12 February 2016 Congratulations to Peter Geffen/Kivunim for their historic Convocation Honoring the Memory of King Mohammed V of Morocco with the first Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr./R’ Abraham Joshua Heschel Award
The American Sephardi Federation’s upcoming 19th NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival caught the attention of Morocco World News, which is partnering to promote a “Moroccan Medley” of films on 14 March: “Shattered Rhymes,” dedicated to Erez Bitton, the first Mizrahi poet to win the Israel Prize in Literature, “A Song of Loves,” dedicated to R’ David Bouzaglo, the Moroccan-Israeli payytan, and “Midnight Orchestra,” a cross-generational, interfaith comedy.
Gad Elmaleh in a scene from Midnight Orchestra, which will premier in NY at the 19th NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival on 14 March. Buy tickets for the film and After Party here.
Erez Bitton (left) reciting a poem as Aryeh Tepper (right), ASF’s Director of Publications, provides simultaneous translation, Opening Night of the 18th NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival, 12 March 2015 (Photo courtesy of Steven Smith/Guest of a Guest).
Mizrahi culture historically has been sidelined in Israel’s education system, but in a sign of the changing times, Education Minister Naftali Bennett appointed Erez Bitton, who was honored at ASF’s 18th New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival with the Pomegranate Award for Lifetime Achievement: Literature, to lead a special government committee that will plan to introduce additional lessons on Mizrahi Jewish history and culture into Israel’s schools.
Click here to hear Israeli payytan Lior El Malih as he joins the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra for a medley of piyyutim from the Abuhatzeira rabbinic dynasty.
Sephardi communities in the Caribbean developed along separate lines from North American Jewry─“(the) idea of blacks and Jews as separate categories of people doesn’t really hold up in the Caribbean”─and Jews came to occupy a weighty place in the Caribbean imagination. A new book, Calypso Jews, explores some of the images of Jews that appear in contemporary Caribbean literature. Author Sarah Phillips Casteel “found [in Guadeloupean author Maryse Condé novel, “I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem” and other works] a kind of philosemitic way of identifying with Jewish characters, sympathizing even in the case of a Jewish slave owner.”
Tuesday, 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
Sunday, 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.
Monday, February 22nd at 7:30PM Center for Jewish History 15 West 16th Street, New York City
According to the nusach of the Moroccan Jews
Presented by the hazzan and payytan, R’ 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 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).