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23 August 2019 

In Memory of Kenneth J. Bialkin, A”H, who was once described in a New York Times article as “one of the country's foremost securities lawyers” and “a pillar in philanthropic and professional circles.” A friend of the American Sephardi Federation, Mr. Bialkin’s nine decades were distinguished by service in law and Jewish communal affairs, including terms as Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, New York County Lawyer's Association, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, American-Israel Friendship League, American Jewish Historical Society, Anti-Defamation League, and, for 30 years, as Vice Chairman of the Jerusalem Foundation. The Kenneth J. Bialkin/Citigroup Public Service Award at AJHS was created to honor those who, as Mr. Bialkin, “make a difference… ha[ve] passion for public discourse… and Jewish tradition” (then-Citigroup CEO Charles Prince). 
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Nearly turned back, a ship of Holocaust refugees got help from Eleanor Roosevelt” 
By Cathryn J. Prince, The Times of Israel
 
The sold-out, New York City première of Nobody Wants Us was recently hosted by the American Sephardi Federation and the Sousa Mendes Foundation. The movie tells the story of the Quanza, a ship that set sail from Portugal for the U.S. in August, 1940, with some 250 Jewish passengers armed with life-saving visas issued by Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a Portuguese diplomat. In the end, only Eleanor Roosevelt’s intervention prevented the U.S. government from sending many of the passengers back to Europe. The ASF’s Executive Director, Jason Guberman, remarked how the film affirms the power of individuals to influence events: “We need to look on those who were courageous and successful, like Eleanor Roosevelt.”
 
Award-winning PBS Producer Laura Seltzer-Duny (Director, Nobody Wants Us) and Olivia Mattis (Executive Director, Sousa Mendes Foundation), Center for Jewish History, 11 August, 2019
(Photo courtesy of Chrystie Sherman
Feature: Sephardi Maestro Maurice Peress: The Making of Classical American Music, from Dvořák to Duke
 

Maurice Peress, Dvořák American Heritage Association, 11 December 2014
(Photo courtesy of DAHA/Youtube
 
Maurice Peress (1930-2017)—conductor, author, educator—was Leonard Bernstein’s student and Duke Ellington’s friend and colleague. The son of an Iraqi-Jewish father and a Polish-Jewish mother, in this lecture Peress tells how a special American generation that included Ellington, George Gershwin, and Aaron Copland made American classical music by fusing black American and European musical forms. What does the Czech composer Antonín Leopold Dvořák have do with the story? At the end of the 19th century, Dvořák offered a programmatic observation that the future of American music was to be found in the riches of black American culture, and Ellington, Gershwin, and Copland all studied with Dvořák’s students. 

Book cover: Piccola Sicilia
(Image courtesy of Qantara.de)

 
Little Sicily in North Africa
By Martina Sabra, Qantara.de
 
Daniel Speck’s German-language novel, Piccola Sicilia, explores the Nazi occupation of Tunisia and the fate of Tunisian Jewry through a love triangle between Moritz, a German Wehrmacht soldier, Yasmine, a Jewish chambermaid, and Victor, Yasmine’s true love and a local Jewish pianist. The Nazi occupation of Tunisia is not a story often told, and Layla Bengassem, a present-day owner of a Tunis guesthouse who also doubles as a local tour guide, hopes the novel is translated into English, French and Arabic, “[P]erhaps the novel is… a reason for Tunisians and Germans to engage more intensively with the 1942-1943 occupation and its consequences.”
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The American Sephardi Federation is proud to partner with Combat Anti-Semitism on its Venture Creative Contest - Round 1. The Contest’s Art Award is named in honor of Emma Lazarus, the Sephardi American patriot, poet, playwright, critic, journalist, campaigner against anti-Semitism, and champion of Zion.

Venture Creative Contest – Round 1

Anti-Semitism is once again on the rise, just 75 years after the Holocaust. This irrational hatred of Jews and the world’s only Jewish State harms both innocent victims and perpetrators infected by bigotry. The resurgence of anti-Semitism poses a challenge to all people of conscience:

How can we work together to stop anti-Semitism?

This contest is crowd-sourcing new solutions to help end “the world’s oldest hatred.” The contest is sponsored by the CombatAntiSemitism.org Coalition.

People of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities are encouraged to participate by creatively addressing one of the categories below:


HERZL TAKE ACTION AWARD
$50,000+



Submit a plan for a social venture to help stop anti-Semitism. The award prize will be a seed investment to jump-start your social start-up.
More About This Award



EMMA LAZARUS ART AWARD
$25,000



Lazarus was a Latina Jew whose poem “The New Colossus” transformed the meaning of the Statue of Liberty. Revive her example to tackle anti-Semitism.
More About This Award



NATAN SHARANSKY ACTIVISM AWARD
$15,000



Write an essay or action plan proposing how the heroic example of Jewish leaders can educate and inspire people to stand up against anti-Semitism.
More About This Award



ABRAHAM & SARAH “ISRAEL IN ME”
 AWARD
$15,000



Produce a video or essay exploring Israel’s centrality to Jewish identity and human progress – and why celebrating its existence is moral and vital.
More About This Award



Round 1 Deadline: 1 December 2019
Future Rounds Coming Soon

Please click here to submit your contest entry 

Judging Panel of entrepreneurs and leaders, including: Gil Canaani (Hearst Ventures), Rotem Eldar (Ofek Ventures), Barak Rabinowitz (F2 Venture Capital), and Sima Vaknin-Gil (former Director-General of Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry)

Award presentations by Natan Sharansky & other VIPs
Outstanding entries will be publicized to enhance understanding and inspire activism

Contest Rules – Contest Judges – FAQ – Contact

Specific contest awards co-sponsored by Coalition Members, including:

American Sephardi Association logo
Israel on Campus Coalition logoGaliaArtists


The American Sephardi Federation presents:

Anne, a Musical
Based on the life of Anne Frank
U.S Première


Wednesday, 11 September at 3:00PM
(Sold Out)
Sunday, 15 September at 8:00PM
Opening Night;
Followed by After Party
(Sold Out)

Tuesday, 17 September at 8:00PM
Monday, 23 September at 8:00PM
Tuesday, 24 September at 8:00PM

Closing Night;
Followed by After Party


Please register here

American Sephardi Federation
15 W 16th Street
New York City


Music & Lyrics by Jean-Pierre Hadida

Directed and Produced by David Serero

Anne, A Musical tells the story of Anne Frank through the lyrics and music of Algerian-French Sephardi composer Jean Pierre-Hadida. David Serero is producing, directing, and staring (as Otto Frank) in this English language première adaptation of the highly successful and well-reviewed original French production, which has been touring for 10 years and was recognized by the Anne Frank Museum at Amsterdam. At the crossroads of musical theater, opera, and oratorio, the twelve artists onstage will bring to life Ms. Frank's world in hiding. This musical piece is educative, emotional, and showcases the universal legacy of one of the most important Jewish figures of the past century.


David Serero (Otto Frank), Kristyn Vario (Anne Frank), SaraKate Coyne (Margot), Lisa Monde (Edith Frank), Wendell Hester (Peter), Jacob Waid (Herman Van Pels), Mackenzie Tank (Augusta Van Pels),  Erik Contzius (Fritz Pfeifer), Jordan Flippo (Miep), Alex Schecter (Slammer and U/S), Emily Samuelson (Ensemble and U/S).


Embracing the Rituals of a Moroccan Wedding

A Joan Roth Photographic Journey, which opened on 17 June as part of The Morocco Conference (Uncommon Commonalities: Jews and Muslims of Morocco), continues in the
Leon Levy Gallery


On view until September

Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street 
New York City


About the Photographer
In addition to Morocco, Joan Roth traveled to Ethiopia before Operation Moses and again afterwards, Yemen, Bukhara, India, Israel, and photographed extensively in the United States. Her photographs of Jewish women are published, exhibited, and collected by museums and collectors worldwide. Some of Joan’s photographs are published in the book: Jewish Women: A world of Tradition and Change (Jolen Press, 1995).

Gloria Steinem has written the following appreciation: “Joan Roth has looked at the Jewish world as if women mattered, and therefore as if everyone mattered. Across all the boundaries of geography and language, there is not only a common world of belief, but a common world of women. We see into its intimacy through her eyes. 
 
Roth richly depicts the personal and historical dimensions of these women as they preserve and adapt centuries-old traditions amid varied cultural surroundings. The effect, in the words of Rocky Mountain art critic Mary Voltz Chandler, “is like opening a jewelry box filled with so many secrets women know but never told each other. 

 and 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! 

Contact us by email to learn about giving opportunities in honor or memory of loved ones

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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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