Doreen Alhadeff

Doreen Alhadeff (b. circa 1950) is an American real estate agent.[1] In 2016 she became the first American Jew to be granted Spanish citizenship under the 2015 Spanish law that created a time window for Sephardic Jews, descendants of Jews who had been exiled from Spain under the 1492 Edict of Expulsion, to reclaim Spanish citizenship.[1][2] In 2022 Spain granted her the Order of Isabella the Catholic for her work helping other Sephardic Jews through the citizenship restoration process,[1][2][3] "in honor of her “demonstrated loyalty in furthering Spain’s relations with the Americas."[2]

Alhedeff's work in helping people acquire Spanish citizenship consisted not only of helping people with the application process, but of lobbying successfully for a waiver for people under 18 or over 70 of the requirement to pass an exam in modern Spanish.[2] While this requirement was trivial for Latin Americans, most North American Sephardim spoke English and Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish), more akin to Old Spanish.[2]

Alhadeff lives in Seattle, Washington (state), where she was born,[4] and is a member of Congregation Ezra Bessaroth,[1] a Sephardic congregation that maintains the liturgy and customs of the Mediterranean Island of Rhodes.[1][5][6] By Alhadeff's own description, although she grew up in, and attends, this Orthodox Jewish congregation, she and her family "were never Orthodox."[4] They observed the Jewish holidays, but their connection to Judaism was "much more cultural."[4]

Her paternal grandmother Dora Levy arrived in Seattle in 1906[4] and was the first known Sephardic Jewish woman in Seattle's now 5000-strong Sephardic community,[1] the third-largest Sephardic population of any U.S. city.[1][2] Dora spoke about half a dozen languages;[4] Alhadeff herself was a Spanish major at the University of Washington;[4] she also studied at the University of Madrid and at New York University's program in Madrid.[4]

Alhadeff founded the Seattle Sephardic Network in 2013. Besides giving assistance to Sephardic Jews in reclaiming Spanish or Portuguese citizenship, the organization also organizes cultural programs and events.[1] The U.S. named Alhadeff as ambassador to the Red de Juderías de España (literally "Network of Jewish Quarters of Spain").[2][4][3]

She and her husband Joseph Alhadeff (married 1973) have two sons, Loren and Mitchell.[4]

References
  1. Hajdenberg, Jackie (2022-10-29). "Jewish woman to be knighted for helping Sephardic Jews gain Spanish citizenship". Jerusalem: Jerusalem Post. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
  2. Volk, David. "An Unlikely Knight". University of Washington Magazine. Seattle: University of Washington. Retrieved 2023-03-24. Also published as Volk, David (Spring 2023). "Knight Time". University of Washington Magazine. 34 (1): 28.
  3. "Doreen Alhadeff, Embajadora Honorífica de la Red de Juderías, condecorada con la Real Orden de Isabel la Católica". Caminos de Sefarad (in Spanish). Red de Juderías de España. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  4. "Doreen Alhadeff". Washington Jewish Museum. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  5. Ezra Bessaroth home page. Accessed 2018-03-20.
  6. Ezra Bessaroth - Our History. Accessed 2018-03-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.