In Memory of Lady Marcelle Hassan, A”H, the philanthropic and politically savvy matriarch of one of Gibraltar’s leading Sephardic families. Born in Larache, Morocco, she settled in Gibraltar after serving as a nurse and a manager of a transit camp for fellow Moroccan Jews making Aliyah. Her husband, Sir Joshua Abraham Hassan, served as Gibraltar’s Chief Minister for 15 years. She is survived by her daughters Fleur Hassan-Nahoum (Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem) and Marlene Hasson Nahon (Gibraltarian Member of Parliament).
The Sephardi World Weekly is made possible by Professor Rifka Cook, Maria Gabriela Borrego Medina, Rachel Amar, Deborah Arellano, and Distinguished ASF Vice President Gwen Zuares!
Click here to dedicate a future issue in honor or memory of a loved one
🕍“VR tech at Israel Museum resurrects destroyed Aleppo synagogue”
By Judith Sudilovsky, The Jerusalem Post
Digital representation of the Great Synagogue of Aleppo, Syria
(Photo courtesy of Israel Museum Jerusalem/Jerusalem Post)
Cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) technology at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum is bringing the Great Synagogue of Aleppo back to life. Torched in 1947, the synagogue was first built in the 5th century and, in its last iteration, included seven separate Torah arks. Today, a digital 3D experience that was “five years in the making” and based upon photographic images taken from one specific day, “enables visitors to enter the synagogue and explore its impressive interior.” Says Avia Dabach, one of the VR creators whose grandfather, Ezra, was the synagogue’s caretaker, “‘This is not a film. This is being present in a place, being present at a special time.’”
Feature: An Aleppo Piyyut, Still Very Much Alive and Thriving 🎶 🎙️
Yahid Ram (“Elevated One”)
(Screenshot courtesy of SY Community/Youtube)
It’s a general human truth: after all of the physical structures collapse or are destroyed, music remains a vital source of communal life and memory. The Great Synagogue of Aleppo exists today in VR, but the music of Aleppo is still sung around the world. R’ Raphael Entebi Taboush (1853-1919) is a central figure in the Aleppo-Syrian musical tradition, and in this video, select musicians from the Syrian Sephardic community of New York sing Taboush’s Yahid Ram (“Elevated One”).
📚“Iraqi Jews and Muslims cross boundaries in Berlin”
By Mati Shemoelof, Plus61J
The History of Sabich in German Culture
(Book cover in Hebrew and German)
It’s against the law in Iraq for Iraqi citizens to fraternize with Israelis. But Berlin is far from Baghdad, and that’s where Baghdadi musician turned businessman, Dury De Bagh, opened Café De Bagh, a shared space in which, “Israeli Jews from Iraq and Iraqi Muslims dance together to the music of Dudu Tasa, grandson of classical Iraqi composers Saleh and Daoud Al-Kuwaity. They drink arak, Arab aniseed liqueur, and eat sabich, the Israeli sandwich based on Iraqi breakfast ingredients, which has an almost cult following in Berlin.” The part about the sabich’s cult following isn’t a joke, “Activist and writer Yossi Lampal compiled an anthology entitled The History of Sabich in German Culture, which was launched at Café De Bagh.”
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The American Sephardi Federation invites all individuals, communities, and organizations who share our vision & principles to join us in signing the American Sephardi Leadership Statement!
Please also support the ASF with a generous, tax-deductible contribution so we can continue to cultivate and advocate, preserve and promote, as well as educate and empower!
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From Aleppo to America: Part II: Stories
By Robert Chira
The author Robert Chira, who is the son of two immigrants from Aleppo, Syria, continues his investigation of the immigration of Jews from Aleppo, Syria, with stories of how some of the members of the Dweek and Chira families arrived in the United States, and how they lived their lives in the new country. Pictures, maps and letters enhance the stories.
Jewish Women from Muslim Societies Speak
Published by the American Sephardi Federation and Hadassah International Research Institute on Jewish Woman at Brandeis University
Jewish women from Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, and Iran were invited to share their personal stories. It could be said that these women's voices are from the last generation of Jews to have an intimate personal knowledge of the Muslim world, the enormous diversity within and among Middle Eastern Jewish communities.
We hope that these essays, told through the medium of vivid personal stories, will stimulate discussion about contemporary dynamics in the Muslim world and raise awareness of Jewish women’s history in North Africa and the Middle-East.
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Upcoming Events or Opportunities
ASF Broome & Allen & ADL Collaborative for Change Fellow Isaac de Castro presents:
Entre Diasporas: Telling the Latin-American Jewish story. Contando la historia judía latinoamericana
Tell your story. Cuenta tu historia.
We’re looking for first-generation Latino Jews in the United States who immigrated because of political and social turmoil. Jews of Sephardic descent from Colombia, Cuba, and Venezuela that now reside in the Miami area will be given priority, but others are welcome to apply as well.
Fill out this form to be considered as an interviewee for this project. After you’ve submitted, we will be in touch promptly to set up a preliminary phone call.
Click here for more information.