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23 July 2021 
 
Mazal tov/Mabrouk to ASF Young Leaders Ezra Mosseri and Michelle Bassaly, members of the Egyptian-Syrian and Mashhadi-Persian Sephardic Communities, on their wonderful wedding. We wish Ezra and Michelle a beautiful life together filled with family, friends, and fidelity to our traditions.
!סימן טוב ומזל טוב, שתזכו לבנות בית נאמן בישראל

 Click here to dedicate a future issue in honor or memory of a loved one.

Thank you to 
Sephardi World Weekly Patrons Professor Rifka Cook,  Maria Gabriela Borrego Medina, Rachel Amar, Deborah Arellano, and Distinguished ASF Vice President Gwen Zuares!
Become a Patron today!


During Passover, Iranian regime-backed Houthis expelled almost all of Yemen’s last Jews. They continue to illegally imprison Levi Salem Musa Marhabi. Don’t turn away. Don’t close your eyes. Don’t let another group of Jews become forgotten refugees. Join the ASF’s campaign to #FreeLeviMarhabi.
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Dorit Rabinyan
(Photo courtesy of Stanford University's PATH+ (Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew)) 
‘Persians of Israel’ Defy Iran Tensions to Cultivate Dialogue with Iranians
Michael Lipin, VOA

While the Iranian regime promotes genocidal antisemitism against Jews and the State of Israel, prominent Israelis “with Persian roots” have been connecting to the Iranian people via alternative channels. For instance, “Menashe Amir… has been broadcasting to Iran in Farsi via radio and online for six decades,” while “Rita, one of Israel’s most successful pop stars,” released her first Farsi-language album in 2012. Meanwhile, “Dorit Rabinyan, a novelist who has won international acclaim for writing about romances of young Persian women and a taboo-breaking Jewish-Muslim couple… unexpectedly developed an Iranian readership after discovering that her debut novel, Persian Brides, was translated into Farsi and published in Iran without her knowledge.”

Rita singing a lullaby 
(Screenshot courtesy of Isfahani-Mashadi Jewhood, 2019)

 
Bahram Sadeghi is an Amsterdam-based filmmaker who was born and raised in Iran. A few years ago, Sadeghi collaborated with an Israeli-born and Netherlands-based friend to make a movie that revolved around a single, simple question: what’s it like to be an Iranian-Israeli? In this touching scene, Sadeghi is reduced to tears when Rita, a famous Israeli vocalist who sometimes records in Farsi, sings a lullaby that she learned from her mother.  
Benjamin Zatz Wins American Sephardi Federation Fellowship
Caleb Lippe, The Jewish Link of New Jersey

The American Sephardi Federation’s 24 Broome & Allen Fellowship & Scholarship Recipients for 2021 are an impressive group. Take, for example, “[l]ifelong resident of Teaneck and current freshman at the University of Vermont, Benjamin Zatz.” Zatz, 19, teamed up with Isaac De Castro, another Broome & Allen Scholar and the co-founder of Jewish On Campus, “to address the antisemitic, anti-Israel curriculum of the California State Ethnic Studies program.” Zatz is also engaged in agricultural research with the potential, “to make major impacts in the field of nutritional science,” and he has ably assisted the ASF’s social media campaign pressing for the release of Levi Marhabi, a Yemenite Jew illegally held hostage by the Houthis, who have been “subject to torture, abysmal conditions and total lack of regard for his quickly deteriorating health.”

Benjamin “Avi” Zatz 
Sephardi Gifts:
 
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
 
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:

Special offer to watch the award-winning documentary about fashion designer Elie Tahari directed & produced by David Serero

“The United States of Elie Tahari”

Click here to watch the movie!
Use promo code: ASFTAHARI for a discount on rentals

(Available for 30 days only)

Discover the unique story of Elie Tahari, a Persian Sephardic Jew who moved to Israel as a refugee and lived in one of the Ma’Baarot, moved to New York in the 1970s with less than $100, and built a Billion-dollar fashion empire. Only three fashions companies survived more than four decades, achieved billions of dollars in gross, and are still run by their owners: Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Elie Tahari.  Tahari received the Oded Halahmy-sculpted ASF Pomegranate Award for Lifetime Achievement for a Fashion Designer at the 23rd NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival.

Jewish Heritage Alliance, in collaboration with the American Sephardi Federation and other co-hosting Partners, presents:

Sefarad: The Untold Story That Changed the World

A 3-part series exploring History, Memory, and Legacy

Sunday, 1 August at 1:00PM EDT
Sign-up Now!
(Free Admission, registration required) 



“The Sefardic experience is more than merely recounting a history; this is a far-reaching segment of Jewish and world history spanning centuries with profound consequences still unfolding in present day. Yet despite its historic importance, many in the Jewish and Latino communities have yet to learn the relevance and impact of these events.

Part I / Aug 01: In the Beginning: From King Solomon to the Ends of the Earth. The history of Sefarad evokes both great achievements and the depths of despair. This presentation will take us from the early arrival of the Jews to the Iberian Peninsula, through the “Golden Age”, a time of intellectual, social, and financial achievements, to the dark periods of riots, massacres, forced conversions, Inquisition, leading to expulsion and thus creating the Sefarad diaspora that changed the course of history.

Join Dr. Isaac Amon, JHA’s Director of Research & Project Development on a fascinating journey spanning time and space to the origins, experiences, and legacy of Sefarad, the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula, today’s Spain and Portugal.

Dr. Michelle Green Willner, a dramatic and evocative award-winning composer, conductor and educator is our special guest who will share with us a part of her moving musical arrangement “A Letter Fell Out of the Sky”, a two-movement piece commemorating the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.”

Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum presents:

Greek Jewish Block Party

“Join us to celebrate our Romaniote and Sephardic heritage and reconnect with our community.
Enjoy delicious food, live music, Greek dancing, and kids activities.”


Sunday, 15 August  12:00-4:00PM EDT
Free Admission 
All public health guidelines will be followed


280 Broome Street
(Between Allen & Eldridge St.)
Lower East Side, NYC




The American Sephardi Federation is a proud Community Partner of the Greek Jewish Festival

The Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood Presents

2021 Sephardic Birthright Trip

“Registration is now open for this year’s Sephardic Birthright Trip! 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. The trip is totally FREE and anyone between the ages of 18 and 28 who hasn't been on a Birthright Israel trip before is eligible. Even if you’ve been to Israel before on a non-birthright trip, you may still be eligible. The trip will follow all related COVID-19 Health Guidance as required by the US Centers for Disease Control and the Israel Ministry of Health.”
 
You can sign up now at sephardicbrotherhood.com/birthright. Registration takes less than 10 minutes and no final commitment is necessary. When registering, make sure to write “Sephardic Israel” as your “referred by” group and Amazing Israel as your trip provider.


August 22 - September 1 2021


Sign-up for the trip now!



Note: While not an ASF program, the ASF is proud of the ASF Young Leaders involved in organizing this trip.


The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:

The Persian Experience

Sign-up now!

Jews lived in the Middle East, and particularly Iran, even before the advent of Islam. Iran has a long history with varying dynasties, dynastic changes, and evolving borders and Jews have been there continuously throughout these changes. Throughout the ascent of Islam in its different forms, Jews were integrated at times more and at times less economically. There were times of intellectual and spiritual growth as well as suppression and persecution. All this will be addressed and discussed in a historical context.

The course is divided into seven units:


1. The Ancient Period – the settlement of the Jews in Iran, Acaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanian times
2. 7th to 9th Centuries – The emergence of Islam, Islam and the Jews, Dhimma, and Jewish religious streams
3. 13th to 18th centuries – Mongols, Jewish Persian poets, Safavid times
4. Mid-18th century to 19th century – Invasion, dynasties, and persecutions
5. The latter part of the 19th century – Interactions with World Jewry, legal status and conversions
6. Early 20th century – Modernization and education, constitution revolution, Zionism
7. The 20th century – Pahlavi dynasty, Revolution, Mashadis, and Migration


Dr. Daniel Tsadik
Dr. Daniel Tsadik, a former professor of Sephardic and Iranian Studies at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, has been awarded The Prime Minister’s Prize (Israel) in 2020 for the Encouragement and Empowerment of Jewish Communities in Arab Countries and Iran for The Jews of Iran and Rabbinic Literature: New Perspectives, published by Mosad Ha-Rav Kook.
Tsadik researches the modern history of Iran, Shi'ah Islam, and Iran's religious minorities. A Fulbright scholar, he earned his Ph.D from the History Department at Yale University.

Dr. David Yeroushalmy
Born in Tehran, David Yeroushalmy completed his primary and part of his secondary education at the Alliance Israelite school in Tehran. He immigrated to Israel in 1961 and upon completing his secondary education he enrolled in the Department of Middle Eastern History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Completing his B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies and in Political Science, he served in the Israeli Army as an officer. He pursued his doctoral studies at Colombia University New York, in the Department of Middle East Languages and Cultures. He specialized in Persian and Hebrew languages and literatures. D. Yeroushalmy was appointed lecturer in the Department of Middle Eastern and African History at Tel-Aviv University, where he has been teaching Persian language and Iranian history and culture. His Book entitled The Judeo-Persian Poet Emrani and His Book of Treasure, was published by E.J. Brill Publishers, Leiden, in 1995. Dr. Yeroushalmy's current research focuses on the communal and cultural history of Iranian Jewry in the course of the nineteen-century.

Ms. Lerone Edalati
Lerone Edalati is a member of the Mashadi community of New York. In addition to her role as Associate Director of Donor Relations at ISEF, she researches and records the history and current practices of the Mashadi Jews. She holds a BA from NYU in Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies, and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from The Graduate Center, CUNY. She is a Broome & Allen Fellow at the American Sephardi Federation and is currently gathering oral histories of Iranian Jews in NY.

Dr. Hilda Nissimi
Dr. Hilda Nissimi is the chair of the Generatl History Department at Bar Ilan University. Her most current research focuses on the formation adn change of identity layers in crypto-religious communities, with a particular focus on Mashadi Jews. Her book, The Crypto-Jewish Mashadis, was published in 1985 and remains the main text on the study of that population. She has written numerous articles on identity and forced conversions.


This course is made possible with the support of The Shazar Center, Israel.

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



Sponsorship opportunities available:
info@americansephardi.org


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 visithttps://courses.instituteofjewishexperience.org/

With your generous, tax-deductible donation, the ASF can cultivate and advocate, preserve and promote, as well as educate and empower!



Please donate now to support the American Sephardi Federation!
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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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