Relations between the Jewish and Moroccan communities in NY continue to grow stronger, and they were dialed up a notch on May 17th when an event featuring young professionals, scholars and diplomats, and sponsored by the AJC ACCESS NY, ASF, and the Moroccan community was held at Manhattan’s Center for Jewish History. Speakers included Mehdi Bensaid, Chairman of the Moroccan Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Moroccan Consul General Mohammed Benabdeljalil, Professor John Entelis (Fordham University), Jason Isaacson, AJC Associate Executive Director for Policy, Deputy Permanent Representative of Morocco to the UN Abderrazzak Laassel, as well as Jason Guberman, the ASF’s Executive Director, who spoke about the Diarna Geo-Museum’s digital preservation of Jewish sites throughout Morocco.
After the formal part of the evening, “A Moroccan band… played music that got the audience on their feet and dancing,” while some of the participants enjoyed “delicious traditional Moroccan fare, catered by kosher restaurant ‘Eighteen.’”
Carlos Benaim, ASF Board Member, ISEF Chairman, world-renowned perfumer, and native of Tangier at “From Casablanca to NYC: A Night of Moroccan Culture” on 17 May (Photo courtesy of Chrystie Sherman)
Israeli Ethiopian community leaders at the memorial ceremony in Jerusalem (Photo courtesy of Gil Yohanan)
Ethiopian-Jewish Aliya was fired by dreams of Jerusalem, but the reality was harsh: 4,000 Jews died during the journey. Fittingly, the commemoration for those who didn’t make it to Israel is held each year on Jerusalem Day. Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke at this year’s ceremony: “You are flesh and blood part of our nation, and equal amongst equals. We salute the thousands of victims who fell during their trek from Ethiopia to Israel… We will cherish their memories for all eternity, yet we are consoled by the fact that we have fulfilled their dreams of building up Zion and Jerusalem.”
Simo El Aissaoui, a young Moroccan professional and community leader
“An evening of education and culture was created on May 17th by AJC ACCESS NY, the American Sephardi Federation, Association Mimouna, and the Moroccan community in New York at The Center for Jewish History. The event attracted more than 400 people of all nationalities and religions. The guests celebrated the love and friendship between Morocco and the Jewish world. It was a one-night festival of music, dancing, and food, which followed a forum featuring scholars and diplomats.” Click here to watch Moroccan dancing and here to see photos from throughout the night.
Between the 16th and 21st centuries, the rabbinic text, Pirke Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), was translated into Ladino over fifty times. In many Sephardi communities a section of the text is chanted each Shabbat between Passover and Shavuot, a tradition that was continued in the New World even as the meaning of the tradition shifted, “While initially chanted in Ladino for congregants to understand, now Pirke Avot is chanted in Ladino in Seattle because it forms part of our rich, distinctive Sephardic tradition.”
Rabbi Haim Shaki’s Trezoro de Djudaizmo (Treasure of Judaism) published in Cairo, 1907. (Photo courtesy of Stroum Center for Jewish Studies)
The only known portrait of Shabbatai Sevi (Tzvi), sketched from memory by an eyewitness at Smyrna, 1665 (Thomas Coenen, Ydele Verwachting der Joden, Amsterdam, 1669)
As the Ottoman Empire crumbled after the First World War, a religious minority called the Dönme was transferred from Salonika to Istanbul. They were disciples of Shabbatai Tzvi, the Sephardi-Jewish would-be Messiah who converted to Islam even as he secretly practiced mystically-inspired Jewish rituals, and whose disciples continued to follow his path. The Dönme traditionally kept their hybrid identity hidden, but some contemporary members of the community are speaking up. Shabbetai Tzvi? He was “a kind of reformer” who “spiritualized Judaism.” Dönme and Turkish Jews? “Individually, we get along very well. But as a group, there’s no relationship.”
Deciphering Secrets: Unlocking the Manuscripts of Medieval Burgos (Spain)
Online Class Starts June 14th Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
A European Commission-funded endeavor integrates everyday citizens into deciphering medieval manuscripts to better understand Jewish, Christian, and Islamic interrelations in Spain. A key focus of the effort are Sephardic Jews and their descendants. Our colleague, Professor Roger L. Martínez-Dávila, is extending an invitation for ASF members and friends to participate in a free, Internet-based university course called: “Deciphering Secrets: Unlocking the Manuscripts of Medieval Burgos (Spain).”
A crucial focus of the course is to understand the vitality of the Sephardic Jewish community in Burgos, as well as in Spain more broadly. Martinez offers: “Among the best sources for medieval Jewish history – especially those pertaining to specific community members – are cathedrals in Spain. Why? There are literally thousands of residential leases, business documents, and inter-religious agreements in cathedral archives. They capture the intriguing details of Jewish and Christian relationships. Most manuscripts were never indexed or catalogued with Jewish history in mind. Thus, these medieval sources are an unknown treasure.”
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).