Of the approximately 4,600 Jews in India, 2,500 of them reside in the state of Maharashtra. In a historical first, the Jews of Maharashtra were granted official minority status by the state government. This means that Maharashtra Jews can now receive benefits offered to officially recognize minorities, as well as set up their own educational institutions. Not surprisingly, the Jews welcomed the recognition, even if it was long overdue: “India is home to us and means a lot to us. We have been living here for so many years but there are no records to show that Jews live in India.”
Jews in Maharashtra sounding a shofar
(Photo courtesy of The Times of India)
In this recording from the 1930’s, Bombay chazzan Simeon Jacob Kharilker sings an Indian Jewish version of Dunash Ben Labrat’s 9th century piyyut, Deror Yikrah (“He Will Proclaim Freedom”).
The 19th NYSJFF featured a film starting Bollywood pioneer Pramila, who also appeared in the ASF exhibit Baghdadis & The Bene Israel in Bollywood & Beyond: Indian Jews in the Movies
Australian professor and documentary filmmaker, Danny Ben-Moshe, is working on a documentary film about Hindi cinema’s once prominent but now largely-forgotten Jewish celebrities, Shalom Bollywood: The Untold Story of Indian Cinema. Ben-Moshe overcame the decrepit state of India’s film archives by making five trips to India and tracking down the stars’ surviving family members, some of whom, as chance would have it, still work in the industry: “Their inputs doubled as a way to maintain storytelling continuity about the relationship between Indian Jews and Indian cinema.”
Sunday, July 16 at 3:00 P.M.
Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street, New York City, 10011
A short biography:
Rabbi Dr. Sharon Zaude Shalom is a Visiting Scholar at Brandeis University's Schusterman Center for Israel Studies. Born Zaude Tesfay in an Ethiopian village, Rabbi Shalom emigrated to Israel as an eight year-old in a rescue mission by the Mossad and the Jewish Agency, following two years in the Tawa refugee camp in Sudan. As a young Ethiopian immigrant in Israel, he struggled with questions of identity and his place in Israeli society. Those questions have influenced his scholarship and teaching. He served in the IDF as an officer in the infantry and later worked in the army educational system. Rabbi Dr. Shalom received his smicha from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and a doctorate in Jewish philosophy from Bar-Ilan University. He is the author of a book, From Sinai to Ethiopia, which examines the history, customs, and law of the Beta Israel, codifying the ancient cultural heritage of Ethiopian Jewry. He is also a lecturer at Bar-Ilan and Tel Aviv universities. In addition to his academic positions, he serves as rabbi of Kedoshei Yisrael, a community in Kiryat Gat established by Holocaust survivors.
Sunday, August 6 from 8 P.M. to Midnight
Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street, New York City, 10011
The American Sephardi Federation presents Tu B’AV, the Jewish Valentine’s Day! Come to celebrate this special holiday with music and dancing! Dress code: White is preferred (not mandatory). No shorts, t-shirts, or tank tops allowed.
Please click here to purchase tickets (Admission $40; includes open bar)
August 24, 27, and 28
Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street, New York City, 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 are from $20 to $40 ($20 Tax-Deductible Donation) Click here for Sponsorship, Media, and Other Inquiries
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).
