israel.

If you are not on the Sephardic World mailing list, sign up for free at https://mailchi.mp/sephardicgenealogy/ars1w3v45e

The Sephardic Poor of Amsterdam and London

 

THE AMSTERDAM AND LONDON POOR

 

After the Holidays, Sephardic World is back!

 

The popular conception is that Sephardim in Amsterdam and London were rich. Sadly this is not the case. This week we shall discuss impoverished Sephardim - maybe half the community - and how the community leaders managed the situation. There is a wealth of records in the archives dealing with the Sephardic poor, including the support they received from the congregations, including at festivals, and how they were managed and disciplined.

 

One solution was to put poor people on a boat, and send them somewhere else! This is how many of our ancestors reached the places they later called home. Ton has been studying the 'Despacho' records from Amsterdam and London.

 

You can watch live at: https://www.facebook.com/sephardicgenealogy/

 

The talk will later be uploaded to: https://www.youtube.com/c/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory