Jerusalem Sephardic Heritage Museum:
From Spain to Jerusalem
The Jerusalem Sephardic Heritage Museum
tells the story of Sephardic Jewry from the Golden Age of Spain to the Old City of Jerusalem.
Through exhibits, photographs, film, music, manuscripts, family stories, and historic spaces, the museum explores what was lost in the expulsion from Spain — and what was rebuilt by Sephardic communities in Jerusalem.
The museum highlights the intellectual, spiritual, cultural, and communal contributions of Sephardic Jews, with special focus on the sages, families, institutions, and leaders who shaped Sephardic life in the Old City.
Rabbi Uziel Exhibit
Rabbi Benzion Meir Hai Uziel: Love, Truth & Peace
A central focus of the SEC’s museum vision is the life and teachings of Rabbi Benzion Meir Hai Uziel, the first Sephardic Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel.
Rabbi Uziel studied and taught in the very buildings that now form the SEC campus. His writings represent the classic Sephardic rabbinic tradition — intellectually bold, spiritually deep, moderate, inclusive, and rooted in love for the Jewish People.
His lifelong message of “loving truth and peace” remains one of the guiding lights of the SEC.
Walk the Sephardic Street
The Sephardic Street invites visitors to journey through the communal institutions of Old Sephardic Jerusalem.
Through a series of exhibit windows, guests encounter the world of the Sephardic Talmud Torah, Yeshivat Tiferet Yerushalayim, the Widow’s and Orphan’s Courtyard, schools, synagogues, the Ladino press, charitable institutions, rabbinical academies, books, writers, and communal leadership.
This immersive exhibit brings the daily life, social responsibility, and spiritual structure of Old Sephardic Jerusalem back into view.
The Classic Sephardic Families of Jerusalem
The story of Sephardic Jerusalem is also the story of its families.
Through the histories of well-known Sephardic families of Jerusalem — including Navon, Valero, Gaon, Kuenka, Levy, Meyuhas, Yehoshua, Eliachar, Nissim, Javilio, Burla, and others — visitors discover the professions, customs, dress, literature, leadership, home life, and spiritual practices that shaped the community.
These family stories reveal how Sephardic life was built through memory, responsibility, learning, and continuity.
Remembering the Young Defenders of the Old City
The Sephardic Heroes Memorial Wall honors the boys from the Sephardic Talmud Torah who fell defending the Old City during Israel’s War of Independence.
Their story connects the Sephardic community of Jerusalem to the larger story of Zionism, courage, sacrifice, and the State of Israel.
Through photographs, biographies, and memorial space, the SEC preserves the memory of young lives whose bravery must never be forgotten.