## *The Venetian Jews: Sephardim, Germans, and Levantines in the ghettos*## *Nardo Bonomi Braverman*## *Sephardic World, Sunday 28 September 2025*The Serene Republic of Venice is hugely important to Jewish history, as a commercial centre, a crossroads, and a religious hub. Of course,the word ‘ghetto’ originates from the restricted area where Jewish were required to live. For five years we have tried to find a speaker on Jews in Venice. We are delighted to welcome Italian-Jewish genealogist, ***Nardo Bonomi Braverman***, to speak this Sunday. As well as the famous Archivio di Stato di Venezia (ASV), he will discuss Jewish archives and resources.***Nardo Bonomi Braverman***, Florence-based historian, has researched Italian Jewish genealogy for over 20 years, published widely,lectured internationally, and compiled key archival resources on Tuscany and Livorno. He created the Italian Family History website.The meeting is on Sunday 28 September 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. To join us live, please sign up to Patreon.***Haham Jacob Sasportas - Defender of the Western Sephardic Tradition ***The presentation by Rémy Chicheportiche about Haham Jacob Sasportas is now online. Please remember to Like and Subscribe. It helps other find our channel.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q83N-MwlnM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q83N-MwlnM)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q83N-MwlnM)*Rabbi Jacob Sasportas* (1610–1698) is remembered as a fierce opponent of the Sabbatian movement and one of the most influential Western Sephardic rabbis of the 17th century. Yet his own family story has often been obscured by error and assumption. In this presentation, ***Rémy Chicheportiche*** revisits both the rabbi's ancestry and his family in light of recent discoveries that challenge long-held views. Drawing on online sources as well as close reading of handwritten records in multiple languages, he will show how the genealogy of this remarkable figure can now be mapped with far greater clarity than before.***Rémy Chicheportiche*** trained a s a physicist and researches statistical finance and also researches the Sasportas family. His recent work focuses on reconstructing the family history from fragmented archival and online sources.***Wishing you well over Yom Kippur***As Yom Kippur approaches, we wish all our supporters Many Years. Tizku LeShanim Rabot. Gmar Chatima Tova.[youtube.com/watch?v=6lUUFNVXNmM&feature=youtu.be](https://www.facebook.com/api/graphql/youtube.com/watch?v=6lUUFNVXNmM&feature=youtu.be)El Nora Alila, composed by Moses ibn Ezra, opens the Ne’ilah service on Yom Kippur. This Sephardic piyyut (‘hymn’) sung with traditional melodies, invokes the Almighty’s awe and mercy, pleading forgiveness and life as the gates of heaven symbolically close. The video melds versions from each of the Sephardic traditions.***Three-volume Lisbon Mahzor reunited at the National Library of Israel***The National Library of Israel has announced the reunion of all three volumes of the rare 15th-century Lisbon Mahzor (festival prayer book), a small-format decorated manuscript most likely written and illustrated in Lisbon in the second half of the 1400s. The Mahzor, following the Sephardic rite, includes prayers and piyyutim (liturgical poems) for the High Holidays, the Three Festivals, and more. Its pages are enriched with geometric and floral motifs typical of Portuguese manuscript illumination in the final years before the expulsion and forced conversions of Portuguese Jewry in 1496.One volume of the Mahzor reached Jerusalem in 1957, when the Aleppo Jewish community presented it—together with the Aleppo Codex—to President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. The whereabouts of the other two volumes remained unknown until recently, when they appeared at auction. They have now been secured for the National Library through the support of the Zukier family and the Haim and Hanna Solomon Bequest.Curator Chaim Neria noted that even in times of crisis, the Jews of Portugal preserved their books, carrying them to new destinations. He described the reunion of the three volumes as both cultural preservation and historical rectification. That it comes at the season of Rosh Hashanah, he added, makes the return of this treasure especially meaningful. ***Please support our work***We invite you to become a Patron of the Sephardic Genealogical Society with a contribution of $60 a year (or $5 a month). Your support helps us continue our free talks and resources, and—if you are able to give more—it will also bring us closer to completing this groundbreaking project.Together we can ensure that the voices of our Sephardic ancestors are preserved, connected, and shared for generations to come.[[https://www.patreon.com/c/sephardi](https://www.patreon.com/c/sephardi)](https://www.patreon.com/c/sephardi) ***Share your Sephardic Family Story!***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***From the Sephardic Archives***Sephardic Customs of Amsterdam. We can’t properly understand our Sephardic ancestry without knowing the traditions. Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira MA is one of the few experts in the minhag (tradition) of the Portuguese Jews of Amsterdam. He has been leading services and reading the Torah for over 25 years. During his talk, Nachshon introduced us to some notable customs of the Amsterdam community, sometimes referencing the Keter Shem Tob, an encyclopedic Hebrew language resource on Jewish religious customs. Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira leads the Bendigamos community in Amsterdam.[youtube.com/watch?v=Du7PeG4NERY&feature=youtu.be](https://www.facebook.com/api/graphql/youtube.com/watch?v=Du7PeG4NERY&feature=youtu.be) *Best wishes**Ton and David **Sephardic World *