Tagged Portugal

Brexit is pushing Jews to seek passports from countries that persecuted their ancestors

The Association of Jewish Refugees' Michael Newman, right, and British politician John Attlee in London Nov. 21, 2018. (Courtesy of AJR)
March 15, 2019 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — Portugal used to be little more than a sunny holiday destination to Adam Perry, a 46-year-old Londoner who works in procurement. But following the United Kingdom’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union, Perry, who is a Sephardic Jew, applied for citizenship in the Iberian nation. Since… Read more »

How this pristine 15th-century Hebrew Bible survived the Inquisition

The 15th-century Abravanel Hebrew Bible at Portugal's Coimbra University (Cnaan Liphshiz)
October 18, 2017 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

COIMBRA, Portugal (JTA) — From its mountaintop perch, the University of Coimbra towers majestically over the downtown square that used to be the regional headquarters of the Portuguese Inquisition. It’s a fitting location for the 737-year-old university, the seventh oldest in the world, which outsmarted and outlived the campaign… Read more »

New citizenship law has Jews worldwide flocking to tiny Portugal city

Turkish Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva, right, talking to congregants outside Kadoorie - Mekor Haim synagogue in Porto, Portugal, Jan. 29, 2016 (Cnaan Liphshiz)
February 12, 2016 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

PORTO, Portugal (JTA) — Five years ago, this city’s tiny Jewish community was so strapped for cash it couldn’t afford to fix the deep cracks in its synagogue’s moldy ceiling. The Jewish Community of Porto was also too poor to hire a full-time rabbi because of its small size… Read more »

Jewish law of return in Portugal gets lift from Facebook
August 15, 2013 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

Until 2009, right-wing Portuguese politician José Ribeiro e Castro didn’t have much interest in the expulsion of his country’s Jewish community in the 16th century. That changed once Ribeiro e Castro opened a Facebook account. Online, the 60-year-old lawmaker and journalist connected to several Sephardic Jews, descendants of a… Read more »