Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its ...

Of all the rabbis ordained last week at the Jewish Theological Seminary, few have journeys to the rabbinate quite as unlikely as Juan Mejia. Raised as a Catholic in Colombia and educated at Christian ...

Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its ...

As Jews around the world prepare to celebrate Purim, it is pivotal to note that Queen Esther served as a model and inspiration for Anusim Jews that were forcefully converted to Catholicism following ...

The rooftop of the Castello Leucatia has a large menorah and a view of the Mediterranean.David I. Klein Rabbi Gilberto Ventura believes his synagogue has the most beautiful view in the world. Located ...

After 30 years of helping borderland residents identify with their Jewish Sephardic roots, Rabbi Stephen Leon has put the stories and lessons of his journey on paper. "The Third Commandment and the ...

More than half a millennium after an infamous Dominican monk (1420-1498), one of the most feared and reviled men in history, founded the Spanish Inquisition to purge his country of “heresy,” the ...

Anusim, which translates as ‘the coerced’, historically comes from Jews forced to convert to Christianity during the Inquisition. But in the modern case, it reflects a sense of being obliged into ...

I continue to meet with and guide those anusim who sincerely wish to return to their ancestral faith. Many of my colleagues try to dissuade me from dedicating myself to this cause. And I’ll admit ...

A steady trickle of Hispanics in Mexico and the southwest United States are discovering and exploring their Jewish roots. Some have joined the Conservative synagogue in El Paso, Texas, and are set to ...