We are helping to recover the Jewish history of Spain, ... After Israel, Jerusalem and Babylonia, this was the largest and most important Diaspora community. It existed nearly intact for about 1,500 years.

These stripes may have been a way to emulate the status of Roman society, but it had a different meaning for them. They adapted symbols from non-Jewish society and gave them Judaic meaning. That may be one of the great secrets of Judaism.

The rich Jewish culture of Spain permeates Judaism to this day, ... Their customs, language, traditions, food and art, as well as Sephardic Judaism, spread out through the Diaspora. The first American Jews were Sephardic. It is important to recover this history.