22 April 2016 Mazel tov to David Serero for three sold out performances of Nabucco, as well as upcoming engagements at Carnegie Hall and The Center for Jewish History (for Othello in June)
Jews who fled to the new world sometimes became “Pirates of the Caribbean,” sailing in ships named, “the Queen Esther, the Prophet Samuel, and the Shield of Abraham,” and attacking Spanish and Portuguese vessels as “[p]ayback for the property confiscations and torture of their brethren perpetrated by the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition.”
“Emunim ‘irchu shebah” (“Oh, Faithful Arrange Praise”), a Middle Eastern piyyut written by Aharon Cohen, is found in the 16th century MahzorAram Soba. The song is sung here by Hazzan Gabriel Shrem, A”H, in the Syrian tradition. This song is also found in the liturgical traditions of other Middle Eastern and North African communities (see here for an Iraqi version).
The refrain of this piyyut is “ve’amartem zebah Pesah hula’hashem” (“and you shall say ‘it is the Passover sacrifice to God’”), based on Shemot/Exodus 12:27, is a reference to the Passover sacrifice brought in the desert as well as when the Temple at Jerusalem was extant. The stanzas refer to the different misvot (commandments) of the seder, including: retelling the Exodus story, eating masah (matzah), and drinking four cups of wine.
Nicole Murad’s family history includes stops in Spain, Iraq, France, Argentina, and Israel, and ends, today, in Englewood, N.J. A passionate performer of Ladino music, Murad contends that Jewish experience and Ladino music share same the characteristic fate, “(of) being tossed around like a little fish in the sea. You’re a little fish — there are not a lot of you — and you are in the vast ocean, and you have to fight against the tide. You have to fight all the time.” But one way or another, the Jews, and the music, endured.
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.
Please click here to purchase tickets (General Admission $26; VIP $36)
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).
