Dr. Eliezer Papo is a senior lecturer of Hebrew Literature at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be’er Sheva, Israel. He serves as Chairman of the Moshe David Gaon Center for Ladino Culture and is the chief editor of El Prezente – Journal for Sephardic Studies.

We concluded the last episode by discussing the distinctions between Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish traditions. This highlights an exciting development in our story of Samuel and Rebekah Nunes, formerly known in Portugal as Diogo and Gracia Nunez. We have two noteworthy things that transpired in our story. One is an Ashkenazi family from Prussia has immigrated to England to escape from mandates by the Prussian king who made it very difficult for Jews to earn a living. They came to England and were welcomed into Beavis Marks Synagogue, a Sephardic synagogue, one which traditionally served Spanish and Portuguese Jews. In this REVEALED episode, Dr. Papo speaks about how it was that an Ashkenazi Jew would end up finding refuge in a Sephardic synagogue. He also addresses the complex issues confronted by Conversos, who had great expectations coming to England with dreams of reverting to Judaism but confronted a reality that wasn’t nearly as welcoming as they expected.

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