The first installment of a new feature series on Tablet Magazine’s Scroll spotlights the work of Diarna, the research engine of the American Sephardi Federation, documenting the ancient Jobar Synagogue, located just outside of Damascus, Syria. Pictures from 2009 capture the splendor of the synagogue, before it was leveled in the Syrian Civil War: “Diarna correspondents… believe that the damage to the synagogue, while extensive, was not intentional.”
Inside the once majestic Eliyahu HaNabi Synagogue, Jobar, Damascus, Syria, 2009 (Photo courtesy of Chrystie Sherman)
Greek Jewish Festival outside Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue, New York City, 2015 (Photo courtesy of KKJ)
Tucked away in New York’s Lower East Side, Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue is the only Romaniote synagogue in the Western Hemisphere. Two years ago Andrew Marcus, a member of the community as well as the American Sephardi Federation’s Young Leadership Board, decided to share the community’s rich but largely unknown heritage with the wider world by organizing a street fair. How did the first festival go? “We were unsure about the reception, but we got a huge response: 2,000 people, and the festival is one block! There was dancing… in the streets.”
Israeli guitarist and vocalist Yehuda Poliker performs his 1985 hit, “Aynayim Sheli,” the breakthrough song that introduced Greek music to the Israeli mainstream.
There was a double celebration on May 15th at the synagogue of Monastiriotes at Thessaloniki (Salonica), the city where, during WWII, 96% of the Jews were massacred by the Nazis. Congregants celebrated Israel’s Independence Day and, closer to home, the synagogue’s first complete restoration since it was erected in 1927. Renovations included: “revealing the original hidden decorative terrazzo floor tiles… revealing original wall paintings… adding damaged decorative plaster decorations… (and) erecting again… the 10 Commandments at the top of the synagogue façade.”
Monastiriotes Synagogue in Thessaloniki (Salonica), Greece (Photo courtesy of Greek City Walks/Pinterest)
Othello Poster, Center for Jewish History, New York City
Following David Serero’s success in staging a Sephardi-infused adaptation of The Merchant of Venice and Nabucco, the American Sephardi Federation is bringing Serero back to the stage at the Center for Jewish History with a Moroccan Sephardi-themed production of Othello that will run from 16 to 30 June. Tickets can be purchased here.
June 2nd-9th Manhattan JCC 334 Amsterdam Avenue at 76th Street
New York City
Celebrate the best new movies coming out of Israel's thriving industry at the Israel Film Center Festival, New York's leading festival for Israeli film. Join actors, directors, and more for a week of great cinema at JCC Manhattan, June 2-9.
And join the American Sephardi Federation for a focus on Sephardi and Mizrahi culture, with an Opening Night screening of Baba Joon, winner of the 2015 Ophir Award for Best Picture and Israel's first Persian-language film, as well as Encirclements (Hakafot), a touching and complex portrait of a Mizrahi family starring Lior Ashkenazi (Walk on Water) and Assi Levy (Aviva, My Love).
ASF Readers get a discount on tickets (reserve here) with code “SEPHARDI”
June 16th, 23rd, 26th, 28th, and 30th Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York City
ASF’s theatrical season (Merchant of Venice, Nabucco) concludes with David Serero’s Othello, a Moroccan adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play about love and war, reason and race, fortuna and virtù. The production features Serero (as Othello), a diverse cast, and traditional music.
April 7th through September 9th Center for Jewish History 15 West 16th Street
New York City
The American Sephardi Federation, Portuguese Consulate of New York, the Sousa Mendes Foundation, and the Municipality of Almeida, Portugal proudly present a new exhibition in the Leon Levy Gallery honoring Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the courageous and creative Portuguese diplomat who saved Salvador Dali, the authors of Curious George, and thousands of other Holocaust refugees.
Please click here for additional information and viewing hours
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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, New York, 10011).
