Atlas Obscura visits the Ibn Dana synagogue in the heart of Fez’s Mellah (Jewish Quarter). The synagogue’s “spectacular tiles, stucco, and arched doorways” fell into disrepair until a 1999 partnership between the Moroccan government, Jewish groups, and the local community restored the structure to its former glory. A model of the Ibn Dana synagogue is on permanent display in Tel Aviv’s Beit Hatfutsot.
In this little gem from the Yeshiva University Library, a 1954 educational film explores the Jewish community of Curaçao, including Mikveh Israel, the oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere.
Marco Macías, a Sephardic Jew, at his Spanish citizenship ceremony
(Photo courtesy of Amit Shaal/El Pais)
The response to the the law offering Spanish citizenship to Sephardi Jews has been lukewarm at best. Why the low numbers? “[B]ureaucratic red tape,” especially the Spanish-language examination that Ladino speakers were sure to flunk thanks to differences in the written languages. But one country’s loss is another country’s gain, and, in this case, “two thirds of the approximately 15,000 Sephardim who live in Istanbul have instead opted to become Portuguese citizens, as that country never required a language examination.”
The ASF invites our members and readers to an international conference at The Center for Jewish History: “Scholars from Israel, the US, and Canada will explore the history and culture of the Jews from Islamic lands, their displacement, and resettlement in Israel. Topics include: Jewish communal life, rabbis and religious life, cultural institutions, and the responses of international institutions.
The conference will feature international lectures, musical performances, and kosher food.
Co-Sponsored by the Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies, the Aharon and Rachel Dahan Center for Culture, Society and Education in the Sephardic Heritage of Bar Ilan University, and Yeshiva University Museum.”
The American Sephardi Federation and Association Mimouna present:
CONTEXT
Since Biblical times, from Abraham’s journey to Egypt and the later Israelite captivity under the Pharaohs, the Jewish People have had close ties with Africa. Some Jewish communities in Africa are amongst the oldest in the world, dating back more than 2,700 years (Morocco, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria). Today, Jews and Judaism in Africa show an ethnic and religious diversity and richness almost unparalleled on any other continent.
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
A circle of emerging African leaders and researchers will analyze a broad spectrum of issues pertaining to the history and contemporary situation of Jewish Africa, including the role of Jews and the need of Jewish voices in African civil society, the development of Jewish space, perspectives on old and new African Jewish identities, and encounters between Jews and non-Jews in contemporary Africa.
TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED
Jewish heritage in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Cape Verde, Uganda, and South Africa; Black African Judaism; the Future for Judaism in Africa; and preserving the memory and heritage of African Judaism in the 21st Century via the Diarna Geo-Museum and Atlas of Jewish History initiatives.
The central idea is to approach these topics from the point of view of Jewish African leaders. In doing so, the conference seeks to provide a platform and create a meaningful network of researchers and Jewish African leaders.
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.
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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).