4 February 2016
In Honor of Dr. Joseph Halio, a distinguished member of the American Sephardi Federation’s Board of Directors. “With many thanks for your inspirational leadership in both medicine and Jewish communal affairs” ~ Dr. Martin and Mrs. Judith Edelstein
Robert Solé’s Jewish-Egyptian family fled for France when he was 18. Solé’s education at a French Lycee school eased the transition into French society, and today he is the author of six novels and works as a journalist for Le Monde. Recently in Egypt to promote his latest novel, Hotel Mahrajane, Solé offered some thoughts on Egypt’s present condition: “The kids in Egypt are happy and this is the power that Egypt has… but religion has more presence in public life here than it should… we have to have critical thinking.”
Rome’o i Zhuliyet (Salonika, 1922), one of the only Ladino copies of Shakespeare’s play in North America is part of the American Sephardi Federation’s collection and was on view in Sephardic Journeys, a Center for Jewish History with ASF exhibit in The David Berg Rare Book Room, See the exhibit online in Google’s Cultural Institute.
How do you say “be quiet” in Ladino? One Ladino newspaper in 1938 listed a number of options: “Shetika! Silans! Mudera! Kurto! Sopa! Molche! Pyedrelomos! Sus!” Devin E. Naar, Chair of the Sephardic Studies Program at the University of Washington and an ASF Representative on The Center for Jewish History’s Academic Advisory Board, notes that the hybrid character of Ladino, “provoked intense debate regarding the… legitimacy of the language itself… Are (texts) composed in such a language worthy of translation into others?” Naar’s answer is a strong ‘yes,’ and thanks to “a flurry of recent initiatives,” a number of Ladino texts are now being translated into English.
The Israeli musical ensemble Diwan HaLev performs a contemporary interpretation of R’Shalom Shabazi’s (1619-1720) classic Yemenite piyyut, “Sar Ha’Memuneh” (“Guardian Angel”), originally written as a lamentation for one of the payytan’s deceased friends.
Not too long ago, Damascus was home to “Jewish artisans working in exotic woods, copper and silver.” Today you can find some of those same artisans in a “rapidly gentrifying flea market” on the Tel Aviv-Jaffa border. Speaking Arabic with each other and Hebrew with their customers, the Yashar brothers, who left Syria in 2000, sell “what remains of the great Syrian craftsmanship… sharply carved slivers of oak, lemon and cherry wood inlaid in a hand-engraved base.”
Eli Yashar, formerly of Damascus, continues to practice in Israel the artistic tradition of Syrian Jews. Click here to tour his shop and hear an interview (Image courtesy of The Media Line)
Flory's Flame: The Life and Music of Balkan Sephardic Composer Flory Jagoda
February 16th at 7PM
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, New York City
Join The American Jewish Historical Society and American Sephardi Federation for a viewing of Flory’s Flame, a compelling one-hour documentary about the life and music of renowned 90-year old Sephardic composer and performer Flory Jagoda. The documentary interlaces Flory’s personal narrative with selections from her moving September 2013 Celebration Concert at the US Library of Congress.
Post-screening conversation with Flory Jagoda!
Purchase tickets here Cost: ($7 AJHS/ASF Members; $10 General Admission)
The Spanish Inquisition to the Present: A Search for Jewish Roots
February 21st at 2PM
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, New York City
Join The Jewish Genealogical Society of New York and American Sephardi Federation to hear Genie Milgrom discuss her unparalleled work of genealogy, documenting an unbroken maternal lineage back to 1480 in Pre-Inquisition Spain and Portugal. Born in Havana, Cuba, into a Roman Catholic family of Spanish Ancestry, Genie was always interested in her family genealogy, but when she learned of the possibility of having converso Jewish roots, her search for the truth about her family’s past took on a deeper significance.
Come at 12:30PM and bring your own lunch for our Lunch & Learn. We will be meeting in the Kovno Room. Genie Milgrom will be joining us early to answer questions on Spanish & Portuguese citizenship laws and Jewish genealogy.
Cost: $5 at the door
Shirat Baqashot ve-Hazzanut
February 22nd at 7:30PM
at the Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, New York, NY
According to the nusach of the Moroccan Jews
Presented by the hazzan and payytan, Rabbi Avraham Amar
The American Sephardi Federation is pleased to announce a new class exploring the Baqashot (‘Songs of Seeking’ in Edwin Seroussi’s wonderful translation), a musical tradition whose roots are in Andalusian Spain. R’Amar, a student of R’David Buzaglo, considered the greatest Hebrew liturgical poet of the 20th century, will guide students through the theory and practice of the Baqashot:
1). Their purpose, when and how they are used in the liturgy--how they are attached to weekly parshiyot (Shabbat Torah readings)
2). The musical maqamim (Arabic melodic mode) used in the singing of the Baqashot
3). The great composers of this traditional art form
Students will be instructed in the chanting of each of the baqashot according to the weekly parshiyot and maqam.
Please click hereto RSVP for the introductory session
Come visit ASF’s Leon Levy Gallery at The Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street) to view our new exhibition: “Baghdadis & The Bene Israel in Bollywood & Beyond: Indian Jews in the Movies”
on display now through March 2016
Click here for viewing hours and additional information
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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).
