A lot of fiction is based on fact That is certainly true for the story "Leaving Faro" in my book of short stories Villa Fair My family the Gabays have always known that though we were Jamaican our father’s ancestors were Portuguese Jews Ever since a young age I have been seeking and in some [...]

"Are you a Gentile or are you Jewish?" In elementary school I was asked this question in the hallway by Ed Lerner He was a small blonde boy and I shared a desk with him When Ed asked me this question everyone from our class gathered around to hear my answer I wasn’t raised as [...]

On October 7 1571 two great armadas one Christian and one Moslem met at the mouth of the Gulf of Patras off Lepanto Greece The battle is significant for several reasons: It was the last naval battle in history in which both navies used galleys propelled by slaves chained to oars it marked the end [...]

(Seeking My Own Truth)   "Who are you?" The nun’s habit was a course black swirl of fabric with a unique scent all the oldtime nuns shared her face framed by the stiffest wimple imaginable I took a nanosecond to wonder how her Mama starched it so stiff before dutifully answering "I am a child [...]

Invited Artist Miriam Herrera is a graduate of the MA Program forWriters at the University of Illinois at Chicago Her poems have appeared in Albatross Earth’s Daughters New Millennium Writings Blue Mesa Review Nimrod New Zoo Poetry Review ArtLife and other journals She has taught writing at University of Illinois University of New Mexico and Russell [...]

Letter to the Editor for HaLapid If we persist in presenting our heroes and heroines without their foibles then those whose opinions differ from ours on these issues will present them for us often happily so sometimes with a vengeance In 1507 after the massacre of thousands of new Christians in Lisbon when King Manoel [...]

My name is Horacio Calle Restrepo I was born 65 years in my home state of Antioquia Colombia What follows is part only of my very own and very personal search for my Jewish Sephardic identity This is not an academic paper it is a human effort to find out where do I come from [...]

Doña Gracia and Joseph Nasi Initiate a New Paradigm in Jewish History In A Sephardic Love Song: Lion and Lamb in the Medieval Darkness© I write about four notable Sephardim in Spain and Portugal in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and how their accomplishments and contributions have enriched us all The research for this work in [...]

Late last year I received several emails regarding a conference sponsored by Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM) in Scottsdale Arizona I have to admit that the conference title was very intriguing "Converso as Metaphor: A Paradigm Shift" It was to be held at the Sylvia Plotkin Judaica Museum I wanted to find out more [...]

"Behold I will save my people from the east country and from the west country; And I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem And they shall be my people and I will be their God in truth and righteousness" Johannesburg South Africa My interest was first ignited a few [...]