Rediscovering Secrets of Portugal: How the Jews of Iberia Changed the Course of World History

Jews are believed to have been present in the Iberian Peninsula since Biblical times. The Sephardic or Spanish-Portuguese Jewish heritage in Portugal has greatly influenced the country’s development throughout the ages: from the Roman and Visigoth times to the brilliant Age of Discovery; through the dark centuries of Inquisition and persecution, when the Jewish faith and traditions survived in secret, to World War II, when the country became a safe haven for thousands of European refugees; and to today’s small but blossoming Jewish community.