In Memory of Saul and Fortuna Cenudioglu, A”H leaders of the Jewish community of Antakya, who are amongst the over 20,000 casualties of the devastating earthquake in Turkey
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💔“Jewish community president and wife missing, feared dead, in Turkey following earthquake”
By Felix Pope, The Jewish Chronicle
Saul and Fortuna Cenudioglu
(Photo courtesy of Times of Israel)
The last remnants of the 2,500-year-old Jewish community of Antakya (aka, Antioch) were crushed by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that recently rocked southern Turkey. Two pillars of the community, Saul and Fortuna Cenudioglu, are missing [Editor’s Note: now, alas, confirmed dead], their home is destroyed, and the few dozen remaining members of the community have been evacuated to Istanbul. The synagogue, reports a rabbi on the ground, suffers from “‘cracks and dramatic damage.’” Says Ela Cenudioglu, who grew up in the community, “‘[A]ll the places I was, all the places I had loved through my childhood, where I spent my summers, my parents house, is all gone now.’”
The ASF joins the Ladinokomunita in supporting The Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America’s commendable Turkey Earthquake relief efforts & encourages everyone to contribute!
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Feature: La Vara on “Catastrophe in Turkey: The Duty of our Sephardic Community,” 1939 🖤🙏
Photograph of the article as it appeared in the NY Ladino newspaper,
La Vara, 1939
Dr. Joe Halio, President of the Sephardic Foundation on Aging and a Distinguished Member of the American Sephardi Federation’s Board of Directors, writes that “in response to the unfortunate earthquake disaster in Turkey, The Sephardic Foundation on Aging (Sephardic Home) and the Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America have again taken steps to provide earthquake relief aid to our friends in Turkey. The following is an article that appeared in La Vara in December 1939 when a similar disaster struck. Through the efforts of the newspaper La Vara, the Sephardic community in New York raised thousands of dollars in aid for Turkey, and we will again,” mashallah. What follows is the transliterated and translated article courtesy of to Dr. Halio, grandson of Albert J. Torres, publisher of La Vara.
La Katastrofa Turka: El Dover de Nuestros Sephardim (Catastrophe in Turkey: The Duty of out Sephardic Community)
There’s no heart that isn’t broken and no soul that isn’t stricken upon reading about the catastrophe bearing down on Turkey, our ancestral home.Thousands dead, thousands more wounded, those who survive dragging themselves away into the mountains exposed to the environment, the cold, and afraid to return to their homes. The news sent by our correspondents, stories of parents digging graves to bury their children and children burying their parents, makes you cry.
No ay alma ke no se degoye y korason ke no se adoloriye a meldar la katastrofa ke viene de arivar a la Turkia, nuestra patria de nasimiento. Miles de matados, mas miles de feridos, los ke restaron bivos estan arastrando por las montanyas al aire y al frio espantandose a tornar a sus kazas. Las novedades dados por los korespondientes aze yorar a meldar los padres kavakando la foya para interar sus ijos y ijas aziendo el intero de sus genitores.
Never has there been such a calamity in Turkey. At times we have read about tremors, uncontrollable acts of nature, but it has been rare. But this catastrophe is like the fire of Sodom and Gemora, dragging down everyone, leaving thousands of souls destitute.
Nunka a avido una semejante kalamidad en la tiera Turka. A siertas vezes meldavamos de semejantes tremoras de tiera, aktos dela natura, ke no se pueden kontrolar, ma eran limitados y akontesian a raros intervalos, ma la katastrofa aktuala es komo el fuego de Sidom y Gemora, arastando vedre y seko, deshando en desdecha miles de almas inosentes.
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🕊️“Kosovo’s tiny Jewish community aims to punch above its size”
By Yossi Lempkowicz, European Jewish Press
“During my tenure as Consul General of Kosovo in New York…the address that we had... was the American Sephardi Federation & my dear friend Jason Guberman, who was very helpful giving us a platform” to share the “story about Jews & Albanians, & the legacy of BESA”~ Ines Demiri, the Republic of Kosovo’s Chargé d’Affaires, Jerusalem, Israel, on the John Batchelor Show with Malcolm Hoenlein, 5 February 2021 [Editor’s Note: the recording, unfortunately, is no longer available online]
Kosovo is one of the world’s youngest countries, having declared independence only in 2008. After being recognized by Israel in 2020, the Muslim-majority state, “opened an embassy in Jerusalem in 2021.” Today 35-50 Jews live in the country, descendants of Ladino-speaking Sephardim who were received in the late 15th and 16th centuries by the Ottoman Empire. As for antisemitism, “Kosovo’s Jewish community is adamant that Muslim Kosovars aided and hid Jews in [the Shoah].” According to Dr. Hysen Hyseni, physician and chairman of the Jewish community, “‘We live in harmony for the most part… We hope to have a synagogue soon and also have Hebrew classes for our children… The future for the community looks good.’”
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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 Generation to Generation: a Legacy of Faith and Tolerance
By David S. Malka
From Generation to Generation: a Legacy of Faith and Tolerance is dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Shlomo Malka. It honors his memory as a Jewish scholar, a spiritual leader, and a great humanitarian.
David S. Malka is publishing this text as his personal contribution to legacy of Malka family, in the hope that this generation will re-discover their patriarch's teaching and advance his message of faith and compassion on to the next generation.
From Generation to Generation: a Legacy of Faith and Tolerance is a message of love, tolerance, and pride in one's heritage.
By Dr. Hélène Jawhara Piñer, a 2018 ASF Broome & Allen Fellow
In this extraordinary, award-winning and best-selling cookbook now in its 4th imprint, chef and scholar Hélène Jawhara-Piñer combines rich culinary history and Jewish heritage to serve up over fifty culturally significant recipes. Steeped in the history of the Sephardic Jews (Jews of Spain) and their diaspora, these recipes are expertly collected from such diverse sources as medieval cookbooks, Inquisition trials, medical treatises, poems, and literature. Original sources ranging from the thirteenth century onwards and written in Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Occitan, Italian, and Hebrew, are here presented in English translation, bearing witness to the culinary diversity of the Sephardim, who brought their cuisine with them and kept it alive wherever they went. Jawhara-Piñer provides enlightening commentary for each recipe, revealing underlying societal issues from anti-Semitism to social order. In addition, the author provides several of her own recipes inspired by her research and academic studies.
Each creation and bite of the dishes herein are guaranteed to transport the reader to the most deeply moving and intriguing aspects of Jewish history. Jawhara-Piñer reminds us that eating is a way to commemorate the past.
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Upcoming Events or Opportunities
The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:
“Fragments” with Yoni Battat
Join us for an online performance and sharing stories behind the music with multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and composer Yoni Battat!
Order the album today at yoniavibattat.bandcamp.com
Yoni's new album, Fragments, is a collection of original and traditional music surrounding my Iraqi-Jewish identity. With lyrics in Arabic, Hebrew, English, and Yiddish, the music utilizes Arabic modes and rhythms with an ensemble of traditional Arabic instruments to grapple with the fragmentation of ancestry and memory. This project offers visibility and recognition for the many unseen Middle Eastern Jews in America, while making room for listeners of all backgrounds to take something from my message of resilience and healing.
Sunday, 12 February at 12:00PM EST
(Complimentary RSVP)
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Yoni Avi Battat is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and composer specializing in contemporary and traditional Jewish music from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. He maintains an active performance schedule across the country, playing violin, viola, and oud (middle-eastern lute) in collaborative and interdisciplinary projects spanning a wide range of styles. Yoni has performed across the United States, Canada, Israel, Portugal, and Italy with a variety of artists and ensembles such as Earth, Wind and Fire, Yair Dalal, Shai Tsabari, Nava Tehila, VSNY, and Di Gasn Trio. Most recently, he’s been touring nationally as an actor and violinist with the Tony Award-winning musical, “The Band’s Visit.” In 2015, Yoni founded his own Yiddish-Jazz band called Two Shekel Swing, which has since released their debut album “Pocket Change,” performed in Toronto’s Jewish Music Week, and opened for Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird, amongst other public appearances. Yoni works as a song leader, facilitating musical prayer in Jewish communities, and is a fellow with Hadar’s Rising Song Institute. Yoni studied classical viola at Brandeis University (B.A.) and Boston University (M.M), and traditional Middle-Eastern musical traditions in Jerusalem. www.yonibattat.com
Sponsorship opportunities available:
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The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) presents:
The Bishop of Assisi
A Heroic Light in te Darkness of the Holocaust
A Digital Reception in Honor of Righteous Among the Nations Monsignor Giuseppe Placido
A virtual reception in celebration of Monsignor Giuseppe Placido Nicolini’s heroic actions in helping save two-hundred Jewish lives by allowing Jews fleeing Nazi deportation to be housed in the Italian city of Assisi, what has been termed as the “Assisi Network.”
The program will highlight the history of Catholic-Jewish relations since the Holocaust and the importance of strengthening those bonds in the face of rising antisemitism. The digital event’s mission centers on the recognition of past leaders who confronted antisemitism, in its most extreme form during World War II, as a means to inspire the current generation of civic and religious leaders to courageously confront antisemitism and other forms of bigotry.
Tuesday, 21 February at 1:00PM EST
(Complimentary RSVP)
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The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:
Amid Conflict and Distress: Exploring the Remnants of Jewish Heritage in Syria and Lebanon
The Jewish communities of Syria and Lebanon are among the most ancient in the diaspora, with their origins often attributed to the era of King David.
This class will explore the history of these communities, alongside the development of unique cultural traditions from Baqashot to the Aleppo Codex.
Drawing from Daniel’s own experiences and photographic content, this class also focuses on the contemporary politics and challenges surrounding Jewish heritage in the region - with recent footage from, among other sites: the Jewish quarter of Damascus, Aleppo’s Old City and the Beirut Jewish cemetery.
Wednesday, 1 March at 12:00PM EST
(Complimentary RSVP; Suggested minimum donation $11)
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About the speaker:
Daniel Herszberg has visited over 190 countries and has recently traveled around Syria and Lebanon, with a particular focus on researching and documenting Jewish heritage sites. Daniel is currently reading for his DPhil (PhD) in Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford and has previously completed an MPhil in Heritage Studies from the University of Cambridge.
Sponsorship opportunities available:
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The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience, together with Kulanu and Genie Milgrom present:
Finding Judaism Across Africa and Central American
Communities across Africa and Central America are returning to their Jewish roots or finding Judaism. They are seeking out religion and a connection to the larger Jewish world, many with a view towards their own Sephardi ancestry and others through an affinity for the Sephardi rites.
Representatives of these communities, documentarians, and activists will come together to share their experiences and the unique interactions of these communities and the greater Sephardi world traditions.
The program will open with a photo exhibit in the Great Hall.
Sunday, 12 March 10:00AM - 4:00PM EST
At the Center for Jewish History
(Tickets: In-person $36; Via Zoom $15)
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We will host scholars and leaders of these emerging communities from Africa and Central America that will discuss their connections to Judaism and their Sephardi influences.
Featuring:
Professor Tudor Parfitt, emeritus of modern Jewish studies in the University of London, senior associate fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Judaic Studies, distinguished professor at Florida International University
Professor Shalva Weil, senior researcher at Hebrew university, distinguished professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, research fellow at University of South Africa, prolific writer and lecturer on Indian Jews, Ethiopian Jews, lost tribes, and femicide
Joseph F. Lovett, producer, director, writer. Director of Children of the Inquisition, 2019.
Engr. Jator Abido (Yatov ben Yisrael), Nigerian representative to the Sub Sahara Africa Jewish alliance
Patricio Serno, filmmaker and co-founder of Casa Tova, Mexico
and more.
Sponsorship opportunities available:
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The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:
Diary of a Black Jewish Messiah
Discover a true story of imperial rivalry, Mediterranean Jewish communities, a Jewish kingdom, & one black messiah!
Professor Alan Verskin will share the world into which the semi-messianic figure, David Reubeni, peddles his vision of an autonomous Jewish country in the Holy Land.; a world filled with fierce rivalries between Christian and Muslim powers, brutal conquest, and fantastic discovery.
A panel discussion will ensue with Professors Alan Verskin, Ronnie Perelis, and Francesca Bregoli followed by Q&A.
Thursday, 16 March at 6:00PM EST
At the Center for Jewish History
(Tickets: $15 suggested donation)
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In 1524 David Reubeni, also known as the “black messiah,” arrived in Venice, claiming to be the ambassador of a powerful Arabian Jewish kingdom. In an era of fierce imperial rivalry, and the fantastic discovery and brutal conquest of new lands, people across the Mediterranean saw signs of an impending apocalypse and dreamed of discovering new allies to join them in the coming war. Reubeni offered a Jewish take on these expectations. With his warriors from lost Israelite tribes, he pledged to recover the Holy Land and restore Jewish pride. Numerous Jews and conversos hailed him as the messiah.
Diary of a Black Jewish Messiah (Stanford University Press, 2023) is the first English translation of Reubeni’s Hebrew diary.
Alan Verskin is Associate Professor of Jewish and Islamic History at the University of Rhode Island. His most recent book is A Vision of Yemen: The Travels of a European Orientalist and his Native Guide (Stanford University Press, 2019).
Francesca Bregoli, Joseph and Oro Halegua Chair in Greek and Sephardic Jewish Studies, is Associate Professor at Queens College and The Graduate Center, where she serves as Director of the Center for Jewish Studies. Her research focuses on early modern Italian and Sephardic Jewish history. She is the author of Mediterranean Enlightenment: Livornese Jews, Tuscan Culture, and Eighteenth-Century Reform (Stanford University Press, 2014; National Jewish Book Award finalist in the categories of Sephardic Culture and Writing Based on Archival Material).
Co-sponsored by the Diasporas Project at the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs at Yeshiva University and The Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Center, CUNY
Sponsorship opportunities available:
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The Belzberg Program in Israel Studies at the University of Calgary and the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University. With the collaboration of the American Sefardi Federation, Centro Sefarad Israel, and the International Network for Jewish Thought present:
Sephardi Modernities Seminar Series, 2023
Join us as we explore the relationship between our narratives about the past and the future to which we aspire. The ways in which scholars approach the stories, events, characters, and historical processes of the Sephardi/Levantine past are inevitably guided by values, by their moral and political beliefs. Which elements of the past do they strive to preserve, reclaim and grant continuity? What are they trying to say about a potential future? Which stories become part of canonized history, and which ones are dismissed as mere anecdotes? Which theoretical, social, political, and cultural frameworks do they wrestle with, and which do they seek to advance?
On Zoom
(Registration is required for each session)
14 March at 12:00PM EST
Preservation of Jewish Heritage and Debating Egypt’s Past and Present
Yoram Meital, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
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23 March at 12:00PM EDT
How Do Judeo-Spanish Proverbs and Tales Communicate with Us and How Do We Communicate With Them?
Lital Belinko-Sabah, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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18 April at 12:00PM EST
‘Modernity’ and ‘Tradition’ on the Move: Spanish Moroccan Jews and their Diasporas
Aviad Moreno, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in conversation with Angy Cohen, University of Calgary
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9 May at 12:00PM EST
Sephardi Musical Modernities: Listening to the Past in the Future
Edwin Seroussi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Yair Dalal, Composer, violinist, oud player, singer, and teacher
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Throughout this year’s series we will discuss the future invoked by each way of looking at the past, the political agendas of historical research, and the values that unavoidably guide scholastic inquiry. Topics include the transmission of narratives among collectives and among researchers, ownership of archives, encounters with the past, the academic legitimacy of certain topics and collectives, vehicles of memory (music, oral history, proverbs, etc.) and the construction of historical narratives.
Organized by Dr. Angy Cohen, Inaugural Hy and Jenny Belzberg Postdoctoral Associate in Israel Studies, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Calgary, and Dr. Yuval Evri, Assistant Professor of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies on the Marash and Ocuin Chair in Ottoman, Mizrahi, and Sephardic Jewish Studies, Brandeis University.
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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.