Introducing The Omni-American Review
The American Sephardi Federation is proud to introduce the inaugural issue of The Omni-American Review (TOAR), a new journal of arts and intellectual life dedicated to exploring and celebrating the depths of American culture that is co-edited by the ASF’s Director of Publications, Aryeh Tepper. Contributors to the first issue include first-rate thinkers and writers, such as Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Leon Wieseltier, Bob O’Meally, Warren Zev Harvey, Thomas Chatterton Williams, Joel Dinerstein, and more.
TOAR’s name is an homage to The Omni-Americans, Albert Murray’s 1970 book that redefined the lines of American identity by emphasizing that “for all their traditional antagonisms and obvious differences, the so-called black people and the so-called white people of the United States resemble nobody else in the world as much as they resemble each other.”
TOAR’s first issue is, fittingly, dedicated to Albert Murray’s life and work. As Tepper writes in the Introduction:
… Murray’s time has come. There is a hunger in the land for a robust cultural complement to the Civil Rights Movement; our contribution to satisfying this noble desire is a collection of articles transmitting a joyful, resilient and triumphal sense of life free from the resentment infecting America’s illiberal left and right. In Albert Murray’s America the center doesn’t just hold, it swings.
Black or white, left or right, Republican or Democrat, Americans are a diverse but distinct people. Murray, however, invited all Americans to set divisions aside, including real divisions over policy, and to focus on the essentials, such as rejecting the path of resentment and cultivating a heroic approach to life.
Two essays in TOAR explicitly explore links between Murray and Jewish thought, and it would be remiss not to note that the contributors to TOAR’s first issue are almost equally divided between Black Americans and Jews. This was not planned (not all requests for essays succeed), but it is surely worth noting. Thanks to the excellent contributions, robust cultural exchange and noble purpose offered in its digital pages, The Omni-American Review presents itself as evidence: the Black American-Jewish alliance continues.
The American Sephardi Federation is a founding partner of the Omni-American Future Project together with the Jazz Leadership Project and the Combat Antisemitism Movement. It is only fitting that the ASF take the lead in renewing this connection between the Jewish and Black American communities on the elevated ground of human excellence, as both the Classic Sephardic tradition and the Omni-American tradition are distinguished by their receptivity to excellence, no matter the source. In the immortal words of Maimonides: “Hear the truth from whoever says it.”
Begin with Tepper’s Introduction or go straight to TOAR’s homepage. Either way, enjoy the first fruits of a trailblazing new journal that affirms America at its deepest, and best.
See the Omni-American Future Project in the Sephardi Ideas Monthly:
We are many, let us also be one
The Omni-American Vision: Culture, Not Race
The Omni-American Future’s Sephardi Dimension
From the Front Lines Facing Hamas’ Oct. 7th Attack
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Upcoming Events or Opportunities
The UJA-Federation New York presents:
Sephardic and Mizrahi Symposium
Join us for a day designed for professionals and community leaders serving Sephardic and Mizrahi communities throughout New York. This symposium will offer new data, networking opportunities, and innovative ideas to support and celebrate Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews.
Thursday, 7 November 9:00AM-3:00PM
@UJA-Federation, 7th Floor
130 East 59th Street, NYC
Space is limited.
Sign-up Now!
Every individual needs to register separately.
Tickets: Free (RSVP Required)
If you serve a Sephardic and/or Mizrahi organization in a volunteer or professional capacity — or if you are part of another organization looking to better serve Sephardic Jews — we encourage you to attend this event.
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The American Sephardi Community will Stand Together: Unity, Strength, Resilience
Sunday, 10 November, 3:00PM
Washington, D.C.
Gates Open at 12PM; Pre-Show Starts at 1PM
The American Sephardi Federation, as the Sephardic Voice in the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, is proud to once again be joining forces with the Jewish Federations of North America and other organizations gathering in Washington, D.C. to reaffirm shard American values, support for Israel, and to strengthen Jewish unity and resilience. Apply to join the official American Sephardi Community delegation to Stand Together.
Sign-up Now!
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The Combat Antisemitism Movement, Jazz Leadership Project, and American Sephardi Federation present:
American Excellence
The Omni-American Future Gala
Join us for a night of inspiration, music, and excellence honoring
Roy Niederhoffer
and
Emmet Cohen.
Experience an evening of world-class jazz music by Coleman Hughes and Itamar Borochov performing with The Emmet Cohen Trio.
Tuesday, 12 November
Cocktail Reception
6:00-7:00PM ET
Dinner & Program
7:00-9:00PM ET
@Ginny’s Supper Club in Harlem
310 Lenox Ave. NYC
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: $45-$500
The Omni-American Future Project, rooted in the intellectual legacies of Albert Murray and Ralph Ellison, fights bigotry, advances cultural excellence via the example of jazz music, and strives to strengthen the American civic center. We counter extremism and division by fostering unity, inclusion, and shared values. A revitalized Black American and Jewish American alliance is at the core of our initiative. Past Albert Murray and Young Leader Award honorees include Professor Danielle Allen (Director of the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard), writer and musician Coleman Hughes, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Wynton Marsalis, and US Representative Ritchie Torres. Click here to learn about past Omni-American Project events.
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The Grad Network of Columbia/Barnard Hillel, Moishe House Harlem, and the American Sephardi Federation’s Sephardi House Initiative for Young Professionals present:
Ritual Lab Workshop
Hebrew & Arabic Calligraphy
Learn about Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian language and participate in a
hands-on calligraphy workshop!
Are you a young professionals in your 20s?
Join us as we dive into the rich visual worlds of Arabic, Hebrew and Persian calligraphy. Through historical, spiritual, linguistic and artistic lenses, we will discover the parallels between these languages. Educator, community builder, and artist Ruben Shimonov will also take us on an exploratory journey of his own multilingual calligraphy—sharing the ways he has used his art to celebrate the cultural diversity of the Greater Sephardi world.
Thursday, 14 November at 7:00PM
Space is limited. Register to reserve your materials.
@at Harlem Moishe House
(The address will be shared will all registrants closer to the date of the program).
Sign-up Now!
(Registration Required)
*If cost is a barrier to participation, please email Melissa, Director of The Grad Network.
About the Speaker:
Ruben Shimonov is an educator, community builder, and social entrepreneur with a passion for Jewish diversity. He previously served as Director of Community Engagement and Education at Queens College Hillel. Currently, Ruben is the American Sephardi Federation’s National Director of Sephardi House and Young Leadership. He is also the Founding Executive Director of the Sephardic Mizrahi Q Network and Director of Educational Experiences & Programming for the Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee. He is an alumnus of the COJECO Blueprint, Nahum Goldmann and ASF Broome & Allen Fellowships for his work in Jewish social innovation and Sephardic scholarship. He has been listed among The Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36” Jewish community leaders and changemakers. Currently, he is a Jewish Pedagogies Research Fellow at M² | The Institute of Experiential Jewish Education. Ruben has lectured extensively on the histories and cultures of various Sephardic and Mizrahi communities. He is also a visual artist specializing in multilingual calligraphy that interweaves Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian.
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The Museum of the Bible presents:
The Afghan Liturgical Quire Speaker Series
Join us for a special speaker series to explore the oldest Hebrew codex in the world and discuss three major topics related to the Afghan Liturgical Quire (ALQ) with museum curators, leading scholars, and influential leaders in the Afghan Jewish community.
Speakers include but are not limited to Jason Guberman (ED of American Sephardi Federation), Dr. Ruth Langer (Boston College), and Sara Aharon (author)
Sunday, 17 November at 3:30PM
Sign-up in-person!
Tickets: $24.99-$29.99
Sign-up on Zoom!
Tickets: $4.99-$9.99
These lectures will be held at the museum and on Zoom. Tickets for the event include general admission to the museum for those who want to see the Afghan Liturgical Quire on exhibit.
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The ASF proudly promotes this event by the New York Andalus Ensemble, in conjunction with the Foundation of Iberian Music and La Nacional:
Ya Qalbi (Oh Heart!)
An evening of music and song from al-Andalus and North Africa
For five hundred years, Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived side by side in Medieval Iberia, sharing their arts and sciences to create a scintillating, multicultural tradition of music and poetry. Singing in Arabic, Hebrew, and Ladino to reflect this cultural pluralism, ASF Broome & Allen Fellow Dr. Sam Torjman Thomas’ New York Andalus Ensemble presents spiritual texts and songs of love and everyday life in Al-Andalus, emphasizing the expressive quality of the region’s shared tradition even as it respects the individual cultures that comprise it. Meticulous attention is paid to authenticity of style and pronunciation as ensemble members, hailing from Algeria, Syria, Israel, Morocco, and the United States, pool their linguistic and musical expertise.
“You won’t want to miss the chance to see such a diverse and versatile group.” —Spain Culture, New York
Wednesday, 20 November at 7:30PM
@La Nacional, Spanish Benevolent Society
239 W 14th St, New York City
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: $18-$24
ASF Members are eligible to 10% Off with the promo code (ASF)
Doors Open at 6:45pm; Concert starts at 7:30pm. If you’re interested in the restaurant downstairs, it is highly recommended you make a reservation.
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Please support the ASF with a generous, tax-deductible contribution so we can continue to cultivate and advocate, preserve and promote, as well as educate and empower!