In Honor of our friend, the Muslim World League’s Secretary General, Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Abdulkarim Al-Issa, on his and CRL Founder and President Bawa Jain’s inaugural Responsible Leaders Summit at the United Nations.
Abdol-Hossein Sardari Qajar was a twenty-six-year-old Iranian diplomat of Azerbaijani descent when the Nazis invaded France. When, in 1940, the Germans ordered all French Jews to register with the police, Qajar resisted by convincing the Nazis that the 150 Jews of Iran, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan actually came from Aryan stock! Qajar went on to save 3,000 Jewish lives by issuing Iranian documents to Persian Jews and their families and friends. What made him different? He “was of Azerbaijani descent. What Sardari did for Jewish people was a natural expression of… where he came from.”
Eva P., a Libyan Holocaust survivor
(Photo courtesy of ASF’s IJE)
The Holocaust was primarily, but not exclusively, a European event. During World War II, labor and internment camps were built across North Africa, Sephardic Jews were deported to these camps from several major cities, and some of those were even transported to Europe and met their death at the hands of the Nazis. In honor of Yom HaShoah and US Holocaust Memorial Week, the ASF’s Institute of Jewish Experience features in this video the testimony of Eva P., a Libyan Jew who describes conditions in the camp at Jado, Libya. (With thanks to Tom. O. S.)
Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s statement on education and tolerance was read to participants at a high-level discussion that took place on the sidelines of September’s UN General Assembly. The statement included a scathing critique of anti-Semitism that would have been remarkable for any leader, but was especially remarkable coming from a leader of a Muslim majority nation: “Anti-Semitism is the antithesis of freedom of expression. It implies a denial of the other and is an admission of failure, inadequacy and an inability to coexist. It implies an anachronistic return to a mythicised past.”
Friday, 10 May at 3:00PM
Wednesday, 15 May at 8:00PM Opening Night; Followed by After Party Friday, 17 May at 3:00PM
Wednesday, 22 May at 8:00PM
Wednesday, 29 May at 8:00PM
Sunday, 2 June at 6:00PM Closing Night; Followed by After Party
Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York City
An opera by Giuseppe Verdi as adapted by and starring David Serero in the role of Nabucco. Building on the Biblical accounts of the Babylonian Exile found in Jeremiah and Daniel, Verdi's Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar) combines political and love intrigues with some of the greatest songs ever written (including Va, pensiero, The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves).
Journalist, historian, and author Marc Leepson will present a lively talk (complete with vintage images) of a little-known but important part of Sephardic Jewish-American history and American historic preservation: how U.S. Navy Commodore Uriah P. Levy and his nephew Jefferson M. Levy--who owned Monticello from 1834-1923--on two occasions repaired, restored, and preserved the Thomas Jefferson's iconic house in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The talk will include a history of the Levy-Phillips-Nunez Family, one of the most accomplished Jewish-American families of the 18th and 19th centuries. It begins with the arrival in 1733 of Dr. Samuel Nunez, a leader of a group of forty Sephardic Jews who fled Portugal and were among the founders of Savannah, Georgia. It includes the biographies of Uriah Levy (a fifth generation American, born in Philadelphia in 1792, who went on to a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy) and his nephew Jefferson Monroe Levy, who was born in New York City, and became a prominent lawyer, a hugely successful real estate and stock speculator, and a three-term member of Congress.
The heart of the story is Uriah and Jefferson Levy's stewardship of Monticello, without which the house very likely would not have survived.
Thursday, 13 June at 3:00PM
Sunday, 16 June at 6:00PM Opening Night; Followed by After Party Tuesday, 18 June at 8:00PM
Thursday, 20 June at 8:00PM
Sunday, 23 June at 6:00PM Closing Night; Followed by After Party
Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York City
Shakespeare’s classic tale of love and loss reconceived as the story of two Jewish lovers, one from a Sephardi family and one from an Ashkenazi family. Featuring Ladino and Yiddish songs. Original Jewish adaption by David Serero.
The American Sephardi Federations Institute of Jewish Experience in partnership with Association Mimouna present:
The American Sephardi Federations Institute of Jewish Experience in partnership with Association Mimouna present a three-day scholarly and cultural conference dedicated to exploring the uncommon commonalities shared by Moroccan Jews and Muslims. The Morocco Conference is bringing together 40 of the worlds leading academics and artists to explore the historical, spiritual, and cultural expressions of Morocco's culture of coexistence. Scholars, dignitaries, and communal leaders will convene to share research, knowledge, and experiences to foster enhanced understanding and engagement with Morocco's tradition of tolerance and interconnectedness as a model for other Muslim nations and, moreover, the entire 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.”
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 June
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).