Sephardi Ideas Monthly is a continuing series of essays from the rich, multi-dimensional world of Sephardi thought that is traditionally delivered to your inbox on the second Monday of every month.
The featured essay for December is Professor Arthur Kiron’s “Varieties of Haskalah: Sabato Morais’s Program of Sephardi Rabbinic Humanism in Victorian America.” Kiron’s essay is an extended look into the life and thought of Sabato Morais (1823-1887), one of the most important figures in 19th century Jewish life in America. The Schottenstein-Jesselson Curator of Judaica Collections at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of History at Penn, Kiron, in his essay, explores how Morais promoted a vision of “enlightened orthodoxy” that reflected and articulated a continuous and living classic Sephardic Jewish tradition.
Dr. Arthur Kiron is the Schottenstein-Jesselson Curator of Judaica Collections at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of History at Penn. He oversees multiple national and international partnerships to provide integrated on-line access to significant collections of Judaica and develops exhibitions, publications, lectures, concerts, and workshops. Professor Kiron also serves as Director of the Jesselson-Kaplan American Genizah Project, Co-Director of the Scribes of the Cairo Genizah Project, and is the Editor of Constellations of Atlantic Jewish History, 1555-1890: The Arnold and Deanne Kaplan Collection of Early American Judaica (2014), recipient of the Arline Custer Memorial Award. (Photo courtesy of University of Pennsylvania)
Sobato Morais
Sabato Morais was born in Livorno, Italy, and educated in the Western Sephardic tradition of “enlightened orthodoxy” that was rooted in Andalusian and Italian Jewish literature. After a stopover in England, where he became fluent in English, Morais was appointed leader of Philadelphia’s historic Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, Congregation Mikveh Israel, in 1851. From that position, Morais preached: “a vision of regenerated Jewish life in America based upon an image of Sephardic cultural openness.”
What were the principal elements of Morais’ vision? Kiron delineates how Sabato sought to emphasize “Biblical rather than Talmudic study as the basis of a devout Jewish religious curriculum.” However, while the Bible provided the base, the breadth of that tradition was framed according to the Andalusian Jewish paradigm that animated Sabato’s education in Livorno. In Sabato’s words: “‘Religious and secular lore flourished among them… poetry… was cultivated in their academies. No knowledge, however abstruse, no philosophy, however profound, was neglected by the luminaries of our nation.’”
Energized by this vision of “enlightened orthodoxy,” Sabato was an abolitionist, supporter of President Abraham Lincoln, spoke out on behalf of Native Americans, Chinese immigrants, and Armenians, promoted ecumenical engagement, and became one of the founding fathers of the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1886. Although widely admired in his day as a scholar and visionary, Morais’ role and founding vision faded after the JTS changed direction in 1902 and rebranded itself as the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTSA). Next month’s essay, also by Professor Kiron, will treat the now-forgotten, “Sephardic Italian Jewish Theological Seminary of Sabato Morais.”
But even if Morais has been strangely marginalized in American Jewish memory, Kiron’s remarkable study stands as a reminder that the way to modernization has not always emerged out of a break with the past. For Morais, the path to modernization stretches back into Andalusia and Italy while running through 19th century Philadelphia.
Continuity, not rupture, characterized Sabato’s way, which is the way of Classic Sephardi Judaism. Sephardi Ideas Monthly is proud to introduce our readers to the life and thought of one of the central figures of 19th century American Jewish life, Sabato Morais.
The American Sephardi Federation thanks Professor Kiron and the University of Pennsylvania Press for granting permission to reprint his article for Sephardi Ideas Monthly. See: Renewing the Past, Reconfiguring Jewish Culture: From al-Andalus to the Haskalah, eds. Ross Brann and Adam Sutcliffe (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004).
On 24 May 1860 Rev. Dr. Sabato Morais inaugurated the third building (interior rendering shown here, circa 1909) of Philadelphia’s Mikveh Israel, the oldest continuous congregation in America. The ceremony featured an orchestra and choir performing music based on the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi melodies of Morais’ hometown, Livorno, Italy (Image courtesy of Mikveh Israel History)
Paper submission deadline:
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Conference:
June 3-6, 2018
United Nations and Center for Jewish History
E’eleh BeTamar, an organization dedicated to sharing the rich cultural, spiritual, and scholarly history of the Jews of Yemen, is announcing a scholarly and cultural conference in conjunction with the American Sephardi Federation and the Institute of Semitic Studies, Princeton, NJ.
A limited number of scholarships and travel grants are available.
Please click here for information about suggested topics and how to apply for grants
Wednesday, December 13
7:30 p.m.
Kovno Room Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
Please join us to celebrate the new publication; Myopia: A Memoir.
Phyllis Skoy’s first novel, What Survives, takes place in Turkey. Mark Aronson is an American Jew who is a professor of art history in Istanbul. He meets the protagonist of the novel, Adalet, and a relationship grows between them. Adalet is a young Turkish Muslim. Mark's father’s side of the family is Sephardic which is why Mark is so at home in Turkey. He is raised in the Sephardic culture even though he grows up in New York City and his mother is Ashkenazi. At this time, Istanbul is a flourishing international city with inhabitants from all over the world.
What Survives is one of a three-part series. This book takes place in the recent present. The book Ms. Skoy is currently writing focuses on the coming of the Republic of Turkey and the character of Fatma, from the first book. In the third novel, Ms. Skoy hopes to write about the terrible events in Turkey and the Erdogan government through the same characters as appear in her first novel.
In her recently published memoir, Myopia, we learn about the life of the novelist.
PHYLLIS M. SKOY lives with her husband and Australian cattle dog in Placitas, New Mexico where she settled after living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for many years. She currently maintains a small private practice in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy in Albuquerque.
Reservations required
Please click here to learn more and reserve tickets
The American Sephardi Federation invites Sephardi World Weekly readers to attend this movie screening hosted by our Partner, the American Jewish Historical Society. Rabbi Elie Abadie, M.D., a distinguished member of ASF’s Board of Directors, is featured in the film.
Thursday, December 14
7:00 p.m.
Leo & Julia Forchheimer Auditorium Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
Statement from The AJHS: “A film by Rola Khayyat followed by a discussion with Regine Basha
In From Brooklyn to Beirut, Rola Khayyat explores the landscape of belonging for the community of Lebanese Jews in New York – along with the fragilities and complexities associated with their complex identity. Jews have lived in what is today Lebanon since Biblical times. As internal and regional tensions tore Lebanon apart, Lebanese Jews began to emigrate and settle abroad in countries such as France, Israel, Brazil, and the United States. In their new homes, Lebanese Jews, like other Lebanese emigrants, have formed vibrant communities where Lebanese traditions and values are maintained; Arabic language, music, and cinema are used and celebrated; and memories of Lebanon are constantly recalled and shared.
AJHS houses the records of hundreds of Jewish aid and charity organizations which aided and resettled Jewish immigrants and refugees from the Middle East; particularly Hebrew Immigration Aid Society (HIAS) Collection, which is currently being processed by AJHS archivists. These collections tell the stories of thousands of Middle Eastern Jewish and non-Jewish immigrant and refugees as they traveled to and settled in the United States.”
Monday, December 18
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Leo & Julia Forchheimer Auditorium and Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
Two emerging young leaders with first-hand experience facing extremism come together for an open dialogue on how decent people of all backgrounds can build bridges of understanding.
Richard Sassoon is an Iraqi-American of Jewish heritage who graduated from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and studied at the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Richard has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and North Africa, lived in Morocco while studying at al-Akhawayn University, and assisted Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Jordan.
Ahmed Omar is the Deputy Director of MALA. He is a Somalilander American of Muslim heritage, a refugee genocide survivor, and has grappled with radicalism in his own family. Ahmed is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago.
Come for an evening of thoughtful exchange on challenges and opportunities.
By engaging in informed and inclusive dialogue the discussion aims to help ensure a world that transcends discrimination on the basis of religion, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation. or national origin.
Co-presented by MALA (Muslim American Leadership Alliance) and the American Sephardi Federation.
Sunday, January 28, 2018
2:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Leo & Julia Forchheimer Auditorium and
The Paul S. and Sylvia Steinberg Great Hall Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
Join the American Sephardi Federation for a festival of stories and songs celebrating Ladino, the remarkable language also known as Judeo-Spanish.
Dr. Jane Mushabac will perform excerpts from her highly acclaimed 2016 novel, rich with Ladino expressions: His Hundred Years, A Tale. Also hear wonderful singer/accordionist Jane Carver; renowned Sephardic thought leaders, Rabbi Marc Angel and Rabbi Nissim Elnecavé; and a musical finale by the illustrious Trio Sefardi, with Howard Bass, Tina Chancey, and Susan Gaeta, who has toured with the legendary Flory Jagoda.
In 2013 Yitzhak Navon, Israel’s 5th President and Director of the National Authority for Ladino, endorsed the idea of International Ladino Day. Since then, celebrations have been held in Jerusalem, Seattle, Istanbul, Madrid, Dallas, and Forest Hills. This will be the first festival in Manhattan!
Ladino is a bridge between cultures—it’s a Spanish language that includes words in Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic, and more. It was the mother tongue of Jews in the Ottoman Empire for 500 years. In the early 20th century, about half a million people spoke Ladino. Now there are 50,000-100,000 speakers. The international resurgence of interest in Ladino and its culture is seen in distinguished university programs, publications, and events of many kinds.
Co-presented by The American Jewish Historical Society and American Sephardi Federation
Light refreshments will be served.
Please click here or call (800) 838-3006 to purchase tickets
Through February 15, 2018
in ASF’s Leon Levy Gallery Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
The Philos Project and American Sephardi Federation cordially invite you to “Nosotros," an art exhibit featuring the work of two renowned Latino artists, Angel Urrely (Cuba) and Carlos Ayala (Puerto Rico)--as a symbolic recognition and “step forward” to improving Jewish-Latino relations. We thank the Dominican artist, Juan Bravo, for exhibiting his pieces for the exhibit’s Opening Night. Each piece reflects the shared roots of Jewish and Latino communities and expresses hope for a more positive future from the perspective of each respective artist.
Each artist has displayed their works in hundreds of exhibits in both the US and Latin America, having many of them included in some of the most coveted collections in the world. We are very excited to bring them and their works to celebrate the importance of uniting us (or Nosotros), the Jewish and Latino communities, and having this art displayed in a very powerful way at the American Sephardi Federation at the Center for Jewish History. Artists:
Angel Urrely is to the point. This son of Cuba does not beat around the bush. At least not for what the brush comes to reveal—his theory is clear and sharp. Each frame creates a specific, assertive and brutal connection. The reading of his work is—from the perspective of the viewer—very simple, to the point that if you assume an interpretation of what you are reading, believe me: Urrely is addressing exactly what you are thinking. Urrely has something to tell you and will let you know one way or another.
Carlos Ayala presents himself as the “Benjamin” of the tribes, the youngest of them all. This son of Puerto Rico presupposes that his youth may seem an obstacle to you, so he shows you his clutched fists from the introduction. This young man is fierce. Carlos shows us the deepest pains experienced by man, and brings them to an entertained, distracted and ill-bred public. He does not sit down to dream on the Caribbean coast and wait for boats loaded with promises. He does not have the time for it, but rather wants to remind you that even at the best moments pain is present. And at any moment it can befall us.
We look forward to having you join us!
Please click here for additional information and viewing hours
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