19 August 2016 In memory of Joseph Aboudi, A”H, Hero of Israel’s War of Independence, Successful Entrepreneur, and Builder of Brooklyn’s Syrian Sephardic Community
Joseph Aboudi was a young teenager living in Syria in 1942 when he learned about the Nazi atrocities in Europe. Convinced of the need for a Jewish state, Aboudi left for the Land of Israel and fought as a decorated soldier in Israel’s War of Independence. After the war he moved to America and became a successful businessman, a dedicated supporter of Brooklyn’s Syrian Jewish community, and an advocate of the Syrian tradition: “I want [young Syrian Jews] to keep our ways of praying, to keep the nusach Aramsoba.” Aboudi passed away at his summer home in Deal, New Jersey, on 23 July.
Diarna is the name of an online “Geo-Museum” co-founded by ASF Executive Director Jason Guberman that digitally preserves the physical remnants of Jewish history throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Michael Kosowski, a recent visitor to Diarna’s “Situation Room” at ASF, was deeply moved by the organization’s efforts to digitally salvage a glorious Jewish culture whose physical remains might not be around for too long: “I left secure in the fact that there are still beautiful examples of heritage in places like Egypt, Iran, Morocco, and Yemen. But I also felt determined to join this ‘race against time’ to make sure that my children can know about their existence as well.”
Feature of the Week: Yodoucha Rayonai (“My Thoughts Praise You”)
The Tsli’lei Ha’Oud band (Photo courtesy of YouTube)
One of the pioneering bands of Israeli Mizrahi music, Tsli’lei Ha’Oud (“Sounds of the Oud”), performs R’ Yisrael Najara’s classic, Yodoucha Rayonai(“My Thoughts Praise You”), a piyyut that is still sung in many traditional homes on Shabbat.
An exhibition on display at the New Mexico History Museum through the end of 2016, “Fractured Faiths: Spanish Judaism, The Inquisition, and New World Identities,” explores how the Inquisition made its way to Spanish colonies in the New World, including areas that later became part of the United States, “Most people don’t think of the Inquisition operating in North America… But the power and authority of the Inquisition went with conquest. Anywhere in a Spanish colony, the Inquisition appeared with it.”
The execution of Mariana de Carabajal, one of ten members of her family convicted and burned at the stake for covertly observing Jewish Law, at the Auto-de-fé in Mexico City, 25 March 1601 (Illustration by El Libro Rojo, 1870)
August 28th at 7:00 p.m. Congregation Mikveh Israel 44 North 4th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Congregation Mikveh Israel of Philadelphia and the American Sephardi Federation are pleased to present a spectacular film of heroism: Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese Consul-General in Bordeaux, France, courageously rescued thousands of refugees, many of them Jews, in the spring of 1940 by issuing visas contrary to the strict orders of his government. Join in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Sousa Mendes being posthumously named Righteous Among Nations by Yad Vashem. Movie followed by discussion.
Suggested Donation: $10.00
Please RSVP by calling (215) 922-5446 A discounted parking rate of $7.35 is available at the Wyndham Hotel from 6:00 to 9:00 PM
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).