In Memory of Robert Beren, A”H, a 97-year-old American original, who served in General Patton’s 3rd Army during WWII, succeeded as an energy entrepreneur, spearheaded the desegregation of Wichita’s schools, and generously supported excellence in higher education and the Jewish world. Condolences to Adam, Amy, and the entire Beren Family.
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!
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Read the latest Sephardi Ideas Monthly exclusive: “American Excellence: Jews and the Jazz Tradition”
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🕯“A Short Span Separates Joy from Tragedy”
By Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, Distinctions
U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor & Combat Antisemitism Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt with U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia Joey Hood, Lag B’Omar Festival, Djerba, Tunisia, 9 May 2023
(Photo courtesy of US Department of State)
Distinctions is JIMENA’s new Sephardi and Mizrahi Journal dedicated to addressing “contemporary Jewish concerns through a classical Sephardi and Mizrahi lens.” The inaugural issue is dedicated to women combatting antisemitism, and it includes U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism and acclaimed scholar of the world’s most ancient hatred, Deborah Lipstadt, lamenting the fact that “many people don’t think of the struggles that Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews have faced in their homelands throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Iran.”
Yes, Ambassador Lipstadt affirms, Greater Sepharadic Jews “often lived in harmony with their non-Jewish neighbors.” However, “there were far too many moments of discrimination and persecution. Far too many people fail to recall that one million Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews were displaced from their ancestral lands in the past century.”
While forces from Morocco to the Gulf are reasserting local traditions of tolerance, the May 9th attack on the El Ghriba Synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba serves as a grim reminder that the Islamists continue to plan their murderous violence. “Two Jewish pilgrims and four Tunisian security officers were killed a day after my visit to the Lag B’Omer festivities… Just 24 hours earlier, we had stood in that same spot. The joy of those in attendance was infectious. And then, suddenly and unexpectedly, a joyous, age-old celebration was tinged by terrible tragedy.”
Recommended Reading:
Sephardi World Weekly
- Special Jewish Refugees, Remembrance, & Redemption Edition
- Tunisia Synagogue Attack, Maimonides Discovery, Installing Genesis, & Old-New Ideology
Sephardi Ideas Monthly
- The Message from Makkah: True Islam is Anti-Extremism
- Salman Rushdie Lives: Islamism in Iran Revisited
- Islamist Intolerance: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Scribbler
- Islamic Tolerance: The Anti Muslim-Brotherhood League
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Feature: A Virtual Tour🧳 of Cairo’s Maimonides Synagogue🕍 & the Scrumptious Smell of Sofrito🍋
Levana Zamir, ASF IJE’s Unity Through Diversity, 21 May 2023
For this year’s “Unity Through Diversity” global event, the ASF’s Institute of Jewish Experience hosted Levana Zamir, President of the Association for Egyptian Jews, President of the Israeli Association of Jews from Arab Countries, and author of The Golden Era of the Jews of Egypt, for a virtual tour of the Maimonides Synagogue in Cairo, the Beit Midrash (“House of Learning”) where the RAMBAM taught and that Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities started to renovate in 2009. As a bonus, Zamir shares the recipe to a special Egyptian Jewish dish originally brought from Spain, “Sofrito,” a Mediterranean staple that in Egypt takes the form of a soft chicken cooked in lemon and turmeric for Shabbat.
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🤝“Popularity of Abu Dhabi’s Abrahamic Family House exceeds expectations”
By Anjana Sankar, The National News
The Synagogue, Church, and Mosque are equal in size. Abrahamic Family House, Abu Dhabi, UAE
(Image courtesy of Adjaye Associates)
A promising sign of the emergence of a tolerant stream within North African and Middle Eastern religious culture has been attendance at the UAE’s Abrahamic Family House. In short, the site is proving to be far more popular than expected. Dr. Mahmoud Al Khalaf, the Imam of the Eminence Ahmed Al Tayeb Mosque, noted how 350 people were expected to attended a Friday prayer service, but “‘we had more than 1,000 worshippers.’” Likewise, according to Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue has become the spiritual center of UAE Jewry: “‘We have had phenomenal celebrations in the lives of people and families, we've had weddings, we’ve had baby namings.’” R’Sarna considers last April’s overlapping celebrations of Ramadan, Easter, and Passover within the Abrahamic Family House as embodying a new paradigm for religious co-existence in the region: “‘We were literally within the same geographic area where thousands of people coming together, celebrating each in their own way, but also with an awareness that just next door there's another group, also celebrating their faith… And rather than being a point of tension, it’s a point of inspiration.’”
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Please 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
Attention college students!
ASF is excited to launch the application for Cohort 4 of our Sephardi House Fellowship — a unique learning, community-building, and leadership development opportunity that infuses the wisdom, diversity, and joy of the Sephardic spirit into Jewish student life.
Bringing together a select group of students from colleges across the U.S., our program is the only national, yearlong fellowship dedicated to deepening a sense of Jewish belonging through an immersion in the multifaceted history, cultures, and intellectual legacy of the Greater Sephardic and Mizrahi world.
Apply Now to be a ’23-’24 ASF Sephardi House Fellow!
Application Deadline: 27 August 2023
This Sephardi House experience includes:
1) 10 cohort-based learning sessions with influential Jewish educators, community and industry leaders, scholars, and artists, 2) one-on-one mentorship and tailored campus support, 3) free access to ASF’s robust educational resources and events, 4) two in-person Shabbaton leadership summits, 5) a capstone community-building project that empowers fellows to imbue Sephardic energy and their unique voices into Jewish student life, and 6) a $1,000 stipend upon full completion of the program.
Deadline: 27 August 2023
Joshua Benaim, a Harvard University and Harvard Business School alum and Founder & CEO of Aria Development Group, is the visionary leader behind the creation of Sephardi House. He was inspired to create Sephardi House to honor his father Carlos, who instilled in him a love for the Sephardic tradition and community.
Please write to info@americansephardi.org for more information on how you can get involved today!
Please support our work and help light a candle of wisdom and spirit on campus by donating now!
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The ASF’s Institute of Jewish Experience presents:
The Aden Conference
Building on the success of the ASF and E’eleh B’Tamar’s “The Yemenite Conference: Jews and Muslims in Yemen” held in 2017 at New York’s Center for Jewish History, the Aden Conference will bring together the world’s leading scholars from Aden, Israel, US, UK, and Europe to explore the historical, cultural, and communal dynamics that intersected in Aden and its environs, particularly under British rule.
28-30 August 2023
Opening Night | JW3, London
Conference | Woolf Institute, Cambridge
Cambridge, Madingley Rd, Cambridge CB3 0UB, UK
Sign-up Now!
Co-Presenters:
Woolf Institute, ASMEA (Association for the Study of the Middle East & Africa), Aden Jewish Heritage Museum, Zalman Shazar Center, and Harif: Association of Jews from the MENA
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Galeet Dardashti in collaboration with the Neighborhood: An Urban Center for Jewish Life presents:
MONAJAT
Album release with Galeet Dardashti
“Galeet Dardashti’s multi-sensory project and album, Monajat, is inspired by old and haunting recordings of Jewish prayers chanted by her late grandfather, Younes Dardashti, a famous master singer of Persian classical music in 1950s/60s Iran.
Galeet reinvents the ancient ritual of Selihot— poetry sung nightly preceding the Jewish New Year as spiritual preparation—by singing with remixed samples of her grandfather's legacy recordings. Riffing off these old tapes, Galeet composes a soundscape of original music performed by an acclaimed ensemble of Middle Eastern and jazz musicians. As she dialogues with her grandfather in song, the live performance immerses audiences in Persian melodies, heavy grooves, sacred Hebrew and Persian poetry, and dynamic video art.
Saturday, 9 September at 8:00PM EST
@Littlefield
635 Sackett Street Brooklyn, NY 11217
(Tickets: $22.53 – $31)
Sign-up Now!
Featured Musicians:
- Galeet Dardashti
- Shanir Blumenkranz
- Philip Mayer
- Max Zbiral-Teller
- Dafer Tawil
About the artist:
As vocalist, composer and anthropologist Galeet Dardashti has earned a reputation as a trail-blazing performer, educator, and advocate for Middle Eastern and North African Jewish culture. Dardashti is the first woman to continue her family’s tradition of distinguished Persian and Jewish musicianship. Galeet’s grandfather, Younes Dardashti, was one of the most highly acclaimed singers of Persian classical music in Iran and her father, Farid Dardashti, is an accomplished cantor in the US. Galeet Dardashti is widely known as leader/founder of the renowned all-woman powerhouse Sephardi/Mizrahi Jewish ensemble Divahn, which released its newest album, Shalhevet, in 2020. Time Out New York described Dardashti’s first solo album—her multi-disciplinary commission, The Naming— as ‘urgent, heartfelt and hypnotic;’ The Huffington Post called it heart-stopping.’ Dardashti recently completed an Artist-in-Virtual-Residence at Indiana University, and recorded Monajat supported by IU and the MFJC. Dardashti also has years of experience as cantor; this year she’ll be leading High Holidays with Kanisse in Manhattan—one of the first egalitarian Sephardi/Mizrahi communities in the country. As a scholar, Dardashti examines Mizrahi music/media/cultural politics; she is currently Visiting Professor at NYU and will be a Fellow at University of Pennsylvania this coming year. As artist, scholar, and cantor deeply steeped in this music, Dardashti is uniquely poised to share her boundary-breaking piece, Monajat.”
The ASF proudly serves as a co-sponsor of Dardashti’s performance.
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Instituto de Música Judaica -Brasil, YIVO, the ASF’s Institute of Jewish Experience, & Brazilian Consulate in NYC present:
Kleztival NYC
Brazilian Jewish Music and Culture, a two-day program with Brazilian and North American artists.
Celebrating the 23 Brazilian Jews who, in 1654, arrived in North America and helped to build a city then called New Amsterdam, which later became New York. Celebrating Brazil, its Jewish roots and community today.
11 September at 6:00PM EST
Brazilian Jewish Music concert
@at the Brazilian Consulate in NYC
225 East 41st, New York, NY
(no registration required)
12 September:
3:00PM EST
Screening of documentary “A Estrela Oculta do Sertão” (The Star
Hidden in the Backlands) followed by Q&A with the producers
7:30 PM EST
Brazilian Jewish Music concert
@ the Center for Jewish History
Sign-up Now!
Executive Producers: Nicole & Edy Borger
Musical Director: Frank London
Singers: Carla Berg, Nicole Borger, Ahuva Flit and Rafael Zolko
Musicians: Pablo Aslan (bass), Vicente Falek (accordion),
Frank London (trumpet), Oren Neiman (guitar), Alex Parke (clarinet),
Satoshi Takashi (drums)
Documentary Producers: Elaine Eiger and Luize Valente.
Special thanks to:
Drora Arussy, Julia Rothkof, Miriam Mora, Suzanne Schwimmer, Alex Minkin, Thiago Antonio de Melo Oliveira, Tiago Domingues Carvalho, Aaron Alexander, Peter Rushevsky, Hanna Griff-Sleven, Felipe Pait, Eliezer Kahn, Bruno & Joyce Szlak, Angela Waitzberg, Bruce Phillips, Daniel Borger.
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The American Sephardi Federation presents:
Convergence: Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian Calligraphy in Conversation
Featuring the multilingual art of Ruben Shimonov Convergence creates a visual world where Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian languages interact with, and speak to, one another; a world where stylized letters and words dance together on the page; a world where cultures, religions, communities, and philosophies intersect.
Juxtaposing cognates from these ancient West Asian languages, artist Ruben Shimonov encourages the viewer to explore the deep-rooted connections between these tongues, as well as the multilayered and transnational identity of the artist himself.
On View in the Leon Levy Gallery
through 31 December 2023
@ the Center for Jewish History
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The American Sephardi Federation and Mimouna Association’s Rebuilding Our Homes Project present:
Re-Creation: Judaica by Moroccan Muslim Artisans
Explore the exhibition of Judeo-Moroccan art, Moroccan Judaica, cultural and religious objects, including Menorot, Mezuzot, Yads, Shabbat Candleholders, Seder Plates, Hallah Covers, and much more.
On View through 31 December 2023
@ the Center for Jewish History
As Moroccan Jewish populations largely left the mellahs (Jewish quarters) in the latter half of the 20th century, there was a danger that not only designs but even the traditional artisanal techniques needed to create them would be lost. Passed down from one artisan to another and perfected over time, these designs and techniques. ranging from vibrant patterns to intricate metalwork and soulful wood carvings, are expressions of Moroccanity and reflect the individual character of each city. The materials and craftsmanship of Rabat are different than Fez, and Essaouira is distinct from both.
Mimouna Association and the American Sephardi Federation’s Rebuilding Our Homes Project, a multi-year USAID-supported New Partnerships Initiative, brought three notable experts-Ms. Zhor Rehihil, Ms. Deborah Koenigsberger Gutierrez, and Ms. Meryem Ghandi to train Moroccan Muslim artisans in the history of Judeo-Moroccan art and guided them in re-creating Moroccan Judaica, which encompasses a diverse array of cultural and religious objects, including Menorot, Mezuzot, Yads, Shabbat Candleholders, Seder Plates, Hallah Covers, and much more.