Toledo.- The delegate of the Government of Spain in Castilla-La Mancha, Milagros Tolón, has participated in the inauguration of the temporary exhibition "Revealing the Oblivion: 60 years of memory in the Sephardi Museum”, in Toledo, an act that begins the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the institution, dependent on the Ministry of Culture. An exhibition in which you can learn about the history of the Sephardic Museum through a selection of documents, archives and photographs.
“Toledo was the great Jewry of the West”
Milagros Tolón highlighted that during these 60 years “the Sephardic Museum has become a space of cultural and patrimonial reference of Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha and Spain, with an international projection. Toledo is a point of reference for the Jewish world and we have seen it for those of us who have had the opportunity to travel to Israel, seeing the great presence in the Jewish world of our capital, of its history and of its tradition.”
As the delegate of the Government of Spain in Castilla-La Mancha recalled, “for centuries, Toledo was the great Jewry of the West, becoming a beacon and spiritual guide for others, and we Toledans are very proud of this heritage. The stones that support these walls are also the memory of an era in which Toledo was universally recognized as a meeting place and melting pot of cultures. Its value was decisive for the Declaration, in 1986, as a World Heritage City and, of course, for the formation of the Network of Jewish Schools of Spain in 1995.”
Improvements of the Government of Spain in the Sephardic Museum
Milagros Tolón has pointed out that the Government of Spain “has been making a series of improvements that also affect the Museo del Greco and whose investment exceeds 4 million euros in recent years. Currently, improvement works are carried out in the courtyards, with an investment of more than 400,000 euros.”
And he has had a special memory for Santiago Palomero, who was director of the Sephardi Museum and died in 2019. “Santiago was a wise man bent on making the Sephardic Museum the open and manic space it is today, and helped many of us feel more proud of our Sephardic roots. With him I had the opportunity to work on various projects to value the Jewry, such as the installation of the sculpture dedicated to Samuel Levi, patrons of this synagogue, or the impulse of the Sephardic Week and the Jewish festivals as references of the cultural calendar of the city.”
The neighborhood, a focus of attraction
Milagros Tolón recalled that the neighborhood, “with the exceptional synagogue of Santa María la Blanca and the Museo del Greco, has become a focus of attraction that has continued to be enriched with new buildings and vestiges such as the House of the Jew, the recovery of the Sofer square or the stretch of the Jewish wall discovered in 2015. As mayor, I remember forever the visit we made to this space in June 2020 on the occasion of the reopening of museums after the hardest part of the pandemic. A gesture that opened the doors to hope after a few months of forced confinement.”
In addition to that, “in order to extol the patrimonial, tourist and residential value of the Jewish Quarter, the City Council also carried out an important accessibility and attention to Calle Reyes Católica, with an investment of more than 3 million euros from European funds”.
Milagros Tolón concluded his speech by saying that “It has always been a special emotion for me to walk through the Jewish Quarter and contemplate this spectacular Transit Synagogue. I am very honored to participate in the opening of this exhibition that I recommend visiting.” And he congratulated all the staff of the center and the Association of Friends of the Museum, “congratulations on your work in the protection and dissemination of the Sephardic legacy and Hebrew traditions as part of our own history.”
The inauguration was also attended by the director of the Sefardi Museum, Carmen Álvarez Nogales; the deputy deputy director of the Subdirectorate General of State Museums, Leticia Sastre; the mayor of Toledo, Carlos Velázquez; and the president of the Association of Friends of the Sefardi Museum, Juan Ignacio de Mesa.
Act in which a small virtual demonstration of the exhibition has been carried out, commented by technicians of the museum. In addition, the composer Ana Alcaide, with her music, has made the opening and closing of the presentation.