Thursday, August 26, 2021

A Yiddish Buffet

Yes! Jimmy Buffet in Yiddish! Let's hear it for the Congress for Jewish Culture (אַלװעלטלעכער ייִדישער קולטור־קאָנגרעס)! In these days of military conflict, political antagonism, and pseuo-medical health idiocy (ivermectin? really?), the Congress identified a major yet unsolved Jewish problem and assigned the inimitable and thought-provoking Rokhlk to solve it.

Jimmy Buffet Yiddish
Design by Evelyn Frick; Photo by Thomas A. Ferrara/Newsday RM via Getty Images

Abq Jew refers, of course, to the complete lack of attention paid to Jimmy Buffet's Yiddish repertoire. Just in case you are unfamiliar with Mr Buffet's genre or oeuvre, Wikipedia reminds us:
James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, actor, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. 
Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett has recorded hit songs including Margaritaville (ranked 234th on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century") and Come Monday. He has a devoted base of fans known as Parrotheads.

Abq Jew cheerfully admits that he would have known nothing about this had it not been for Alma  (a feminist Jewish culture site and online community), to which he subscribes; and, in particular, Chloe Sarbib, a Brooklyn-based writer and filmmaker and Alma's associate editor of arts and culture. Who recently wrote:

The Yiddish Cover of Jimmy Buffett You Didn’t Know You Needed            Yes, you read that right.

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Wow, I really wish someone would cover a Jimmy Buffett song in Yiddish?” I can’t say I ever had — but once it was presented as an option, I thought it was a pretty great idea. 

Journalist-playwright-Yiddishist Rohkl Kafrissen [Rokhlk] has just done exactly that, even changing the lyrics and context of the song to better fit, well, Yiddish.

The path that led from Margaritaville to the mame loshen is surprisingly easy to follow. As Rokhl described in her newsletter, it all began this spring, when, amidst the electric energy of a New York City that thought it was about to get vaccinated and exit the COVID pandemic (oh, how young and naïve we were), Jimmy Buffett was set to open his first Margaritaville resort in the Big Apple. 

In Kafrissen’s words, “thanks to a real estate quirk, he was forced to make room onsite for the historic Garment Center Congregation. This made it the only Margaritaville property in the world with a working shul. 

How better to welcome Jimmy Buffett to New York than by recording my Yiddish cover version of his 1973 novelty hit, ‘Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Screw?’ Six days a week you can drink all the margaritas you want, but on the seventh day, God commanded us to pick up a glass of wine, damnit.”

Kafrissen collaborated with the Congress for Jewish Culture to make the song happen. Though, as with many things these past few months, the song’s creation had a few false starts before it actually took off, she did ultimately enlist a formidable crew of klezmer performers: Sasha Lurje (voice), Craig Judelman (violin) and Lorin Sklamberg (guitar, voice).

Of course, it wasn’t enough to merely translate the song’s existing words into Yiddish; the whole scenario had to be transposed to be more Jewish. Kafrissen was up to the task. “I decided to take Buffett’s song as a starting point,” she said. “Instead of a man propositioning a woman at a bar, I rewrote it from a woman’s point of view.” 

In her lyrics, 

“a woman is singing to her husband at the beginning of Friday night dinner. He sings the kiddush beautifully. But they’re all alone, and she just went to the mikveh. Maybe just this once they could skip dinner and go straight to dessert?” 

She feels her protagonist’s frustration is apt for the moment we’re all experiencing: We were promised a summer of hedonism, only to have gratification delayed again by the virus.

According to the CJC, the new Yiddish version, called “Kum tsu mir” (Come to Me), “blends Buffett’s boozy, chilled out vibe with a heymish, New York point of view.” 

Enjoy

Now that is what Abq Jew calls good writing. Which is why he took  Chloe Sarbib's entire article and just plunked it down here, in complete violation of an entire plethora of US copyright laws, UN resolutions, and international conventions.

UPDATE: The Times of Israel has picked up this story!

YouTube tells us:

“Kum tsu mir”  New Yiddish lyrics by Rokhl Kafrissen (https://Rokhl.blogspot.com)
A project of the CJC (https://congressforjewishculture.org). Recorded August, 2021.

Sasha Lurje – voice (https://forshpil.bandcamp.com)
Craig Judelman fiddle (https://craigjudelman.bandcamp.com)
Lorin Sklambergguitar, voice (https://www.klezmatics.com
Yiddish Lyrics 
 S’iz shabes do, oy s’iz gut
It's Shabbos here, it sure is good 

Dayn kol klingt mole-kheyn
Your voice is full of charm

 Kidesh makhste vunderlekh
The way you make kiddush is wonderful

Un dayn ponim, likhtik sheyn
And your face is shining so bright

Nu, ketsl, nokh a glezl
So baby, one more glass

Mashke, vayn, tsi bir
Whiskey, wine or beer

Ober loz oys di [ha]moytsi
But let’s skip the motsi [blessing on the challah]

Kum tsu mir
Come to me


Loz oys di [ha]moytsi, kum tsu mir
Let’s skip the motsi, come to me

Ikh hob zikh, haynt getoyvlt
I just went and ritually cleansed myself

In der mikve nor far dir
In the mikve just for you

Me ruft dikh a min tsadik
They say you’re really saintly

Oyneg-shabes on a shir
It’s shabes pleasure, without end

Ketsl loz oys di [ha]moytsi
So baby let’s skip the motsi, come to me

Kum tsu mir
Come to me

Seriously Bagels

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Fall 2021 @ OASIS Abq

Great Courses of Jewish Interest

Jewish Star

Abq Jew is pleased to inform you that
OASIS Albuquerque has just announced
their Fall 2021 line-up of classes!
Registration opens on
Wednesday September 1
but you can Wish List your selections now.


OASIS Albuquerque Executive Director Kathleen Raskob and her staff continue (as always) to bring you new and interesting class offerings, and continues to make sure there are plenty of courses of Jewish interest.

OASIS Albuquerque

This fall, OASIS Albuquerque plans to offer many
classes LIVE and many classes via Zoom.

SEP 1 UPDATE: Masks and proof of vaccination
are now required for all in-person Oasis classes.


Man plans God laughs
 
This session's courses and instructors include, but are by no means limited to:

Pause

Choosing to Die:
New Mexico's End-of-Life Options Act

Monday September 13 @ 10:00 - #117
Instructor: Joan McIver Gibson
What It Is: In June 2021, New Mexico joined 9 other states and the District of Columbia as its medical aid in dying act “came online”. What does this law mean for patients, families and health care providers? What is in the law? How have end-of-life medical decisions changed, if at all, over the past 40 years? Why do some argue that these decisions are not “suicide,” while others claim that indeed they are. This presentation will highlight some of the ethical, historical, legal, medical and religious dimensions of New Mexico’s End-of-Life Options Act.

Carl Reiner | Mel Brooks

Carl Reiner || & || Mel Brooks:
The Grandmasters of American Comedy
Friday October 1 @ 10:00 - #127zoom
Instructor: Brian Rose
What It Is: For more than seven decades, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks made America laugh—either through their remarkable solo careers or their legendary partnership. Whether together or apart, they were giants of American comedy, who basically conquered every field they entered, whether television, movies, Broadway, or records. This presentation examines their extraordinary achievements, beginning with their work together on Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows and their creation of the 2000 Year Old Man, to their individual accomplishments as writers, directors, and performers. 

Abq Downtown

Homelessness in Albuquerque:
Understanding and Addressing the Issue
Tuesday October 12 @ 12:30 - #122
Instructor: Jennifer Metzler
What It Is: Did you know that on a single night more than 1,500 people in Albuquerque experience homelessness? They live in shelters, on the streets, in their cars, in jails or hospitals, and in other locations not meant for habitation. You see them every day. Jennifer Metzler addresses the issues related to homelessness, including its causes, solutions, differentiating/unique characteristics, and effective models for addressing the health-related consequences of homelessness.

Monroe Doctrine

The Monroe Doctrine:
What Happened to It?
Wednesday October 13 @ 12:30 - #159
Instructor: Noel Pugach
What It Is: The Monroe Doctrine was a bedrock of United States foreign policy since it was proclaimed by President James Monroe in 1823. It was restated and reinterpreted over the next 150 years, most recently in the 1960s with regard to the Cuban Missile Crisis and turmoil in Central America. But it is hardly mentioned today. What did it say? What happened to it? Is it alive or dead? Or has it been transformed? Come and explore these and other questions that the class will consider.

Tower of Babel

Babble & Babbling: Lessons
from the Bible Story of the Tower of Babel
Monday November 15 @ 10:00 - #202
Instructor: Michael Nutkiewicz
What It Is: It’s a simple story (just nine verses) found in Genesis 11: people start to build a tower and God punishes them. It’s also fun to read: full of inversions, word plays, ironies, and puns. The story has caught the imagination of philosophers, painters, and writers. We will do a close textual reading, and examine some rabbinic interpretations, focusing on one particular dilemma raised by the story: diversity. We’ll also look at two paintings from the Renaissance that offer their own interpretation.

Middle East

The Middle East 2021: Reflections
Thursday November 18 @ 10:00 - #125
Instructor: Emile Nakhleh
What It Is: The Middle East in 2021 has experienced major developments and faced many challenges, politically, economically, militarily, and socially. In addition to the ongoing disastrous war in Yemen, the region went through a short but bloody war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and has witnessed several major political upheavals in several countries, including Israel and Lebanon. The Middle East has also seen a concerning rise in poverty, unemployment, corruption, and distrust of political and social institutions. Presented in partnership with the World Affairs Council of Albuquerque.

Babylonian Talmud

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About
Judaism But Were Afraid to Ask, 
And Now You Can
Wednesday December 8 @ 10:00 - #204
Instructor: Harry Rosenfeld
What It Is: Have you ever wondered why Judaism does not believe Jesus is the Messiah? How does Judaism view other religions? Can a Jew be an atheist, an agnostic, a transcendentalist? What does Judaism teach about the afterlife and what it looks like? Do Jews read the Bible literally? What is the Talmud? Now is your chance to ask these or any other questions you may have ever had about Judaism and Jews. The challenge is to stump the Rabbi. Give it your best try!

B-29

World War II in New Mexico
Thursday December 9 @ 12:30 - #231
Instructors: John Taylor & Richard Melzer
What It Is: New Mexico is well known for development of the first nuclear weapon, an accomplishment that helped to end World War II.  However, our state made numerous other contributions to the war effort.  In addition to providing details of the work at Los Alamos, his presentation will describe the Bataan Death March, the Navajo Code Talkers, the “New Mexico Navy,” the “atomic espionage,” the extensive contributions of men and women on the “home front,” the prisoner of war camps, the air corps training facilities, and the black mark left on the state because of the incarceration of Japanese-Americans. 

Music

But Wait

Jane Ellen Farewell

Beloved OASIS Albuquerque instructor (and award-winning composer and recording artist, and new Floridian) Jane Ellen also continues (as always) to bring you new and interesting class offerings, and continues to make sure there are plenty of courses of musical and Jewish interest.

Jane's courses this session include, but are by no means limited to:


Remembering Lenny:
The Life of Leonard Bernstein
Tuesday September 21 @ 12:30 - #175zoom
What It Is: Composer, conductor, and perhaps most importantly, a born teacher, Leonard Bernstein (1918-90) was a unique voice in American music of the 20 the century. His creative energies appeared boundless encompassing theater, symphonic works, film scores, ballets, opera, chamber music, and concerts designed especially for children. He presented lectures and authored books, famously helped define jazz alongside Louis Armstrong, and generously gave of himself as a philanthropist, and political and social activist.

But Wait

Goddess of Arno

Goddess of Arno presents


A Musical Tour
of the Balkans and Beyond
Friday December 10 @ 2:00 - #194
What It Is: Goddess of Arno Balkan Band takes you on a musical tour of Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, the former Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Turkey. The five-piece ensemble performs traditional ethnic dance music that is indigenous to the Balkan countries, in eastern Europe, and other regions along the Mediterranean. Music is introduced and shared from an historical and cultural perspective and translations of songs are given.

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

One More Organ

No More Chickens: Abq Jew is extremely happy to report that he has, indeed, completed 71 revolutions around our Sun, his favorite star in the Milky Way! 

Thank God

Which brings us back to the subject of organs. Look - if we're going to talk about organs (even chord organs, as we did last week in Grandma Had Secrets), we're just gonna have to talk about the real thing.

Organ
Castro Theatre Organ    Photo: David Hegarty

You know - the the big boys.

Like the organ that may or may not have been installed at The Castro Theatre in San Francisco. Built in 1922 by pioneer entrepreneurs, the Nasser brothers. Designed by Timothy L Pflueger, the theater has been designated San Francisco landmark status. Temporarily closed.

Destined to be the largest pipe-digital hybrid organ in the world, this colossus is stacked with:

1,800 Pipes       7 Keyboards

800 "Stop Tab” Keys       120 Speakers

Castro Theatre

GREAT NEWS! Jay Barmann reported on Hoodline in January that 

The new hybrid digital/pipe organ that has been in the works for the grand Castro Theatre for about six years is finally about to become a reality, and depending on how long it takes to ship from Pennsylvania and how long it takes for movie theaters to safely reopen in San Francisco, it may arrive just time for the Castro's next public screenings.

Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 "Organ" - Finale (Auckland Symphony Orchestra)

Historically, The Jews and The Organ have had a ... complicated ...relationship. And yet. Benjamin Ivry wrote in The Forward in 2012 a piece titled

Why The Organ Is The Most Jewish Instrument

Which begins: 

To some lovers of classical sounds, organ music seems irremediably goyish, despite outstanding achievements by such Jewish composers as Aaron Copland and Arnold Schoenberg in writing for the so-called “king of instruments.” 

And points out that: 

musicologist Tina Frühauf, notes that “until the Middle Ages, the organ was not officially permitted in any Christian liturgy inasmuch as instrumental music was associated… with the Jewish services once held in the temple at Jerusalem.”

Even after organs appeared in churches and became taboo for synagogues, there remained some Jewish fans of organ music ....

That's right! The organ was originally TOO JEWISH for churches. Then it flipped. Now the organ is TOO CHRISTIAN for synagogues. Go figure.

As they say - there's organ music, and then there's Organ Music. And the Best Organ Music is, of course (really, there's no competition) the Organ Symphony written by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1886. Wikipedia tells us:

The Symphony No. 3 in C minorOp. 78, was completed by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1886 at what was probably the artistic peak of his career. It is also popularly known as the Organ Symphony, even though it is not a true symphony for organ, but simply an orchestral symphony where two sections out of four use the pipe organ. The composer inscribed it as: Symphonie No. 3 "avec orgue" (with organ).

Of composing the work Saint-Saëns said "I gave everything to it I was able to give. What I have here accomplished, I will never achieve again." The composer seemed to know it would be his last attempt at the symphonic form, and he wrote the work almost as a type of "history" of his own career: virtuoso piano passages, brilliant orchestral writing characteristic of the Romantic period, and the sound of a cathedral-sized pipe organ.

The symphony was commissioned by the Philharmonic Society in England, and the first performance was given in London on 19 May 1886, at St James's Hall, conducted by the composer. After the death of his friend Franz Liszt on 31 July 1886, Saint-Saëns dedicated the work to Liszt's memory. The composer also conducted the symphony's French premiere in January 1887.

Bucket

If you have never heard this piece - and especially, the Finale - performed LIVE IN CONCERT, well, you must (MUST!) add it to your Bucket List. In the meantime - here is the Auckland Symphony Orchestra's performance of (just) the Finale. 

TURN UP THE VOLUME and stand back!

OK ... and now you're thinking -
I've heard that tune before.
Now, where was it?

IT WAS HERE!

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Grandma Had Secrets

And Other Easy, Fun Funeral Hits: When Abq Jew first posted The MAGNUS CHORD ORGAN Big Book of Easy Funeral Hits on his personal Facebook page - way back in July 2021 - he knew too much about funerals, a few things about music - but just about nothing about chord organs.

Easy Funeral Hits

This is likely because we Jews have traditionally been averse to organ or other instrumental music at any type of synagogue service. Except for life-event simchas - especially weddings. But even then, not during the ceremony. 

Unless it's The Stanley Miller Band!

Stanley Miller Live
Who released this album and performed at Mr & Mrs Abq Jew's wedding, way back in 1976.
Ceremony at Town & Village Synagogue. Reception at the Waldorf. Really.

Abq Jew recalls that back in happy Temple times, there was a twelve-piece orchestra and a twelve-voice men's glee club. But then ... Tisha b'Av.

So let's talk about chord organs.

Hammond S-6 Chord Organ
The Hammond Model S6 chord organ. The Model S organs were designed to have
non-musicians “playing lovely organ music within 30 minutes.”

Again - Abq Jew knew just about nothing. So he did, as we say these days, "extensive research." You know - Google. Wikipedia describes a chord organ as 
a kind of home organ that has a single short keyboard and a set of chord buttons, enabling the musician to play a melody or lead with one hand and accompanying chords with the other, like the accordion with a set of chord buttons ....
WorthPoint provides an entire history of chord organs, focusing on the above-pictured top-of-the-line Hammond S-6. You can listen to and watch an S-6 being played on YouTube

And learn even more about the Hammond S-6 - "certainly among the most well-known and enduring vacuum-tube instruments of all time" - via Crasno Electronics. Yes - vacuum-tube.

Magnus Model 300

Now, the Chord Organ was first introduced by the Hammond Organ Company in 1950. But then - in 1958 - along came Magnus. As Wikipedia relates.

The Magnus Harmonica Corporation (originally the International Plastic Harmonica Corporation) was founded in 1944 in New Jersey by Danish immigrant Finn Magnus (1905–1976). 
First supplying American troops in World War II, and later marketed to children and other beginners, the company's harmonicas (as well as its accordions, bagpipes, and mechanical reed organs) used a then-unique molded-plastic reed comb. 
The styrene-based plastic construction resulted in lower cost, greater durability, and a distinct sound compared to other free reed aerophones with metal reeds.

In 1958, Magnus joined with television salesman Eugene Tracey, and their company went on to sell millions of inexpensive electric chord organs and song books until the late 1970s under the name Magnus Organ Corporation.

At its peak, Magnus employed over 1,800 workers in Linden, New Jersey, including a "mother's shift" during school hours and a "work release" program for non-violent inmates of the nearby Rahway State Prison. 

Wait better

Abq Jew knows you want to see the inner workings of one of these babies. How could something so ... plastic ... sound so good? So here's a YouTube video.



Wait way better

Abq Jew knows you're going to want to learn to play songs on your Magnus. And where, Abq Jew hears you ask, would one (or two or more) find such compendia of chord organ music?  Why - on Amazon, of course!

Amazon Magnus

Yes, they've got Music for Lovers, Music for the Irish, Folk & Western Songs, and even ... wait for it ...

Jewish Magnus

The Best of Jewish Music
with Your Magnus Electric Chord Organ

So. With so many song books available ...

Down to tachlis

How about The MAGNUS CHORD ORGAN Big Book of Easy Funeral Hits? Which includes such easy, fun funeral hits as:

Grandma Had Secrets
Some, she took with her. Others are now on display.

Who Gets What
We know you're gone. Now, what's left?

I Just Knew I'd See You Here
Just in case they read the will.

You Call That a "Y" Incision?
Why Jews don't funeral with autopsies.

This Changes Nothing
After all these years.

Nice Tears, Baby
But this changes nothing.

Did He Always Have That There?
Why Jews don't funeral with open caskets.

Shut Up and Mourn
It's what we're here for.

Well, That's Over
Maybe one more song?

While many of these easy, fun funeral hits would fit right in at a Jewish funeral ... well, no, they wouldn't. Or any other type of funeral. That's because ... 

Starry Night Parody

The MAGNUS CHORD ORGAN
Big Book of Easy Funeral Hits
is a parody (i.e., it ain't real).

How does Abq Jew know this? He researched it! And found a wonderful blog post by Jim Liska titled - Grandma Had Secrets. In which Mr Liska deals with hospitals, the Romanian-born essayist Emil Cioran, and (naturally) despair, then states:

Some of you may have heard of the Magnus Chord Organ; the more fortunate of you probably haven’t. Some of you may have even owned one or might still. Others may recall a kooky relative with lots of cats who had one. 
The instrument, real in a toy-like way, was first introduced in 1958 to people whose motivation for wanting one remains unknown and yet is somehow suspect. 
The electric instrument took absolutely no talent or specific ability to play and it created a sound far worse than any record player, which by 1958 was a pretty common appliance in American homes. The attraction, perhaps, was that one could pretend to be playing actual music on the Magnus Chord Organ, thereby amazing family, friends and neighbors. Cats, too, perhaps. 
The instrument, available in both laptop and tabletop models, featured a two- or three-octave keyboard for the right hand and a “chord pad” for the left. Though there were variations depending on the model one chose, the pad featured several buttons that could be pushed in various combinations to create major and minor chords to accompany the melodies played on the keyboard. 
Millions of these organs were sold over the course of a couple of decades. And to keep people playing them, the New Jersey-based company created a series of “play-by-numbers” songbooks designed specifically for the instrument. 
Predictably, many of the songbooks had religious themes, but there were others like Let’s All Sing, Swingin ‘N Singin and the internationally themed Songs of Many Lands and South of the Border. There were also several based on the music of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, which must have been as humiliating as it was lucrative. 
The best offering was created by a Chicago-based entrepreneur whose name is unknown but whose website is phil-are-go.blogspot.com.  
He recognized the need for the Big Book of Easy Funeral Hits, for which most of us should be thankful. Featuring a “simple one-figure grief chord chart,” the book features such enduring classics as “Who Gets What,” “Shut Up and Mourn,” “Well That’s Over,” “I Just Knew I’d See You Here” and “Grandma Had Secrets.”

PhilAreGo
Graphics, Design, and Obsolete Technology from the Less Pointy End of Time's Arrow

Well. Now we're getting somewhere.

Once again - Abq Jew did the research, so you don't have to! You're welcome!

PhilAreGoThree3

And discovered that Phil Are Go is actually Phil Largo. Who has a Twitter handle @philarego and - and this is important - has an Elmhurst-based shop on Redbubble. With a lot of his designs emblazoned on clothing, stickers, and wall art.

Where were we


Shabbat Shalom, Albuquerque!
Good Shabbos, New Mexico!

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Broken Promises

Spain's Law of Return: It is with deep sorrow that Abq Jew informs you of the need for this upcoming webinar, which will deal with the American Sephardi Foundation's response to Spain's broken promise to atone for the Alhambra Decree and the horrors of the Inquisition.

Broken Prmises

Following-up on the New York Times’ exposé, the American Sephardi Federation will present an exclusive briefing on the situation in Spain as the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) bureaucratically dismantles the Sephardic citizenship law. 

Jewish Federation of NM

The Jewish Federation of New Mexico will be co-sponsoring this event.
Special Guests include

Teresa Leger Fernandez
US Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-3)

ICYMI: This webinar was recorded

ICYMI: Here is the beginning of what Nicholas Casey wrote in The New York Times.

Spain Pledged Citizenship to Sephardic Jews. Now They Feel Betrayed.  In 2015, Spain said it would give citizenship to the descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled during the Spanish Inquisition. Then rejections started pouring in this summer.

Segovia Juderia
The former Jewish quarter of Segovia, Spain. The country was once home to one
of Europe’s most thriving Jewish communities, which for centuries produced major
poets, historians and philosophers.   Emilio Parra Doiztua for The New York Times

MADRID — María Sánchez, a retired mental health therapist in Albuquerque, spent the past four decades tracing her Jewish ancestry from Spain. She created a vast genealogical chart going back nearly 1,100 years, which included three ancestors who were tried in the Spanish Inquisition. Her findings even led her to join a synagogue in the 1980s and to become a practicing Jew.

So when Spain’s government said in 2015 that it would grant citizenship to people of Sephardic Jewish descent — a program publicized as reparations for the expulsion of Jews that began in 1492 — Ms. Sánchez applied. She hired an immigration lawyer, obtained a certificate from her synagogue and flew to Spain to present her genealogy chart to a notary.

Then, in May, she received a rejection letter.

“It felt like a punch in the gut,” said Ms. Sánchez, 60, who was told she had not proved that she was a Sephardic Jew. “You kicked my ancestors out, now you’re doing this again.”

Spain’s statistics and interviews with frustrated applicants reveal a wave of more than 3,000 rejections in recent months, raising questions about how serious the country is about its promise of reparations to correct one of the darkest chapters of its history, the Inquisition. 

Before this year, only one person had been turned down, the government said. Some 34,000 have been accepted.

American Sephardi Federation

And here is what the American Sephardi Federation has to say about the webinar.
Tens of thousands of Inquisition survivor descendants are now being cynically rejected or even cruelly having their citizenship revoked, after investing years of time and money to comply with Spain’s rigorous application process. 
The Spanish government’s illegal actions are a fresh insult to historical injury, especially for the Anusim (Crypto-Jews), those who are no longer Jewish on account of the forced conversion and centuries of persecution endured by their ancestors. 
This is a matter of life and death for Venezuelan Sephardic refugees in Spain, who have already been threatened with deportation. 
Join the ASF for a timely discussion with those directly involved and please add your name to our #SpainPromsies campaign demanding Spain’s government uphold the rule of law by honoring its promises to descendants of Inquisition survivors. 
An integral partner of and based at New York’s Center for Jewish History, the American Sephardi Federation represents Greater Sephardic voices in Jewish communal and diplomatic affairs as a member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and World Jewish Congress.
Fleeing and Returning

Click here to add your name to the #SpainPromises campaign
and sign up for the Broken Promises webinar.