In Memory of Martine Helene Barda-Meer, A”H, a 97-year old Holocaust survivor. Born in Paris to a Ukrainian-Ashkenazi father and Libyan-Sephardi mother, the family were captured and deported to Auschwitz, where both parents, Raymond and Doris (née Hassan) Meer, were murdered
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 Orit is a rare Ethiopian version of the Bible. This Israeli family risked it all to retrieve one”
By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA
Askabo Meshiha’s grandson, Ayanawo Ferada Senebato (right) and his family recovered an ancient Orit from near Gondar, Ethiopia earlier this year, Ashkelon, Israel, 2022
(Photo courtesy of Yossi Zeliger/JTA)
When Askabo Meshiha’s family left Ethiopia in 1991, they entrusted “a centuries-old book of psalms written in Ge’ez, a Semitic language used by Jewish clergy in Ethiopia” with non-Jewish neighbors. The Meshihas have been keeping tabs on the book ever since, and this past March “an unusual set of circumstances finally allowed the family to be reunited with the document, a rare but tangible relic from the rich traditions of one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities. The family now hopes to restore the book and use it to strengthen their community’s fading identity.”
Feature: Tel Aviv Harbor Sephardi Selichot 🎶🎤
Israeli Andalusian Orchestra of Ashdod, Tel Aviv, 2015
(Photo courtesy of YouTube)
With Rosh HaShana weeks away, traditional Jews are reciting penitential piyyutim (traditional liturgical soul music). It’s become a kind of Israeli custom, a beautiful expression of the free market for popular singers to join in. This video from the Tel Aviv Pier in 2015, and featuring the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra together with vocalists Binyamin Bouzaglo, Liat Yitzhaki, and Shlomo Bar, demonstrates how Sephardi Selichot have journeyed outside the synagogue and become a part of mainstream Israeli society, seen here on their feet and singing along in Tel Aviv.
🕍“The Last of the Jews”
By Krishna PS, The New India Express
The Paradesi (or “foreigners”) synagogue was built by Samuel Castiel, David Belila, and Joseph Levi, refugees from the Spanish Inquisition. Pictured here: architect Karl Damschen’s restored Paradesi Synagogue clocktower, December 2005
(Photo courtesy of Karl Damschen/Wikipedia)
The dwindling Jewish community of Kerala, India, centered in Kochi (Cochin), goes back 2,000 years. Today it numbers approximately twenty souls with its heritage mostly embodied in synagogues in various states of disrepair. While the Paradesi Synagogue, built in the 16th c. is “well-maintained and attracts international tourists and history buffs,” a middle-aged member of the local community, Mordokkayi Shafeer, adds some perspective: “‘It is the only synagogue that holds prayers even now. But that too depends on requests. The last time we had a community gathering there was in 2018.’”
🤝“Memories of Morocco”
By Lawrence Rosen, The Jewish Review of Books
HM King Mohammed VI reviewing a Torah with Essaouira-born Rabbi David Pinto and Casablanca’s Rosh Bet Din, Rabbi Yosef Israel, Royal Inauguration of Bayt Dakira, Essaouira, Morocco, 15 January 2020
(Photo courtesy of Association Essaouira Mogador)
Lawrence Rosen reviews two recent academic studies of the intertwined histories of Moroccan Muslims and Jews. Rosen portrays the close connections explored by scholars, including joint Muslim-Jewish prayers for rain and the not uncommon Moroccan Muslim practice of sharing intimate disclosures with those outside of their social matrix, the “resident stranger” Jews. Rosen wonders: “Whether this interdependence can survive into another generation.” If so, the forms necessarily will reflect new political circumstances. One wonders, for instance, if Israel’s long-standing security relations with Morocco, a history of intimate disclosures, fits the model, with Israel functioning as a kind of ‘resident stranger’ outside of the Arab League?
~~~~~~~
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!
~~~~~~~
A Pizmonim: Sephardic-Hebrew Songs of the Middle East, Volume 1
By David Elihu Cohen
Pizmonim, a unity of poetry and song, have been an integral part of the Jewish People and may be traced in the Bible to the very beginning of our history.
The twelve selected Pizmonim contained in this booklet serve to perpetuate the Greater Sephardic culture and tradition of singing praise to the Lord on all joyous occasions.
By Oded Halahmy
Like countless New Yorkers who arrived from distant lands, Oded Halahmy has a rich personal history of exile, migration and travels. Born in the old city of Baghdad in 1938, the artist came from a family of Orthodox Jews with deep roots in ancient Babylonian culture. Iraqi Cooking: Exile Is Home is a tasty exploration of Oded’s roots accompanied by several pieces of original art, sculptures and jewelry.
~~~~~~~
Upcoming Events or Opportunities
Combat Antisemitism Movement in coordination with the Office of the Panamanian Presidency, Panama City Municipality, Jewish Community of Panama, B’nai B’rith Panama, the Mariano Rivera Foundation, and the Evangelical Alliance of Panama present:
The Second Annual Central America-Israel Forum
A festive celebration of the region’s warm ties with Israel and flourishing Jewish life!
This year’s summit is bringing together, in-person for the first time, a distinguished group of top decision-makers and community activists from across the region to discuss contemporary relations between Central America, Israel, and the U.S., as well as address challenges and opportunities in the global fight against Jew-hatred.
6-8 September 2022
Panama City, Panama
Learn more
The 2022 forum will kick off with formal remarks and calls to action from international decision makers. The next day, the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO) will host a General Plenary session highlighted by keynote speeches from prominent leaders, followed by engaging panel discussions with experts weighing in on the pressing issues facing the State of Israel and Jewish communities worldwide, with a focus on Central America.
Last year’s inaugural forum -- a virtual event hosted by the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala -- was a great success, with the participation of officials from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Panama, Nicaragua, and the United States, including keynote addresses delivered by Guatemalan President Dr. Alejandro Giammattei and then-Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.
The American Sephardi Federation proudly co-sponsors the 2nd Central-America Israel Forum.
~~~~~~~
Philos Latino, Yeshiva University's Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, & the American Sephardi Federation present:
Nosotros@YU: A Celebration of Judeo-Latino Art & Music
Weissberg Commons, 2495 Amsterdam Avenue, Ground Floor (at 184th Street), Manhattan
The Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs at Yeshiva University is proud to partner with Philos Latino to host Nosotros@YU, an evening of Jewish Latino Art and Music. On Thursday September 8th at 7:30 at Yeshiva University’s Washington Heights campus we will present paintings from Nosotros’ 5-year retrospective exploring the rich synergy of Jewish and Latino culture and history.
This night of celebration will include, for the first time in New York City, the Jazzphardic Project with Yehonatan Elazar and Tal Cohen. The Jazzphardic Project explores Sephardic classics through the modes of Latin jazz, bringing together east and west and past and present. https://jazzphardic.com/
Brief remarks by special community and government leaders such as Representative Adriano Espaillat and others.
Light refreshments will be served. We hope that you can join us.
Co-Sponsored by Yeshiva College, Care Café at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Bernard Revel Graduate School, & Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program
Thursday, 8 September at 7:30PM EST
(Complimentary RSVP)
Sign-up Now!
~~~~~~~
In gratitude for the distinguished service of A.N. Suleiman on the ASF’s Board of Directors, we wish to share with our readers information about the forthcoming world première of his latest play:
The Arranged Matrimony
The challenges of a marriage in the midst of cultural clashes.
Director: Barbara Schofield
Playwright: A.N. Suleiman
Producer: Paolo Frassanito & Barbara Schofield
Sunday, 11 September 8:00PM
Thursday, 15 September 6:30PM
Friday, 16 September 9:00PM
Saturday, 17 September 5:00PM
Sunday, 18 September 5:00PM
Sign-up Now!
(Tickets: $15)
@Cabaret Theatre
Cast:
Gretchen Schneider, Robin Brenner, Anwar Suleiman, Juliya Grigory, Daniel Lugo, Gavin Vivek
~~~~~~~
The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:
Rosh Hashana Foods with Sarina Roffé
While most Jews have apples and honey before their Rosh Hashanah meal, Syrian Jews have many more brachot.
Journalist, Sephardic historian, and cookbook author Sarina Roffé will share recipes and discuss the foods unique to Syrian Jews on Rosh Hashanah. The recipes are for the brachot said before eating the holiday meal on Rosh Hashanah.
Wednesday, 14 September at 12:00PM EST
(Tickets: $8)
Sign-up Now!
About the speaker:
Sarina Roffé is a professional genealogist, editor of the journal DOROT, and founder of the Sephardic Heritage Project. She is the author of Branching Out From Sepharad (Sephardic Heritage Project, 2017), which outlines the history of Jews in Spain, the 1492 expulsion, their history in Syria, and their immigration to the Americas. She is Co-Chair of the Brooklyn Jewish Historical Initiative, and Chair of the JewishGen Sephardic Research Division.
Sarina is also the author of Backyard Kitchen: Mediterranean Salads, and Backyard Kitchen: the Main Course and a cooking app called Sarina’s Sephardic Cuisine, available in the Apple Store, as well as hundreds of articles. Sarina presents often at IAJGS Conferences and has completed over a dozen genealogies, through her genealogy consulting business, Sephardic Genealogical Journeys.
For more about Sarina’s cookbooks:
https://sarinassephardiccuisine.com/cookbooks
Sponsorship opportunities available:
~~~~~~~
The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:
Exclusive Authors Series with Regina M. Tessone
Join us for a new episode of the Exclusive Authors Series with Regine M. Tessone who discusses her book Monavar’s Journey.
Tuesday, 20 September at 12:00PM EST
(Complimentary RSVP)
Sign-up Now!
About the book:
On February 1, 1979, Regine Monavar Tessone recalls running through the Mehrabad airport with her parents and three brothers to board the last flight out of Tehran on the eve of the Islamic Revolution. The pilot announced as they entered the aircraft, “You are the lucky ones! The airport is now closed and the Ayatollah Khomeini has arrived.” In this intimate memoir, Monavar (a Farsi name meaning light) recreates the life of her Persian Jewish family before they fled Iran and her own adventures in their new home in America. Always buoyant (her maiden name Omid means hope), she describes reuniting with her mother’s family in Brooklyn, visiting Israel and serving as a volunteer, falling in love with a non-Persian Jew, and becoming a successful fashion designer. Her story, at once personal and paradigmatic, reflects her nostalgia for the homeland of her youth and her embrace of the opportunities of her adopted homeland in the United States as a successful Iranian-Jewish immigrant.
About the author:
Regine Monavar Tessone is an Iranian American fashion designer. As a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, she founded Aqua Modesta, a unique line of modest women’s swimwear and sportswear that attained worldwide success. Her initial professional goals achieved, she wrote this memoir to fulfill a lifelong dream: to share the story of her family’s incredible escape on the last flight out of Tehran. She resides with her husband and children in New York and Jerusalem.
For more about the book: https://www.amazon.com/Monavars-Journey-Bridge-Regine-Tessone/dp/163837306X
Sponsorship opportunities available:
~~~~~~~
The American Sephardi Federation, the Seattle Jewish Theatre Company, and the Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America present:
“ARRIVALS”
A Jewish Romeo & Juliet love story based on historical events.
A hit in Seattle, coming to New York.
(Written and Directed by Art Feinglass)
When the first Sephardic Jew arrived in Seattle in 1902, not everything went as planned. Marco Cordova, a young Sephardic Jew from Turkey, came to America to make his fortune. Bayla Keigelman, a fragile Ashkenazi girl from Russia, arrived fleeing a pogrom. Their meeting seemed written in the stars until tradition declared their love forbidden.
Sunday, 30 October at 3:00 PM EST
Monday, 31 October at 8:00 PM EST
Tuesday, 1 November at 8:00 PM EST
Thursday, 3 November at 8:00 PM EST
Sunday, 6 November at 3:00 PM EST
Sign-up Now!
$36 Early bird discount (if purchased before October 9th)
$50 Ticket price (if purchased after October 9th)
The Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York City
“Arrivals tells the Sephardic story with great drama, humor and warmth.”
Rabbi Simon Benzaquen, Congregation Ezra Bessaroth, Seattle, WA
“Everyone in the audience was engaged and enjoyed the show.”
Aaron Petersen, President , Temple Beth El, Tacoma, WA
“A tour de force!”
Rabbi Emeritus James Mirel, Temple B’nai Torah, Bellevue, WA
Sponsorship opportunities available:
~~~~~~~
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.