Connecticut: 'An 800-year Sephardic Journey,' April 17

Dr. Daniel Laby will be speaking on his family's eight century journey from Aragon (Spain) to Massacusetts, for the Jewish Genealogical Society of Connecticut on Sunday, April 17.

The program starts at 1.30pm, at the Godfrey Memorial Library, 134 Newfield Street, Middletown.

Dan and I share some roots in Lerida (Lleida) in Catalunya, the same great researcher (Maria Jose Surribas) and a Persian connection. The Lerida archives provided him with a document dated 1204, while our earliest document from the same archive is dated 1353.

Dan is a great speaker and his family's story is fascinating. A few years ago, his family went on a roots trip to Spain. He presented a multi-media program on that trip to the Jewish Family Research Association (JFRA) in Israel. I was privileged to also meet his parents during the 2006 IAJGS conference in New York.

"From Aragon to Massachusetts" follows Dan's family history (Laby de la Caballeria or Cavalleria) from western Massachusetts and New York’s Lower East Side back to the Ottoman Empire and pre-Inquisition Spain.

Dan will describe how he traced his family to 13th-century Spain using both modern DNA analysis and microfilms. He shares his story because he hopes to make Sephardic Jewish genealogy more widely known.

An assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, Dan is also a sports vision specialist, working with the Boston Red Sox and several other professional and Olympic teams. His search for his family predates his medical practice.

For more information, click on the JGS of Connecticut website.

Dan's story is worth telling to many more family historians and genealogists, and not only because it is Sephardic story. If your JGS can convince him to speak - if he has time - it will be worth it.

New York: Sephardic Cooking Classes, January 2011

Love Sephardic food?

Here's your chance to learn about your heritage or just something delicious about another heritage.

Janet Amateau (of Barcelona, Spain) will hold New York Metro cooking lessons for the first time since 2006.

Here's the schedule:

Thursday, January 13, morning
Riverside (Greenwich), Connecticut
A savory meal will be prepared

Wednesday, January 19, morning 
Great Neck (L.I.), New York
Either a second savory meal or traditional desserts and sweets will be prepared
Both locations are near train stations.

The emphasis on both dates is on Ottoman-Sephardic tradition, but Amateau will also include elements of traditional Jewish foods still found in Spain.
The format is part demonstration, part hands-on, and they are appropriate for all skill levels. Each runs about three hours, including time to share a meal.

Space is limited, and quick reservations are suggested.

For January 19, please indicate if you would prefer savory or sweets.

For more information and pricing, contact Janet Amateau.

For more information on her background, see her SephardicCooking.com website and her blog, SephardicFood.com.

New York: Gastro-genealogy, eating Jewish

Hey, if we can have "geneabloggers," we can have "gastrogenealogy," right?

Love Sephardic food from Italy, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, South America and other parts, but don't want to cook it at home?

According to the New York Times, chef Nikki Cascone's new restaurant, Octavia's Porch, will offer Jewish dishes from those places and more. Named for the Via del Portico d’Ottavia, in Rome’s Jewish ghetto, he opening is planned for November at 40 Avenue B (Fourth Street).

Info in other articles and blogs indicate the theme is "global Jewish cuisine." See the Village Voice blog - Fork in the Road - for an interview with Cascone on September 16. Here's a bit of it:

What's the status of your new restaurant?

The restaurant's name is Octavia's Porch. It's named after the Roman Jewish ghetto. There's a pizza there called Porta Octavia. We really wanted a story behind our name and that was one of the first places I realized that there were Jews all over the world -- even places like Italy -- doing unbelievable food that had an influence on the cuisine in the countries they resided in. I didn't know that before then and felt pretty naive being that I had a Jewish mom and an Italian dad.

Are you working on menu items yet?

We started recipe testing this week and tasting. There's Eastern European influences, Egyptian, Ukrainian, Hungarian ... you name it. It is global Jewish cuisine. I wanted to emphasize that Jewish food is more than just deli, which really was invented here in New York City. I'm trying to do classic dishes with a modern "Nikki" twist and expose people to less traditional dishes that they may not have seen from some other parts of the world. You eat it and think, "Oh, that's Jewish?" Things like eggplant caponata that the Arabics and Jews introduced to Italians, then Italians got all the credit for it. Jewish really was the first fusion cuisine.

Will the food be kosher?

The restaurant is Jewish by culture and not by religion. So, although we're not going to be kosher, we are not going to serve shellfish and pork.

The second part of the interview is here; learn what the chef ate at her post-Yom Kippur break-fast.

Jewish History: Sephardic articles - Spain, Antwerp, Sicily

The "Jewish History" quarterly journal offers several articles and a book review of interest to Sephardic researchers.

"Jewish History" (Vol. 24, Issue 2 - June 2010) offers diverse content to researchers. Find it in local public and university libraries (more likely) as it is available online only to subscribers. Read more here.

Jewish History, the sole English language publication devoted exclusively to history and the Jews, expands the horizons of historical writing on the Jews. Not only does the journal publish contributions from the field of history, but also from the intersection of history with art, literature, sociology, and anthropology.

The diverse personal and professional backgrounds of the journal's contributors represent a truly international meeting of the minds and are reflected in the journal's innovative essays. Special issues have included women and Jewish inheritance, the Jews of Latin America, and Jewish self-imaging.

In the latest quarterly issue find three articles of interest:

-- Renee Levine Melammed: "Judeo-conversas and Moriscas in sixteenth-century Spain: a study of parallels." (pp. 155 - 168)

Though interesting research has been done on Jewish women conversas in Spain, as well as on Morisco women converts, no comparison of the activities of the two groups has been made. This paper comes to fill this lacuna, examining their commitment to Judaism and Islam and ritual practices, especially as reflected in Inquisitional records. Despite basic differences, a surprising number of parallels appear in the behavior of both groups, suggesting the importance of women in preserving ties to the past and maintaining the converso mentality.

-- Timothy De Paepe: "Diego Duarte ii (1612-1691): a converso's experience in seventeenth-century Antwerp." (pp. 169 - 193):

From the early sixteenth century onward, many conversos or New Christians left Spain and Portugal and went to Antwerp. One member of the converso community in Antwerp was Diego Duarte ii (1612–1691). Diego Duarte ran a thriving jewel business and had a large commercial network. He was also a highly cultured man, who forged many friendships through his love for music and paintings. Antwerp was, however, still off-limits for Jews. This article seeks to explore Diego’s professional, religious and, in particular, his artistic background seen against the place and time in which he lived.

-- and a book review. Lucia Finotto: Shlomo Simonsohn's "The Jews in Sicily" - Volume 15: Notaries of Trapani. A Documentary History of the Jews in Italy." (pp. 213-216) (Brill, $340, 746pgs). To see more about each volume in the series, click here.

Although there is no summary, the first page of the review is on view.

The review indicates that Simonsohn provides information on Palermo notarial deeds and legal documents from Trapani, the focus of this volume. There are administrative materials and court cases involving Jews. There is an index of people and geographic locations, a glossary of Sicilian terms, a bibliography and a subject index. Here's some of the index:

The volume demonstrates classes in the community - wealthy merchant families, financial and administrative elites, religious leaders, ordinary families and artisans. It includes cases of complaints against powerful family groups in the community.

As is the case with most of Brill's publications, they are beyond the economic reach of most Sephardic family history researchers, so do check your local public (less likely) and university libraries (more likely).

The journal's editorial board includes: editor Kenneth Stow, University of Haifa, Israel; co-editor Adam Teller University of Haifa, Israel; book review editor David Starr, Hebrew College, Newton, MA; with assistant editors and an editorial board based at Hebrew University, Princeton, Smith, Michigan, TAU, UCSan Diego, Yale, Penn, Brandeis, and UWashington and elsewhere.

New DNA Project: Puerto Rico - Mallorca - Jewish descendants

A new DNA project has been organized for Puerto Ricans. Its primary objective is to find a possible DNA signature among those with known or suspected Mallorcan/Jewish ancestry.

Mallorca or Majorca are the two spellings for the same place in the Catalan-speaking Balearic Isles, near Barcelona, Spain. In 1391, the Jews of Mallorca were forcibly converted to Catholicism, some stayed, others left. They were known as Chuetas. We'll use the Mallorca spelling for this post.

Project members will have some connection to (or combination of) Mallorcan, Puerto Rican, Jewish ancestry. All data will be analyzed along with genealogical and historical information to track the once secret immigration of Jews from Mallorca to Puerto Rico.

For more information, see the project Mallorcan_Jews_PR here at FamilyTreeDNA.com.

Seham Lewis is organizing the project. She writes:

The Spanish Inquisition forced many Jews to take on new identities and relocate to other colonies, such as Puerto Rico. However, the tribunals extended to the New World forcing many to continue hiding their faith. As a result, the Jewish presence on the island has gone virtually unknown not only to the Jewish Diaspora, but to its own Puerto Rican descendants. With this project I hope to tell their story.

This is a Y-DNA project for males only, whose direct paternal line comes from this area. Females can have a male relative test or investigate mtDNA (maternal) tests and projects.

Why is Seham so interested in this project?

She wants to bring awareness to both Puerto Ricans and Jews around the world that Jewish people have been on the island since its early settlement by the Spanish. Many Puerto Ricans still do not comprehend this piece of their history because the Inquisition tribunals were replicated in the New World.

According to Seham, Inquisition tribunals were also set up in the Americas covering the four Viceroyalties. Puerto Rico fell under the New Spain Viceroyalty which covered what is present day South and Central America (minus Brazil and the northeast region of South America which was Portuguese), and some of the Caribbean islands. [The Inquisitors and the Jews in the New World, summaries of procesos, 1500-1810, and bibliographic guide; Liebman, Seymour B.; 1976 edition. University of Miami Press].

Many Jews, she adds, seem to find this fact peculiar, which she is still trying to understand. Her family in Dorado, Puerto Rico, did not know there was a Conservative synagogue just 20 minutes away from them, let alone that there are four congregations: Conservative, Orthodox, Reform, and Chabad.

My answer to both Jewish and Puerto Rican people is “Well, why not”. When you really think about this, it makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, the Spanish were too good at “protecting” their New World and blood line from the Jews.

However they weren’t 100% successful and one can see this by the growing number of Puerto Ricans discovering or somehow sensing they have Jewish ancestry. The scarcity of documentation on Jews in Puerto Rico forces one to be creative and analyze the topic “sideways.” The genius of Bennett Greenspan’s genetic genealogy has provided one the possibility to find connections when little or no records exist.

Studies done on present-day Mallorcan Jews have shown their DNA to be relatively homogenous and unchanged from one generation to the next.

Athough Seham is not a scientist, her theory and hope is that a pattern will show itself among Puerto Ricans with Mallorcan-Jewish ancestry. Her first member is R1b1b2, and he has upgraded from 12 to 37 markers to receive more information.

Since many Puerto Ricans do not know that they may have Jewish lineage, she opened the project to include anyone who knows or suspects they have Mallorcan ancestry. "I can use the non-Puerto Rican DNA results as a sort of comparison. Maybe…," she adds.

Seham hopes to turn this research into a Master’s thesis, but the topic is raising much skepticism among Jews and Puerto Ricans. Therefore, she has to prove that Mallorcan Jews existed in Puerto Rico, and then find their descendants.

Initially, she wanted to trace the early Jewish presence in Puerto Rico, but quickly realized the enormity of such a project. While reading a late 1800s book on island resources, she saw that the author describes “the inhabitants” (put in quotations because his wording seemed to describe specimens and not people) of Puerto Rico.

He refers to the locals as Jibarros- those who live in the countryside. Every Puerto Rican knows the term Jibarro, and many understand its negative undertones. What many did not know, including myself, is that these Jibarros were said to be descendants of Mallorcan Jews, the Chuetas, AKA “the People of the Street.” I was unfamiliar with the term Chuetas. I kept telling myself it was such an ugly and odd name for a group of people because it sounded like ChuLetas, pork chops in Spanish.

I guess I found the name so horrible that I didn’t make the connection until the next day.

Suddenly, says Seham, a flood of Mallorcan references in her life appeared as if they were waiting for their cue. It is rumored that her mother’s paternal line is from Mallorca, but she is still searching for documentation. Her family surnames are among those found in Inquisition records for Mallorca: Correa, Rodriguez, Maldonado, Rivera and Escalera.

Although not a solid genealogical indicator of ancestry, I recalled eating Pan de Majorca, a type of morning bread or sandwich. I then found two street names with Judio in 2 different municipalities in Puerto Rico: “Cuesta de los Judios” in Yauco and “Sector Judio” in Utuado.

She insists that there must be a reason to have such names extant in those towns. She's currently investigating possible connections. In the meantime, she's hoping her DNA project will attract participants. She's also looking to develop a fund to defray testing costs.

Learn more about the project at the link above, and contact Seham for questions or more information at the project site link.

New York: First Sephardic Jewish Book Fair, July 25

The first annual New York Sephardic Jewish Book Fair will include book readings, author signings, sales and tours at the Center for Jewish History, on Sunday July 25.

From noon-5.30pm - hosted by the American Sephardi Federation (ASF) - the event brings together authors and book lovers, those who write about and enjoy books relating to the culture, history, philosophy, religion, languages and experiences of Sephardic Jews, past and present.

Hundreds of Sephardic-oriented books - new, hard-to-find or rare - will be available.

Visiting authors will discuss diverse topics and personal histories, Sephardic history, philosophy, culture and religion:

12pm: Jean Naggar will read from her Egyptian memoir, "Sipping From the Nile."
12.30pm: Marc Kligman, Professor of Jewish Musicology (Hebrew Union College) will read from his award-winning book, "Maqam and Liturgy: Ritual, Music, and Aesthetics of Syrian Jews in Brooklyn."
1pm: Andrée Aelion Brooks will read from and discuss the life of the Sephardic banker and heroine, "The Woman who Defied Kings: The Life and Times of Doña Gracia Nasi."
Children's hour, 2-3pm:
1.30pm: Peninnah Schram, Professor of Speech and Drama, Stern College for Women (Yeshiva University), shares a Sephardic tale for youth, "The Hungry Clothes - And other Jewish Folktales."
2pm: Mara Cohen Ioannides, Professor of English (Missouri State University), reads a story about Sephardic and Romanoite Jews from her award-winning children's book, "A Shout in the Sunshine."
2:30pm: Jessica Jiji reads from her novel, "Sweet Dates in Basra."
3pm: Rabbi Marc D. Angel, Ph.D., founder of The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals and Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel, North America's oldest Jewish congregation. He speaks on his books, "Foundations of Sephardic Spirituality" and "Maimonides, Spinoza and Us."
4pm: Abraham Sutton reads from "The Aristocrat," a book about his father, Rabbi Hillel Menashe Sutton, a leading member of the Aleppo (Syria) and Jerusalem Sephardic communities.
4.30pm, J. Daniel Khazzoom, Professor emeritus, reads from his book, "No Way Back: The Journey of a Jew from Baghdad."
5pm: Mitchell James Kaplan reads from his book about ordinary people swept up in the Inquisition's chaos and upheaval and the Expulsion, "By Fire, By Water."

Vendors will bring out-of-print Jewish books, as well as modern and rare titles, some from the 18th-20th centuries, including antique Ladino and Hebrew volumes from Salonika, Livorno, Tunis, Venice and Jerusalem.

Rare Sephardic books from the ASF Library and Archives will be displayed and Yeshiva University Museum will offer tours of its current exhibits, including "A Journey Through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books.' This collection includes handwritten manuscripts and printed books from Holland, Italy, Spain, Greece and India.

The free event is set for the Steinberg Great Hall at the CJH, 15 W. 16th Street.

Spain: Cervera archives update report

Archival resources in Cervera is the subject of an extensive report by Maria Jose Surribas-Camps in Barcelona.

My very good friend Maria Jose has done research in Catalan and other archives for many Sephardic researchers, including Jeff Malka, Judy Simon, Dan Laby, myself and others. She knows her way around the archives and her multi-lingual talents are put to good use translating documents in old Catalan, Latin and more.

We first met years ago when I spoke at Congregation Atid in Barcelona, and conducted a hand's-on workshop on Jewish genealogy - Maria Jose was one of the students and we've been good friends ever since.

A former attorney, her research skills are impeccable. Genealogy became her focus as she helped her maternal uncle, a well-known author and physician, prepare a work on medieval medical doctors (many of whom were Jewish) and conducted extensive archival research. Her maternal family comes from around Lerida (also known as Lleida), about 140 km northwest of Barcelona, and she discovered our TALALAY family's first two documents in Spain.

Most recently, she has been preparing a report on her investigations into the Cervera, Spain, archives, a rich primary resource for the history of medieval Sephardic Jews, for the International Institute of Jewish Genealogy.

Maria Jose will be speaking in Ravenna, Italy at July's EAJS (European Association of Jewish Studies) Congress, where she will present “Connecting with the Lives and Lineages of Medieval Catalan Jews.” Other speakers focusing on Jewish genealogy at that conference will be:

-- Valts Apinis, University of Riga: “Jews in Latvia in 1918-1940: a Genealogical Perspective.”

-- Federica Francesconi, University of Bologna and UCLA: “An Alternative Path toward Emancipation: Jewish; Merchants and their Cross-Cultural Networks in 18th Century Italian Ghettos."

-- Neville Lamdan, Hebrew University, Jerusalem:“Village Jews in the 19th Century Minsk Gubernya through a Genealogical Lens.”

According to director Neville Lamdan, in the International Institute of Jewish Genealogy's semi-annual report:

Perhaps the most exciting research results to be reported recently were received from Mrs. Maria Jose Surribas-Camps in Barcelona regarding her study into the “Lives and Lineages of Medieval Jews” in the provincial town of Cervera, in pre-Expulsion Spain.

Maria Jose has uncovered some 3,000 original documents in Latin and old Catalan, dated 1328-1499. The documents have revealed new discoveries on medieval Jews, as well as several important Cervera families, including rabbinical scholar “Rashba,” (1235-1310).

She has proved that unexplored small town Spanish archives are goldmines for the history and genealogy of Sephardi families living today around the world, who trace their families to pre-Expulsion Spain.

From a May 2009 progress report, Maria Jose provides the following two documents (1362, 1365) as examples of what can be found [TTT has added color to emphasize what details are in the documents]:

“Quod ego magister Abraam Astruch Zatorra judeus nunc Cervarie, tutor et curator Moise Abraam Zatorra, filii meum … Testes … Vital Gracia” – from which we learn that, on October 8, 1362 (document date), the aforesaid Jews were in Cervera, that Abraam Astruch Zatorra, Jew, did not originate from Cervera, and that he was the tutor and guardian of his son Moise (uses the same hereditary surname). The brief quote provides useful information on how middle and surnames were used during that period. It is also helpful to come across the same names more than once to avoid erroneous conclusions.

In another Notary book, dated June 30, 1365, we read “… ad hoc ego Abram Astruh Zatorre, fisicus, locumtenenti Vital Fferrari, judeus secretarii aliame iudeorum Cervarie …” from which we learn that Abram was a medical doctor.

Maria Jose is now working on the final version of her report (which will appear on the IIJG website). Additionally, and in conjunction with our good friend Dr. Jeffrey S. Malka ("Sephardic Genealogy"), she will prepare a book on the archival material.

Sephardic researchers worldwide are waiting for the results of what she has discovered. Read more of the IIJG 2010 mid-year report here. Read about the Cervera archives here. Read the May 2009 report here.

New York: Sephardic Book Fair, July 25

The first New York Sephardic Jewish Book Fair - with book readings, author signings, book sales and tours - is set for Sunday, July 25.

Hosted by the American Sephardi Federation (ASF), will be held from noon-5pm, at the Steinberg Great Hall at the Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th Street.

The free event, open to the public, will include authors and book lovers, those who write about and read about the culture, history, philosophy, religion, languages and experiences of the Sephardic Jews, past and present.

Hundreds of titles of Sephardic-oriented books, including many rare titles, will be available for sale by the Sephardic House bookstore, as well as by unique vendors that specialize in Sephardic Judaica.

Several visiting authors will discuss a wide range of topics including personal histories, Sephardic history, philosophy, culture and religion. The day's key author and speaker will be Dr. Marc D. Angel, founder of The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals and Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel, North America's oldest Jewish congregation.

The fair will also feature a display of rare Sephardic books from the ASF Library and Archives, while Yeshiva University Museum will hold tours of their current exhibit: "A Journey Through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books."

The Braginsky Collection includes handwritten manuscripts and printed books from Holland, Italy, Spain, Greece and India.

There will also be hourly free door prizes for attendees.

The ASF promotes and preserves the spiritual, historical, cultural and social traditions of all Sephardic communities as an integral part of Jewish heritage.

France: GenAmi issue 52 contents

Micheline Gutmann informs us that the June issue of GenAmi is now available.

GenAmi 52 is published by the French Jewish genealogy organization GenAmi.org.

Here's what's in the new issue:

-- The Jews' First Return to France (It was in the 16th century): Lionel Levy
-- What occurred in 1510: The birth of Gracia Nasi,"The Senora" : Anne-Marie Fribourg
-- The history of Pastel in Lauragais (Tolosa and surroundings): Anne-Marie Fribourg
-- Los Bernuy from the Juderia of Avila to Tolosa (this Jewish family from Spain were Tolosa judges after their conversion) ... and Pierre de Fermat: Stephane Lalllich
-- Our relatives in Great Britain : families PICARD and BOMSEL of Upper-Rhine, Elie Camille ESPIR of Bordeaux, HAUSER and LANG of Durmenach:Micheline Gutmann
-- Jean Ferrat, a famous singer, genealogy : his father came from Russia, was
deported.
-- The origins of the ancient Hebrews, a major discovery of Joseph Davidovits: Micheline Gutmann.
-- Acquisitions: The Jewish community of Puttelange-aux-Lacs et environs and of Porrentruy aux 19e et 20e siècles; Vilna, Wilno, Vilnius; Une histoire des Juifs de Pologne; Archives juives n°42/1
-- GenAmi Competition and awards
-- Genealogy Press Review; Jan Karski: Catherine Tomat

There's also information about the French national genealogical conference, set for September 25-26, 2010, in Paris.

For more information on the organization, how to join and obtain a copy of this issue, click here.

Spain: Anti-Jewish riots began today in 1391

On this day, June 6, in 1391, anti-Jewish riots began in Seville, instigated by Ferrand Martiniz, and soon spread across the country, decimating the Jewish populations of major communities and resulting in mass forced conversions to Catholicism and massacres of those who refused.

Some 10,000 Jews are estimated to have been murdered, many more forcibly converted. Some communities were complete destroyed, such as the 400-year-old Barcelona community, others were re-established in some way. While thousands of individuals went underground and maintained secret Jewish lives, other families and individuals left for other geographic areas.

This was a precursor to the later Inquisition and the 1492 exile.

Click here to learn what else happened this day in Jewish history. Here are some important facts - the list goes through 2010!

1242: Two dozen wagonloads of Talmudic volumes and 200 other rabbinic manuscripts were burned at Paris.1247: Pope Innocent IV contacts the king of Navarre. In a dispatch he requested the king compel Christian debtors to pay off their debt to Jewish lenders.

1506: Birthdate of King John III of Portugal. Persecution of Marranos and Conversos intensified during his reign with the arrival of the Inquisition. On the other hand he met with David Reubeini in 1525 and the two negotiated over the possibility of the King supplying this adventurer with as many as eight ships to use in a fight against the Moslem leader, Selim I. Since much of the life of Reubeni is shrouded in myth and half truths, we cannot be sure as to the reason the negotiations failed.1539: The Inquisition was introduced into Mexico.

1808: Birthdate of Jacob Raphael De Cordova, Texas land agent and colonizer. A native of Jamaica, he settled in Philadelphia in the 1820’s with his father before moving to Texas in 1839. Jacob and his brother Phineas De Cordova operated one of the largest land agencies in Texas. Jacob was one of three men who helped lay out Waco in 1848. He passed away in 1868.

1855: Isaac Kaatz, Gottlieb Milhelm and Anton First were arrested today on charges of having been involved in the theft of eight cows from a farm belong to Colonel Lewis Morris. The three carcasses found in the possession of the accused all bore a mark indicating that they were Kosher.

1859: In Australia, Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales. By 1865, there were enough Jews living in the Queensland city of Brisbane that a congregation was formed that held services in a local Masonic hall until 1886 when a sanctuary with a seating capacity of 400. In 1879, the Jews of Toowoomba, Queensland, built a synagogue which, as the community shrunk in size, was only used on the High Holidays.

1875: Birthdate of Novelist Thomas Mann. Mann was not Jewish but in 1905 he married Katia Pringsheim, daughter of prominent family of Jewish intellectuals. They had six children. Mann left Nazi German in 1933, four years after having won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He lived in the United States for many years. He died in Switzerland in 1955, never having lived in his native land again.

1894: Governor Davis H. Waite ordered the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike. Famed financier Bernard Baruch was one of those who got his start in the “strike it rich” world of Cripple Creek. Arriving from the east, Baruch bought shares of stock in the San Francisco mine. During the day he worked as a “mucker” and at night he played at the roulette wheel in a local gambling joint where he was so successful that he was barred by the owners. Baruch took his winnings and headed back to New York where he gained fame and fortune. Sam Butcher, a Hungarian Jew, was one of the few Jews who actually made money in industrial mining in Cripple Creek. Because many of his fellow miners were blatant anti-Semites, Butcher “took pains to conceal his identity” until he had gained financial success. Sam and Bertha Flax were one of the first, if not the first Jewish couple to marry in Cripple Creek. They tied the knot in 1909. Sam was not much of a miner but he would prove be a successful restaurant owner in Denver, Colorado.

For more, visit This Day in Jewish History.

Spain: Little-known Sephardic genealogical sources

Here are a few little-known books, from Tracing the Tribe's own collection, offering much detailed information on Sephardic Jews in Girona and other towns in the province of Catalunya, Spain.

Tracing the Tribe purchased some in Girona Jewish Museum bookshop, in second-hand bookshops in Barcelona and elsewhere. The Library of Congress in Washington DC may hold copies as may other libraries - I have not checked WorldCat.

These provide much genealogical information in the form of archival documents and notarial records.

-- Documents dels Jueus de Girona 1124-1595 (Arxiu Historic de la Ciutat and Arxiu Diocesa de Girona), compiled by Gemma Escriba i Bonastre and Maria Pilar Frago i Perez.

It includes an excellent 52-page surname index, a 10-page toponym (geographical) index, 14-page bibliography). The book's text is in English, French, Catalan and Spanish - the documents are in their original language (Latin, Catalan, Spanish). The volume is marked "Colleccio Historia de Girona, 12," published by La Caixa and the Ajuntament de Girona. Other features: A 20-page introduction to the document collection in both the historical and diocesan archives; with 250 pages of documents and record extracts.

-- Per a una Historia de la Girona Jueva (volumes I and II), by David Romano, (1988, Ajuntament de Girona).

It has a 44-page name index, bibliography, and additional references for each chapter in the book. For each chapter, I'm including the number of articles to give readers an idea of the wealth of information. Texts are in Latin, Spanish, Catalan, French - according to the original language.


Chapters and the numbers of articles in each:


1) Introduction (1)
2) Encyclopedia articles about Girona (5)
3) Epigraphs and Hebrew Inscriptions (7)
4) The synagogues (3)
5) Jewish religion and culture (4)
6) Individuals and Texts (5)
7) Historic and Chronological Studies about the Jews of Girona (22)
8) The Inquisition (2)
--name index
--appendix
--chapter references

-- Els Jueus de Valls i la Seva Epoca, by Gabriel Secall i Guell (Edition Vallencs, 1980).

This details the names of Jews of the town of Valls, and also includes some names of those who lived in nearby communities, such as D'Alcover, De L'Aleixar, D'Alforja, De L'Arboc, Cabra, Falset, Montblanc, Pla de Santa Maria, Prades, La Riba, Reus, Santa Coloma de Queralt, Sarral, La Selva, Tamarit, Tarragona, Tortosa, Vallmoll, Vilaplana, Vila-Rodona. It includes the archival references to documents with the names for all towns.

There are separate bibliographies providing additional publications for the Jews of Valls, Tarragona, Comarques Tarragonines (the smaller towns listed above), Lleida, Girona, Barcelona. There's are general bibliographies for the Jews of Catalunya, and for the Iberian Jews.

-- Corografia Portuguesa, published by the Fundacao Ana Lima, Brazil (Fortaleza, 2006) contains:

Two detailed indexes for proper names and toponyms for Portugal. It refers to a 1,500-page history by Father Antonio Carvalho Costa, which in addition to detailed geography includes detailed genealogical information on Portuguese Jewish and other families up to the year 1700. The work was published in three volumes of some 500 pages each in 1706 and 1708, but I do not see a date for the third volume. The second edition of the complete, published in 1868, is the basis of this index. Each name and geographical location provides the original volume and page for more information. The introduction is in Portuguese and English, and contains some very detailed examples of the entries.

-- Jews of the Caribbean, by Mordecai Arbell, provides extensive information on the history of these communities.

-- Sangre Judia, by Pere Bonnin, is the first book of choice for those who wish to see if their name has Jewish roots, but only the most recent edition (the 4th expanded edition) contains the surnames, year and geographical location. Documents are from pre-Inquisition, Inquisition and other sources. A previous edition is part of the large Name Search Engine at Sephardim.com, but the edition used provided no year or city.

This is available online from a Barcelona bookshop, Casa Llibre. The price is 18€ or $28.26; the official title and author's name: "Sangre Judia"  (edicion Aumentada y Revisada, 2006), Pere de Bonnin Aguilo. To find it in the catalogue, use the English page (see top right of the page for other languages).

Pere has also just published a second book, "Sangre Judia 2: La Brillante Estela de los Espanoles expulsados," (2010), the price is the same. I have not yet seen the second book so cannot advise on it. Both books are in Spanish.

-- In 1988, the city Historic Archive (Arxiu Historic de la ciutat) in Girona discovered that multiple layers of 14th-15th century Hebrew manuscripts were used to pad covers of  books and registers held in the archives. They were recycling even in medieval times, and after the Jews were expelled, the Hebrew documents were not needed. The discovery led to a still on-going process of painstaking restoration.

Learn more about this here (unfortunately, it is in Catalan, but is easy to follow if you have some Spanish, French, Italian or Latin) and there is aan 11-minute video here (also in Catalan) showing the process in some detail.

Additionally, there is a search engine for these Hebrew manuscript fragments. Search by title (titol), place name (desriptor toponimic), subject (ambit tematic), date (data del document), and/or name (descriptor onomastic).

Have you seen these resources?
Have you used them?
What have you found?
Now that you know about them, are you planning to work with them?

Spain: A visit to Girona

A visit to Girona detailed in the Washington Post brought back wonderful memories of several visits.

Although a general travel article, there are a few paragraphs focused on the Call, the Jewish quarter, the scene of murder, mayhem and forced conversions in 1391, and whose residents were finally expelled in 1492.

The story, and the accompanying photo gallery, are well worth a look.

It covers the important things and the wonderful things.

The story reminds visitors about the Jewish quarter's medieval cobblestoned steep stone steps and walkways which are difficult to maneuver if a visitor has any mobility issues. Wear good supportive sneakers or mountain-climbing sandals in appropriate weather; and do remember that stone is slippery in wet weather.

If you arrive by train - a short ride from Barcelona - take a cab up the steep hill, although some travel advisors say it is a quick walk. Don't believe it. On our first trip there, we were advised that one could walk it. Tracing the Tribe took one look at the terrain and grabbed the first cab we saw. It was an excellent decision.

Once you're on top, navigation isn't too difficult, although there are so many lovely alleys, back streets and more - sometimes with a glimpse of private gardens - that only foot power can reach, and it would be a shame to miss them. The Nachmanides Center/Jewish Museum also offers various walking tours and occasionally these include private houses and gardens. I just learned that there's now a two-hour Segway tour - what a great idea!

Every May, Girona celebrates Temps de Flors. This year, it's May 8-16. Private homes and gardens are open to visitors. It's the perfect time to visit Girona.

The Post story covers the central plaza, the cathedral and its old city plaza, great restaurants, wonderful views, the sense of history in every corner of the old city, tradition oozing from each stone.

It is easy to imagine what the Call might have looked like 500 years ago. It is also easy to understand how its Jewish residents felt during certain Catholic holidays when they were forced to remain barricaded inside their homes for fear of the mobs, during the tragic events of 1391 which decimated most Jewish communities across Spain, and in the period leading up to the their ultimate expulsion in 1492 and their hurried departure.

The Girona Archives are particularly rich in Jewish content, and several books providing collections of documents have been published. The museum bookstore should have copies - that's where I purchased mine.

The restoration of the Call began in the 1980s, when the mayor (also a historian) rediscovered the ancient Jewish quarter, began the reconstruction of medieval buildings and made other changes.

Although no organized Jewish community exists today, there are some families who live there today and get together for holidays. Tracing the Tribe visited the Girona families several years ago and learned that they represent diverse origins and professions. Most are connected in some way to Atid, Barcelona's Progressive congregation.

The stones of silence remain to be discovered by today's visitors.

If you go, don't forget to visit the Jewish museum, bookstore and other locations. Click here for more information on events in the Call, which even has a Facebook page.

While the Nachmanides Institute has an excellent library covering diverse subjects, genealogy - unfortunately - is not high on their priority list. When I was visiting the library several years ago, I met a family from New York searching their roots and although nothing much was in the library (except an outdated list of gen contacts), I was able to assist them with resources.

Today, searching online the Institute's library catalogue for "genealogy," only three results are found: A 1999 Avotaynu, the 1977 edition of Dan Rottenberg's "Finding Our Fathers," and the 2002 first edition of Jeff Malka's "Sephardic Genealogy."

See a future Tracing the Tribe post with some specific Sephardic genealogy sources, some are little-known outside of Spain.

New York: Three Catalan Sephardic programs, May 2-4

The American Sephardi Federation has scheduled three programs from Sunday, May 2-Tuesday, May 4.

-- A History of Jewish Catalonia
4pm, Sunday, May 2

A lecture on this book, along with a sale and signing, will feature authors Sílvia Planas and Manuel Forcano.

This beautifully illustrated book traces the rich and fertile history of the Jews in Catalonia from the time of the late Roman Empire and the Early Middle Ages, until the drastic decree of expulsion by the Catholic Monarchs.

It captures their wedding songs, the smells from their cooking pots, and reconstructs the soaring intellectual edifice they created despite the difficulties of a daily life fraught with religious persecution and social degradation.
 
The program is in collaboration with and the support of NYU's Catalan Center, an affiliate of the Institut Ramon Llull, and the European Institute of the Mediterranean

Fee: ASF members/students, free; others $5. It will take place at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, NYC. Reservations requested.

-- A Certain Identity: Crypto Jews Around the World
6.30pm, Monday, May 3

Thousands of Iberian Jews went "underground" at the time of the Inquisition and the expulsion from Spain. They dispersed across Europe, across the ocean to South America and the Caribbean, to North Africa and the Middle East. With tremendous tenacity, they preserved their heritage, married among themselves, and passed it down from generation to generation.

Gloria Mound, Director of the Casa Shalom-Institute for Anusim Studies in Israel, will illuminate their fascinating history, their presence in the Caribbean and in European countries, as well as previously unsuspected links with French Huguenots.

Fee: ASF members/students, $5; others $10. It will take place at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, NYC. Reservations requested.

-- Traces of Esther: The Jewish Presence in Contemporary Catalan Literature
6.30pm, Tuesday, May 4

Manuel Forcano, PhD (Semitic Philology), poet and essayist, will offer a Catalan perspective on Jewish culture as reflected in the writings of the great 19th and 20th century Catalan authors. Offering rich passages from the literature, Dr. Forcano will guide us from the negative stereotypes of the 19th century, through the fascination with Israel as both a religious and political inspiration, and the Bible and the Talmud as references, to the emergence of a modern, nuanced view of the place of Jewish culture in Catalonia.

The program is in collaboration with and the support of NYU's Catalan Center and the European Institute of the Mediterranean.

Fee: no charge. It will take place at the King Juan Carlos Center, 53 Washington Square South (bet. Sullivan & Thompson Streets). Reservations requested.

Boston: Daniel Laby's Sephardic roots, April 25

Dr. Daniel Laby will share his family's Sephardic journey from 13th-century Zaragoza, Spain to the New World with members of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston, on Sunday, April 25.

Read Tracing the Tribe's post about the meeting, which also features Brandeis Professor Jonathan Decter, here.

The Canton Citizen's story about Laby and his family is here.

The pediatric opthamalogist, also a professor at Harvard Medical School, also has family connections to Lerida, where Tracing the Tribe found the first document for our family.

His family's journey has covered Spain, Hebron, Salonika, North Africa, Eastern Europe and elsewhere.

Dan began researching his family in high school when the earliest date he knew was his paternal grandfather's 1904 arrival in the US.

Since then, he's reached back into the 13th century. Family members worked as financiers, diplomats and doctors for the Kings of Aragon.

A few years ago, three generations of his family visited their ancestral family home in Zaragoza and other cities in Spain. He put together an excellent multimedia presentation on the family trip which he shared with JFRA Israel members.

Research on his grandfather's family, from Hebron, was furthered by a book on the history of that community. It included detailed land deeds which helped him trace back several hundred years.

“I think to really understand what your future is going to be … you have to understand where you came from and what your past history is,” Laby said.


“I think anyone could do it,” Laby said of tracing ancestry. “You just have to have curiosity and patience and determination.”

It was interesting to see Dan's quote, that he was “fortunate to have an obscure name.” This is in line with my own views. Dan says if he was looking for Cohen or Levy, it would be more difficult to find the documents for his ancestors.

Tracing the Tribe feels much the same; hunting for Talalay and Dardashti makes it much easier!

While we can trace with probability our kosher winemaker ancestor in Lerida mentioned in a document dated 1358, Dan has gone back to 1202 for his prominent family, which helped arrange the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, as well as funding for Columbus's trip to the Americas.

Dan and I have joked that our ancestor made the wine his ancestors drank way back when.

Using ancient property ownership maps in Zaragoza, he was able to visit the site of the ancestor's home during his trip to Spain.

His family, along with other Spanish Jews, was expelled in 1492. Family members went to North Africa, Italy, Greece and Israel. Through his research, he's met relatives and, in Israel, met the Alazar descendants, whom their ancestors had known in Spain.

“When you do this kind of family history you learn those small details, which makes it real and makes it personal, which is what is fun about it,” he said.

His documents include arrival records, passenger logs, land deeds, maps, and a 1435 ketubah (a Jewish marriage contract).

The Internet has helped, of course, and he aso worked through reams of microfilm at the National Archives, Washington DC. He also uses DNA to help,

How far back does he want to go? "To Abraham," he jokes.

Boston: Sephardic Jewry history, DNA - April 25

Two Sephardic presentations (covering history, genealogy and DNA) are on the program of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston on Sunday, April 25.

The program begins at 1:30 pm, at Temple Emanuel, Newton Centre, with Brandeis Professor Jonathan Decter, and Tracing the Tribe's good friend Dr. Dan Laby of Harvard University Medical School.

In “Sephardic Jewry after the Expulsion from Spain,” Decter will talk about Sephardic migration after 1492 - to Portugal, the Ottoman Empire, Europe, and the Americas, with a focus on Eastern and Central Europe. He will discuss intellectual and economic connections across the Sephardi Diaspora, and the nature of Sephardi identity.

Laby will present “Tracing Family to 13th Century Spain,” Dr. Daniel Laby will describe his quest to trace his Laby- De La Caballeria family. Using both modern (DNA) and classical methods (microfilms), he was able to follow the trail from western Massachusetts and New York’s Lower East Side all the way back to the Ottoman Empire and pre-inquisition Spain.

[NOTE: In fact, Dan holds a document dated 1202 from the same archive - Lerida/Lleida (in Catalunya, about 140km NW of Barcelona) where our first Talalay document, dated 1358, was discovered. We share the same researcher in Spain.]

Decter is Associate Professor and the Edmond J. Safra Professor of Sephardic Studies in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University. His first book, "Iberian Jewish Literature: Between al-Andalus and Christian Europe," received the 2007 Salo W. Baron prize for best first book in Judaic Studies.

Laby is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and is a specialist in Sports Vision working with the Boston Red Sox as well as several other professional and Olympic teams.

Fee: JGSGB members, free; others, $5.
Click for directions. For more information about JGSGB, click here.

New York: Sephardic programs, April-May

If you are searching your family's Sephardic origin and history - particularly in Catalunya, here are three programs that may provide assistance.

American Sephardi Federation/Sephardic House presents "The Jews of Spain: Past and Present," in a year-long program made possible through the support of the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation, and the assistance of the Consulate General of Spain in New York.

These three April and May programs are in collaboration with and with the support of NYU's Catalan Center, which is an affiliate of the Institut Ramon Llull.

All events take place at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, NYC, unless otherwise noted.

Wednesday, April 28, 6:30pm
"Daughters of Sara, Mothers of Israel: Jewish Women in Medieval Girona"

I met Silvia Planas in Girona several years ago. She is the director of the Nahmanides institute in that city and the Museum of Jewish History, which I have visited several times. She is also the author of a book by the same name.

The names of the Jewish women who lived in medieval Girona were Astruga, Dolça, Esther, Mairona, Preciosa, Rahel, Sara. They were born in the city, and they gave birth there. They worked and did business there. Some of them, often under duress, gave up the faith of their fathers. Others professed to be the fervent heiresses of the ancestral law.

In this talk, Planas will endeavor to rediscover these women and honor their legacy and their memory.

Fee: ASF members, students: free; others, $5. Reservations requested.

Sunday, May 2, 2010, 4pm
A History of Jewish Catalonia

One of the books in my collection is this beautifully illustrated book, by Silvia Planas and Manuel Forcano (who will present this program), which traces the rich history of the Jews in Catalonia from the time of the late Roman Empire and the Early Middle Ages, until the decree of expulsion.

It captures their wedding songs, the smells from their cooking pots, and reconstructs the soaring intellectual edifice they created despite the difficulties of a daily life fraught with religious persecution and social degradation.

A book sale and signing follows. Fee: ASF members, students, free; others, $5. Reservations requested.

Tuesday, May 4, 6:30pm
Traces of Esther: The Jewish Presence in Contemporary Catalan Literature

Manuel Forcano, Ph.D. (Semitic Philology), poet and essayist, will offer a Catalan perspective on Jewish culture as reflected in the writings of the great 19th-20th century Catalan authors.

Offering rich passages from the literature, Dr. Forcano will guide us from the negative stereotypes of the 19th century, through the fascination with Israel as both a religious and political inspiration, and the Bible and the Talmud as references, to the emergence of a modern, nuanced view of the place of Jewish culture in Catalonia.

Fee: Free. Venue: King Juan Carlos Center, 53 Washington Square South (bet. Sullivan & Thompson Streets). Reservations requested.

Today in Jewish history: March 6

Interesting things happen every day, and to keep up with interesting Jewish history, try "This Day in Jewish History."

On this day in history:

1239: With the Edict of Valencia, Spanish King James I validated privileges of the Jews of Aragon. The Jewish courts (bet din) were authorized to try all cases except capital offenses.

1475: Birth date of famed Italian artist Michelangelo Buonarroti. Say Michelangelo to most people and they respond, Sistine Chapel ceiling. Say his name to Jews and the response is “Moses.” “Moses” is a marble sculpture which depicts the greater Jewish leader. Originally intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II in St. Peter's Basilica it was placed in the minor church of San Pietro in Vincoli on the Esquiline in Rome after the pope's death. The statue depicts Moses with horns on his head. This is believed to be because of the mistranslation of Exodus 34:29-35 by St Jerome. Moses is actually described as having "rays of light" coming from his head, which Jerome in the Vulgate had translated as "horns." This horned Moses provided further proof that the Jews were, as the Gospel says, “the Devil’s spawn.”

1815: With the defeat of Napoleon, new restrictions were imposed on the Jews all over Europe.

1816: The Jews were expelled from the Free City of Lubeck, Germany at the instance of the local guilds. This was part of the reactionary backlash that followed the defeat of Napoleon a year earlier.

For more information, go to the Temple Judah website and open the Adult Education Tab.

"This Day...In Jewish History " is part of the Jewish History Study Group in Cedar Rapids, Iowa: "There is no claim to originality or scholarship by the 'compiler,' Mitchell A. Levin. The sources, including texts and websites are too many and too varied to provide academic citations for each entry or part thereof. "

Hong Kong: DNA Project and blast from the past

Tonight I presented the IberianAshkenaz DNA Project at the Jewish Community Center of Hong Kong (JCC logo at left), and also experienced a blast from the past.

I reconnected with someone I haven't seen since 2002.

Joining us (Mira, her husband, me) for the Wednesday night buffet at the JCC coffee shop was Gary Stein of Toronto. Longtime Jewish genealogists will remember Gary, particularly if they attended the IAJGS conference there in 2002, when some 1,200 people attended that week-long event. Gary has been been living in Hong Kong for a year and loves it.

The good turnout included people of many different backgrounds: Ashkenazi, Sephardi, spouses who were one or the other. They represented Israel, Australia, the UK, the US, France, North Africa, Iran and elsewhere - a great mix of people.

I'm also doing a hands-on Intro to Jewish Genealogy tomorrow night, and many people will be attending that as well.

It was great to see Gary, and we will be going to Shabbat services and dinner at the United Jewish Congregation of Hong Kong (the Liberal congregation). I'm also looking forward to their Saturday night Purim Shpiel, billed as "The Little Theater of West South Northampton presents Mordechai Python's Flying Purim."

Nothing really scheduled yet for tomorrow (Thursday) yet, and if it all works out, I'm hoping to take the Kowloon ferry tomorrow and visit the Jewish cemetery on Friday morning.

Spain: Lleida's 14th-century Jewish community

Does the city Lleida or Lerida, in Catalunya ring a bell for Sephardic researchers?

There were two Jewish neighborhoods in the town - Cuirassa and Cuirassola - some 140km northwest of Barcelona.

The Lleida community was virtually destroyed in the 1391 riots, massacres and mass forced conversions; an attempt to reconstitute it years later never got very far.

There were Jewish communities in nearby villages as well - such as Alfés - which has numerous buildings with six-pointed symbols - una estrella de 6 puntes - above their entrance doors (see photos at left and below right). Some scholars and historians believe that these symbols were substituted for the six-pointed magen david.

In Converso communities elsewhere in the world - such as in New Mexico (according to Dr. Stanley Hordes and other historians), similar images are carved on gravestones.

Lleida's archives, housed in the Cathedral, are a treasure trove of documents for those who may have a connection to the ancient Jewish community.

On my most recent visit to the archives - a few years ago - with my good friend and excellent researcher Maria Jose Surribas, they had just received a computer and, for the first time, were entering and cataloging thousands of documents.

Maria Jose discovered a TALALAY (TALAYA, TALAY - there are various spellings) document dated 1358 in the archives, and others in towns not far away. Research in Barcelona's Crown of Aragon archives turned up a few other mentions of the family through 1396.

There is a Jewish cultural society in Lleida - TARBUT Amics Lleidatans de la Cultura Hebrea - providing programming, talks and conferences focused on the Jewish community.

Just a few days go, on February 12, the group held a conference - The Jewish Community of Lleida in the Middle Ages: Between 'Convivencia' and Segregation" - announced by Dr. Joan J. Busqueta, Faculty of Letters, University of Lleida.

For more information on Tarbut, visit the site at the link above, although it is mostly in Catalan.

SephardicGen.com: New searchable databases

SephardicGen.com holds excellent resources for those researching their Sephardic families from many countries.

Search the Consolidated Index of Sephardic Surnames with more than 85,800 names.

Among the new searchable databases on SephardicGen.com, compiled and maintained by pioneer Sephardic genealogist Dr. Jeff Malka, are the following:

- Dictionary of Bulgarian Jewish surnames
- Jewish surnames, Juderia of Tarrazona
- Personal files, Amsterdam Community, CAHJP
- Records of Portuguese Inquisition Trials (1583-1656, 1716-1717), CAHJP
- Victims of the Libya Riots
- Census of Jewish Family heads; Belgrade, Serbia
- Sephardic graves, Mount of Olives cemetery, Jerusalem
- VazDias database of aliases, Amsterdam
- Names from the Pautas (orphan girls, etc.), Amsterdam
- Names from the old cemeteries of Algiers
- Sephardic tombstones, marriages, births; Vienna, Austria
- Surnames from all Hispania Judaica books
- Tombstones, Trieste cemetery
- Jewish Surnames, Lebanon
- Craiova memorial of Jews who died in Balkan Wars and WWI

Access all these and many more here. Mathilde Tagger created these databases for SephardicGen.