Helmut Etzel holds his certificate of conversion to Judaism on May 15, the day of his Beit Din at Kol Ami Synagogue. (Photo courtesy of Rabbi Malcolm Cohen)
“That’s the most off-the-wall thing I’ve ever heard.” That was Helmut Etzel’s initial reaction 25 years ago, when his mother, Marina, a devout Catholic from the mountainous Antioquia region of Colombia, told him, “Mijo, I believe strongly we are from Jewish heritage.” “I also thought this would not be… Read more »
An Orthodox Colombian family shown in 2012. A new study revealed "widespread" Sephardic genetic ancestry across Latin American countries. (Paul Smith/For the Washington Post)
(JTA) — In a genetic study of 6,589 people from five Latin American countries, about a quarter displayed traces of what may be Sephardic Jewish ancestry. Geneticist Juan-Camilo Chacón-Duque and his colleagues published their findings last week in Nature Communications magazine, in an article titled “Latin Americans show wide-spread… Read more »
International journalists Dagmar and Peter Schroeder will share their experience in addressing hate, discrimination and intolerance Jan. 7 as part of a two-day symposium hosted by the Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life in the Northwest. (Courtesy Dagmar and Peter Schroeder)
Anti-Semitism past and present will be the focus of a two-day symposium hosted by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life in the Northwest next month. “Anti-Semitism from the Spanish Inquisition On: Educating for Social Justice,” which will be held Jan. 6-7… Read more »
The “Cruz de los Sepharditos de Nuestra Tierra Sagrada” by artist Carlie Sánchez illustrates the confluence of cultures. (Courtesy Jewish History Museum) “Fluid Identities: New Mexican Crypto Jews in the Late 20th Century” is currently on display at Tucson’s Jewish History Museum. On loan from the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, “Fluid Identities” is part of a larger exhibition entitled “Fractured Faiths.” The Tucson exhibit offers an opportunity to… Read more »
Sandra Toro Sandra Toro, author of several historical novels including the recently published “Secrets Behind Adobe Walls” (Gaon Books), will shed light on the little known activities of the Spanish Inquisition in America in a lecture on Thursday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. The talk, hosted by Chabad of Tucson, will… Read more »
