A dedicated group known as Sepharad ’92 is working against time to complete their project “The Rediscovery of Jewish Spain” by 1992, the year Spain will celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of the New World.
It will also be the quincentennial of the expulsion of Jews from Spain by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
While the commemoration of the voyage of discovery will be a celebration, the re-discovery of Jewish Spain will be an acknowledgment of what Spain lost when its Jews were banished.
Sepharad ’92 is working in close collaboration with the government and public and private organizations in Spain and other countries to accomplish its ambitious agenda.
To help the government disseminate information about the history and culture of Spanish Jew, Sepharad ’92 announced last week that it will re-create the famous Toledo school of translators by 1992.
Spanish Jews contributed greatly to the school, which was vital in transmitting classical culture to Europe.
Jews who lived in Toledo and elsewhere in Spain were also noted for their scientific accomplishments in the fields of astronomy, cartography and medicine.
Noteworthy, too, are the contributions made by Spanish Jews who served as royal advisers, politicians, financiers and community leader.
Many Jews were ministers in both the Moslem and Christian states of Spain at a time when that was impossible in the rest of Europe.
Sepharad ’92 intends to call attention to that history through high-school and literary competitions of international scope; and congresses, symposia and a large-scale traveling exhibition to tour cities in Spain and abroad.
The group plans to publish books, leaflets and journals and to restore monuments of religions and artistic interest.
It will promote tourist travel along routes that traverse what was Jewish Spain. They will also distribute videocassettes, films and records on Sephardic subjects.
A facsimile edition of the famous Bible of Ferrara will be produced, a biblical garden will be created in Toledo and a monument will be erected to Jewish Spain.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
