Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean, Soy Sefardi, and Musta’Arab Passover Piyyut

22 April 2016
Mazel tov to David Serero for three sold out performances of Nabucco, as well as upcoming engagements at Carnegie Hall and The Center for Jewish History (for Othello in June)

“Jewish pirates of the Caribbean”
By Gil Zohar, Jerusalem Post

Jews who fled to the new world sometimes became “Pirates of the Caribbean,” sailing in ships named, “the Queen Esther, the Prophet Samuel, and the Shield of Abraham,” and attacking Spanish and Portuguese vessels as “[p]ayback for the property confiscations and torture of their brethren perpetrated by the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition.”

Sephardi Synagogue (note the sand covered floor), Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas (Photo courtesy of Wyatt Gallery/Jewish Treasures of The Caribbean)

“Jewish pirates of the Caribbean”
By Gil Zohar, Jerusalem Post

Sephardi Synagogue (note the sand covered floor), Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas (Photo courtesy of Wyatt Gallery/Jewish Treasures of The Caribbean) Special Passover Piyyut: “Emunim ‘irchu shebah” (“Oh, Faithful Arrange Prais e”)

Great Synagogue of Aleppo, Syria (Photo courtesy of Diarna Geo-Museum of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Life)

“Emunim ‘irchu shebah” (“Oh, Faithful Arrange Praise”), a Middle Eastern piyyut written by Aharon Cohen, is found in the 16th century Mahzor Aram Soba. The song is sung here by Hazzan Gabriel Shrem, A”H, in the Syrian tradition. This song is also found in the liturgical traditions of other Middle Eastern and North African communities (see here for an Iraqi version).

The refrain of this piyyut is “ve’amartem zebah Pesah hula’hashem” (“and you shall say ‘it is the Passover sacrifice to God’”), based on Shemot/Exodus 12:27, is a reference to the Passover sacrifice brought in the desert as well as when the Temple at Jerusalem was extant. The stanzas refer to the different misvot (commandments) of the seder, including: retelling the Exodus story, eating masah (matzah), and drinking four cups of wine.

Nicole Murad (Photo courtesy of Nicole Murad)

“Soy Sefardi”
By Joanne Palmer, Jewish Standard

Nicole Murad’s family history includes stops in Spain, Iraq, France, Argentina, and Israel, and ends, today, in Englewood, N.J. A passionate performer of Ladino music, Murad contends that Jewish experience and Ladino music share same the characteristic fate, “(of) being tossed around like a little fish in the sea. You’re a little fish — there are not a lot of you — and you are in the vast ocean, and you have to fight against the tide. You have to fight all the time.” But one way or another, the Jews, and the music, endured.

Nicole Murad (Photo courtesy of Nicole Murad) “Soy Sefardi”
By Joanne Palmer, Jewish Standard

Othello,
in a Moroccan Adaptation

June 16th, 23rd, 26th, 28th and 30th
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, New York City

ASF’s theatrical season (Merchant of Venice, Nabucco) concludes with David Serero’s Othello, a Moroccan adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play about love and war, reason and race, fortuna and virtù. The production features Serero (as Othello), a diverse cast, and traditional music.

Please click here to purchase tickets
(General Admission $26; VIP $36)

Portugal, The Last Hope: Sousa Mendes’ Visas for Freedom

April 7th through September 9th
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, New York City

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 additional information and viewing hours

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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’s Sephardi House is located at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th St., New York, New York, 10011).

www.AmericanSephardi.org | info@Sephardi.House | (212) 548-4486

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More from this series

An Ancient Groove Renewed for Hanukkah, The Jane Austen of Ocean Parkway, & A Legendary Cookbook

Remembering Phyllis Halio, Sephardi House Fellow’s Reflection, & Nice Jewish Girl

A Shofar in Free Syria and Remembering the Forgotten Jewish Refugees

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