Crisis and Creativity: Spanish Jews Confront Inquisition and Expulsion
A lecture on how Sephardic Jews responded with cultural creativity and intellectual resilience to the Spanish Inquisition and the 1492 expulsion.
Date & Time at 7:30 PM EST
Location Temple Emanu-El New York, US
Organizer Temple Emanu-El
Why we picked this
The story of 1492 is usually told as catastrophe — this lecture recovers what the Sephardic world created in the face of it, which turns out to be extraordinary.
This lecture examines one of the most significant episodes in Jewish history through the lens of cultural production rather than persecution alone. While the Spanish Inquisition and the 1492 expulsion devastated Sephardic communities, they also produced remarkable literary, philosophical, and artistic responses that shaped Jewish culture for centuries.
Held at Temple Emanu-El, one of New York’s most significant synagogues, the talk connects medieval history to the broader question of how communities create meaning and art under existential pressure. Free and available both in person and virtually.