As part of its weekly Town Hall programming where relevant and unique topics are discussed with the students each week, The Idea School hosted a mini Shabbaton Sephardi. Starting off the program was guest speaker Abe Raphael, a film archivist in Los Angeles who is the son of the late author Dr. David Towns Raphael who specialized in writing about the inquisition and the expulsion from Spain in 1492. Dr. Raphael’s detailed works on the subject include “The Alhambra Decree,” “The Cavalier of Malaga” and “The Conquistadors and Crypto-Jews of Monterry.” Dr. Raphael spoke about the history of the Jews of Spain before and after the expulsion and shared his family story and his work to preserve this part of our history. Following the presentation, some of the Sephardi students shared their own family stories, customs and heritage. The program ended with a Shabbat kiddush where the students sampled some classic Sephardi foods from Sababa Grill in Teaneck.