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27 July 2018

In Honor of the hilloula (28 July) of the great Livorno-born Sephardi lover of the Land of Israel, banker, philanthropist, and activist on behalf of Jewish communities around the world, the long-lived Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, Fellow of the Royal Society, and Sheriff of London
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Please click here to dedicate a future issue of The Sephardi World Weekly in honor/memory of a loved one

Neta Elkayam, a Moroccan-Israeli singer, performing in Judeo-Arabic at the Festival des Andalousies Atlantiques, Chaim Zifrani Center, Essaouira, Morocco, 2013. 
(Photo courtesy of Soufiane Bouhali/Association Essaouira Mogador

 
The second largest Moroccan Diaspora in the world lives in Israel.” 
By Einat Levi, Yabiladi
 
The Ministry for Moroccans Living Abroad is an official, Moroccan governmental office. A report released by the Ministry in March, 2016, listed Israel as home to the second-largest Moroccan diaspora in the world. According to Einat Levi, writing in the Moroccan Yabiladi  online news service, says such acknowledgement, while no small matter in and of itself, is also part of a larger pattern: “Where else can we find a Muslim country that views Israel as part of its Diaspora, recognizes Judaism as part of its heritage, and even offers citizenship to some of members of its Diaspora there!?” 
Feature: “Who owns Iraqi Jewish history? A personal story
By PBS Newshour 

 
The Shohet Family in Baghdad, Iraq
(Photo courtesy of Shohet Family/PBS Newshour)

 
When Meris Westberg from The National Archives in College Park, Md., was going through documents from the Iraqi Jewish Archive, she came across the name Maurice Shohet. The Archives reached out to Shohet, who was born in Baghdad, but lives today in the United States and serves as President of the World Organization of Jews from Iraq  (WOJI). This week’s feature video follows Shohat as he is introduced to the archival material and tells the story of Jewish Iraq.  
A Pepper Salad That’ll Have You Seeing Red” 
By Joan Nathan, Tablet Magazine
 
Turkish merchants, including many Sephardi Jews, spread peppers from the New World throughout the Mediterranean region. In North Africa, they became an integral part of Jewish cuisine. Joan Nathan shares a recipe for Tunisian roasted red pepper salad that she learned from an Algerian cook in Jerusalem.

Tunisian roasted red pepper salad (Photo courtesy of Joan Nathan/Youtube)  
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The American Sephardi Federation Young Leaders Present: 

Sephardic Summer Shabbat Dinner
Sephardic dinner, Tu B'Av-themed cocktails, and an evening celebrating the Jewish holiday of love! 

Friday, 3 August at 7:30 PM
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street 
New York City


Sold Out

ASF Young Leaders would like to invite you to the Sephardic Summer Shabbat Dinner!
A festive and joyous evening with Sephardic young professionals. 

Get an exclusive tour of two exhibitions that the American Sephardi Federation is currently displaying at The Center for Jewish History!

We look forward to seeing you!


Diarna: The Geo-Museum of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Life Presents:


Passport to Jewish History:


Wednesday, 8 August at 7:00 PM
Beyond Tunis: A Comprehensive Mission to Tunisia
Featuring Diarna photographer Chrystie Sherman


Diarna “Situation Room” at ASF 
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street 
New York City


Please click here to make a reservation
Space is limited


Join Diarna researchers for the final installment of a three-part passport series exploring Jewish historical sites and stories:

Over a million Jews once lived in the Middle East and North Africa, spanning from synagogues on the edge of the Sahara Desert in Morocco to abandoned Jewish fortresses in Saudi Arabia and the traditional shrines of Biblical personalities in the Kurdish regions of Iraq and Iran. The profound Jewish imprint on the region could be experienced in major cities and diffuse villages. 

Now, decades since communities have disbanded, synagogues, schools, cemeteries, and other structures left behind are suffering from natural decay or being deliberately targeted for destruction, while political strife has stymied visiting, no less preserving, thousands of sites. In recent years the Iranian regime has threatened to destroy the purported shrine of Esther and Mordechai at Hamadan; the storied Eliyahu HaNabi Synagogue in the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus was reduced to rubble (a consequence of being caught in the crossfire of the Syrian Civil War); and ISIS exploded the traditional tomb of Jonah, which had been located within one of Mosul’s oldest mosques.

Diarna: The Geo-Museum of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Life--an independent initiative of Digital Heritage Mapping, a spacial humanities non-profit organization--is working to digitally preserve the physical remnants of Jewish history throughout the region. We are in a race against time to capture site data and record place-based oral histories. Diarna pioneers the synthesis of digital mapping technology, traditional scholarship, and field research, as well as a trove of multimedia documentation. All of these combine to lend a virtual presence and guarantee untrammeled access to Jewish historical sites lest they be forgotten or erased. 


We look forward to seeing you!


The Muslim American Leadership Alliance (MALA) and The American Sephardi Federation Present:


Maktuv*: An Evening of Islamic and Jewish Calligraphy:


Monday, 13 August at 6:00PM
Join MALA and ASF  for an interactive workshop led by experiential educator and artist Ruben Shimonov!


Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street 
New York City


Please click here to make a reservation

We will explore the significance of Arabic in Islam and Hebrew in Judaism, as well as the close relationship between both Semitic languages. It'll be a space to share our personal connections with the holy languages of our respective faiths and to engage with these two languages through a hands-on calligraphy workshop! 

No background in Arabic or Hebrew calligraphy necessary. Refreshments will be served.

*As cognates, Maktoob and Ketuv mean “written” in Arabic and Hebrew respectively.

About our workshop leader:
Born in Uzbekistan, Ruben Shimonov belongs to the native Persian-speaking Jewish population of Central Asia. This community—the Bukharian Jews—have lived alongside their Muslim neighbors for 1,300 years, engaging in cultural and intellectual commerce. 

Given his background, Ruben possesses a strong passion for Muslim-Jewish community building. He has brought this interest to his academic, professional, and community leadership work, including his involvement with the American Sephardic Federation (ASF), where he currently serves as the Vice-President of Education and Community Engagement on the Young Leadership Board. Ruben is also an ASF 2018 Broome & Allen Fellow.

His interest in Muslim-Jewish dialogue has also informed his artistic work, inspiring him to create multilingual calligraphy that juxtaposes and weaves together Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian. He currently studies at New York University, pursuing a dual Master’s in Public Administration and Judaic Studies.


We look forward to seeing you!


Yemenite Faces and Scenes & Episodes in Yemenite History

The Teimani Experience, which closed on 5 June, continues in part with a photographic exhibit in our Leon Levy Gallery and an art exhibit in the Myron Habib, A"H, Memorial Display.

On view until September

Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street 
New York City
 

Yemenite Faces and Scenes: Photographs by Naftali Hilger

Intrepid photographer and photo-journalist Naftali Hilger traveled extensively in Yemen in the late 1980s and early 1990s photographing structures, street scenes, and the last remnants of Jewish life. These images—including of Yemenite children learning to read Torah upside-down in their father’s shop and a family relaxing in their diwan (salon)—depict an existence that has faded into history as the ever-shrinking community has found refuge in a government compound at Sana’a.



Episodes in Yemenite History: Paintings by Tiya Nachum

A series of eight paintings by the artist and sculptor Tiya Nachum of Encino, CA. The paintings reflect the tragedies and triumphs of Yemenite Jewish history, from the Mawza exile to the founding of the Inbal Dance Troupe by Sara Levy. Each painting tells a story and each story is a history onto itself.

 and your tax-deductible contribution will help ASF preserve and promote the Greater Sephardi history, traditions, and culture as an integral part of the Jewish experience! 

Contact us by email to learn about giving opportunities in honor or memory of loved ones

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The American Sephardi Federation is located at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street, New York, New York, 10011).

www.AmericanSephardi.org | info@AmericanSephardi.org | (212) 548-4486

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