In Memory of Shoushan Netaneli Yaghoubzadeh, A”H, beloved mother of Iranian Jewish Federation of NY (IAJF-NY) Chairman Shahram Yaghoubzadeh, Pauline Sedghi, Bijan Yaghoubzadeh, and Lilly Moradzadeh.
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
🍫“The Making of Modern Chocolate”
By Orge Catellano, Tablet Magazine
Click here to see the recipe for Bizcochuelo de chocolate y café (Chocolate sponge coffee cake) that accompanies the article
(Photo courtesy of Maria Georgieva/Unspalsh/Tablet Magazine)
Sephardi Jews were deeply involved in the development and globalization of the chocolate industry, “[w]hether they used the exclusive criollo variety from Venezuela, forastero from Guyana, or maraignon of Brazil, (Iberian Jews) possessed the techniques behind the arts of heating, grinding, and dosing beans.” Adds Rabbi Deborah Prinz, co-author of The Boston Chocolate Party, a children’s book about chocolate and Hanukkah: “‘The… history of Jews and chocolate parallel the Jewish refugee experience quite well… We see that Jews were able to find opportunity and substance in this fruit.’”
Feature: The Sephardi History of Singapore: Meet Manasseh Meyer 🕍🎨
Drawing of Albert Einstein
(Screenshot courtesy of Singapore Bicentennial/Youtube)
Born in Baghdad and raised in Calcutta, Manasseh Meyer moved to Singapore at age fifteen. Meyer grew up to be a business magnate, philanthropist, and the recognized leader of the Baghdadi Jewish community of Singapore. A committed Zionist, in 1922 Meyer even hosted Albert Einstein as the celebrated scientist travelled through Asia fundraising for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Meyer was among the donors). This week’s featured video offers a brief look at Meyer’s importance to Singapore’s history.
⚖️“Against the Inquisition by Marcos Aguinis”
By Dara Horn, Moment Magazine
Cover of Against the Inquisition, “[a] stirring song of freedom,” according to Mario Vargas Llosa, Noble Prize Laureate and Latin American proponent of liberty
(Photo courtesy of Amazon)
Argentine Jewish writer Marcos Aguinis has been, “a Latin American literary powerhouse for 50 years.” His 1991 novel, Against the Inquisition, “is based on the astounding true story of… a 17th-century doctor descended from conversos, who re-embraced his Judaism.” The novel’s mind-bending launching point is an historically accurate secret rite, a kind of converso “Bar Mitzvah,” in which a young man, upon turning thirteen, is informed for the first time that he is Jewish. But the book is not simply a period piece, “The novel’s bones are those of the author’s own encounters with authoritarian regimes and the groupthink that supports them.”
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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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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.
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.
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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.