Seattle Jew in Line to Be First Sephardic Jew Granted Spanish Citizenship

17 Mar 2016
Community

From the Seattle Times:

Seattleite Doreen Alhadeff got back from Spain on Feb. 15 with a historic accomplishment in hand: She had become the first American — and now one of only seven people in the world — to reach the final stage of a process that allows Sephardic Jews to become Spanish citizens.

A week earlier, the 65-year-old real-estate broker had presented a notary in the seaside town of Torremolinos in southern Spain with documentation showing she had met all the requirements of a Sephardic citizenship law that went into effect in October.

A Seattle rabbi had testified to her Sephardic heritage. She had passed Spanish language and culture tests. And she had demonstrated a special interest in Spain by living there for two months last year to prepare for a conference she helped organize.

Read more here.

The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.