In memory of Dr. Ilana Sasson, A”H, a passionate lover of Judeo-Arabic language and culture, scholar of Karaite manuscripts and Biblical exegesis, IDF veteran, and beloved member of Teaneck, New Jersey’s Congregation Beth Shalom
Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s recent statement on education and tolerance was read to participants at a high-level discussion that took place on the sidelines of September’s UN General Assembly. The statement included a scathing critique of anti-Semitism that would have been remarkable for any leader, but was especially remarkable coming from a leader of a Muslim majority nation: “Anti-Semitism is the antithesis of freedom of expression. It implies a denial of the other and is an admission of failure, inadequacy and an inability to coexist. It implies an anachronistic return to a mythicised past.”
Yair Dalal, a recipient of ASF’s Pomegranate Award for Music at the 16th NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival, is an Israeli musician from an Iraqi-Jewish background. A musical master, Dalal has played a leading role in introducing Israeli audiences to classical Eastern music. In this video, Dalal talks about “the history and healing powers of the oud.”
Hakham Rav Haim David HaLevi (1924-1998) was a prodigious scholar and original thinker who served as the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv and composed texts that appealed to both religious and academic scholars, as well as the general public. However, “[m]ention the name of Rav Haim David HaLevi to even knowledgeable Sephardic Jews and many will say they never heard of him!” Rabbi Haim Jachter introduces us to a 20th century Sephardi luminary whose impact was immense, but often overlooked: “Rav HaLevi is regarded as the first posek of note to formally and officially declare that smoking is forbidden according to the Halacha… Rav HaLevi set the mold, and by the 2000s nearly every rabbi of major stature has declared smoking to be forbidden.”
The Jewish Genealogical Society and The American Sephardi Federation Present:
Branching out from Sepharad: Solving a Converso Mystery with Sarina Roffé
Sunday, 21 October, at 2:00PM Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York City
Ticket Info:
For non-members: $5 at the door
Free for JGS, ASF, NYG&B members
Sarina Roffé, professional genealogist, founder of the Sephardic Heritage Project, and author of Branching Out from Sepharad: A Global Journey of Selected Rabbinic Families with Biographies and Genealogies (Forward by Professor Walter P. Zenner, Sephardic Heritage Project, 2017), outlines the history and expulsion of Jews in Spain, their history in Syria, and immigration to the Americas.
She discusses the Kassin rabbinic dynasty from the 12th century through the 50-year leadership of Rabbi Jacob S. Kassin in Brooklyn, and solves a Converso mystery.
Professor Mohammad Gharipour will discuss his research and recently published book, Synagogues of the Islamic World: Architecture, Design, and Identity (Edinburgh University Press, 2017), which explores how the architecture of synagogues in Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain responded to contextual issues and traditions, as well as how these contexts influenced the design and evolution of synagogues. The book considers patterns of the development of synagogues in urban contexts in connection with urban elements and monuments, while revealing how synagogues reflect the culture of the Jewish minority at macro and micro scales.
This presentation is being made possible by the generous support of The Cahnman Foundation.
Mohammad Gharipour is Associate Professor at the School of Architecture and Planning at Morgan State University at Baltimore, Maryland. He obtained his Masters in Architecture from the University of Tehran and a Ph.D. in Architecture and Landscape History from Georgia Institute of Technology. He has received several awards, including the Hamad Bin Khalifa Fellowship in Islamic Art, the Spiro Kostof Fellowship Award from the Society of Architectural Historians, the National Endowment in Humanities Faculty Award, and was recognized as "one of the twelve minority scholars in the US who are making their mark in academia" in 2016 by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education Magazine. Professor Gharipour's books include Bazaar in the Islamic City (American University of Cairo Press, 2012), Persian Gardens and Pavilions: Reflections in Poetry, Arts, and History (I.B. Tauris, 2013), Calligraphy and Architecture in the Muslim World(co-edited with Irvin Schick, Edinburgh University Press, 2013), The City in the Muslim Word: Depictions by Western Travelers (co-edited with Nilay Ozlu, Routledge, 2014), and Sacred Precincts: The Religious Architecture of Non-Muslim Communities across the Islamic World (Brill, 2014). He is the director and founding editor of the International Journal of Islamic Architecture (www.intellectbooks.com/ijia)
How do you want to present yourself to, and be remembered by, someone who never knew you in your life?
What facet of your existence do you want the world to be aware of in 100+ years?
Tuesday, 30 October, 4:30PM - 6:30PM Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York City Please note that there are two parts to this event:
1.) Tour of the Spanish and Portuguese cemetery on 21st St west of 6th Ave,
&
2.) A workshop in American Sephardi Federation at The Center for Jewish History.
One of the public things that people leave behind after they die are epitaphs and final disposition markers. These texts are curated presentations of a life lived and represent what people think of their life's achievements and how they want to be remembered by others. Join us as we think about this question and craft our own presentations, framed by the larger question of: what remains of this text and these tombstones after 100+ years?
Nosotros 2.0, which opened as a one-night pop-up exhibition on 11 October. continues in part as an exhibition in our Leon Levy Gallery.
On view until April
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York City
The Philos Project and American Sephardi Federation cordially invite you to “Nosotros," an exhibition composed of pieces by Latino artists celebrating the shared history and culture of Jewish and Latino communities, and expressing hope for a more positive future. Latin American artistry is rich with Sephardi and Crypto-Jewish allusions and symbols.
The exhibit is titled “Nosotros,” the Spanish word for “us,” and all of the art represents the growing relationship between the Jewish and Hispanic communities in New York and around the world. The exhibit is one of the many things Jesse Rojo, The Philos Project's Hispanic Affairs Director, is doing to bridge the gap between Hispanics and the Middle East.
Donate nowand 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!
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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).