צבי רבי

For those that understand Hebrew, there’s a fascinating series on YouTube about Jewish life in Spain before 1492. It’s called ירושלים שהיתה בספרד (Jerusalem that was in Spain), and It was made by Israeli TV in 1992 in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the expulsion. It’s narrated by Yitzhak Navon, former President of Israel, and consists of eight 50-minute programmes, mostly in Hebrew, an...

This is a family mausoleum in the Recoleta Catholic cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It belongs to the Dorrego Ortiz Basualdo family. We were told that they were conversos, hence the very prominent menorah. I find it hard to believe that they would want to advertise their heritage. Is there another explanation?

Interesting article about Samuel Pepys' visit on Simchat Torah 1663 to the Portuguese synagogue in London.

Ester Lea Cohenet Persiano (1675-1727) was the wife of Zaddik Cohen Belinfante (1676-1750), chief rabbi of Amsterdam. Her family name implies that at some point they came from Persia (present-day Iran) to the Netherlands. Is there any other historical evidence of Jewish migration from Persia to Europe?

Last week at the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) meeting in Seattle WA, I gave a presentation on the Western Sephardim and my Belinfante ancestry. You can see the slide deck at

In 1833, slavery was abolished in the British Empire, and slave-owners in the British Caribbean colonies were compensated financially for the loss of their property. University College London has a project to document the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership. There is a searchable database at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/search/ . Sad to say that there are several Portuguese names listed (including ...

The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) conference is being held next week in Seattle, WA. Here's a link to a presentation I will be giving on the Portuguese Sephardim and my Belinfante ancestry.