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Editorial
The Editors

1492 was a fateful year! Two events in particular had far-reaching consequences - the "discovery" of America and the expulsion of the Jews (and later on the Muslims) from Spain. These two events are certainly different yet there is a connection between them. Both are linked with Spanish power-politics and the monarchs of the time.
In 1992 the fifth-hundredth anniversary is being celebrated - or to speak more correctly, it is being commemorated. This year has been called "The Year of Spain" with Expo '92 in Seville, the Olympics at Barcelona, the visit of King Juan Carlos to the Madrid Synagogue, the "Great Spiritual World Assembly" at Toledo and Jerusalem, etc. For the Jewish People and particularly for Sephardic Jewry the presence of the King at a special service at the Madrid Synagogue together with Chaim Herzog, the President of Israel, on 31st March, the fifth hundredth anniversary day of the signing of the Edict of Expulsion by his ancestors Ferdinand and Isabella, was full of emotion. His evident desire for reconciliation and the warmth of his address to the Jewish community made this a moving and emotional event. Five days earlier at the Church of Santa Maria la Blanca, (the ancient synagogue of Toledo, which was transformed into a church and then into a museum), the Catholic Church in the person of Archbishop Torrella expressed his regret for "what was done to the Jews by Christians" and particularly for the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (cf. pp. 24).
For the Sephardic Jews who have stayed so faithful to a culture and a language they didn't want to lose, the celebrations of this year (in Spain, Belgium, France, Italy, Turkey, U.K., U.S.A., Israel, etc.) seem a fitting recognition of the contribution of their ancestors to the history of Spain and the countries where their exile took them. Lea Sestieri, from a Jewish Catalan family, describes the richness of Jewish life in medieval Spain and the tragedy of its violent ending. The article of John Edwards focusses on the person of Isabella in order to explain the historical context of such an edict, and also how the projected beatification would call into question the sincerity of Christian t'shuvah and harm the young "Jewish Christian dialogue". Sr. Ibnel describes the promising beginnings of Jewish-Christian friendship in Spain today.
The long documentary article by Rev. P.F. Fumagalli will be a valuable resource for SIDIC readers. This justifies the space given to it. Regretfully no room remains for reports of other encouraging encounters especially in Central and Eastern Europe.