Israel’s Secret Sephardi Founders, Chabad’s Rescue of Iranian-Jewish Children, and Ofra Haza’s Classic Im Nin’Alu

8 March 2019  Mazal Tov/Mabrouk to Ruben Shimonov, an ASF Broome & Allen Fellow and ASF Young Leaders Vice President of Education & Community Engagement, for being named a Nahum Goldman Fellow by the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture!

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“Israel’s Secret Founding Fathers”  By Matti Friedman, The New York Times   Even though “Israel tends to tell a European story about itself,” celebrated writer Matti Friedman argues that Israel’s deeper story is distinctly Middle Eastern: “[H]alf of the Jewish population here has roots in the Islamic world.” In order to tell that deeper, buried story, Friedman explores the experiences of Jews from “Arab countries” who thrived as Israeli spies pretending to be Arabs.  But were they really pretending? Here the questions of identity get a little tricky. After all, when these Jews posed as Arabs, it wasn’t “entirely artificial.” Join The Center for Jewish History with the American Sephardi Federation on 12 March at 7PM for a First Person Series conversation between Matti Friedman and Lucette Lagnado on Friedman’s Spies of No Country. Reserve tickets here.

Jamil (Gamliel) Cohen and Shimon Horesh undercover in Beirut, Lebanon, 1948 (Photo courtesy of Palmach Museum, Tel Aviv/New York Times)

“Israel’s Secret Founding Fathers” 
By Matti Friedman, The New York Times
 

Feature of the week: Im Nin’Alu (“If the Doors are Locked”)
 

NY State Senator Anna (née Monahemi) Kaplan (Photo courtesy of The Great Neck Record)

“Operation Exodus: The Chabad Effort That Saved 1,800 Iranian Jewish Children”  By Dovid Margolin, Chabad.org   Operation Exodus is an epic and largely unknown story of how, after the Islamist Revolution, Chabad-Lubavitch managed to bring almost 2,000 Jewish children out of Iran to the safety of the United States. Among those saved was Anna Monahemi, today Anna Kaplan, the recently elected New York State Senator from North Hempstead. Did Kaplan experience culture shock upon her arrival? “The Lubavitcher community’s emphasis on family and the family unit, it was very similar to our world in Iran.”

“Operation Exodus: The Chabad Effort That Saved 1,800 Iranian Jewish Children” 
By Dovid Margolin, Chabad.org
 

The 22nd NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival

6-20 March 2019
Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York City
 

Schedule at a Glance

• YemeNight, Saturday, 9 March: 
  • 8PM: MORI SHABBAZY’S RIDDLE (2018) – NY Première
     
• Egyptian Secrets, Sunday, 10 March:
  • 7:30PM: FROM CAIRO TO THE CLOUDS : THE WORLD OF THE CAIRO GENIZA (2018) – NY Première – Q&A with Director Michelle Paymar
     
• Noble Intentions: Honoring Sasson Gabai, Monday, 11 March:
  • 7PM: STOCKHOLM (2018) – US Première – Q&A with Sasson Gabbai (THE BANDS VISIT), 2019 Ronit Elkabetz A”H Pomegranate Award recipient.
     
• Spanish Memories, Wednesday, 13 March:  
  • 7PM, YOUR WISHES IN HEAVEN (TU BOCA EN LOS CIELOS) (2019) – World Première – Q&A with Director Miguel Angel Nieto Solis 
    (Please note: this screening will occur at Instituto Cervantes: 211 E 49th St, New York, NY 10017) 
     
• Celebrating Gad Elmaleh Night, Thursday, 14 March: 
  • 7PM, COCO (2009) – Followed by Moroccan Costumed After Party 
     
• A Syrian Sephardi Thriller, Saturday, 16 March:  
  • 9PM, THE LOST CROWN (2018) – NY Première
     
• Sephardi Politics in Israel, Sunday, 17 March:
  • 2PM: PEPE’S LAST DANCE (2016) – NY Première   
  • 4PM: LABOUR, REBELLION, UPHEAVAL (2019) – World Première – Q&A with Director David Deri           
  • 7:30PM, THE UNORTHODOX (2018) – NY Première and Festival Centerpiece – Q&A with Director Eliran Malka
     
• MASTER CLASS WITH DAVID DERI, 4PM, Monday, 18 March 
   
• Sephardi Women in Front and Behind the Camera, Monday, 18 March:
  • 7PM, COMME T’Y ES BELLE! (2006) – Q&A with Director and 2019 Pomegranate Award recipient Lisa Azuelos 
     
• Iraqi Closing Night, 7PM, Wednesday, 20 March:
  • OUTER CIRCLE (2018) –  Appearance by Director Adam Baroukh
  • PHOTO FARRAJ (2017) – NY Première 
  • Post-screening Iraqi-style Megillah reading
  • Post-screening Iraqi Purim party reception

For additional information: www.nysephardifilmfestival.org

Email us here to discuss sponsorship and advertising opportunities

The Center for Jewish History, The American Sephardi Federation, The American Jewish Historical Society, and Jewish Book Council present:

First Person: Matti Friedman in Conversation w/ Lucette Lagnado

Thursday, 12 March, at 7:00PM
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street 
New York City

Matti Friedman’s new book, Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel tells the unknown story of four of Israel’s first Sephardi spies. Recruited by a rag-tag outfit called the Arab Section before the 1948 War of Independence, they assumed Arab identities to gather intelligence and carry out sabotage and assassinations. At the height of the war the spies posed as refugees fleeing the fighting, reached Beirut, and set up what became Israel’s first foreign intelligence station. pies of No Country not only tells a breathtaking and true espionage story, it also explores a different story about how the state was founded and raises many questions that are relevant today.

In a wide-ranging, First Person conversation, Matti Friedman speaks with the Cairo-born, awarding-winning Sephardi author Lucette Lagnado (The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit) about his journalism career in the Middle East and what Spies of No Country reveals about Israel in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Please register here 
Ticket Info:
$15 general; $12 seniors, $10 members and students

ASF Young Sephardi Scholars Series Presents:

At the Crossroads of Sephardic, Mizrahi, and Russian-Speaking Worlds:
A Three-Part Learning and Cultural Series on the Greater Sephardic Communities of the Former Soviet Union

26 March – Bukharian Jews
16 April – Georgian Jews
Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York City

Please register here
or call: 1.800.838.3006
Light dinner reflecting the cuisine of Bukharian, Georgian, and Kavkazi Jews will be served

Back by popular demand, the American Sephardi Federation’s Young Sephardi Scholars Series is excited to once again host a 3-part learning and cultural series about the Russian-speaking Jewish (RSJ) communities of the Greater Sephardic world. The cultures and histories of Bukharian, Georgian, and Kavkazi (Mountain) Jews are situated at the fascinating, yet lesser known, intersection of RSJ, Sephardic and Mizrahi life. Led by Ruben Shimonov, this multimedia learning series will provide a unique opportunity to explore the multilayered and rich stories of the three communities.

Co-sponsored by JDC Entwine. This project was created as part of the COJECO BluePrint Fellowship, supported by COJECO and Genesis Philanthropy Group.

Ruben Shimonov is a Jewish educator, community builder, and social innovator based in New York City. His multilayered identity as an immigrant, Bukharian, Sephardic, Mizrahi, and Russian-speaking Jew continuously informs his commitment to the cultural and global diversity of the Jewish people. Ruben has previously brought this passion to his work at Queens College Hillel as Director of Cross-Community Engagement and Education, where he had the unique role of cultivating Sephardic-Mizrahi Jewish student life on campus. Ruben is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Sephardic-Mizrahi Q Network—a one-of-a-kind, grassroots movement that works to build a vibrant and supportive community for LGBTQ Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. He also serves as Vice-President for Education and Community Engagement on the American Sephardi Federation’s Young Leadership Board, as well as the Director of Educational Experiences and Programming for the Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee of New York. Ruben was recently named among The Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36” emerging Jewish communal leaders and changemakers. He is also a 2018 ASF Broome & Allen Fellow, as well as a 2018 COJECO Blueprint Fellow. His speaking engagements include presenting at the Limmud Festival in the United Kingdom, one of the largest annual Jewish learning conferences in the world.

Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America Presents:

Sephardic Birthright Israel Trip

26 June – 7 July, 2019

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.

Sign up now or learn more here

Note: While not an ASF program, ASF is proud of the members of our Young Leadership Board who are involved in organizing this trip

CALL FOR PAPERS

Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies presents:

28th Annual Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies Conference

“Place and Identity: Redefining the Crypto-Judaic Experience in the Western Hemisphere” 

30 June – 2 July, 2019  
Doubletree by Hilton Denver Tech Center
7801 East Orchard Road
Denver, Colorado (Greenwood Village)

Please register here

The American Sephardi Federation’s friends at The Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies (SCJS) invites papers on the crypto-Jewish experience from any discipline (e.g., anthropology, history, sociology, genealogy, philosophy, literature, music, art, etc.).
 
This year’s conference highlights the crypto-Jewish experience as defined
by the origins of Sephardic Jews in Iberia and the greater Mediterranean, Europe and North Africa, and the New World, both pre-and post Inquisition-era through today.
Topics should be relevant to the descendants of crypto-Jews, conversos, and anusim, with particular emphasis on how migration and nationality shapes behavior, as well as group and individual identity.
 
SCJS welcomes scholarly papers on all aspects of the Sephardic experience and that of other global communities exhibiting crypto-Judaic phenomena. We are particularly interested this year in research covering all areas of the Western Hemisphere.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Crypto-Jews in Modern America, Emerging Communities in Latin America,
Evolution of Sephardic Customs or Language Sephardic Culture Outside Iberia, Biographies of Conversos in Old or New Spain Transmission or Discovery of Family Traditions, Conversos in Spanish and Portuguese Colonial Communities, Inquisition-Related Studies.

Personal stories or anecdotal research relating to crypto-Judaic experiences are also welcome, either for individual presentations or for specific panel discussions related to peers and/or a target audience. Proposals must include speaker contact details, a title, a 200-word abstract  or summary, and a 100-word bio. Please indicate if research is completed or in progress.

Proposals must be received by March 15, 2019; accepted speakers will be notified shortly
thereafter. Send proposals or inquiries to: Professor Seth Kunin Ph.D, Program Chair at CryptoJewish.Conference@gmail.com

Note: Presenters will benefit a special discounted registration rate and the opportunity to network and expose their work to the attention of leading researchers in the field. For more information on SCJS, visit www.cryptojews.com

Nosotros 2.0: Strengthening Bonds Between Jewish and Latino Communities

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 April

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 now and 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! 

Copyright © 2019 American Sephardi Federation, All rights reserved. Thank you for opting (on our websites, at an event, or by email) to receive American Sephardi Federation Programming Updates and Publications. We apologize if this message was sent in error. 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) 548-4486 unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

Copyright © 2019 American Sephardi Federation, All rights reserved.

Thank you for opting (on our websites, at an event, or by email) to receive American Sephardi Federation Programming Updates and Publications. We apologize if this message was sent in error.

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) 548-4486


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