|
In Honor of Distinguished American Sephardi Federation and Sephardic Home for the Aged Foundation Board Member Martin Elias, Executive Producer of the NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival’s 20th Anniversary Edition
13 March 2017 |
13 March 2017
Starting with the New Year, Sephardi Ideas Monthly began exploring Sephardi life in the Western Hemisphere. See: The Hidden History of Jewish Life in Latin America (January 2017) and Latin American Sephardi Writers (February 2017).
This month we turn our attention to North American Sephardi communities with Professor Devin E. Na’ar’s essay, “From the ‘Jerusalem of the Balkans’ to the Goldene Medina: Jewish Immigration from Salonika to the United States.”
 Professor Devin Naar’s Jewish Salonica was the Winner for “Writing Based on Archival Material” at the Jewish Book Council’s 2016 National Jewish Book Awards (Photo courtesy of University of Washington’s Stroum Center for Jewish Studies) |
|
Devin E. Naar
Chair of Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington, American Sephardi Federation Advisory Board Member, and author of the award-winning Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece, Na’ar’s essay investigates why, at the beginning of the 20th century, scores of Jews packed up and left what had been, until then, a center of Jewish life. Na’ar identifies the turn from Turkish to Greek rule in 1913, and an attendant rise in anti-Semitism, as the most crucial factor: “Nationalist Greek Orthodox Christians and the Greek government came to view the Jews of Salonika [Thessaloniki] as a political threat to the goals of the Greek state… When King George I of Greece was assassinated during his visit to Salonika in March 1913, Greek newspapers immediately accused the Jews.” Other significant causes included forced military conscription and an August, 1917, fire in the heart of Salonika that left fifty thousand Jews without food or shelter. |
Professor Devin Naar’s Jewish Salonica was the Winner for “Writing Based on Archival Material” at the Jewish Book Council’s 2016 National Jewish Book Awards
(Photo courtesy of University of Washington’s Stroum Center for Jewish Studies)
Chair of Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington, American Sephardi Federation Advisory Board Member, and author of the award-winning Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece, Na’ar’s essay investigates why, at the beginning of the 20th century, scores of Jews packed up and left what had been, until then, a center of Jewish life.
Na’ar identifies the turn from Turkish to Greek rule in 1913, and an attendant rise in anti-Semitism, as the most crucial factor: “Nationalist Greek Orthodox Christians and the Greek government came to view the Jews of Salonika [Thessaloniki] as a political threat to the goals of the Greek state… When King George I of Greece was assassinated during his visit to Salonika in March 1913, Greek newspapers immediately accused the Jews.” Other significant causes included forced military conscription and an August, 1917, fire in the heart of Salonika that left fifty thousand Jews without food or shelter.
|
Where did Salonikan Jews go? While some fled to the Land of Israel, a majority left for the United States. But it’s difficult to determine with any degree of certainty how many Salonikan Jews emigrated to the U.S. because very often they weren’t even identified as Jews upon arrival: “Officials at Ellis Island often recorded Jews from Salonika… not as ‘Hebrews,’ but, given their unfamiliar names, languages, looks, and places of origin, as ‘Greeks,’ ‘Turks,’ or ‘Arabs.’” |
|
Salonikan Jews, moreover, were also viewed as foreign by their Eastern European Jewish brothers and sisters in America! Consider how one Eastern European Jewish writer wondered about these new transplants hanging out in New York cafes: “Who are these strangers who can be seen in the ghetto of the East Side, sitting outside of coffee-houses smoking strange-looking waterpipes, sipping a dark liquid from tiny cups and playing a game of checkers and dice… Are they Jews? No it cannot be; they do not look like Jews; they do not speak Yiddish.”
Today, Na’ar notes, “More Jews of Salonikan heritage… live in the United States than in Salonika itself.” Nevertheless, the story of “the Jerusalem of the Balkans” remains peripheral to American Jewish historical memory. Hoping to help expand the range of that memory, Sephardi Ideas Monthly is pleased to bring the story of Salonikan Jewry to the center of our readers’ attention with Prof. Devin E. Na’ar’s erudite and stimulating article, “From the ‘Jerusalem of the Balkans’ to the Goldene Medina: Jewish Immigration from Salonika to the United States.” Sephardi Ideas Monthly thanks Johns Hopkins University Press for generously granting permission to reprint: Naar, Devin. “From the ‘Jerusalem of the Balkans’ to the Goldene Medina: Jewish Immigration from Salonika to the United States.” American Jewish History 93:4 (2007), pp. 435-473. © 2007 American Jewish Historical Society. |
Today, Na’ar notes, “More Jews of Salonikan heritage… live in the United States than in Salonika itself.” Nevertheless, the story of “the Jerusalem of the Balkans” remains peripheral to American Jewish historical memory.
Hoping to help expand the range of that memory, Sephardi Ideas Monthly is pleased to bring the story of Salonikan Jewry to the center of our readers’ attention with Prof. Devin E. Na’ar’s erudite and stimulating article, “From the ‘Jerusalem of the Balkans’ to the Goldene Medina: Jewish Immigration from Salonika to the United States.”
Sephardi Ideas Monthly thanks Johns Hopkins University Press for generously granting permission to reprint: Naar, Devin. “From the ‘Jerusalem of the Balkans’ to the Goldene Medina: Jewish Immigration from Salonika to the United States.” American Jewish History 93:4 (2007), pp. 435-473. © 2007 American Jewish Historical Society.
Located on Chrystie Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, The Salonica “served as a central gathering spot for Salonikan Jews in New York during the early twentieth century. The proprietor (far right), Joseph Saltiel (1886–1950), was a founder of the Salonika Brotherhood, an executive board member of the Sephardic Brotherhood of America, and an active contributor to the Ladino press in new York.” (Photo courtesy Robert Ligum/John Hopkins University Press)
New York Sephardic Film Festival
March 30 – April 6, 2017
Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
The American Sephardi Federation presents the New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival’s 20th Anniversary Edition.
Through the poignant medium of film, the NYSJFF provides viewers with an understanding of the rich mosaic culture of Jews from the Middle East and greater Sephardic Diaspora. Select nights are dedicated to the Moroccan, Iraqi, Greek, and Yemenite Jewish communities.
The Counsellor to King Mohammed VI of Morocco, Mr. André Azoulay, is to receive the American Sephardi Federation’s Pomegranate Award for Lifetime Achievement on Opening Night, 30 March. Counsellor Azoulay’s fête, co-presented with Association Mimouna, will feature live performances by French-Algerian recording legend Enrico Macias, Kuwaiti star and human rights activist Ema Shah, Israeli-Moroccan singer Neta Elkayam and Amit Hai Cohen, and French-Moroccan opera singer David Serero, the great-grandson of Morocco’s former Chief Rabbi, Haim David Serero of Fez.
Opening Night plus VIP Festival Pass = $100
Festival Pass excluding Opening Night = $50
Young Professionals Night= $25
Individual Film = $10
Click here or call 1.800.838.3006 for Program Listings, Film Descriptions, and Pass & Ticket Options
Click here or call 917.606.8266 for Sponsorship & Advertising Opportunities
When Baghdadi Jews Baruch and Ellen Bekhor (née Cohen) succumbed to the camera’s gaze for their denaturalization pictures in 1951, they became stateless. Ellen was in her eighth month of pregnancy. Permitted to bring no more than a few kilos of belongings out of Iraq, Ellen carried their wedding picture and ketubah in her pocketbook. Laissez-Passer, Royaume D’Irak by Leslie Starobin (2016)
The Last Address
Now Through April 2017
in ASF’s Myron Habib Memorial Display
Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
The American Sephardi Federation proudly presents excerpts from The Last Address, a multi-year, photo-montage series and oral history and book project by award-winning artist Leslie Starobin that explores the enduring texture of memory and culture in the lives of Greater Sephardic families from dispersed Jewish communities in Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Iran, and Lebanon.
Leslie Starobin is a Boston-area photographer and montage artist. Her work is in the permanent collections of many academic (Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University) and public (Jewish Museum, MoMA) museums. Starobin is the recipient of numerous grants, including from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation of the Arts/Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. Most recently, she received two Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Research Grants for this series, The Last Address.
Her exhibition in ASF’s Myron Habib Memorial Display is sponsored in part by CELTSS: The Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching, Scholarship and Service at Framingham State University in Massachusetts, where Starobin is a Professor of Communication Arts.
Please click here for additional information and viewing hours
Portugal, The Last Hope: Sousa Mendes’ Visas for Freedom
April 2016 through January 2017
Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
The American Sephardi Federation, Portuguese Consulate of New York, the Sousa Mendes Foundation, and the Municipality of Almeida, Portugal proudly present a new exhibition in the Leon Levy Gallery honoring Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the courageous and creative Portuguese diplomat who saved Salvador Dali, the authors of Curious George, and thousands of other Holocaust refugees.
Please click here for viewing hours
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!
Contact us by email or phone ((917) 606-8266) to learn about giving opportunities in honor or memory of loved ones
|
Copyright © 2017 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 a proud partner of the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th St., New York, NY, 10011). American Sephardi Federation | http://www.AmericanSephardi.org | info@americansephardi.org | (212) 548-4486
|
Copyright © 2017 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 a proud partner of the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th St., New York, NY, 10011).
American Sephardi Federation | http://www.AmericanSephardi.org | info@americansephardi.org | (212) 548-4486
unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences