I was wondering if anyone has ever visited any of the synogogues in Madrid and/or attended services. Are they in Spanish or Hebrew? I will be arriving in Madrid on a Friday and would be interested in attending Shabbat services.

Thanks
Marsi

The services are probably spoken in Ladino a.k.a Judeo-Spanish, along with Spanish and Hebrew. I'm not sure however if it's spoken in Ladino, my knowledge on Sephardic customs and life is a bit limited. *sigh* Have fun in the Shabbat services!

Mmmm, this make me remember that I have heard somewhere that a huge sephardi convention is currently taking place in Barcelona.

For those of you who don't know what a sephardi is: They are the spanish jews which had to flee in 1492 and after from Spain when the spanish kings Isabel I and Fernando V issued a law against them. They went, but they conserved through 500 years an arcan form of spanish called "Sefardí". I have heard and read it and it is still understandable

Fernando

Am I imagining this, or is it true that if you are a Sphardic Jew you can obtain Spanish nationality? I am sure I read somewhere that a law was past allowing this in anonement for the Catholic Kings' expulsion of the Jews.

I wouldn't be surprised Bricamb. There are similar agreements for example for lathyn-americans who had at least one grandfather spanish, or with the so called "Niños de la Guerra" who are those children that had to go into exile to the URSS when Franco won the Civil War.

Fernando

The synagogue in Madrid is near the metro stop Iglesia , at Balmes street. The one time I went the service was all in Hebrew, no Spanish.

i don't believe that being a spanish jew gets you a "free pass" to nationality...
my uncle, who escaped during the civil war, isn't getting any sort of free ride in trying to re-establish his spanish citizenship...
i wish there was though...i would love dual spanish/american citizenship...i will have to be content with frequent visits...maybe even part-time residence...but i doubt there is an "easy" way to get citizenship...

I had a friend in Bilbao who did his military service in the navy and told me about a Mediterranean stop he'd made some 40 years ago. He said that the inhabitants spoke this archaic Spanish, and that they were all sefarditas (descendants of...) and that the Spanish they spoke was the "medieval" Spanish.

Does anyone know where this is? I've already eliminated Isla Perejíl as a possibility , but don't know where this "Sephardic enclave" is.

Bricamb,

is that true?? if you are of familia sefardíe you can potentially gain spanish citizenship??? i might be able to claim spanish citizenship after all!

also, there is a population in new york that uses Judeo-Espanyol today. there is also a group somewhere on the south coast in Louisiana that uses it as well, their group is referred to as 'Isleño.'

not ironically, judeo-espanyol did not evolve much past late fifteenth century spanish. if you've seen spanish from out of non-modernized 'El Cid' books, it's a lot like that. pretty cool, and not too difficult to read!

cool topic!