In Memory of Shlomo Mantzur, HY”D, an 85 year old Iraqi-Jewish survivor of the Farhud, who was taken hostage, beaten, and murdered by Iranian and Russian regime-backed Hamas terrorists in fulfillment of their antisemitic charter.
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Don’t miss the latest Sephardi Ideas Monthly: “L’Moledet Shuvi Roni: Asher Mizrahi’s Biblical-Zionist Romance”
“Oldest hostage Shlomo Mantzur, 85, confirmed murdered in Hamas captivity”
By The Jerusalem Post
Shlomo Mantzur
(Photo courtesy of The Jerusalem Post/Shutterstock/RnDmS)
In 1941, Shlomo Mantzur’s family fled the Farhud, the Nazi-inspired, Islamist attack on Jews in Iraq, to Israel. On Oct. 7th, Mantzur, 85, was murdered by one of the contemporary carriers of the Nazi-inspired, Islamist hatred, Hamas, in Kibbutz Kissufim on the Gazan border.
with his family from Iraq who was 85 at his death, “was much more than a community member to us – he was a father, a grandfather, a true friend, and a beating heart of Kissufim. This is one of the hardest days in the history of our kibbutz,”
FEATURE: “Lincoln’s Sephardic Inspiration at Gettysburg”
(Scan courtesy of The Marvin Weiner Catalogue of the Sabato Morais Ledger (University of Pennsylvania Libraries: Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text and Image), p. 22)
Pictured above is an excerpt of Rev. Dr. Sabato Morais’s sermon on Independence Day, 4 July/17 Tammuz, 1863. An avid abolitionist and proponent of Abraham Lincoln and the Patriot’s cause in the War of the Rebellion then ragging, the sermon Morais delivered at Philadelphia’s Mikveh Israel, was republished about a week later in New York’s The Jewish Messenger. From there Morais may “have made a lasting contribution to American rhetorical history” as his then-unique phraseology would subsequently appear, whether deliberately or coincidentally is unknowable, in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (see: Marc Saperstein’s “‘Four Score and Seven Years Ago’: A Jewish Connection”)
The excerpt reads: “I am not indifferent, my dear friends! to the event [the Declaration of Independence] , which four score and seven years ago, brought to this new world light and joy. I yield to none in the feelings of deep reverence for the sages and patriots that labored for its consummation. The principles enunciated in the document unfolded and first read in yonder hall, command still my highest admiration. But the more intently I gaze upon the bright past, the darker does the present appear to my vision.”
Thankfully, unlike the Jewish defenders at Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Union defenders repelled their attackers, the Confederate invaders of the North, at Gettysburg on 1-3 July, as Morais found out after his sermon.
To learn more about Mikveh Israel’s Hakham Rabbi Dr. Sabato Morais see: Sephardi Ideas Monthly’s “Continuity, not Rupture: Sabato Morais’s Sephardi Rabbinic Humanism in Victorian America” and “A Dream Deferred: The Andalusian-Italian Sephardi Tradition in America .”
“Discovering Arabic music, harnessing Jewish piyutim”
By Basia Monka, The Jerusalem Post
Ziv Yehezkel, Royal Theatre, Rabat, Morocco, 2022
(Montage courtesy of The Jerusalem Post/Jaffa Theatre)
One of the best-kept secrets of Israeli society is the manner in which Jewish religious institutions function as a kind of ‘nature reserve’ for diaspora Jewish cultures that have been marginalized within Israel. Take, for example, the world of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish piyutim.
Ziv Yehezkel is one of Israel’s leading young paytanim, a singer of liturgical (soul) music who first discovered piyutim and their accompanying Arabic musical vocabulary in a Sephardi Yeshiva:
Ziv Yehezkel… discovered Arabic music at age 16. Studying at a Sephardi yeshiva in Jerusalem, which he called “a shelter for Arabic music,” he learned about the melodies hidden behind piyutim, Jewish religious poems. There, in the corridors of his dormitory, he heard the traditional oud for the first time. This changed his life path forever.
As for the actual musical connection, Yehezkel offers:
Arabic music has found a very safe shelter in Sephardi yeshivas. Most of the piyutim are based on music of composers from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and other Arab countries. This is literally Arabic music, used by paytanim [poets writing religious songs, poems – piyutim], who changed the words. They were writing in Hebrew about Shabbat, about God, using these melodies.
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Remnant of Israel a Portrait of America's First Jewish Congregation
by Hakkham Rabbi Dr. Marc D. Angel
Special Edition for the American Sephardi Federation
Published to mark Shearith Israel’s 350th anniversary, Remnant of Israel a Portrait of America’s First Jewish Congregation tells their individual stories as well as the history of the Congregation, explaining its origins, its rituals, and its traditions. It is profusely illustrated with portraits, historical documents and ritual objects. This book tells a fascinating story, one that will appeal to anyone interested in the history and culture of the Jewish People, of New York City, and of the United States.
A Pizmonim: Sephardic-Hebrew Songs of the Middle East, Volume 1
By David Elihu Cohen
Pizmonim, a unity of poetry and song, have been an integral part of the Jewish People and may be traced in the Bible to the very beginning of our history.
The twelve selected Pizmonim contained in this booklet serve to perpetuate the Greater Sephardic culture and tradition of singing praise to the Lord on all joyous occasions.
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Upcoming Events or Opportunities
Centro Primo Levi & the American Sephardi Federation present:
The Renegade: Books and Tea
Join us for conversation, tea, and sweets to present Ariel Toaff’s novel The Renegade (CPL Editions). Translated by Cristina Popple.
In Nablus, 1840, David Ajash—an Italian rabbi and kabbalist of Algerian origin—is found dead by gunshot. Known for his enigmatic past, David left behind only a mysterious manuscript inscribed: “To my son Moisè.”
Years earlier, David had abandoned his wife and three children, including his eldest son Moisè. Now a rabbi himself, Moisè remains resentful of the father who deserted him. When David’s friend Abram delivers the manuscript, Moisè reluctantly agrees to read his father’s final testament.
What unfolds is an intimately interwoven dual narrative—father’s confession and son’s discovery. Through David’s eyes, we traverse the vibrant Jewish community of Livorno and the Mediterranean world of the early 19th century. From Jerusalem to Pisa, from kabbalistic mysteries to Masonic intrigues, from crisis of faith to brothels and forbidden love, from Hebrew printing to gambling, sea trade, food and scents—the story pulses with life, with Moisè’s commentary revealing the painfully unresolved conflicts between father and son. The question lingers: Did David commit suicide?
“My father’s memoir ends here. I cry unwillingly, in silence.”
This debut novel from historian Ariel Toaff, originally published in Italian by Neri Pozza in 2021, is now available in English. It marks a transition from scholarly work to historical fiction. Cristina Popple’s translation skillfully captures the tone of the original Italian.
Sunday, 16 February at 2:00PM ET
In-Person @ The Sixth Floor Bookhouse
15 West 16th Street, New York City
and on Zoom
Tickets: Complimentary
Reservation is required: rsvp@primolevicenter.org
For a remote participation link: info@primolevicenter.org
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Our friends at Qesher present:
Recovering the Lost World of Iraqi Babylonian Jews
“Join us to walk through the history of Iraqi Jews, from the River of Babylon to the streets of Baghdad. Together, we will discover the rich culture, Judeo-Arabic language, traditional foods, and everyday life of this ancient Babylonian Jewish community.”
Tuesday, 25 February at 3:00PM EST
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: $9-$18
About the speaker:
Sarah Sassoon is an Australian born, Iraqi Jewish writer, poet, and educator. Sarah's writing follows her curiosity exploring her Iraqi Jewish history, the story of refugees and resilience, and the rich, layered 2600-year-old culture of Babylonian Jews, with a special interest in Middle Eastern women's experience. She is the author of the award winning picture book, Shoham's Bangle and This is Not a Cholent. Her poetry micro chapbook, This is Why We Don't Look Back was awarded the Harbor Review Jewish Women's Poetry prize. She is an editorial advisor for Distinctions: A Sephardi and Mizrahi Journal. She is also the co-author of the The In-Between, a literary dialogue about identity and belonging published by Verlagshaus Berlin. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband and four boys. Visit www.sarahsassoon.com
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Our friends at Qesher present:
The Jews of Kurdistan: A Land of Jewish Heritage, and Potential Reconciliation
Tuesday, 4 March at 3:00PM EST
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: $9-$18
About the talk:
Jews from Kurdistan have a documented history going all the way back to the Bible, and there are tens of thousands of Jews whose ancestors immigrated from Kurdistan to the present-day State of Israel.
In this talk presented by Levi Meir Clancy, a researcher who lived in the Kurdistan region for almost eight years, we will explore the unique Jewish history of Kurdistan, including famous heritage sites and major historical figures, and learn about the Assyrian, Kurdish, Yazidi, Turkmeni, and other communities that have lived alongside them.
We will also explore how to navigate and understand Jewish- Muslim relations through the context of the overall Kurdish-Muslim society, including how to make sense of competing messages rooted in antisemitism, so-called philo-semitism, and hopes for a better tomorrow.
About the speaker:
Levi Meir Clancy is a strategist who spent much of his adult life in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where he co-founded Foundation of Ours to promote the region's multi-faith history through events. He has spoken at TEDxDuhok, AMP Conf, and GSMA Mobile 360, and frequently appeared on Kurdish television and radio.
An advocate for Jewish life in the Islamic world, Levi Meir survived imprisonment and an assassination attempt in Erbil. Now based in the United States, he supports JFCS SF in building an inclusive, neurodiverse community rooted in Jewish values and inspired by Israeli models like Kibbutz Kishorit. With support from Zioness, Levi Meir develops educational materials and experiences like Conversation Pieces, drawing from his multiracial Okinawan-Jewish identity and global journey.
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Our friends at LESJC in partnership with the American Sephardi Federation present:
View on a Southern Israeli Town from its Founding to October 7th
Join Dr. Aryeh Tepper live from Ofakim, a diverse Israeli “Development Town” near Gaza, for an exploration of its history, from its founding until Hamas’ invasion on 7 October as well as life today.
Sunday, 9 March 12:00PM EST
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: $10
Zoom Livestream
About the speaker:
Dr. Tepper is the Director of Publications at the American Sephardi Federation and co-Director of the Omni-American Future Project, where he is the Co-Editor of “The Omni-American Review.” He is the author of Progressive Minds, Conservative Politics: Leo Strauss’ Later Writings on Maimonides (SUNY Press, 2013) and a Fellow at at The Azrieli Center for Israel Studies at The Ben-Gurion Research Institute, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.