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25 December 2020 
 
Happy Birthday to the Senior Rabbi of the Jewish Community of the UAE and Distinguished ASF Board Member, Hakham Dr. Ellie Abadie! Our dear friend Hassan Sajwani, an Emirati entrepreneur and influencer, organized a dinner in honor of the recently returned Emirati delegation to Israel. The group sang R’Abadie Happy Birthday in Arabic upon discovering the significance of the day. What a wonderful way to celebrate!
 
 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, and Distinguished ASF Vice President Gwen Zuares!
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Gyðingakökur
(Photo courtesy of Mona Guttormsen/Fjölmennt)  



 
Icelandic Jewish cookies: A dessert with a fascinating story to tell 
By Rachel Ringler, The Times of Israel (JTA/The Nosher)

Ever eaten a “gyðingakökur”? It's an Icelandic desert whose name means, “Jewish cookie.” What's the deal? Apparently, these “Jewish” cookies travelled to Iceland via Denmark and Holland. In short, Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain and Portugal in the 15th and 16th centuries found refuge in Holland, where they remixed traditional Iberian foods with the local Scandinavian cuisine. This cultural fusion included cookies based on butter instead of olive oil. From there, “the cookies spread to Denmark where they became a traditional pre-Christmas treat.” With recipe.


Ziv Yehezkel fist-bumps a friend 
(Screenshot courtesy of Eastern Soul/Youtube)


Ziv Yehezkel is a Sephardi-Israeli singer, master of Arabic music, and a devout Jew. In a new video, Yehezkel teams up with Tunisian vocalist Noomani El Chaari to sing Shalom Bein Sh’cheynim (“Peace Between Neighbors”), a song composed and performed in a rich, 20th century, modern Arabic style, with some contemporary flourishes. In lyrics reflective of the new-found sense of  spiritual connection spreading in certain Middle Eastern quarters, El Chaari croons, “I am an Arab who loves his country / In my faith there is a place for all religions,” while Yehezkel replies, “I am a Jew / The Torah is my way / I stem from the tree of Abraham… My history narrates this lineage / As the
Quran confirms it…”
This 118-year-old Jewish bakery in India is a hit on Christmas” 
By Christabel Lobo, JTA

The Nahoum and Sons Jewish Bakery was opened in Kolkota (Calcutta) in 1902 by Nahoum Israel Mordecai, one of 4,000 Baghdadi Jews who made their way to India at the turn of the 20th century. Only twenty Jews remain in Kolkota today, but a family member (Isaac) still runs the store, and Nahoum and Sons Bakery remains a popular desert destination with “its 140 fresh-baked products, including about 40 different handmade biscuits such as kaka — a savory caraway cookie that’s a Baghdadi Jewish specialty,” but “it’s the bakery’s renowned rich fruit cakes that draw the crowds during Christmas.The fruit cakes — the recipe is a trade secret — have been a popular offering since as far back as Nahoum can remember,” and were even praised by the Archbishop of Canterbury when he visited Covenant House in 1966.
“My Calcutta. Where Hindus stand in queue to buy cakes from a Jewish bakery (Nahoum’s), made by Muslim chefs, to celebrate a Christian festival,” says Shahid Alam, 24 December 2020
(Photo courtesy of Shahid Alam/Facebook)

Moroccan couscous
(Photo courtesy of William Sonoma)


 
UNESCO announces couscous a world cultural heritage 
By Tobias Siegal, The Jerusalem Post

Couscous is a popular North African dish made from tiny semolina balls. Think of a southern Mediterranean blend of pasta and rice. North African Jews have made couscous part of Israel’s national palate, while UNESCO just added the dish, “to its Intangible Cultural Heritage List.” But UNESCO’s
designation also struck at the essence of the matter, “[W]hile it is difficult to be definitive about its history… everyone agreed on the truth of couscous: ‘The best couscous is my mother’s.’”
Sephardi Gifts:
Exploring Sephardic Customs and Traditions
By Hakham R’Marc D. Angel, Ph.D

Over the centuries, Jewish communities throughout the world adopted customs that enhanced and deepened their religious observances. These customs, or minhagim, became powerful elements in the religious consciousness of the Jewish people. It is important to recognize that minhagim are manifestations of a religious worldview, a philosophy of life. They are not merely quaint or picturesque practices, but expressions of a community’s way of enhancing the religious experience. A valuable resource for Sephardim and Ashkenazim alike.
The Kosher Kitchen: A Guide To the Laws Of Kashrut
By Rafael Avraham HaCohen Soae

A delightful, detailed book that includes the Laws of Kosher Meat and Vegetable Products according to the Shulchan Aruch, the Rama, and the Acharonim. 

The Kosher Kitchen includes comprehensive explanations of Bee Honey, Bishul Nochre, Challah, Mother’s Milk, the Priestly Gifts, Salting, Worms and Insects, and more. 

Illustrations and explanations seek to provide a quick, visual study for those who have no time.

 
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Upcoming Events or Opportunities:

ASF congratulates David Serero on earning 10 nominations, including Best Performer of the Decade, Best Opera Singer of the Year, Best Producer of a Musical and of a Play at the Broadway World Awards!

Show your support by voting:


BROADWAY AWARDS:
Click here to vote for the Musicals and Plays:
Romeo and JulietNabucco, Marriage of Figaro, Anne Frank, a Musical, and Lost in the Disco


OPERA AWARDS:
David Serero (Best Opera Singer) Here!

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:

Tell Your Sephardi-Mizrahi Story
With award-winning author Gila Green

Have you always wanted to write your life story?
Join our Zoom writing workshop that pushes beyond memoir and borrows fiction techniques.
All writing levels are welcome!


On Tuesdays
5 January – 2 February at 12:00PM EST

5 online sessions


Sign-up Now!
(Registration required for the full course; Space is limited)


Have you always wanted to write your life story? Gila Green’s new Middle Eastern flavored Autofiction Workshop explores a writing form that pushes beyond memoir and borrows fiction techniques. Inventing your own dialogue and creating details can often free you from the need to stick to the facts, opening the door to a deeper story with emotional truth at its center. This zoom course includes a weekly lesson and in-class exercise. Instructor feedback will be provided on weekly writing assignments (up to 1,000 words). Short readings will feature Middle Eastern writers that include authors such as: Sarah Abrevaya Stein, Rachel Shabi, and Ariel Sabar.
The workshop is open to women and men of all writing levels.

About Gila Green:
Gila Green’s novels feature characters of Sephardi, Yemenite, and mixed Middle Eastern heritage because she couldn’t find any Jewish stories that reflected her experience growing up and decided to write them herself. Her novel-in-stories White Zion explores one Yemenite family’s journey from Sana’a to Jerusalem to Canada. In Passport Control, heroine Miriam Gil struggles to understand her Yemenite father’s past against a trove of family secrets. Gila is an author, a creative writing teacher, an EFL college lecturer, an editor, and a mother of five. When she’s not exploring the Middle East in her novels, she migrates to South Africa in her continuing environmental young adult series that takes place in Kruger National Park. In addition to her four published novels, her short works have been featured in dozens of publications including: Sephardic Horizons, Jewish Fiction, Jewish Literary Journal, Fiction Magazine, Akashic Books, The Fiddlehead, and others.


Sponsorship opportunities available:
info@americansephardi.org

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:

The Rich Cultural Heritage of Bukharan Jews

On the heels of our 2-part session about the multifaceted history of Bukharian Jews, we invite you to join us for a deeper dive into the rich and dynamic culture of this millenia-old community.
Join us as we explore the musical, literary, and culinary heritage of Bukharian Jews—discovering the ways in which they have developed their mosaic culture through a dynamic interaction with the dominant and changing societies surrounding them.
Our discussion will take us on a journey to Central Asia, the Land of Israel, the United States and beyond.


Wednesday, 6 January at 12:00PM EST

Sign-up Now!


Born in Uzbekistan, raised in Seattle, and currently based in New York City, Ruben Shimonov is a Jewish educator, community builder, social entrepreneur and artist with a passion for Jewish diversity and pluralism. He previously served as Director of Community Engagement & Education at Queens College Hillel—where he had, within his vast portfolio, the unique role of cultivating Sephardic & Mizrahi student life on campus. Currently, he is the Founding Executive Director of the Sephardic Mizrahi Q Network—a grassroots movement building a supportive, vibrant and much-needed community for LGBTQ+ Sephardic & Mizrahi Jews. He also serves as Vice-President of Education & Community Engagement on the Young Leadership Board of the American Sephardi Federation, an ASF Broome & Allen Fellow, as well as Director of Educational Experiences & Programming for the Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee. Within both organizations, Ruben has used his artistry in Arabic, Hebrew & Persian calligraphy to enhance Muslim-Jewish dialogue and relationship building. In 2018, Ruben was listed among The Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36” young Jewish community leaders and changemakers. He has lectured extensively on the histories and cultures of various Sephardic & Mizrahi communities. Among his speaking engagements, he has been invited to present at Limmud Seattle, NY and U.K. He is also an alumnus of the COJECO Blueprint and Nahum Goldmann Fellowships for his work in Jewish social innovation.

Sponsorship opportunities available:
info@americansephardi.org


The American Sephardi Federation, the Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America and the Shearith Israel League Foundation present:

New York Ladino Day 2021:
Adelantre / Onward!


Join us for ASF’s 4th Annual Ladino Day created by Drs. Jane Mushabac and Bryan Kirschen.

You’ll hear Ruth Azaria, actor Hank Azaria’s mother, speak about growing-up with Ladino; Rabbi Nissim Elnecavé on expressions we love; Ladino students on learning the language; renowned writer Myriam Moscona; the premiere of a contemporary short play; and celebrated singer Daphna Mor.


Sunday, 10 January 2:00 - 4:00PM EST
Zoom Event


Sign-up Now!

Ladino is a bridge to many cultures. It is a variety of Spanish that has absorbed words from Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic, French, Greek, and Portuguese. The mother tongue of Jews in the Ottoman Empire for 500 years, Ladino became the home language of Sephardim worldwide. While the number of Ladino speakers has sharply declined, distinguished Ladino Day programs like ours celebrate and preserve a vibrant language and heritage. These programs are, as Aviya Kushner wrote in the Forward last January, “Why Ladino Will Rise Again.” 

Since 2013, International Ladino Day programs have been held around the world to honor the Ladino language, also known as Judeo-Spanish. 

Sponsorship opportunities available:
info@americansephardi.org


                  

The Shearith Israel League Foundation

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:

New Works Wednesdays

 Edith Scott Saavedra discusses her new work The Lamps of Albarracin.

Wednesday, 13 January at 12:00PM EST


Sign-up Now!



Historical fiction author Edith Scott Saavedra explores her journey to bring alive the culture and history of Sephardic Aragon and true stories of resistance to the Spanish Inquisition by giving voice to women and girls. Inspired by traditions passed down from mother to daughter for generations, the author would discover in the historical records episodes of resistance long suppressed by the monarchy and church in Spain, write a historical novel in English and Spanish editions, and set out to bring this content to students in Spain and the United States.

The Lamps of Albarracín” is a fictional first-person narrative by a Sephardic girl that recounts the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition into the Kingdom of Aragon in the 1480s. It is based on extensive review of Spanish Inquisition testimony and historical research. The novel gives voice to the diverse peoples of late-medieval Aragon – Jews, Muslims, Christians, and persons of mixed heritage, with a focus on women and true stories of tolerance and courage. It also celebrates the rich culture and traditions of multicultural Aragon in the years prior to the Expulsion of the Jews.

Edith Scott Saavedra earned her BA and JD degrees from Harvard University. She has had a distinguished career as an international lawyer, business consultant and nonfiction author. The Lamps of Albarracín/Los Candiles de Albarracín, her first novel, has received media attention throughout the Spanish speaking world, including Radio Sefarad MadridSefarad.eseSefaradLibertad DigitalRadio AragónSemanario Hebreo, and Radio Las 2 Orillas Bogotá.


Sponsorship opportunities available:
info@americansephardi.org

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:

New Works Wednesdays

Esther Amini discusses her new work Concealed
Memoir of a Jewish-Iranian daughter caught between the Chador and America

Thursday, 21 January at 1:00PM EST


Sign-up Now!



Esther Amini grew-up in Queens, New York, during the freewheeling 1960s. She also grew-up in a Persian-Jewish household, the American-born daughter of parents who had fled Mashhad, Iran. In Concealed, she tells the story of being caught between these two worlds: the dutiful daughter of tradition-bound parents who hungers for more self-determination than tradition allows.

Exploring the roots of her father’s deep silences and explosive temper, her mother’s flamboyance and flights from home, and her own sense of indebtedness to her Iranian-born brothers, Amini uncovers the story of her parents’ early years in Mashhad, Iran’s holiest Muslim city; the little-known history of Mashhad’s underground Jews; the incident that steeled her mother’s resolve to leave; and her parents’ arduous journey to the U.S., where they faced a new threat to their traditions: the threat of freedom. Determined to protect his daughter from corruption, Amini’s father prohibits talk, books, education, and pushes an early Persian marriage instead. Can she resist? Should she? Focused intently on what she stands to gain, Amini comes to see what she also stands to lose: a family and community bound by food, celebrations, sibling escapades, and unexpected acts of devotion by parents to whom she feels invisible.

Esther Amini is a writer, painter, and psychoanalytic psychotherapist in private practice. Her short stories have appeared in Elle, Lilith, Tablet, The Jewish Week, Barnard Magazine, Inscape Literary, and Proximity. She was named one of Aspen Words’ two best emerging memoirists and awarded its Emerging Writer Fellowship in 2016 based on her memoir entitled: “Concealed.” Her pieces have been performed by Jewish Women’s Theatre in Los Angeles and in Manhattan, and was chosen by JWT as their Artist-in-Residence in 2019.


Order your copy of “Concealed” now

Sponsorship opportunities available:
info@americansephardi.org

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:

New Works Wednesdays

Award winning author Gila Green discusses her new work White Zion.

Wednesday, 27 January at 12:00PM EST


Sign-up Now!



The novel takes readers into the worlds of 19th century Yemen, pre-State Israel, modern Israel, and modern Canada. You will hear the voices of a young boy marveling at Israel’s first air force on his own roof, the cry of a newly married woman helpless to defend herself against her new husband’s desires, the anger of the heroine’s uncle as he reveals startling secrets about his marriage and the fall-out after generations of war.

Gila Green’s novels feature characters of Sephardi, Yemenite, and mixed Middle Eastern heritage because she couldn’t find any Jewish stories that reflected her experience growing up and decided to write them herself. Her novel-in-stories White Zion explores one Yemenite family’s journey from Sanaa to Jerusalem to Canada. In Passport Control, heroine Miriam Gil struggles to understand her Yemenite father’s past against a trove of family secrets. Gila is an author, a creative writing teacher, an EFL college lecturer, an editor, and a mother of five. When she’s not exploring the Middle East in her novels, she migrates to South Africa in her continuing environmental young adult series that takes place in Kruger National Park. In addition to her four published novels, her short works have been featured in dozens of publications including: Sephardic Horizons, Jewish Fiction, Jewish Literary Journal, Fiction Magazine, Akashic Books, The Fiddlehead, and others.


Sponsorship opportunities available:
info@americansephardi.org

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:

New Works Wednesdays

Nadia Sabri, with contributing researchers, discusses the new collection Views of Jewish Morocco: Forms, Places, Narratives.

In this interactive session Nadia Sabri will have a discussion with book contributors Abdou Filaly Ansary, Vanessa Paloma Elbaz, and Brahim El Guabli.


Wednesday, 3 February at 12:00PM EST


Sign-up Now!


The book is a multidisciplinary collective work that focuses on the memory of Moroccan Judaism through autobiographical accounts, testimonies, artistic experiences, and critical writings that shed light on them. These contributions weave an unprecedented set of texts and works of art, combining temporalities around memories of a world lost forever, of a Morocco that the young ignore, and that this book proposes to revisit in a pluralistic manner. The collection encompasses a contemporary reflection on the scope of maintaining the memory of Moroccan Judaism.

About the Author:
Academic and independent curator, Dr. Nadia Sabri is president of the Moroccan section of AICA (International Association of Art Critics). Nadia Sabri has built projects around Art and societal issues over the course of the last fifteen years. She conceives artistic projects as a driving force combining research, demonstrative processes, and experiences. Nadia Sabri has written and directed several research projects and publications on contemporary art and its relationship to sociopolitical issues such as cities, exile or even artist commitment. In 2015, she founded Exiles, paradigm fertile, a multidisciplinary platform for reflection and creation around the issue of exile as a creative and evolutionary paradigm.

She lives in Rabat, Morocco, where she is associated professor at Mohammed V University and also works as a curator and researcher in several countries.

Click here to read more about the book, Views of Jewish Morocco: Forms, Places, Narratives


Sponsorship opportunities available:
info@americansephardi.org

The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:

Writing Between Tongues
Part 2


With Ruben Shimonov

Following the success of December’s talk “Writing Between Tongues: An Exploration of Hebrew and Arabic Calligraphy”, we are excited to bring back educator and artist Ruben Shimonov for a follow-up interactive artist talk, virtual gallery tour, and workshop. In this 90-minute session, we will take a deeper dive into the rich visual worlds of Arabic and Hebrew calligraphy. Educator, community organizer, and artist Ruben Shimonov will take us on an exploratory journey of his multilingual calligraphy and the ways he has used his art to enrich Muslim-Jewish interfaith communities. We will have a talk-back with the artist, as well as a live calligraphy demonstration during which you can try your hand at the calligraphy!

Sunday, 7 February at 12:00PM EST


Sign-up Now!


Born in Uzbekistan, raised in Seattle, and currently based in New York City, Ruben Shimonov is a Jewish educator, community builder, social entrepreneur and artist with a passion for Jewish diversity and pluralism. He previously served as Director of Community Engagement & Education at Queens College Hillel—where he had, within his vast portfolio, the unique role of cultivating Sephardic & Mizrahi student life on campus. Currently, he is the Founding Executive Director of the Sephardic Mizrahi Q Network—a grassroots movement building a supportive, vibrant and much-needed community for LGBTQ+ Sephardic & Mizrahi Jews. He also serves as Vice-President of Education & Community Engagement on the Young Leadership Board of the American Sephardi Federation, an ASF Broome & Allen Fellow, as well as Director of Educational Experiences & Programming for the Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee. Within both organizations, Ruben has used his artistry in Arabic, Hebrew & Persian calligraphy to enhance Muslim-Jewish dialogue and relationship building. In 2018, Ruben was listed among The Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36” young Jewish community leaders and changemakers. He has lectured extensively on the histories and cultures of various Sephardic & Mizrahi communities. Among his speaking engagements, he has been invited to present at Limmud Seattle, NY and U.K. He is also an alumnus of the COJECO Blueprint and Nahum Goldmann Fellowships for his work in Jewish social innovation.

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!

Donate now via PayPal to support the American Sephardi Federation
For more information about sponsorship opportunities: email or leave a message  at 212.294.8350. To donate by mail,  please send a check payable to “American Sephardi Federation,” 15 W 16th St., New York, NY, 10011

Copyright © 2020 American Sephardi Federation, All rights reserved.

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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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