In Honor of the Yemenite-Israeli war hero, Avigdor Kahalani, now 75 years-young. At the beginning of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, more than 1,4000 Syrian tanks crossed into the Golan Heights, while the Israelis only had 170 tanks. They were eventually led, however, by Lt. Avigdor Kahalani, and thanks to Kahalani's bravery and leadership, Israel miraculously turned the tide and emerged victorious. Kahalani, it should be noted, had been seriously wounded in the 1967 Six Day War, but twelve surgeries and a forged health certificate convinced his superiors that Kahalani was still fit for combat.
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The Young Women’s Hebrew Association's “Popular Trip to Syria & Lebanon,” 21 April 1933
(Photo courtesy of the National Library of Israel)
It is not just that the heart of Beirut lies in ruins, with Hizballah draining Lebanon of what little life remains. Consider the following: in the Land of Israel, during the first half of the twentieth century, when England and France ruled the Levant, “[t]he Hebrew press and bulletin boards were filled with advertisements appealing to the Jewish readers to come and relax in Lebanon.” Arriving by train, boat, or sometimes busses, Jewish tourists especially enjoyed skiing on Lebanon’s snow-capped peaks. In the 1930s, “Competition was so fierce… hotels even enticed Jewish holidaymakers with the promise of kosher food.” Times change. Or do they? The Emirate of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture & Tourism recently “advising” all hostels “to include Kosher food options on room service menus and at all food & beverage outlets in their establishments.”
The exodus of Jews from the “Arab world” constituted one the most substantive transformations of the
20th century. Taking aim at Israel’s legitimacy, Arab leaders initially found it useful after the exodus to
erase or distort the history of Jews in the region. In recent years, however, things have begun to change,
both in the media and the political sphere. As part of this greater cultural transformation, and coinciding
with, “the upcoming publication of a book by historian Nagi Zeidan that for the first time documents the
presence of every Jewish family that lived in Lebanon,” the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Arab News has taken a “deep dive” into the history of Lebanese Jewry with an extended article and stunning photographic essay. Among the amazing images is a photo of Hakham Rabbi Avraham Abadie, A”H, the father of distinguished ASF Board Member Hakham Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie, who was interviewed for the article.
Hakham Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie as a child in Beirut, Lebanon
(Screenshot courtesy of the Arab News)
Rabbi Moshe Habusha playing the oud
(Photo courtesy of Emil Salman)
In honor of Sukkot, the great Iraqi-born payytan, R’Moshe Habusha, sings Yah et Sukkat David Takim (“God, raise up David’s Sukkah”), according to the traditional Babylonian melody. Sephardi World Weekly wishes our readers a joyous Sukkot, with hopes for an even more joyous Sukkot, sans Corona, next year.
Bonus Feature:Brown Nougat Sukkah!
Brown Nougat Sukkah!
(Photo courtesy of Chef Hélène Jawhara-Piñer)
In the second episode of her new ASF IJE show, Sephardic Culinary History, Chef Hélène Jawhara Piñer, Ph.D built a sukkah out of brown nougat. Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
2 ½ cups (250 g) Sugar
1 cup (125 g) Whole almonds (with the peel)
1 cup (125 g) Whole hazelnuts and/or pistachios
¼ cup Cranberries
½ cup Water
½ tsp Fresh lemon juice
Pomegranate
Tools
Paper towel
Neutral oil
Sauce pan
Oven
Tray
Wood spoon
Spatula
Rollin pin
Cookie cutter
The Abraham Accords peace agreement between Israel and the UAE reflects a major intellectual shift that is taking place in some Arab-Islamic circles. A good example is a recently published article, “The Cost of
the Expulsion of the Arab Jews,” by Salam Hamid, an Emerati writer and the founder and head of the Al-Mezmaah Studies and Research Center in Dubai. The article is characterized by intense self-reflection and a genuine aspiration for pluralism, as Hamid criticizes the hatred of Jews rooted in Islamist texts, blames Arab rulers for contributing to the 1948 Palestinian refugee problem, and bemoans the expulsion of Jews
from Arab-ruled countries: “Had the Arabs given even a passing glance to the contribution made by the
Jews, especially in the financial sector… they would have learned their lesson, and not made the mistake
of expelling Arab Jews…”
Jewish Women from Muslim Societies Speak
Published by the American Sephardi Federation and Hadassah International Research Institute on Jewish Woman at Brandeis University
Jewish women from Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, and Iran were invited to share their personal stories. It could be said that these women's voices are from the last generation of Jews to have an intimate personal knowledge of the Muslim world, the enormous diversity within and among Middle Eastern Jewish communities.
We hope that these essays, told through the medium of vivid personal stories, will stimulate discussion about contemporary dynamics in the Muslim world and raise awareness of Jewish women’s history in North Africa and the Middle-East.
Rabbi Elie Abadie, M.D., comes from a long and distinguished rabbinical lineage dating back to fifteenth century Spain and Provence. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, he grew-up in Mexico City before settling in the United States. Following in the footsteps of the great Jewish scholar and philosopher Moses Maimonides (the Rambam), he is both a rabbi and a physician. Rabbi Dr. Abadie maintains a practice in Gastroenterology and is fluent in English, Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, French, as well as conversant in Italian and Portuguese. He serves on the Boards of the American Sephardi Federation and Beit Hatfutsot, as the Director of the Jacob E. Safra Institute of Sephardic Studies at Yeshiva University, Head of School of the Sephardic Academy of Manhattan, and Founder and Leader of the Manhattan East Synagogue – Congregation Shaare Mizrah.
The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:
Learn Arabic with Professor Daniel Tsadik
Learn to read and write as well as basic Arabic language skills with Professor Daniel Tsadik of Yeshiva University.
17 online sessions
Every Monday & Wednesday
14 October through 9 December at 10 AM EDT
Sign-up Now! Registration required for the full course
Wednesday, 14 October at 12:00PM EDT Sina Kahen will discuss his new book “Ideas: Bereshit,” ideas on the weekly Torah portion through a Western Sephardi lens. Sign-up Now! (Complimentary RSVP required)
Wednesday, 28 October at 12:00PM EDT Alma Rachel Heckman discusses her new book, “The Sultan’s Communists: Moroccan Jews and the Politics of Belonging.” Sign-up Now!
Enter for a chance to win a spot in the ASF’s Virtual Cookbook and other prizes!
Does your family have the best Sephardic recipe? Like to cook Sephardic? Let the world know by submitting your recipe to the ASF’s Great Sephardic Chef Competition. Entries will be judged by a panel of scholars, chefs, restaurateurs, and authors in the following categories:
Appetizers
Bread
Communities (Greek, Iraqi, Italian, Moroccan, Persian, Spanish, Syrian, et al...)
Desserts
Entrees
Grandma’s Favorite
Mom’s Best
Salads
Shabbat
Soups
Special Occasions & Creations
Vegan
Yom Tov
Submission Due Date: 15 October 2020 $10 per entry; unlimited entries!
Wednesday, 4 November at 12:00PM EDT Shalva Weil discusses her new book, “The Baghdadi Jews in India: Maintaining Communities, Negotiating Identities and Creating Super-Diversity.” Sign-up Now!
Wednesday, 11 November at 12:00PM EDT Stanley Mirvis discusses his new book, “The Jews of Eighteenth-Century Jamaica: A Testamentary History of a Diaspora in Transition.” An in-depth look at the Portuguese Jews of Jamaica and their connections to broader European and Atlantic trade networks. Sign-up Now!
Wednesday, 18 November at 12:00PM EDT Jane Gerber discusses her new book, “Cities of Splendour in the Shaping of Sephardi History.” Sign-up Now!
Wednesday, 25 November at 12:00PM EDT Cedric Cohen-Skalli discusses his new book, “Don Isaac Abravanel: An Intellectual Biography.” Sign-up Now!
Wednesday, 2 December at 12:00PM EDT Danny Bar Maoz discusses his new book, “Life without a Childhood in the Yemenite Jewish Community 1882-1948.”
The book is in Hebrew (חיים ללא ילדות בקהילות יהודי תימן 1882-1948) but the lecture will be given in English. Sign-up Now!
Wednesday, 9 December at 12:00PM EDT Aviva Ben-Ur discusses her new book, “Jewish Autonomy in a Slave Society: Suriname in the Atlantic World, 1651-1825.” Sign-up Now!
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
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.
“We have to unite our energies together. All Jews, together…. If we are united, all Sephardim and also Ashkenazim, together... we will see the light!”
~Enrico Macias
The ASF Institute of Jewish Experienceis uniquely dedicated to ensuring that today’s Jews know our history; appreciate the beauty, depth, diversity, and vitality of the Jewish experience; and have a sense of pride in Jewish contributions to civilization. Donate Now!
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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).