In Honor of the Baghdad-born, award-winning Israeli actor currently staring on Broadway with “The Band’s Visit,” Sasson Gabai, who received the ASF Pomegranate Award for Stage & Screen Lifetime Achievement at the NY Sepharic Jewish Film Festival on Monday. Photos from the evening, which featured special guests: Israel’s Consul General at New York Dani Dayan and the newly appointed US Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr, are available here
Dudu Tassa is an Israeli rock star. His new Arabic-language album, “El Hajar,” puts a contemporary spin on the music of his grandfather and great uncle, the al-Kuwaiti brothers, the undisputed masters of 20th century modern Iraqi music. Technically adept and soulful, “El Hajar” is striking a chord across the Middle East, from Tel Aviv to Tel Afar. Yes, Iraq. As one fan in Baghdad put it: “‘We love Dudu not only because he is the grandson of [Daoud] al-Kuwaiti, but because he has his own unique style.’”
Dudu Tassa and The Kuwaitis, 2017 (Photo courtesy of From the Grapevine)
Saleh (on violin) and Da’ud (on oud) al-Kuwaiti, Radio Baghdad Orchestra, 1936
(Photo courtesy of Old Iraqi Pictures/Twitter)
The al-Kuwaiti brothers were musical superstars in Iraq during the 1930’s and 40’s. After fleeing to Israel in the 1950’s, however, the brothers’ music was denied mainstream recognition. Today, more than half of Israel’s Jewish citizens have roots in the Arab or Islamic world. This brief film shows how Da’ud al-Kuwaiti's grandson, Israeli rock star Dudu Tassa’s remarkable journey of return to the Arabic music of his grandfather and great uncle, touches on some of the rawest psychological wounds and deepest cultural longings animating Israeli society.
British-born musician Carol Isaacs examined her Iraqi-Jewish identity during a recent event in London featuring her graphic memoir, “The Wolf of Baghdad.” Many non-Jewish Iraqis looking for ways to explore and recover Iraq’s pluralistic past also attended. According to Aydin Yaqubi, a 25-year-old Iraqi-American student, “social media and… mutual longing” are bringing Iraqis from all backgrounds together. But Yaqubi hasn’t limited his explorations to London. In order to find what Iraq has lost, Yaqubi recently visited Israel: “I went to explore the lost Iraq in the heart of Israel… I met many Iraqi Jews and was overwhelmed by their hospitality.”
6-20 March 2019 Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York City
The American Sephardi Federation’s NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festivalshowcases contemporary voices steeped in the history, traditions, and rich mosaic culture of Greater Sephardic communities. This year’s ten-day NYSJFF features a record 12 première film screenings, intriguing stories, evocative documentaries, Q&As with filmmakers, our first Master Class, as well as special honorees and guests. Each night of the Festival is a different themed program honoring the rich and diverse communities the ASF represents. The Pomegranate Awards Ceremony on Opening Night celebrates Sephardi excellence in the arts.
The 22nd NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival is dedicated to Ike, Molly, & Steven Elias
The Pomegranate Award is sculpted by Baghdad-born artist Oded Halahmy
26 March - Bukharian Jews
16 April - Georgian Jews Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York City
Please register here
or call: 1.800.838.3006 Light dinner reflecting the cuisine of Bukharian, Georgian, and Kavkazi Jews will be served
Back by popular demand, the American Sephardi Federation’s Young Sephardi Scholars Series is excited to once again host a 3-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 multimedia learning series will provide a unique opportunity to explore the multilayered and rich stories of the three communities.
Co-sponsored by JDC Entwine. This project was created as part of the COJECO BluePrint Fellowship, supported by COJECO and Genesis Philanthropy Group.
Ruben Shimonov is a Jewish educator, community builder, and social innovator based in New York City. His multilayered identity as an immigrant, Bukharian, Sephardic, Mizrahi, and Russian-speaking Jew continuously informs his commitment to the cultural and global diversity of the Jewish people. Ruben has previously brought this passion to his work at Queens College Hillel as Director of Cross-Community Engagement and Education, where he had the unique role of cultivating Sephardic-Mizrahi Jewish student life on campus. Ruben is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Sephardic-Mizrahi Q Network—a one-of-a-kind, grassroots movement that works to build a vibrant and supportive community for LGBTQ Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. He also serves as Vice-President for Education and Community Engagement on the American Sephardi Federation's Young Leadership Board, as well as the Director of Educational Experiences and Programming for the Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee of New York. Ruben was recently named among The Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36” emerging Jewish communal leaders and changemakers. He is also a 2018 ASF Broome & Allen Fellow, as well as a 2018 COJECO Blueprint Fellow. His speaking engagements include presenting at the Limmud Festival in the United Kingdom, one of the largest annual Jewish learning conferences in the world.
Please register here or email: info@sephardicbrotherhood.com
Join Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America for the Birthright Israel - Sephardic Israel Trip this Summer from June 27 - July 7! For 10 days, you'll be able to travel around the country with amazing people with Sephardic, Greek, and Turkish backgrounds, all while exploring everything Israel has to offer. You'll be able to ride camels in the desert, raft down the Jordan River, explore the Old City in Jerusalem, and a whole lot more. especially for Sephardic Jews from across the United States.
The American Sephardi Federation’s friends at The Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies (SCJS) invites papers on the crypto-Jewish experience from any discipline (e.g., anthropology, history, sociology, genealogy, philosophy, literature, music, art, etc.).
This year’s conference highlights the crypto-Jewish experience as defined
by the origins of Sephardic Jews in Iberia and the greater Mediterranean, Europe and North Africa, and the New World, both pre-and post Inquisition-era through today.
Topics should be relevant to the descendants of crypto-Jews, conversos, and anusim, with particular emphasis on how migration and nationality shapes behavior, as well as group and individual identity.
SCJS welcomes scholarly papers on all aspects of the Sephardic experience and that of other global communities exhibiting crypto-Judaic phenomena. We are particularly interested this year in research covering all areas of the Western Hemisphere.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Crypto-Jews in Modern America, Emerging Communities in Latin America,
Evolution of Sephardic Customs or Language Sephardic Culture Outside Iberia, Biographies of Conversos in Old or New Spain Transmission or Discovery of Family Traditions, Conversos in Spanish and Portuguese Colonial Communities, Inquisition-Related Studies.
Personal stories or anecdotal research relating to crypto-Judaic experiences are also welcome, either for individual presentations or for specific panel discussions related to peers and/or a target audience. Proposals must include speaker contact details, a title, a 200-word abstract or summary, and a 100-word bio. Please indicate if research is completed or in progress.
Proposals must be received by March 15, 2019; accepted speakers will be notified shortly
thereafter. Send proposals or inquiries to: Professor Seth Kunin Ph.D, Program Chair at CryptoJewish.Conference@gmail.com
Note: Presenters will benefit a special discounted registration rate and the opportunity to network and expose their work to the attention of leading researchers in the field. For more information on SCJS, visit www.cryptojews.com
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).
