In Honor of Egyptian-born ISEF Chairwoman Emerita, Distinguished ASF Board Member, and author Nina Avidar Weiner, who was one of 12 outstanding Israelis chosen to light a 75th Independence Day torch in 2023
Click here to dedicate a future issue in honor or memory of a loved one
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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: “Two Jewish Songs, Ancient and Israeli”
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“How Sephardi House Became My Sephardi Home”
By Stella Moussa Salmon, Jewish Women’s Archive
Stella Moussa Salmon, Sephardi House Fellows Shabbaton & National Leadership Summit, Yotel, Miami, 5 April 2025
Stella Moussa Salmon grew up in Tucson, Arizona, to a family of Syrian, Spanish, and Russian Jews. A student at the University of Arizona majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Judaic Studies, and Arabic, Salmon discovered the ASF’s Sephardi House Fellowship through an Instagram story inviting students to apply to the program. Her response? “I remember turning to my parents and telling them that I had just stumbled across the most incredible opportunity and that I had to get in.”
She did. This was, however, before Oct. 7th. After that horrible day:
The fellowship took on an entirely new meaning for me…. Although we were strangers, immediately there was a shared sense of solidarity and support among the fellows and program leaders, and there was a united feeling of motivation to hold strong to our Judaism… Sitting around the Shabbat table during my cohort’s fall Shabbaton, talking and singing late into the night… I felt a deep sense of belonging and contentment. With support from my peers and guidance from my mentors in the ASF—Ruben Shimonov, Joshua Benaim, and Jason Guberman—I found my own voice on campus…
To be more specific, inspired by her ASF mentors and moved by the joy she felt surrounded by her peers at the campus Shabbaton, Salmon established the University of Arizona’s first Sephardi and Mizrahi Jewish Culture Club at her campus Hillel. Reflecting upon her journey thus far into the soulful warmth of Sephardic Judaism, Salmon concludes:
Over the last year and a half, Sephardi House has truly become my home. It is my hope that many other young Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews have the same opportunity to be a part of a community that celebrates Sephardic traditions, encourages curiosity, and empowers each student to find their own voice.
All donations are tax-deducible and will be gratefully acknowledged at the ASF Sephardi House Shabbaton & Leadership Summit and thereafter.
Feature: In Honor of Jewish-American Heritage Month: An Omni-American Story
Dizzy Gillespie on Shofar, Jerusalem, Israel, June 1985
In honor of Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM), the ASF’s Director of Publications, Aryeh Tepper, tells two stories of Jewish Americans rocking the nation, from Carnegie Hall to the Civil Rights Movement. On a deeper level, however, the stories are one tale: Jewish Americans receptively integrated into their souls a heroic, American-born sense of life that celebrates human excellence, no matter the source. For the sake of the noble American dream of creating a society in which human beings of every skin tone and from every background meet on the elevated plane of human excellence, the “natural aristocracy” that Jefferson envisioned organically growing from American soil, this story deserves to be revisited, and retold.
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Foundations of Sephardic Spirituality: The Inner Life of Jews of the Ottoman Empire
By Rabbi Dr. Marc D. Angel
In this groundbreaking work, Rabbi Marc Angel explores the teachings, values, attitudes, and cultural patterns that characterized Judeo-Spanish life over the generations and how the Sephardim maintained a strong sense of pride and dignity, even when they lived in difficult political, economic, and social conditions. Along with presenting the historical framework and folklore of Jewish life in the Ottoman Empire, Rabbi Angel focuses on what you can learn from the Sephardic sages and from their folk wisdom that can help you live a stronger, deeper spiritual life.
Voices in Exile: A Study in Sephardic Intellectual History
By Rabbi Dr. Marc D. Angel
Rabbi Angel explores the teachings of the Sephardi sages and thinkers who flourished around the Mediterranean and in the New World in the centuries after the Expulsion.
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We are thrilled to announce the much anticipated 27th New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival with the participation of Michel Boujenah, Fortuna, Roya Hakakian, Enrico Macias, and Yael Naim.
Please mark your calendar for Sunday, June 8th, as we kick off a week-long cinematic journey of untold stories celebrating the diversity, poignancy, and humor of the Greater Sephardic world.
Join us for unforgettable experiences filled with exclusive screenings, insightful discussions, and captivating performances.
Stay tuned for the full calendar and ticket information!
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Upcoming Events or Opportunities
The Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy and American Sephardi Federation present:
Virtual Tour of the Historic Lazama Synagogue in the Mellah (Jewish Quarter) of Marrakech
The Lazama Synagogue, located in the mellah of Marrakech, was founded in 1492 by Sephardic Jews fleeing King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella’s Edict of Expulsion. See the beautiful historic synagogue these refugees of the Inquisition built and learn about the Andalusian culture they brought to Morocco.
Join your guide from the Mimouna Association, an NGO founded by Moroccan Muslims to preserve and promote the Judeo-Moroccan heritage, for an exclusive exploration of the synagogue and one of the largest Jewish communities in the Kingdom today.
Sunday, 11 May at 12:00PM EST
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: $10
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Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum presents:
Greek Jewish Festival
Join the Greek Jewish Festival as we celebrate the unique Romaniote and Sephardic heritage of the Jews of Greece. Experience a feast for the senses including authentic kosher Greek foods and homemade Greek pastries, traditional dance performances with live Greek and Sephardic music, an outdoor marketplace full of vendors, arts and educational activities for kids, and much more!
Sunday, 11 May 12:00-6:00PM EST
(280 Broome Street, Lower East Side, NYC)
The ASF is once again proud to be a Festival Sponsor.
Learn more at www.GreekJewishFestival.com
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Our friends at Qesher present:
Jewish Amsterdam: A Small Community with a Giant History
“Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira, one of the few remaining descendants of the original Portuguese Jews of Amsterdam, will describe what Jewish Amsterdam looks like today and what it was like in the 17th century when this city was the center of the Jewish world: offering the best Jewish education, housing the biggest Rabbis and being home to the largest synagogue in the world.
At that time, Amsterdam was one of the few cities in Europe that offered substantial but limited freedom of expression, which allowed for a large part of Jewish history to take place here. It was the Jewish community of Amsterdam that excommunicated Spinoza and was enchanted by the false messiah Shabtai Tsvi.”
Sunday, 11 May 3:00PM EST
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: $18
About the author:
Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira is the community leader and Chazzan (Cantor) of the Bendigamos community in Amsterdam. His family has been part of the Portuguese Jewish community of the Netherlands for four centuries. After studying political science and a short political career, he decided he wanted to spend most of his time teaching and rebuilding the Jewish community in Amsterdam. The community is still suffering greatly from the WWII atrocities. Today, he works for the Jewish Seminary of Amsterdam, teaches many bar-mitzvah students, writes for a Jewish news website, and organizes Jewish concerts.
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Our friends at Manhattan Sephardic Congregation present:
35th Annual
Lag Ba’omer Community Celebration
Join us for us for the Street Closing, Sefer Torah Dedication, Bonfire, DJ & Live Music, Food Truck, Candle Auction.
Thursday, 15 May 5:30-9:00PM EST
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: Complimentary RSVP, registration required
PURCHASE A PORTION OF THE NEW SEFER TORAH & SPONSOR A LARGE CANDLE
(Includes VIP Buffet)
GET YOUR STANDARD CANDLE (BLESSINGS)
Get ready for Simchat Torah energy with a DJ & share with friends!
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Our friends at Qesher present:
The Ashkephardim of Venezuela: A Unique Vanishing Jewish Community
“Do Jewish communities in the Diaspora end up resembling their host countries? In the racially mixed Venezuela of the 20th century, this seems to be true, as the local kehila, mainly from Romania and Morocco, followed the example set by the broader Venezuelan society. Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews intermarried and established common institutions that laid the foundations of a brotherhood that distinguishes the Venezuelan Jewish community—an identity where gefilte fish and adafina are shared at the same table. However, the current times have forced many to leave, and this community is trying to hold on to the splendor it enjoyed in past decades.”
Sunday, 18 May 3:00PM EST
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: $18
About the speaker:
Néstor Luis Garrido is a Venezuelan writer, professor, journalist, columnist, and scriptwriter. He has given several seminars on Jewish Literature, Sephardic Literature, and Judaism as a way of life.
Within the Venezuelan Jewish community, he has served as director of the weekly* Nuevo Mundo Israelita (1990), the short-lived weekly Itón, and the magazine Hebraica. He is also the founder and director of the magazines Recuerda-Zajor (since 2001) and Maguén-Escudo (since 2009). Additionally, he has been involved with the Venezuelan Committee of Yad Vashem and the Centro de Estudios Sefardíes de Caracas, *a cultural institution of the Asociación Israelita de Venezuela.
Between 2012 and 2016, he was responsible for the Annual Report on Antisemitism in Venezuela, published annually by the Confederation of Israelite Associations of Venezuela.
He has also written the scripts for the documentaries* Valió la Pena (2001) and Una Llama Encendida (2011), which explore the history of the Ashkenazi community in Venezuela.
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Our friends at American Ladino League in partnership with the American Sephardi Federation present:
An ALL Authors Presentation
With Albert S. Maimon
Join the American Ladino League for an in-depth conversation with Albert S. Maimon, Seattle-based Sephardic educator and community leader par excellence.
Al will be interviewed by Rachel Amado Bortnick, co-director of the American Ladino League–and Al’s student for regular classes on subjects of Ladino interest, including Me’am Lo’ez!
ALL Authors is a public program that engages with authors, editors, educators, and creators who work with Ladino in the American cultural sphere. The conversations are held in English with Ladino references throughout. This free Zoom event will last 75 minutes and will include time for Q&A with the featured guest as well as on-air book giveaways and prizes.
Monday, 19 May at 7:00PM EST
(On Zoom)
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: Complimentary RSVP, registration required
Tickets include an option to add a discounted copy of the newly published Zemirot HaMizraḥ Siddur for Shabbat Evening
(due to retail at $29.95 but available at the event for $25).
Descended from Rhodesli and Turkish families, Al Maimon grew up in Seattle with Sephardic Bikur Holim Synagogue as the focal point of his life. He worked as a counselor at a predecessor of Sephardic Adventure Camp, which was founded by his uncle, Rabbi Solomon Maimon. Al co-edited The Beauty of Sephardic Life: Scholarly, Humorous and Personal Reflections (1993), a treasury of his father’s articles that uniquely conveys Ladino and Sephardic customs. Al Maimon attended Yeshiva University, earned a master’s degree in math, and worked in operation research and large-scale information systems at The Boeing Co. He has taught extensively for local and national Sephardic organizations, devoting his time, leadership, and expertise to boards for organizations like Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, Sephardic Bikur Holim, the Seattle Sephardic Network, the Seattle Hebrew Academy, the American Ladino League, and many more.
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Our friends at Qesher present:
The Jewish Heritage of São Paulo, Brazil's Most Cosmopolitan City
“São Paulo is home to the largest Jewish community in Brazil and one of the most vibrant in Latin America. The Jewish presence in the city dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when waves of immigrants from Europe and the Middle East arrived, shaping São Paulo's cultural, economic, and social landscape.
In this talk, we will explore the fascinating history of São Paulo's Jewish community, from its early days to the present.
Discover the city’s most significant Jewish landmarks, synagogues, institutions, and neighborhoods—each of which has played a crucial role in shaping Jewish life in Brazil.
Join us for an insightful journey through São Paulo's Jewish past and present!”
Sunday, 25 May 3:00PM EST
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: $18
About the speaker:
Felipe Lichand is a historian and a licensed tour guide. He is an active member of the Jewish community in São Paulo and studied at both the Talmud Torah School and Renascença, the first Jewish school in São Paulo. His strongest connection to Judaism came through his involvement with the Jewish youth movement Hashomer Hatzair, where he was part of the leadership. It was through Hashomer Hatzair that he had the opportunity to spend a year in Israel.
After returning to Brazil, Felipe worked on an exhibition in São Paulo, organized by the Holocaust Museum of Curitiba, which sparked his interest in Jewish history and heritage and led him to receive a research scholarship in the field. In June 2019, he joined the Judaic Tourism project, becoming its coordinator in São Paulo and Santos. He is also a member of LAZOS and is passionate about sharing his knowledge of Jewish history in Brazil and connecting with Jewish communities around the world.
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Our friends at Kanisse in partnership with the American Sephardi Federation present:
Ancient Aleppo Shabbat
Join us as we revive these ancient prayers for Shabbat — for the first time in centuries in their original form as preserved in the Maḥzor Aram Ṣoba — and glimpse into the liturgical world of our Levantine ancestors. This immersive service will include historical insights into the elements that distinguish the ancient Aleppo rite from its modern counterpart, now featured in our newly published Zemirot HaMizraḥ Siddur for Shabbat Evening.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to experience a lost tradition come to life and reconnect with our ancient liturgical heritage!
Friday, 30 May, 6:00pm - 10:00pm
@The Jewish Theological Seminary
3080 Broadway (at W 122nd Street), New York, NY 10027
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: $36
Tickets include an option to add a discounted copy of the newly published Zemirot HaMizraḥ Siddur for Shabbat Evening
(due to retail at $29.95 but available at the event for $25).
Space is limited and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Ticket sales help cover a portion of our costs for this event. If you are unable to purchase a ticket but would like to attend, please email us at hello@kanisse.org.
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The Museum of the Bible, the American Sephardi Federation, and Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) present:
Sacred Words: Revealing the Earliest Hebrew Book
Explore the new Library exhibit, featuring the remarkable story of the earliest Hebrew book.
On View through 17 July 2025
@Jewish Theological Seminary
3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street)
New York City
The exhibit is open to the public during Library Hours.
Group tours are available.
Please contact Dr. David Kraemer, Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian and Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, for more information.
About the Exhibit:
After 1,300 years of untold travels along the Silk Roads, the oldest Hebrew book reveals its extraordinary story. In Sacred Words, guests will behold the oldest-known Hebrew book, containing Sabbath-morning prayers, liturgical poems, and the world’s oldest Haggadah, which was mysteriously written upside down. Learn about the book’s content, its origins on the Silk Roads, and the multicultural cooperation that brought it first to Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. This sacred book has a story to tell. Come discover it.
This exhibition was created in partnership with the American Sephardi Federation and the Museum of the Bible.
