Sephardic law and customs Spain or Portugal (as well as one Romaniot and one Ashkenazi synagogue). In a process lasting from the 16th through the 19th century, the native Jewish communities of most Arab and Ottoman countries adapted their pre-existing liturgies, many of which already had a family resemblance with the Sephardic, to follow the Spanish rite in as many respects as possible. Some reasons for this are: The most important theological, as opposed to practical, motive for harmonization was the Kabbalistic teachings of Isaac Luria and Ḥayim Vital. Luria himself always maintained that it was the duty of every Jew to abide by
Handbook of Denominations most stocked book by OCLC in 2005. Handbook of Denominations The Handbook of Denominations, also known as Abingdon's Handbook of Denominations, by Frank S. Mead and Samuel Hill, is a reference work on religious denominations, particularly but not exclusively Christian ones, based in North America or extensively represented there (i.e., the Roman Catholic Church). Published by the Nashville, Tennessee-based United Methodist Publishing House, is intended to be an authoritative guide to the history, polity, and doctrines of various religious groups. The work is periodically updated to keep pace with changes in the groups chronicled and to document the formation of