Word: sephardi
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...authority in religious matters, and for Jews in Israel it also has full, legal jurisdiction over marriage and divorce. The two major divisions of Judaism-the Sephardim and the Ashkenazim-are each represented by a Chief Rabbi of their persuasion, and these two jointly head a council of five Sephardi and five Ashkenazi sages. Since 1959, the chair of the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi has been vacant; last week the 125-man Rabbinical Electoral College chose for the post Dr. Iser Judah Unterman, 77, white-bearded Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Jaffa and onetime Chief Rabbi of Liverpool. They also...
...division of Judaism into Sephardi and Ashkenazi communities dates back to the Middle Ages, when Spain and Germany were the main centers of Jewish culture. The Jews in Spain were known as the Sephardim (Spanish in Hebrew) and the German Jews were called the Ashkenazim (German in Hebrew). The differences between the two are mostly in custom and culture. For example, during Passover, the Ashkenazim are forbidden to eat rice and beans, while the Sephardim may eat both...
...medicine (Isaac Israeli), philosophy (Maimonides), government, and in commerce. When Christians drove the Moors from Spain and devout Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Jews bag without baggage (1492), Sephardic Jewry declined. Some of the Spanish Jews migrated to the Netherlands. Spinoza was a Sephardic Jew. A Lisbon-born Sephardi who lived in Amsterdam was Manasseh ben Israel, who persuaded Cromwell to allow the Jews to return to England (they were expelled in 1290). That return allowed Benjamin Disraeli, a Sephardi, to become Prime Minister of England and Sir Philip Sassoon, also a Sephardi, to become the rich crony...