In Honor of Randall Belinfante, scion of an illustrious Sephardic family, former Librarian and builder of the ASF’s National Sephardic Library & Archives, as well as a Member of Congregation Shearith Israel: New York’s Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue
Click here to dedicate a future issue in honor or memory of a loved one
Upcoming Events ◊ ASF Sephardi Shop ◊ Donate ◊ Sephardi Ideas Monthly ◊ ASF IJE ◊ ASF Sephardi House ◊ Archive
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!
~~~~~~~
📚“Book Review: Wartime North Africa, A Documentary History, 1934-50”
By Michal Ben Ya’akov, Sephardic Horizons
Professor Michal Ben Ya’akov presenting at the ASF Institute of Jewish Experience & Mimouna Association's Uncommon Commonalities: Jews and Muslims in Morocco Conference, Rennert Chapel, Center for Jewish History, 18 June 2019
(Photo courtesy of Zakaria Siraj/YouTube)
Dr. Michal Ben Ya’kov, Speigel Fellow at The Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research of Bar-Ilan University, reviews Wartime North Africa, A Documentary History, 1934-50, a documentary collection of “essays, letters, diaries, literature, memoirs, and oral history” belonging to and created by “individual men, women, and adolescents in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.”
Ben Ya’kov writes that editors Prof. Aomar Boum and Prof. Sarah Abrevaya Stein have brought together a collection of sources whose:
… varied human experiences of wartime North Africa open a window not only onto the individual lives of those whose voices we… hear, but also address the broader histories of the Jews in general and the Jews in colonial and occupied Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco in particular...
As for the book’s larger scholarly import:
… this is a welcome addition to Norman Stillman's path-breaking documentary histories, particularly The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times, which contains an overview of ‘World War II and its Impact’ and nineteen primary sources from North Africa, mainly official reports and decrees, and to the growing body of research on the Jews in North Africa during the late 1930s and 1940s.
~~~~~~~
Feature: After Oct. 7th: Maimonides in a Time of Crisis 🕊️🙌
Rabbi Marc Angel, Joshua Benaim, and Rabbi Yamin Levy
(Screenshot courtesy of Zakaria Siraj/YouTube)
The American Sephardi Federation, the Maimonides Heritage Center, the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, and Yeshiva University Museum with the support of Mosaic United, recently came together to host Rabbi Dr. Marc Angel and Rabbi Yamin Levy “for a timely conversation about the Rambam’s intellectual legacy after the 7 October Hamas attacks.” Moderated by Joshua Benaim, a leading real estate investor, entrepreneur, author, and the visionary founder of the ASF’s Sephardi House Fellowship, R’ Levy and R’ Angel offered insights from their books The Mysticism of Andalusia: Exploring HaRambam’s Mystical Tradition and Maimonides, and Spinoza and Us: Toward an Intellectually Vibrant Judaism.
~~~~~~~
⚖️“Former CMU student sues university over ‘anti-Jewish discrimination and retaliation’”
By David Rullo, The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle
Yael Canaan (left), ASF-World Jewish Congress - North America’s Remembering the Forgotten Jewish Refugees, Moise Safra Center, 28 November 2023
(Photo courtesy of Zakaria Siraj)
ASF Sephardi House Fellow Yael Canaan is leading the fight against antisemitism at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) drawing a link between antisemitism on campus and the university accepting nearly $600 million in funding from Qatar, one of the world’s leading purveyors of antisemitism. CMU also has a satellite campus in Doha. Canaan, with the support of the Lawfare Project, filed a 39-page federal complaint against CMU detailing the “pervasive anti-Jewish discrimination” that she experienced at the university.
~~~~~~~
Maimonides, Spinoza and Us: Toward an Intellectually Vibrant Judaism
By Rabbi Dr. Marc D. Angel
A challenging look at two great Jewish philosophers, and what their thinking means to our understanding of God, truth, revelation and reason. RAMBAM/Maimonides is Jewish history’s greatest exponent of a rational, philosophically sound Judaism. He strove to reconcile the teachings of the Bible and rabbinic tradition with the principles of Aristotelian philosophy, arguing that religion and philosophy ultimately must arrive at the same truth. Baruch Spinoza is Jewish history’s most illustrious "heretic." He believed that truth could be attained through reason alone, and that philosophy and religion were separate domains that could not be reconciled. His critique of the Bible and its teachings caused an intellectual and spiritual upheaval whose effects are still felt today.
R’Angel discusses major themes in the writings of Maimonides and Spinoza to show us how modern people can deal with religion in an intellectually honest and meaningful way. From Maimonides, we gain insight on how to harmonize traditional religious belief with the dictates of reason. From Spinoza, we gain insight into the intellectual challenges which must be met by modern believers.
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.
~~~~~~~
Upcoming Events or Opportunities
The American Sephardi Federation, the Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America, the Sephardic Foundation on Aging, and Shearith Israel League Foundation proudly present:
Bendichas Manos:
The 7th Annual New York Ladino Day
Curated by Jane Mushabac and Bryan Kirschen
Featuring:
Rabbi Marc Angel, author and editor of 38 books, and a 2023 International Sephardic Gala Honoree for his decades of remarkable community leadership.
Rachel Amado Bortnick, teacher and founder of the renowned online group, Ladinokomunita, now in its 25th year with 1500 Ladino-speaking members worldwide.
Elizabeth Graver, author of the groundbreaking 2023 Sephardic novel Kantika, and long celebrated for her prize-winning fiction.
Sarah Aroeste, singer/songwriter, and Susan Barocas, foodwriter/story-teller, a duo whose “Savor” program of songs and talk about Sephardic cuisine is garnering raves here and abroad.
Sunday, 21 January at 2:00PM EST
In-Person @the Center for Jewish History
Sign-up Now!
Tickets:
General Admission $25
VIP $36 (includes VIP seating and reception)
Since 2013, Ladino Day programs have been held around the world to honor Ladino, also known as Judeo-Spanish. January 21st marks New York’s 7th Annual Ladino Day hosted by the American Sephardi Federation.
Ladino is a bridge to many cultures. A variety of Spanish, it has absorbed words from Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic, French, Greek, and Portuguese. The mother tongue of Jews in the Ottoman Empire for 500 years, Ladino became the home language of Sephardim worldwide. While the number of Ladino speakers has sharply declined, distinguished Ladino Day programs like ours celebrate and preserve a vibrant language and heritage. These programs are, as Aviya Kushner has written in the Forward, “Why Ladino Will Rise Again.”
© Ioannina, mid-19th century Sephardi & Romaniot Jewish Costumes in Greece & Turkey. 16 watercolours by Nicholas Stavroulakis published by the Association of the Friends of the Jewish Museum of Greece, Athens, 1986.
Please support the New York Ladino Day with a generous, tax-deductible contribution so we can continue to cultivate and advocate, preserve and promote, as well as educate and empower!
Sponsorship opportunities available:
~~~~~~~
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 May 2024
@ the Center for Jewish History
~~~~~~~
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 May 2024
@ 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.