A new hip-hop Broadway musical tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, the American Founding Father without a father, who showed up in New York a poor immigrant with monumental dreams and the talent to match. The musical leaves out, however, the Sephardi Jewish Day School, where Hamilton learned Hebrew as a child and acquired an abiding respect for the Jewish people.
Portrait of Alexander Hamilton by Daniel Huntington (1865)
Upside-down gravestone, Ma’alla Street Cemetery, Aden, Yemen (Photo courtesy of Ben Ragsdale/Diarna Geo-Museum)
On 21 January members of Ansar Allah, the Shi’a group now in control of Yemen, attacked two Jews because they refused to praise Muhammad. Ansar Allah claims that the remnant Jewish community has nothing to fear under their rule, even though their slogan is, “God is great, death to America, death to Israel, damn the Jews, victory for Islam.”
Click here to watch the trailer for El Gusto, Opening Night’s film
Enrico Macias, the Algerian-born international recording superstar and 2014 Pomegranate Award Recipient, is coming back for Opening Night (March 12th) to present this year’s Pomegranate Awards and the evening’s film, El Gusto!, as well as to preform.
El Gusto! tells the remarkable story of Jewish and Muslim musicians from the Casbah separated by political conflicts for over 50 years and reunited to celebrate their common passion: Chaabi music, a.k.a the people’s music of Algeria.
The complete list of selected films with dates, times, ticket, donor & sponsorship information can be found here.
Inside the Ahrida or Okhrida Synagogue in the Balat (Jewish Quarter), Istanbul, Turkey (Photo courtesy of Belgin Palaz/Diarna Geo-Museum)
While the Judeo-Spanish language of Ladino has waned among Turkish Jews, many are now studying Spanish, in preparation to apply for Spanish citizenship. Approximately one-third of the community has already left.
ASF is proud to co-sponsor Queens College Hillel’s hosting of Rita, the Israeli-Persian pop music star, for a performance at Queens College on March 5th at 7:30pm in LeFrak Concert Hall.
Born in Iran, Rita emigrated to Israel with her family at the age of 8. Since coming on the scene in the 1980’s (her first album remains the best-selling debut album in Israel’s musical history), Rita has sung for sold-out crowds worldwide, represented Israel at the UN, won the Israeli Cinema Award for “Actress of the Year,” and, more recently, her Persian-language album—featuring such songs as “Shah Doomad”—has become an underground hit in Iran.
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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, NY., 10011).