In Memory of Khadija Belfakir, a Moroccan Muslim Woman of Valor, who inspired and supported Association Mimouna, an organization of young Moroccan Muslims dedicated to preserving and promoting Moroccan Jewish history and culture, as well as celebrating Morocco’s culture of coexistence.
While the North African, post-Passover celebration known as Mimouna has become a de-facto national holiday in Israel, it’s also starting to show up in unexpected places in the United States. David Suissa, Editor-in-Chief of the Jewish Journal in Los Angeles, had this to say about last year’s Mimouna party in Beverly Hills: “The event wasn’t exactly the Mimouna of my childhood in Morocco. But… I remember thinking that night: I can’t believe I’m at a Mimouna party organized by an Ashkenazi Reform rabbi in Los Angeles!”
“Muflettas, pancakes made of layers of thin, oiled dough cooked quickly and skillfully and devoured with butter and honey, are a popular dish to mark the end of Passover.” (Abel Uribe (Photographer) and Lisa Schumacher (Food Stylist)/Chicago Tribune)
The Association Mimouna Club during Second Annual General Assembly meeting in front of the Jewish Museum of Casablanca.
(Photo courtesy of Association Mimouna)
Mimouna is still celebrated in its birthplace, Morocco, including by an aptly named group of young Moroccan Muslims who preserve and promote Jewish culture. Association Mimouna, ASF’s partner in a variety of research and educational, hosted this Mimouna celebration in 2017, featuring vocalist Michel Abitan, select musicians from King Mohammed VI’s Palace Orchestra, and the King’s Senior Counsellor, André Azoulay, recipient of ASF’s 2017 Pomegranate Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 20th NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival.
Moroccan Jews celebrate Mimouna with a feast of sweet delicacies
(Photo courtesy of Albert Amar/Washington Jewish Week)
Generous hospitality is at the heart of Mimouna. Moroccan-born Naomi Elimelech lives today in Rockville, Md., and while the scene has changed, the hospitality remains the same, “You do not invite people to the Mimouna… You leave the door open and friends and neighbors come. [And then] you at some point leave the house and go to others’ houses.”
The honey that so heavily features in the pastries prepared for a Mimouna feast place the holiday “in the running for the stickiest culinary ritual known to humanity.” In Israel, the shared celebration also remains a reminder of how a strong community functions. Wandering from party to party, “You would have been to seven or eight houses, and you wouldn’t have even seen the owners, because they were at other people’s houses.”
“A spread of Moroccan cookies from a Mimouna celebration last year in New York. Because flour is not allowed in the house during Passover, other ingredients are used, like coconut, pistachios, dates and various nuts. Meringues and homemade marzipan are also often on offer.” (Photo courtesy of Francesco Sapienza/The New York Times)
Tuesday, 10 April, from 7–9:00 PM Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
A Special Book Launch The Fox Hunt by Mohammed Al Samawi A Refugee's Memoir of Coming to America
Featuring Mohammed Al Samawi
in conversation with Jonathan Alter
and the first-ever reunion of the team that orchestrated his evacuation
Followed by a reception of Yemeni cuisine and book signing
Co-sponsored by
Center for Jewish History
Muslim Jewish Advisory Council
The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfusot
Muslim American Leadership Alliance
Wednesday, 11 April at 7:00 PM Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
ASF Sephardi Scholars Series Lecture: Join French literary scholar Nina B. Lichtenstein as she "illuminates the shrouded histories and complicated... identities" of a multiply marginalized minority: Magrebi (Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian) Sephardic women writers. "Lichtenstein offers valuable perspectives on the Jewish experience...," says Ruth Knafo Setton. Norman Stillman praises her "intimately conversational and academically intellectual" style.
Sunday, April 15 at 7:00 PM Opening Night (Followed by After Party)
Tuesday, April 17 at 8:00 PM
Thursday, April 19 at 8:00 PM
Sunday, April 22 at 7:00 PM (Followed by After Party)
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
This well known French classic will be performed in English, featuring Sephardi and Jazz standards for a world premiere adaptation.
The cast includes: David Serero (Cyrano), Mary Albert (Roxane), Andrew Edward Erwin (Christian), Cesar Munoz (De Guiche), Gordon Gray (Ragueneau), Michael Vincent Iannuzzi (Le Bret), Isaac Cruz (Ligniere), Lauren Berkman (Duenna), Cameron Addicott (Valvert), Elena Du Pisanie, Benjamin Culpepper, Shawn Chang.
Plot summary: Hercule Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, a cadet (nobleman serving as a soldier) in the French Army, is a brash, strong-willed man of many talents. In addition to being a remarkable duelist, he is a gifted, joyful poet and is also a musician. However, he has an extremely large nose, which causes him to doubt himself. This doubt prevents him from expressing his love for his distant cousin, the beautiful and intellectual Roxane, as he believes that his ugliness would prevent him the "dream of being loved by even an ugly woman."
We look forward to having you join us!
Please click here to make a reservation Tickets: $26 and $36
(Including VIP seating and access to an After Party)
Tuesday, April 24 at 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM EDT Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
The ASF and the Alliance Israélite Universelle-KIAH invite you to celebrate the launch of an incredible database featuring the lives and writings of over 500 Sephardi sages, who exemplify the classic moral, ethical, inclusive, and tolerant traditional Judaism of Greater Sephardi communities.
ASF’s Sephardi Scholars Center Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
The American Sephardi Federation’s Young Sephardi Scholars Series, in partnership with COJECO BluePrint Fellowship, is excited to host a three-part learning and cultural series about the Russian-speaking Jewish (RSJ) communities of the Greater Sephardic world. The cultures and histories of Bukharian, Georgian, and Kavkazi (Mountain) Jews are situated at the fascinating, yet lesser known, intersection of RSJ, Sephardic, and Mizrahi life. Led by Ruben Shimonov, this interactive multimedia learning series will provide a unique opportunity to explore the rich and multilayered stories of the three communities.
Ruben Shimonov, 2018 American Sephardi Federation Broome & Allen Fellow, was born in Uzbekistan and grew up in the vibrant Greek and Turkish Sephardic community of Seattle. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in International Relations, Near Eastern Studies, and Jewish Studies from the University of Washington. As a Bukharian Jew—whose own multilayered identity lies at the intersection of Mizrahi, Sephardic, and RSJ—Ruben roots his work as an educator, social innovator, and community builder in a deep passion for the diverse cultural mosaic of the Jewish people. This has informed his active leadership and community organizing endeavors within organizations such as the American Sephardi Federation (where he is the Young Leadership Board’s VP of Education and Community Engagement), JDC Entwine, Moishe House, and OneTable. He has also brought this passion to his work at Queens College Hillel for the past four years—most recently as Director of Cross-Community Engagement and Education—where he had the unique role of engaging, empowering, and creating meaningful Jewish experiences for Sephardic and Mizrahi students. Ruben is currently pursuing Master’s degrees in both Public Administration/Nonprofit Management and Judaic Studies at New York University. Ruben was recently named a COJECO Blueprint Fellow and is working on community projects that highlight the intersectional identities of Russian-speaking Greater Sephardic Jews. He is also the founder of the Sephardic-Mizrahi LGBTQ Shabbat Dinner Series and annual retreats, which provide a one-of-a-kind platform for LGBTQ Jews from Sephardic and Mizrahi backgrounds to build a vibrant and supportive community.
Please click here to sign-up for updates on future events
Wednesday, 9 May at 7:00 PM Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
In Uprooted, Lyn Julius, a British journalist (Guardian, Standpoint) and daughter of Iraqi-Jewish refugees, explores the mass exodus of Middle Eastern Jewish minority communities, the clamour for recognition, redress, and memorialization, and how their cause can further peace and reconciliation between Israel and the Muslim world.
We look forward to having you join us!
Please click here to sign-up for updates on future events
May 29, 2018 7:00 PM Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
Join Irene Shaland, an internationally-published art and travel writer, educator, and lecturer, for a fascinating talk about her travels through Jewish history in Burma, India, China, Cuba, and Cambodia. Seeking Jewish narrative all over the world, Irene with her husband-photographer Alex, has visited close to 70 countries and shared her experiences with audiences and readers in US, Canada, and Europe.
We look forward to having you join us!
Please click here to sign-up for updates on future events
A three day academic and cultural conference exploring the cultural heritage of Jews of Yemenite heritage and their joint cultural commonalities with the Muslims of Yemenite heritage. Learn more at: www.ASFYemenConference.org
Celebrating the culture and history of Yemenite Jews and the rich interactions between Yemenite Jews and Muslims. Topics include Jews and Muslims, spirituality, antiquity, modern culture, and Yemenite women.
Extended through April
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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The American Sephardi Federation is located at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street, New York, New York, 10011).
