"Interreligious dialogue is one of the most important aspects to continue building a plural and developed society at plenary session of the Executive Council". This is what Carolina Aisen, director of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain (FCJE), said at the University of Navarra, on the framework of a workshop of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) on the Sephardic bequest .

Aisen stressed that in Spain there is dialogue between the religions of Abrahamic tradition: Judaism, Islam and Christianity. "While the same confessions have found areas in which to reflect and collaborate, the work of the Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation has been of great importance financial aid. It is also necessary that these spaces for dialogue grow not only within the institutions, but also at different levels and sectors of each of the confessions," he said.

On the other hand, she stressed the importance of Education "not only understood as formal programs of study in the centers of teaching -which is also- but also as mere learning". For Carolina Aisen, "learning and getting to know the other -their beliefs, customs, singularities...- will help us to normalize the inclusion not only of the different confessions but also of the plural Spanish society".

With respect to the topic of the workshop, he affirmed that "the bequest Sephardic teaches us that in this land several communities lived together with different traditions and customs and in general in certain harmony". According to him, the current Spanish society "is heir to this past, although it is not always known or internalized. That is why it is important for society to know and learn from its own history.

Jewish community in Spain: 40,000 people

The director of the FCJE mentioned that at present the Spanish Jewish community is made up of 40,000 people, with its institutions, schools and educational and social centers. "Although small at issue, it is an active and lively community in the Spain of the 21st century. With the same problems and vicissitudes as the Spanish society in general. A plural community from all points of view and perfectly integrated in the Spanish society", he pointed out.

From agreement with Aisen, some of the challenges they face are the calls for competitive examinations and other exams in public institutions on holidays of the Jewish calendar, the religious attendance and the dietary regime in public centers such as hospitals, prisons and military barracks; the opening of places of worship; and the cession of plots within municipal cemeteries for Jewish burials according to their tradition.

Finally, he referred to the increase in hate crimes both in Spain and in Europe. "Anti-Semitism and the apology of Nazism are part of everyday life," he lamented. In that line he wanted to highlight the reform of the Penal Code last year: "It facilitates a powerful tool to prosecute speech and anti-Semitic hate crimes and other discriminatory motives". He recalled that the FCJE has the Observatory of Antisemitism in Spain and prepares an annual report highlighting the events of the previous year.

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