Sephardic Jews seduced by Spanish Citizenship Offer

Interesting news article here! I think we all know that we had a tetrad happen in 1492 during the Spanish Inquisition...so to read this today made me go "hmmmm" ....you guys, we are only weeks away from the first of the blood red moons!!! How Exciting is this ?!   Do you think we will be here for it?

news.yahoo.com/sephardic-jews-seduced-spanish-citizenship-offer-043212806.html

"Madrid (AFP) - Spain's offer of citizenship to the descendants of Jews who were expelled from the country over 500 years ago during the Inquisition has sparked a flurry of global interest.

Maya Weiss-Tamir, an Israeli lawyer who specialises in applications for citizenship in European countries, said she had received over 1,000 enquiries since the Spanish government approved the draft citizenship bill on February 7.

"The new generation, young people, they want it mostly for practical reasons, they want to work in Europe, they want to live there, have a job," the 35-year-old said by telephone from her office in Haifa in northern Israel.

"Others want it for sentimental reasons, they feel like it is the citizenship they lost and now they can gain it again."

Most of the calls and emails she has received have come from Israel but Weiss-Tamir said she had also been contacted by people in the United States and Europe.

Spain already grants citizenship to proven Sephardic Jews, the descendants of the Jewish people who were expelled in 1492 in a period of Roman Catholic zeal under the reign of Isabella and Ferdinand.

But the draft bill would streamline the process by clarifying the qualification criteria and allowing successful applicants to keep their original citizenship.

Current legislation stipulates that Sephardic Jews granted Spanish nationality have to give up their existing citizenship, which puts off many potential applicants.

Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz Gallardon has said Spain wants to repair a "historical mistake" with the bill, which still must be approved by parliament.

Jose Caro, a descendent of Yosef Caro, one of the most influential Jewish scholars in history who fled Spain in 1492 with his family aged just four, said he will apply for Spanish citizenship even though he has no plans to move to Spain.

"We are interested in having a Spanish passport so we can tell our children that just as our ancestors were expelled from Spain, today we have the possibility to return," said Caro, 57, an insurance salesman who lives in Raanana in central Israel.

He said his ancestors maintained an interest in Spanish culture throughout the centuries as they moved from Spain to Portugal to Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Chile and finally Israel.

His father for example has a collection of over 150 recordings of music sung in Ladino, a Judaeo-Spanish medieval language.

"There is still a connection between Spain and Sephardic Jews even though 500 years have passed," he said.

- 'What happened was wrong' -

Though estimates vary, historians believe at least 200,000 Jews lived in Spain before the expulsion.
Many who refused to convert to Christianity or leave were burned at the stake."

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