A last-ditch effort is being made to save the Jewish historical sites of Kerala, as synagogues are being converted into shops and cemeteries are being transformed into parks.
While Jewish communities have disbanded and “virtually no Jews” remain in Morocco’s rural and mountainous “Berber” (Amazigh) regions, “their legacy is visible all over the country if you know where to look.”
“To Bigotry No Sanction,” a quote from George Washington's letter to the Jews at Newport Rhode Island (Photo of an exhibit at the Ambassador John L. Loeb Visitors Center, Touro Synagogue)
Gershom Mendes Seixas led New York’s Congregation Shearith Israel, the historic Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, for five decades beginning in the 1760s. A passionate advocate for the Patriots’ cause in the American War of Independence, Sexias echoed George Washington’s establishment of a national day of Thanksgiving in 1789 with a sermon in which he urged his fellow congregants "to make a joyful noise" and "to live, as Jews ought to do, in brotherhood and amity." In celebration of this year’s Thanksgiving holiday, we offer this excerpt of Sexias’ sermon:
“...it is necessary that we, each of us in our respective stations, behave in such a manner as to give strength and stability to the law entered into by our representatives; to consider the burden imposed on those who are appointed to act in the executive department; to contribute, as much as lays in our power, to support that government which is founded upon the strictest principles of equal liberty and justice. If to seek the peace and prosperity of the city wherein we dwell be a duty even under bad governments, what must it be when we are situated under the best of constitutions? It behooves us to use our utmost endeavors to suppress every species of licentiousness; to unite, with cheerfulness and uprightness, upon all occasions that may occur in the political as well as in the moral world, [and] to promote that which has a tendency to the public good....”
Menorah carving at the entrance of the San Pedro and San Idelfonso Church, Zamora, Spain
Professor Jesús Jambrina has reignited interest in the Jewish history of the Spanish city of Zamora, the seat of a famous Talmudic academy before the Expulsion. The Council of Sephardi and Oriental Communities of Jerusalem recently honored Professor Jambrina for his efforts.
ASF and the Metropolitan Synagogue are co-sponsoring the Ljuba Davis Ladino Ensemble'sConcert on December 13th at 7PM. Click here for additional information and to RSVP.
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The American Sephardi Federation's Sephardi House is located at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th St., New York, NY., 10011).