In Memory of Alon Abutbul, A”H, an Ophir Award-winning Algerian and Egyptian Sephardi actor, famous for his leading roles in Israeli cinema, Hollywood blockbusters, and even London’s West End
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The Sephardi World Weekly is made possible by Daniel Yifrach, Rachel Sally, Professor Rifka Cook, Maria Gabriela Borrego Medina, Rachel Amar, Deborah Arellano, & ASF VP Gwen Zuares!
Don’t miss the latest Sephardi Ideas Monthly: “Deep Listening: Exploring Music with Dan Asia”
“Is the Lost Language of Iraqi Jews Really Lost?”
By Mardean Isaac, Tablet Magazine
Qanun al Nisa, a work written for Babylonian Jewish women in Judeo-Arabic by Hakham Yosef Hayyim Ben Elijah (Ben Ish Hai), 1905
(ASF’s National Sephardic Library & Archives/Google Cultural Institute)
Jews in Iraq spoke a variety of Jewish languages, including dialects of Aramaic. The predominant language, however, was Judeo-Arabic. Those languages and the Jewish-Iraqi culture they embodied and expressed began to disappear with the mass expulsion of Iraqi Jewry in the early 1950’s. Is all lost? While the original cultural context is forever gone, “The study of Iraqi Judeo-Arabic is a way of reclaiming a distinct Jewish experience before the remaining connections to it disappear forever.”
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FEATURE: Emma Lazarus, American Modern
Esther Schor
(Photo courtesy of Princeton University Humanities Council)
Esther Schor, a poet, scholar, and professor at Princeton University, is the author of a biography on Emma Lazarus. In a seven-minute lecture segment at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Schor recounts “revelatory moments” while reading Lazarus’s poems and letters that changed her understanding of Lazarus’s life and work. Schor discovered in Lazarus a profound embrace of the ordinary, a celebration of everyday heroism, common humanity, and what is often overlooked or “abject.” This insight led Schor to recognize Lazarus, “America’s first public cultural Jew,” as a distinctly modern writer.
Read some enlightening thoughts on Emma Lazarus’ 176 birthday!
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Upcoming Events or Opportunities
The Sephardic Rabbinic Conference in partnership with the American Sephardi Federation, Habura, Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America, and TriBeCa Synagogue present:
An Evening of Sephardic Music & Celebration
Join us for an unforgettable evening of Sephardic hazzanut, Torah, and Piyyutim with visiting Sephardic hazzanim and Hahamim from around the world!
This special evening is a part of the Sephardic Rabbinic Conference, a new and exciting gathering of Sephardic community Rabbis in New York with partners from across the globe. Featuring keynote speaker Rabbi Joseph Dweck, Senior Rabbi of the S&P Sephardi Community of the United Kingdom, and six local and visiting Sephardic community Hazzanim of Syrian, Turkish, Moroccan, Spanish & Portuguese, and Persian heritage.
Sunday, 10 August, at 7:30 PM
Sign-up Now!
@Tribeca Synagogue - 49 White Street, NYC
Tickets: $36 Early Bird; $54 General Admission
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Announcing a new Online CourseSoundtrack of a Nation: An Introduction to Israeli Music
Explore and enjoy Israeli music as a way to understand Israel as it is—beyond the headlines. Guided by Dr. Aryeh Tepper, a dynamic instructor with deep knowledge of Israeli culture and extensive experience teaching in Israel and the United States, this course invites you to discover the fascinating stories and vibrant pluralism of Israeli society through the diversity of its music, while avoiding the polemics that often bedevil conversations about Israel in academia and the media. No prior experience is needed—just a sense of curiosity, an open mind and a receptive soul, and you'll come away with a playlist to last a lifetime.
Sign-up Now!
Twelve Sessions Starting on 11 September