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Reconnecting with Descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jews

(Times of Israel) Amanda Borschel-Dan - This week Lisbon began bestowing Portuguese citizenship upon descendants of Sephardic Jews who were persecuted on the Iberian Peninsula some 500 years ago. Since Oct. 2 in neighboring Spain, 4,302 people have begun the bureaucratic citizenship process based on similar laws, as a way of making amends for the historical crimes committed during the Inquisition. This month, the new Knesset Caucus for the Reconnection with the Descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Communities was launched, directed by Ashley Perry, a longtime adviser to the Foreign Ministry. To Perry, a Sephardi Jew born in England, the descendants of Jews who were expelled during the Inquisition could instinctively be natural supporters of Israel. Perry recently founded Reconectar, an organization whose mission is to facilitate this reconnection. MK Robert Ilatov noted these descendants "stand in the tens of millions around the world" and that "many of them are interested in exploring their Jewish roots....Our role...is to assist them in this task."
2015-10-30 00:00:00
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