In Honor of Stella Levi and the publication of One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World. Stella will be speaking about the book with her co-author, Michael Frank at Kehila Kedosha Janina (280 Broome Street) on Sunday, 13 November, at 1PM
~Joe Halio, Board Member, American Sephardi Federation
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
🙌“An Inimitable Talent: The Qanun Player Yusuf Za’arur”
By Rachel Goldberg, The Librarians
Yusuf Za’arur at the International Congress of Arab Music. Cairo, 1932
(Photo courtesy of The Librarians)
Baghdad-born Master of the Qanun, Yusuf Za’arur (1902- 1969), was a member of the 1932 Iraqi delegation to the 1st International Congress of Arab Music in Cairo and later appointed as musical director of the Radio Baghdad Orchestra. Yusuf performed privately for an exclusive clientele that included “King Faisal of Iraq and Prime Minister Nuri Al-Said.” As music director, however, Za’arur promoted a number of younger Jewish musicians who, after he made Aliyah to Israel in 1951, become Yusuf’s artistic competitors. But he was able to re-establish himself in his new land as well, founding the “Chalery Baghdad maqam orchestra which was part of the Arab Orchestra of the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Many of Yusuf’s recordings from his time with the Israel Broadcasting Authority can be found in the collections of the National Library of Israel.”
Feature: “Abraham Accords: Judeo-Islamic Watershed?” 🎙️💬
By The Deep Map, with Robert Nicholson (podcast)
The Deep Map: a podcast by The Philos Project exploring the religious and cultural forces behind the headlines of the Near East
Robert Nicholson (Founder and President of The Philos Project) and Jason Guberman (Executive Director of the ASF), are both highly informed observers of the contemporary MENA (Middle East and North African) region. They’re also friends from their Tikvah fellowship days and work together on the Abraham’s Missing Child initiative. In this open and eye-opening discussion, Jason interprets the Abraham Accords as a return to an authentic tradition of Islamic tolerance that was overshadowed by 20th c. political upheavals and repressed by Islamist ideology, which threatens once again to destroy the possibility of peace. As Rob notes at the beginning, Jason argues against the grain of his prior guests: Dr. Walter Russell Mead (Wall Street Journal), Ambassador Alberto M. Fernandez (MEMRI: Middle East Media Research Institute), and Shadi Hamid (Brookings Institution).
✡️“On the Turkish-Syrian border, a city’s last Jews watch the ending of an epoch”
By David I. Klein, JTA
Olga stands with her husband’s 90-year-old mother, Adile, in Antakya, Turkey
(Photo courtesy of David I. Klein/JTA)
The unofficial logo of Antakya is “a symbol composed of a Star of David entwined with a Christian cross and Islamic crescent.” Jews have lived in the city for over 2,300 years. But that ancient history doesn’t have much of a future. Of Antakya’s 200,000 residents, approximately three dozen are Jews, and the youngest member of the community is over 60. Offers Selim Cemel, a Jewish clothing merchant with a shop in the main bazaar, ‘I have three daughters… One is in Holland, one in America, one in Canada… We have already been thinking about leaving for a long time...’”
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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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The Historic Synagogues Of Turkey / Turkiye'nin Tarihi Sinagoglari
(In Turkish and English)
By Joel A. Zack
Photographs by Devon Jarvis
Drawings by Ceren Kahraman
Published by the American Sephardi Federation
This project testifies to a historic Jewish community of vibrancy and dynamism that once dotted Turkey. Dating back to Roman and Byzantine times, Jews thrived on Turkish soil, finding refuge in the tens of thousands after their expulsions from Spain, Portugal, and Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Joel Zack and his team have performed an important cultural service, retrieving for posterity rich testimony of the Jewish architectural heritage in Ottoman and modern Turkish History.
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
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, 6 November at 3:00 PM EST
Sign-up Now!
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:
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The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:
Exclusive Authors Series with Andrée Aelion Brooks and Ruth K. Abrahams
Join us for an episode of our Exclusive Authors Series with Andrée Aelion Brooks and Ruth K. Abrahams discussing her book The Remarkable Life of Luis Moses Gomez.
Tuesday, 1 November at 12:00PM EST
(Complimentary RSVP)
Sign-up Now!
About the book:
During the early days of colonial America, a number of Sephardic Jews and conversos came from the Caribbean islands to the eastern seaboard for economic opportunity. They have largely been overlooked as the stories of the later German and Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants, took over in terms of numbers and achievements. Here is the story of one of those early Sephardic settlers who came from Jamaica to the New York area in search of such opportunities.
About the authors:
Andrée Aelion Brooks is a journalist, author and lecturer specializing in Jewish history. Formerly a contributing columnist for the New York Times, she is an Associate Fellow, Yale University, and founder of the Women’s (political) Campaign School at Yale. Her award-winning books include a comprehensive biography of Dona Gracia Nasi, a Jewish leader who was the richest woman in Renaissance Europe; Russian Dance, about a Jewish Bolshevik spy; Out of Spain, a children’s program in Sephardic history. She was honored in 2013 by the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame.
Executive Director of the Gomez Mill House Foundation from 1999-2017, Dr. Ruth Abrahams also served as Executive Director of the Lehman College Foundation and Vice President for Advancement at Pratt Institute. Artistically, Dr. Abrahams sang professionally in New York from 1967-1980. She received an M.A. in Humanities (Japanese Studies), and a Ph.D. in Dance History from New York University, where she taught as adjunct associate professor from 1982-1996. She was a founding member and first president of World Dance Alliance-Americas, an international advocacy organization for dance.
Click here for more about the book.
Sponsorship opportunities available:
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Voices of Culture presents:
Equipment for Living
The Omni-American Tradition, from Jean Toomer to Wynton Marsalis
Music performances by UArizona professors Fanya Lin (Piano) and Edward Goodman (Saxophone)
Dr. Tepper will delineate a spirited American tradition of letters and music created by Black Americans that dates back to the 1920s, rejects the pathology of race, and provides “equipment for living” for anyone wishing to aim high in a liberal-democratic society. Along the way, he’ll offer a new perspective on the historical ‘Black-Jewish alliance’ against bigotry.
Thursday, 10 November at 12:00PM EDT
Join via Zoom
Meeting ID: 833 2748 1459
Schedule:
9:45AM – Zoom Portal Opens
10:00AM – Event Begins: Pre-talk Music featuring Fanya Lin (piano) and Eddie Goodman (saxophone)
10:20AM – Introduction to the Voices of Culture, topic of the present talk, and featured musical piece
10:30AM – Featured musical piece (5 minute)
10:40AM – Speaker Introduction (bio and preface remarks)
10:45AM – Speaker presentation
11:30AM – Q&A moderated by Daniel Asia
11:45AM – Closing remarks and music
About the speaker:
Aryeh Tepper is the Director of Publications at the American Sephardi Federation and a research fellow at Ben Gurion University. Dr. Tepper will delineate a spirited American tradition of letters and music created by Black Americans that dates back to the 1920s, rejects the pathology of race, and provides “equipment for living” for anyone wishing to aim high in a liberal-democratic society.
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The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:
Exclusive Authors Series with Sarina Roffé
Join us for an episode of Exclusive Authors Series with Sarina Roffé as she discusses her book Branching Out from Sepharad.
Tuesday, 15 November at 12:00PM EST
(Complimentary RSVP)
Sign-up Now!
About the book:
In Branching Out from Sepharad, readers will follow the history of Jewish life in Hispania, Spain, the Middle East and the Americas as Sarina Roffé links three rabbinic dynasties from the 11th Century to the present day, all with an Irish Converso Twist.
About the authors:
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, 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.
Click here for more about the book.
Sponsorship opportunities available:
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The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:
Exclusive Authors Series with Alan Verskin
Join us for this episode of Exclusive Authors Series with Alan Verskin discussing his new book, A Vision of Yemen.
Tuesday, 6 December at 12:00PM EDT
(Complimentary RSVP)
Sign-up Now!
About the book:
In 1869, Hayyim Habshush, a Yemeni Jew, accompanied the European orientalist Joseph Halévy on his archaeological tour of Yemen. Twenty years later, Habshush wrote A Vision of Yemen, a memoir of their travels, that provides a vivid account of daily life, religion, and politics. More than a simple travelogue, it is a work of trickster-tales, thick anthropological descriptions, and reflections on Jewish–Muslim relations. At its heart lies the fractious and intimate relationship between the Yemeni coppersmith and the “enlightened” European scholar and the collision between the cultures each represents. The book thus offers a powerful indigenous response to European Orientalism.
This edition is the first English translation of Habshush’s writings from the original Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew and includes an accessible historical introduction to the work. The translation maintains Habshush’s gripping style and rich portrayal of the diverse communities and cultures of Yemen, offering a potent mixture of artful storytelling and cultural criticism, suffused with humor and empathy. Habshush writes about the daily lives of men and women, rich and poor, Jewish and Muslim, during a turbulent period of war and both Ottoman and European imperialist encroachment. With this translation, Alan Verskin recovers the lost voice of a man passionately committed to his land and people.
About the authors:
Alan Verskin is Associate Professor of History at the University of Rhode Island.
Click here for more about the book.
Sponsorship opportunities available:
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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.