## *Do Ashkenazim have Sephardic Ancestry?*## *Sephardic World premiere on YouTube** *Please join us for the YouTube premiere of Sunday’s patrons’ meeting on 17 August 2025. Ton and David were joined by Adam Brown, Alexander Beider and Randy Schoenberg, respectively experts on Jewish DNA, Jewish surnames and Ashkenazi rabbinic dynasties. The panel also discussed evidence from the Amsterdam archives and the Nusach Sefard.The panel explored the family traditions that many Ashkenazi families have Sephardic roots. Recently this subject hit international headlines when a Russian businessman received Portuguese citizenship based on such claims. How much evidence is there to support these Ashkenazi traditions?This important meeting premieres on Sunday 24 August 2025, at 11 noon in LA, 2pm in NYC, 7pm in London, 8pm in Paris/Amsterdam, 9pm in Jerusalem, and 4am the next morning in Sydney. Please share the link with all your Ashkenazi friends! This is the link: [https://youtu.be/sodr9orp2FI](https://youtu.be/sodr9orp2FI)***Spain, Portugal, and the Challenge of Genealogical Proof***Two articles in recent editions of Sephardic Horizons online magazine highlighted opposing views over the implementation of the Spanish and Portuguese nationality laws. The first was by Laura Wiener, a journalist, and the response by Gabriel Senderowicz, president of the Jewish Community of Oporto[https://www.sephardichorizons.org/Volume15/Issue1/Weiner.html](https://www.sephardichorizons.org/Volume15/Issue1/Weiner.html)[https://www.sephardichorizons.org/Volume15/Issue2/Senderowicz.html](https://www.sephardichorizons.org/Volume15/Issue2/Senderowicz.html)Lauren Weiner argued that Spain and Portugal’s 2015 nationality laws, though framed as reparative, were compromised by weak evidentiary standards and political interference. Gabriel Senderowicz defended Oporto’s reliance on communal knowledge, oral tradition, and rabbinic attestations, including in the Abramovich case.How Spain and Portugal frame and implement their laws are, of course, a matter for them. As genealogists we are concerned with evidence. We support evidential standards including the Genealogical Proof Standard, IAJGS Code of Conduct and the Sephardic Genealogical Society’s Code of Conduct.We are surprised that neither the Spanish or Portuguese government provided clear guidelines for those evaluating claims of Sephardic ancestry. Naturally, from our perspective, there are concerns when genealogical claims are accepted in the apparent absence of standards-compliant evidence. We have seen unsupported claims by rabbis. We wonder if all the rabbis and synagogue presidents expressing opinions on applicants’ Sephardic ancestry have sufficient knowledge of the relevant history and genealogy. In the case of Portugal, there is a legitimate question of whether favouring some applicants by religion aligns with Article 13 of the Constitution.As evidenced by this week’s meeting (above) we believe that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. This includes claims by Ashkenazi, Mizrahi and other families of Sephardic ancestry. We do not deny the possibility in certain cases, but would welcome public disclosure of evidence by the two governments, not least because it would advance knowledge of Jewish history.Every Sephardic family has a unique story to tell. Do you want to share yours? If you would like to speak but haven’t given a presentation before, we are happy to provide support and to practice with you. If you don’t want to talk for a full 45 minutes, we can have a series of shorter presentations. If you are very nervous about public speaking, we can pre-record. Our only requirement is that you have archival evidence to support what you say. Send us an email at [society@sephardicgenealogy.com](mailto:society@sephardicgenealogy.com) ***Support the Sephardic Genealogical Society***The Sephardic Genealogical Society is now the largest producer of educational material in the Sephardic world — and we rely on your support to keep going.If you value our free lectures and wider work, please consider becoming a patron for as little as $5/month via our Patreon page. Your support directly funds new content, events, and research.We are also seeking major donors to help us expand key projects. If you are in a position to help, we would be pleased to hear from you.[https://www.patreon.com/sephardi](https://www.patreon.com/sephardi) *** ******From the Sephardic Archives***The Almosnino family has roots in medieval Spain, specifically in Aragon. Since some members of the family oversaw the Tzedaka (charity) institution in Jaca, it is thought that the family name "Almosnino" derives from this responsibility. After 1492, one branch of the family – probably the most famous one – moved to Saloniki and then expanded across the Balkans. Another branch settled in Fez and subsequently spread throughout Morocco, Algeria, Gibraltar, England, and France. Both branches produced renowned rabbis, poets, community leaders, and even international traders. Nathaniel Farouz tells the story of this remarkable family,*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tzcrc25fHQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tzcrc25fHQ)** \**Best wishes**Ton and David **Sephardic World*