Mazal Tov/Mabrouk to Professor Frances Malino, the Sophia Moses Robison Professor Emerita of Jewish Studies and History at Wellesley College, who this week received the Association for Jewish Studies Women’s Caucus’ inaugural Award for Mentorship for serving as “an exceptional mentor making a significant impact to junior scholars’ lives” as well as for her “work on fostering the growth of Sephardic studies and the Diarna project that... will provide indispensable resources for scholars for decades.”
The Sephardic jurist, philosopher, physician and communal leader, R’ Moshe ben Maimon (1135-1205)—Maimonides for Western readers, “RaMbaM” for Jewish audiences—is being honored with an exhibit at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. How to account for the perennial fascination with his life and work? According to David Blumberg, Chairman of the Board at the National Library, “Anyone can find himself reflected in Maimonides’ work: Torah scholars find his Halachic work; the secular appreciate his critical philosophy; and Chabad (ultra-Orthodox) believe in his messianic political thought.”
Traditional portrait of the RaMbaM with signature (Photo courtesy of the Jewish Encyclopedia)
The celebrated leader of Syrian Jewry in the United States, Chacham Shaul Kassin, passed away on December 1st at the age of 97. The Kassin family has produced a long line of scholars and moral leaders going all the way back to Spain in the 1400s, and Chacham Shaul continued the tradition by establishing himself as a scholar, educator, and leader of the diverse Syrian-Sephardi community: “Chacham Shaul believed in maintaining the kehillah’s unity at all costs. He… welcomed in all Jews no matter their level of observance.”
CONTEXT
Since Biblical times, from Abrahams 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
Our Conference will bring together a circle of emerging African leaders and researchers who 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 for 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; 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.
Description of ASF-Mimouna Partnership The American Sephardi Federation, a partner of the landmark Center for Jewish History, proudly preserves and promotes the history, traditions, and rich mosaic culture of Greater Sephardic communities as an integral part of the Jewish experience. The ASF hosts high-profile events and exhibitions, produces widely-read online (Sephardi World Weekly and Sephardi Ideas Monthly) and print (The Sephardi Report) publications, supports research, scholarship (Broome & Allen Fellows and Scholars), the Institute of Jewish Experience, and the National Sephardic Library & Archives, and represents the Sephardi voice in diplomatic and Jewish communal affairs as a member of the World Jewish Congress and Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Association Mimouna is a Moroccan NGO that derives its name from a unique Moroccan Jewish celebration of liberty and community. Moroccan Jews would often invite their Muslim neighbors to join their post-Passover festivities. Association Mimouna was founded in 2007 at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI) by Moroccan Muslim students who take pride in this shared symbol of Moroccan heritage and strive to preserve and promote the history of Morocco’s ancient Jewish community. The New York Timesdescribed Mimouna’s conference commemorating Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust and honoring King Mohammed V for his refusal to assent to the persecution of Jews during the Vichy occupation as “the first of its kind in an Arab or Muslim nation and a sign of historical truth triumphing over conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic dogma.”
The American Sephardi Federation and Association Mimouna are partnered to celebrate Judeo-Moroccan history, traditions, and culture, as well as the Moroccan culture of co-existence. Since 2014, we have created a series of major events in New York City, including the Moroccan-Jewish Caravan, “From Casablanca to New York: A Night of Moroccan Culture,” the 20th and 21st Anniversary Editions of the NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival, and an event with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations featuring the General Secretary of Muslim World League to honor the heroism of Muslims who protected Jewish communities and/or saved Jewish refugees during the Holocaust. These events have been both well-attended and were featured in leading publications, such as Tablet Magazine, CS Monitor, and the Times of Israel. Our work together preserving Jewish historical sites in Morocco, via a mutual partner, the Diarna Geo-Museum of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Life, has also been featured in The New York Times.
The American Sephardi Federation, Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America, and American Jewish Historical Society present:
A Festival to celebrate Ladino, the remarkable language also known as Judeo-Spanish.
Sunday, 10 February, 2:00-5:00PM Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York City
Please register here
or call: 1.800.838.3006 Light refreshments will be served.
Celebrate Ladino, also known as Judeo-Spanish, in the company
of highly acclaimed writers and musicians. Hear author Jane
Mushabac’s story, “Seven Songs”; clarinetist Danny Elias;
composer Avi Amon introducing his musical fantasy, Salonika;
scholar Bryan Kirschen speaking on Ladino’s rich culture; Rabbi
Nissim Elnecavé on wisdom tales; and the Alhambra Ensemble’s
Songs of Courtship, Love, and Holidays with oud, violin, shawm,
dumbek and voices.
Since 2013—when Israel’s 5th President Yitzhak Navon endorsed
Zelda Ovadia’s idea of International Ladino Day—celebrations have
been held in Jerusalem, Seattle, Istanbul, Madrid, Dallas, Forest
Hills, Boston, and other cities. February 10th marks the Second
Annual International Ladino Day at the Center for Jewish History.
Ladino is a bridge to many cultures; it’s a Spanish language that
includes words in Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic, and more. The mother
tongue of Jews in the Ottoman Empire for 500 years, Ladino was
the home language of Sephardim worldwide in the early 20th
century.
Although today Ladino is only spoken by a small fraction of
Sephardim, the interest in the language and its culture is
experiencing a resurgence through distinguished university
programs, publications, concerts, and events of many kinds.
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.
Donate nowand 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!
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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).