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Her ancestors were expelled from Spain. Now she’s bringing bagels to Madrid.

JL;DR SUMMARY Tamara Cohen, a Philadelphia native with Sephardic and Ashkenazi roots, has revitalized Jewish culinary culture in Madrid by opening Mazl, a popular bagel restaurant. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

MadridJewish CultureSephardic JewsBagelsSephardic HistorySpanish CitizenshipTamara CohenMazl

Places mentioned

Madrid, Madrid Autonomous Community, Spain
"Content: MADRID Until recently, a Jew could wander all day in Madrid without finding a bagel."
Utrera, Andalusia, Spain
"In 2023, archaeologists uncovered a 14th-century synagogue beneath a nightclub in the Andalucan city of Utrera, one of only five such buildings in Spain."
Seville, Andalusia, Spain
"As recently as 2024, restoration work on the Santa Maria la Blanca church in Seville exposed a medieval synagogue ark behind the altarpiece."
Segovia, Castile and León, Spain
"And in 2012, the construction of a sewer in Segovia revealed a Jewish cemetery from 500 years ago."
Morocco
"Meanwhile, Middle East tensions surrounding the 1967 Arab-Israeli War drove a wave of Jews from Arab countries to Europe, according to Esther Bendahan, a writer and cultural director of the Centro Sefarad-Israel in Madrid. Her family arrived from Morocco in the 1960s."

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Retrieved 2026-01-23 18:00:44 UTC
Curated 2026-01-23 19:00:50 UTC