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26 June 2020 

Mazal tov to Professor Ephraim Isaac, an Ethiopian-Yemenite Jewish scholar, Ethiopian Elder and “Father of Peace,” Founder of the Institute for Semitic Studies, 1st Professor/Co-Founder of Harvard University’s Department of African and African American Studies and namesake of AAAS’ Award for Excellence in African Studies, recipient of the Jewish Africa Conference’s “Moses, The African: Jewish Leadership Award,” and Distinguished Member of the American Sephardi Federation’s Board of Directors, whose contributions to knowledge, understanding, peace, literacy, and love have touched millions of people. Harvard Divinity School, in recognition of Professor Isaac’s “almost absurd number of achievements” in the course of his sixty-year career, recently named him a Peter J. Gomes, STB ’68 Distinguished Alumni Award Honoree. Click here to watch the online ceremony. 

 
 Click here to dedicate a future issue in honor or memory of a loved one. 
 
ASF IJE Travels in Jewish History... from home presents Journey to Yemen, a virtual voyage to the major places of settlement and famous sites, as well as unique aspects of this isolated yet historically well-connected Yemenite Jewish community.

Powered by Diarna Goe-Museum Tours. Co-Presented by E’ele BeTamar. 

Do not miss our special guest Tair Haim, Yemenite-Israeli singer, songwriter, and a founder of A-WA!

Tour departs promptly on Monday, 29 June at 1PM EDT 
 Sign-up now!
“Cairo’s Jewelers Have a Secret Language and its Inherited From Egyptian Jews” 
Al Bawaba
 
When one of Egypt’s famed goldsmiths wants to praise a particularly precious metal, he'll call it, “yafat.” Why? Because the Hebrew word for beautiful is, “yaffeh.” Which raises the question: Why do Egyptian goldsmiths use Hebrew when praising precious metals? The answer is rooted in recent Egyptian history: “Egypt’s Jewish community, who were particularly active in the country’s gold trade, had their own special language among themselves. This special language was passed on to the Egyptian [Muslims] working with them… The language is now passed from a generation to another, and has become a part of their daily lives.”

In 2017, the ASF’s research partner, the Diarna Geo-Museum of North African & Middle Eastern Jewish Life, was given unprecedented access to digitally document Jewish historical sites in Cairo and Alexandria. Click here to tour an online exhibition of select sites.
Meir Enayim (מאיר עיניים, AKA Meyr Biton מאיר ביטון) Synagogue at Cairo, Egypt, 2017
(Photo courtesy of Joshua Shamsi/Diarna Geo-Museum of North African & Middle Eastern Jewish Life)
Feature of the week: Yemen Blues, on Fire, in Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter
 

Yemen Blues
(Screenshot courtesy of YouTube)
 
What happens when a second generation Yemenite Israeli-Jewish vocalist, accompanied by world-class Israeli percussionists and an oud player, put on a show, in Yemeni Judeo-Arabic, in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City? The answer can be found in this wonderful video of the Israeli band, Yemen Blues, performing live and unplugged. Hint: it’s fire.

Mojgan Lavi, an Elat Market customer 
(Photo courtesy of Josefin Dolsten/JTA)
“Inside Elat Market: The grocery store at the nexus of Los Angeles’ Persian Jewish community” 
Josefin Dolsten, JTA
 
If you’re in L.A. and looking to prepare an old-school Persian-Jewish meal with “seeded flatbreads, smoked fish and pickled vegetables,”  there’s one place to go, the Elat Market. There are 50,000 Persian Jews in Los Angeles, and Elat Market is a place where Persian Jews go to meet and greet: “In the vegetable aisle… women stop their carts to kiss each other on the cheek and greet each other loudly in Farsi.” Sam Kermanian, senior adviser to the Iranian-American Jewish Federation (IAJF), explains: “‘It represents a piece of the old country that allows a continuity of the culture of Iranian Jews when it comes to issues of the home, of the cuisine.’”  
Sephardi Gifts:
They Called Me Gigi: A True Story
By Berthe Cohen

Touching and thoughtful remembrances and reflections of a Greek Sephardi Holocaust survivor and her postwar struggles in Egypt and France. The consequences of war and violence are candidly shared in They Called Me Gigi: A True Story. Having lived anything but an average life, the author details the difficulties she has faced—including the destruction of war, the loss of her childhood, and her suffering from depression—after experiencing the horrors of World War II, Israels War of Independence, the Suez Canal War, and the turbulent crisis in Nanterre.

In her postwar reflections, the author asks, “What can society do to avoid hatred and war?” She proposes some answers, especially educating our children to live happy lives. Also, we should consider the consequences of our actions, assume responsibility, and strive for a healthy family life. Reading of her remarkable life, the reader comes away feeling that we can and should help to make this world a better place.

*Exclusively available at the ASF's Sephardi Shop
Amallel Shir: Yemenite Poems Anthology
Edited by Professor Yosef Tobi and Shalom Seri

Amallel Shir is an annotated anthology of Yemenite poetry, featuring poems (songs) for Shabbat, holidays, weddings, and other events. The poems are in Hebrew and Yemenite Judeo-Arabic.

*Exclusively available at the ASF's Sephardi Shop
 
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Upcoming Events or Opportunities:

ASF IJE Travels in Jewish History... from home and  E'eleh BeTamar present:

Journey to Yemen
A trip in time and space powered by Diarna Geo-Museum Tours.

Tour departs promptly on Monday, 29 June at 1PM EDT 

Sign-up Now!
(Pay via PayPal by Credit or Debit Card)

No Passport, Airfare, or Quarantines! 

Join us as we virtually visit the millennia-old Yemenite Jewish places of settlement and famous sites, as well as learn some unique aspects of this isolated yet historically well-connected community. Special guest speakers and topics include:

Ester Muchawsky-Schnapper (Senior Curator Emerita, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem and Curatorial Consultant, Yemenite Jewry Heritage Center at World Jewish Communities, Rechovot): Jewish Characteristics of Yemenite Architecture. 

Naftali Hilger (photo-journalist, traveler, and lecturer): stories from the field, visiting the last Jews of Yemen.

Dani Goldsmith (Curator & Manager of Aden Jewish Heritage Museum, Tel Aviv): the Jewish Community of Aden.

&

Tair Haim, Yemenite Israeli singer, songwriter, and a founder of A-WA



Feedback on Previous ASF IJE Travels in Jewish History: 

>>“Your online programming is STELLAR!!! It’s part of my quarantine ‘must haves’!!! Thank you and many blessings!!!” 

>>“Totally engrossing program … thank you” 

>>“I loved the Egypt Tour, as it personally connected me, truly, authentically to the spirit of the ASF, which I sorely miss. 
It was also so satisfying to be connected (via Zoom) to all the scholars 
across many lands and learn new things.”

>>“Thank you so much for a truly enjoyable and educational trip to the Jewish sites of Egypt!  I visit[ed] Cairo in 2009 and am so happy to have had the opportunity to ‘return’ to Egypt today! Kol ha’kavod v’todah rabah for the wonderful presentation!” 

>>“I just wanted to say how informative and impressive it was.... It was also reassuring in these incredible ‘science fiction times’, that we had a chance to band together and share our resources, and keep optimistic.”

>>“Thanks so much. Truly fascinating, we really enjoyed it. We have signed up for more information so hopefully we will be able to join further tours.” 

Sponsorship Opportunities: 

Possible future tour destinations include: Iran, Morocco, Syria, Kurdistan, and Tunisia.

Naming opportunities available.

Please click here to sponsor a tour today!
(Donations are tax-deductible)

 



On an ASF IJE Travels in Jewish History tour, you will... explore the Middle Eastern and North African heartlands of Jewish history with live Diarna Geo-Museum guides and historians, meet special guests, see historical sites that are off the beaten path or even inaccessible to visitors, hear fascinating stories, and reconnect with your roots.

At this terrible and turbulent time, we are here to serve the community, preserving and promoting our Greater Sephardic history, traditions, and rich mosaic culture.

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:

The Music of North Africa 

Modern and Contemporary Judeo-Arabic Song and Performance

By ASF Broom & Allen Fellows Dr. Vanessa Paloma Elbaz & Dr. Samuel Torjman Thomas 

Wednesday, 1 July at 10AM EDT

Sign-up Now!
(Pay via PayPal by Credit or Debit Card)

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience and E'eleh BeTamar present:

The Yemenite Torah 

 With Rabbi Dr. Bentzion Barami
Lecture will be conducted in English


Monday, 13 July at 12PM EDT

Sign-up Now!
(Pay via PayPal by Credit or Debit Card)



Yemenite Jews are known to be conservative in their keeping of tradition. However, when the Yemenites brought their Torah scrolls to the Western World, they were rebuffed. There are slight differences in the Yemenite Torah as compared with the Jews around the world. Rabbi Barami will discuss these unique details and how it is actually the true continuation of the Torah that was in the Temple.

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience and E'eleh BeTamar present:

הרב ד"ר בנציון ברעמי: מה מיוחד בספרי תורה במסורת תימן

 With Rabbi Dr. Bentzion Barami
Lecture will be conducted in Hebrew


Monday, 13 July at 10AM EDT

Sign-up Now!
(Pay via PayPal by Credit or Debit Card)

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience and E'eleh BeTamar present:

ד"ר מוטי קדר: למה המזרח התיכון אזור בעיתי כל כך?

Dr. Motti Kedar will help you connect the dots between the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, the tension in Israel, and other incidence across the region.
Lecture will be conducted in Hebrew

Tuesday, 7 July at 10AM EDT

Sign-up Now!
(Pay via PayPal by Credit or Debit Card)

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience and E'eleh BeTamar present:

What makes the Middle East so problematic?

Bar-Ilan University’s Dr. Motti Kedar will help you connect the dots between the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, the tension in Israel, and other incidence across the region.

Tuesday, 7 July at 12PM EDT

Sign-up Now!
(Pay via PayPal by Credit or Debit Card)


The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:

The Crypto Experience
The Global History of Secret Jews

An online course presented in 10 minute episodes.
Learn at your own pace.

Please sign-up now!
Total cost of the course is $75.00

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience is proud to present “The Crypto Experience,” an online course on Crypto-Jews. It is part of a series of online courses on a variety of topics that make up the robust Jewish experience.

For hundreds of years there have been descendants of Crpto-Jews, who have covertly kept some of their traditions while maintaining a very different public persona. It is a question of identity, be it Huegenot, Catholic, Sephardi, or Mashadi. Professing one faith on the outside and another on the inside speaks to our quest for defining identity today.

These questions of identity that we think are so new and so relevant are really rather old questions under different circumstances. In this course Dr. Hilda Nissimi (Bar Ilan University) presents an overview of crypto societies historically and in the context of today. She challenges the participants to ask themselves difficult questions like: What defines identity? If I project this outer self, how do I keep my real me? Who is the real me? Am I the me before the expression of an outer facade? Is it a new me?

The course discusses these questions as they pertain to Jews, specifically. What does it mean to be a Jew? What do I have to keep if I want to call myself a Jew? Am I allowed to change? Am I the person to decide? Who will decide? How can anyone decide under such circumstances?

In order to understand this in historic and cultural contexts, world-renowned scholars and experts in the field have joined Dr. Nissimi and will be presenting the challenges facing a range of crypto societies: 

Huegenots – Dr. Hilda Nissimi
Spanish-Portuguese Crypto Society – Dr. Ronnie Perelis (Yeshiva University)
Bildi’in of Morocco – Professor Paul Fenton (Sorbonne Université, Paris) 
Mashhadi Jews of Iran – Dr. Hilda Nissimi
Tracing Jewish Roots – Genie and Michael Milgrom
Growing Up Mashhadi– Reuben Ebrahimoff


For more information and other ASF IJE online course offerings visit: https://courses.instituteofjewishexperience.org/


The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:

The Greek Experience
Explore the world of Greek Jewry from the ancient Romaniote to the Sephardim and others who made it to and through Greece.

An online course presented in 10 minute episodes.
Learn at your own pace.

Please sign-up now!
Total cost of the course is $75.00

Jews have been in Greece since before the Temple was destroyed. They were in Greece upon the founding of the Greek Orthodox Church. Community members, known as Romaniote, made their way through Venice, Byzantium, Spain, across the Ottoman Empire, and beyond.
 
Dr. Yitzchak Kerem provides an overview of the unique languages, liturgical nuances, and communal life of Jews across Greece. Dr Kerem spent significant time living in Greece and researching Greek and Sephardic history. Photographs, maps, and personal accounts provide course participants with a full picture of the unique nature of the Jews of Greece and its surroundings.
 
In the course, participants will look at major influential points in Greek Jewish history. They will explore The Golden Age of Salonika, a time when Greece’s northern city was a hub of Jewish scholarship. Kerem introduces the tension arising in the Greek Jewish community because of Shabtai Tzvi and the Sabbateanism movement that brought with it false messianism and conversion to Islam, at least outwardly.
 
The course looks at when the Alliance Israélite Universelle moved in and the Sephardic culture in Greece developed a rich secular culture with its own novels, theater, and music. 
 
This is part of the greater Jewish heritage and history that is often overlooked. ASF IJE online courses will bring to life all parts of the greater Jewish Experience.

For more information and other ASF IJE online course offerings visit: https://courses.instituteofjewishexperience.org/

 and your generous tax-deductible contribution will empower the ASF to fight for Jewish unity and champion the Sephardi voice in Jewish communal affairs at home and abroad, as well as in our programs, publications, and projects. 

Contact us by email to learn about giving opportunities in honor or memory of loved ones
Copyright © 2020 American Sephardi Federation, All rights reserved.

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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) 294-8350

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