25 August 2017 In memory of Lena Russo, A”H, a Holocaust survivor from Kastoria, Greece, whose story was told in the film Trezoros, shown at the 20th NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival ~Dr. Joe Halio, Distinguished Member of the Boards of the Sephardic Home for the Aged Foundation, Sephardic Brotherhood of America, and American Sephardi Federation
“Modigliani Unmasked,” an exhibition featuring the early work of the great Sephardi modernist, Amadeo Modigliani, will go on display at the Jewish Museum in mid-September. The exhibition examines how Modigliani’s work was influenced by the anti-Semitism he encountered in France, as well as “his own interpretation of his identity as a Sephardic Jew.” Modigliani’s fascination with masks? Their “veiled, enigmatic quality” functioned as a metaphor “for his ability to assimilate in France without truly belonging.”
Amedeo Modigliani, Head of a Woman, 1910-11
(Photo courtesy of National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.)
How is it possible to balance mourning and celebrating when remembering the destroyed community of Jewish Rhodes? For Hannah Pressman, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor from Rhodes, the way, “to make meaning of my enormous sense of loss without being completely overwhelmed by it,” runs through recently discovered correspondence written by her “great-great-grandmother Rivca, who was born in 1870 and died at Auschwitz in 1944.”
“Rivca Alhadeff, the author’s great-great-grandmother, was born on the island of Rhodes in 1870 and died at Auschwitz in 1944”
(Photo courtesy of Hannah Pressman)
With Rosh HaShana only a month away, traditional and religious Sephardi Jews began singing Selichot (penitential prayers and piyyutim) this week. This video from the Tel Aviv Pier in 2015, and featuring the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra together with vocalists Binyamin Bouzaglo, Liat Yitzhaki, and Shlomo Bar, demonstrates how Sephardi Selichot have journeyed outside the synagogue and become a part of mainstream Israeli society.
Traces of the once robust Jewish presence in Salonica are scattered throughout the city, if you know where to look. Salonica’s Modiano food market? “[It] was designed and built in the 1920s by Eli Modiano, a member of a prominent Italian-Jewish local family of merchants and bankers.” Villa Allatini, the magnificent villa on Salonica’s main waterway? “[It] belonged to one of the most influential Jewish merchants in the city: Moise Allatini.” Salonica’s Aristotle University? It sits atop of the Jewish cemetery.
Sunday, August 27 and Monday, August 28 Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
Dynamic and diverse performances by world-class artists will be heard at the first edition of The American Sephardi Music Festival. Hosted by The American Sephardi Federation and directed by David Serero, the Festival will take place over three days.
Tickets range from $20 to $40 ($20 Tax-Deductible Donation)
Click here for sponsorship, media, and other inquiries
Thursday, September 7
4:00-9:30 p.m. (Viewing hours)
7:30 p.m. Remarks Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
The Philos Project and American Sephardi Federation cordially invite you to “Nosotros," an art exhibit featuring the work of three renowned Latino artists--Juan Bravo (Dominican Republic), Angel Urrely (Cuba), and Carlos Ayala (Puerto Rico)--as a symbolic recognition and “step forward” to improving Jewish-Latino relations. Each piece reflects the shared roots of Jewish and Latino communities and expresses hope for a more positive future from the perspective of each respective artist.
Each artist has displayed their works in hundreds of exhibits in both the US and Latin America, having many of them included in some of the most coveted collections in the world. We are very excited to bring them and their works to celebrate the importance of uniting us (or Nosotros), the Jewish and Latino communities, and having this art displayed in a very powerful way at the American Sephardi Federation at the Center for Jewish History. Artists:
Juan Bravo emerges as the veteran. Many are the broken brushes that this Dominican artist has in his repertoire. Juan Prefers the large formats and can impress anyone—not only by the agility of his strokes, but also by the persuasion with which he succeeds in submerging in them. We must be careful, for at any moment, we might see ourselves within one of his works without notice.
Angel Urrely is to the point. This son of Cuba does not beat around the bush. At least not for what the brush comes to reveal—his theory is clear and sharp. Each frame creates a specific, assertive and brutal connection. The reading of his work is—from the perspective of the viewer—very simple, to the point that if you assume an interpretation of what you are reading, believe me: Urrely is addressing exactly what you are thinking. Urrely has something to tell you and will let you know one way or another.
Carlos Ayala presents himself as the “Benjamin” of the tribes, the youngest of them all. This son of Puerto Rico presupposes that his youth may seem an obstacle to you, so he shows you his clutched fists from the introduction. This young man is fierce. Carlos shows us the deepest pains experienced by man, and brings them to an entertained, distracted and ill-bred public. He does not sit down to dream on the Caribbean coast and wait for boats loaded with promises. He does not have the time for it, but rather wants to remind you that even at the best moments pain is present. And at any moment it can befall us.
Iraqi Jewish Voices Project cordially invites you to a festive event
celebrating and honoring its founding supporters: Robert Shasha and Dennis Shasha
Monday, September 11
7:00 p.m. Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
The Iraqi Jewish Voices Project tells the story of the last generation of Iraqi Jews and their integration into Israel and throughout the world through dramatic current and historical photography, film, and personal narrative. It is a project of Sephardi Voices USA, whose mission is to collect and archive the life stories of Jews of Middle Eastern, North African, and Iranian origin to raise awareness of their displacement and appreciation for their contribution to Jewish peoplehood and world history.
The evening is hosted by the American Sephardi Federation, which supported the publication of Iraq’s Last Jews (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), edited by Tamar Morad, Dennis and Robert Shasha, and is proud to be the home of the Robert Shasha Collection of Iraqi Jewish Oral Histories.
The evening will feature a talk by Tamar Morad, who now spearheads the Iraqi Jewish Voices Project.
Tuesday, September 12
6:00 p.m. VIP Reception
7:00 p.m. Awards Ceremony Museum of Jewish Heritage
36 Battery Place
New York, NY 10280
Join StandWithUS and the American Sephardi Federation as we honor those who took part in the historic rescue of Yemenite Jews. ASF will be presenting Retired Captain Elgen M. Long, the last surviving Alaska Airlines crew member who was part of the airlift of more than 50,000 Yemenite Jews on “eagle’s wings’” to the re-established State of Israel, with the Maimonides Friendship Award in recognition of his important contributions to the Jewish People. StandWithUS will present Alaska Airlines with its Savior of Israel Award.
When Baghdadi Jews Baruch and Ellen Bekhor (née Cohen) succumbed to the camera’s gaze for their denaturalization pictures in 1951, they became stateless. Ellen was in her eighth month of pregnancy. Permitted to bring no more than a few kilos of belongings out of Iraq, Ellen carried their wedding picture and ketubah in her pocketbook. Laissez-Passer, Royaume D’Irak by Leslie Starobin (2016).
Through September 2017
in ASF’s Myron Habib Memorial Display Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
The American Sephardi Federation proudly presents excerpts from The Last Address, a multi-year, photo-montage series and oral history and book project by award-winning artist Leslie Starobin that explores the enduring texture of memory and culture in the lives of Greater Sephardic families from dispersed Jewish communities in Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Iran, and Lebanon.
Leslie Starobin is a Boston-area photographer and montage artist. Her work is in the permanent collections of many academic (Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University) and public (Jewish Museum, MoMA) museums. Starobin is the recipient of numerous grants, including from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation of the Arts/Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. Most recently, she received two Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Research Grants for this series, The Last Address.
Her exhibition in ASF’s Myron Habib Memorial Display is sponsored in part by CELTSS: The Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching, Scholarship and Service at Framingham State University in Massachusetts, where Starobin is a Professor of Communication Arts.
Please click here for additional information and viewing hours
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The American Sephardi Federation is located at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th St., New York, New York, 10011).
