Iraqi Coca Cola a Symbol of Coexistence, Israel Commemorates Mizrahi Experience, Ethiopian Jewish Refugees, and Special Sephardi Thanksgiving Sermon

Sephardi World Weekly November 27, 2015 3 min read
27 November 2015 
In Memory of Rouhallah Hay, A”H, a leader in the Persian-Jewish Community
 
27 November 2015 
In Memory of Rouhallah Hay, A”H, a leader in the Persian-Jewish Community
 
“Two Centenarians: Iraq’s First Coke Bottler Shares a Birth Year With the Coca-Cola Bottle”
By Jamal Booker, Coca Cola Journey

 
Ahmed Safwat and the recently deceased Sir Naim Dangoor, A”H, brought Coca-Cola to Iraq in 1950. In an article from earlier this year, Dangoor’s son, David, remembers how the collaboration between his father and Sawfat represented a kind of co-existence that is hard to imagine in present circumstances: “Here you had two people from different communities, hand in hand, and here they were working together for something that is a universal symbol today.”

Advertisement for Coca-Cola in Iraq, 1951 (photo courtesy of Coca-Cola) 
“Two Centenarians: Iraq’s First Coke Bottler Shares a Birth Year With the Coca-Cola Bottle”
By Jamal Booker, Coca Cola Journey

 
Ahmed Safwat and the recently deceased Sir Naim Dangoor, A”H, brought Coca-Cola to Iraq in 1950. In an article from earlier this year, Dangoor’s son, David, remembers how the collaboration between his father and Sawfat represented a kind of co-existence that is hard to imagine in present circumstances: “Here you had two people from different communities, hand in hand, and here they were working together for something that is a universal symbol today.”

Advertisement for Coca-Cola in Iraq, 1951 (photo courtesy of Coca-Cola) 

Ma’abarot transit camp, 1950 (Photo courtesy of Jewish Agency for Israel)
Israel’s Day of Commemoration for Mizrahim
By Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom

In 2014, Israel’s Knesset designated 30 November to be the annual day for commemorating “The Exit and Deportation of Jews from Arab Lands and Iran.” This year, “the heritage of the Jews who fled Arab and Muslim lands will be celebrated with much fanfare… in Jerusalem. This is the first time such a large, state-sponsored event [will be] held in memory of those Jews.”


Ma’abarot transit camp, 1950 (Photo courtesy of Jewish Agency for Israel) Israel’s Day of Commemoration for Mizrahim
By Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom

In 2014, Israel’s Knesset designated 30 November to be the annual day for commemorating “The Exit and Deportation of Jews from Arab Lands and Iran.” This year, “the heritage of the Jews who fled Arab and Muslim lands will be celebrated with much fanfare… in Jerusalem. This is the first time such a large, state-sponsored event [will be] held in memory of those Jews.” Special Feature: A Sephardi Thanksgiving Sermon 

 


“To Bigotry No Sanction,” a quote from George Washington’s letter to the Jews at Newport Rhode Island (Photo of an exhibit at the Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr. Visitors Center, Touro Synagogue)
 
Gershom Mendes Seixas led New York’s Congregation Shearith Israel, the historic Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, for five decades beginning in the 1760s. A passionate advocate for the Patriots’ cause in the American War of Independence, Sexias echoed George Washington’s establishment of a national day of Thanksgiving in 1789 with a sermon in which he urged his fellow congregants “to make a joyful noise” and “to live, as Jews ought to do, in brotherhood and amity.” In celebration of this year’s Thanksgiving holiday, we offer this excerpt of Sexias’ sermon:
 
“…it is necessary that we, each of us in our respective stations, behave in such a manner as to give strength and stability to the law entered into by our representatives; to consider the burden imposed on those who are appointed to act in the executive department; to contribute, as much as lays in our power, to support that government which is founded upon the strictest principles of equal liberty and justice. If to seek the peace and prosperity of the city wherein we dwell be a duty even under bad governments, what must it be when we are situated under the best of constitutions? It behooves us to use our utmost endeavors to suppress every species of licentiousness; to unite, with cheerfulness and uprightness, upon all occasions that may occur in the political as well as in the moral world, [and] to promote that which has a tendency to the public good….”
“MK Dr. Avraham Neguise Interviewed on BBC Radio”
By BBC Radio (Soundcloud; 4:57)

 
The Israeli government recently decided to bring 9,000 Ethiopians to Israel in the next two and a half years. BBC Radio interviewed prominent Ethiopian-Israeli activist, Likud MK Dr. Avraham Neguise, about the desire of Ethiopian Jews to return to their historic homeland. Asked how many Ethiopians will actually exercise their right to come to Israel, Neguise answered: “All of them.”

Minister of Education Yitzhak Navon, A”H, visiting kindergarten class of Ethiopian olim (immigrants), Pardres Channa, 1985 (Photo courtesy of Israel Government Press Office)
“MK Dr. Avraham Neguise Interviewed on BBC Radio”
By BBC Radio (Soundcloud; 4:57)

 
The Israeli government recently decided to bring 9,000 Ethiopians to Israel in the next two and a half years. BBC Radio interviewed prominent Ethiopian-Israeli activist, Likud MK Dr. Avraham Neguise, about the desire of Ethiopian Jews to return to their historic homeland. Asked how many Ethiopians will actually exercise their right to come to Israel, Neguise answered: “All of them.”

Minister of Education Yitzhak Navon, A”H, visiting kindergarten class of Ethiopian olim (immigrants), Pardres Channa, 1985 (Photo courtesy of Israel Government Press Office)

 
NAHMIAS ET FILS Distillery Tour
6 December at 1 PM
201 Saw Mill River Road, Yonkers NY, 10701
914-294-0055
 
The Shearith Israel League, American Sephardi Federation, and Beth Aharon Congregation of Riverdale invite you to a tour and demonstration of David Nahmias’ unique Moroccan distillery and a tasting of the different products, all of which are kosher (see list here).
                                                      
For those who need transportation, we will meet at the clock in Grand Central Terminal at 11:30AM to catch an 11:47 train to Yonkers. 
 
Please RSVP here
Cost: $10 (excluding transportation)

A light luncheon will be served

To pay online click here (and scroll to the bottom to for the PayPal “buy now” button). Check and cash accepted at the door.


 
Come visit ASF’s Leon Levy Gallery at The Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street) to view our new exhibition: “Baghdadis & The Bene Israel in Bollywood & Beyond: Indian Jews in the Movies”
on display now through March 2016

Click here for viewing hours and additional information

Donate now and your tax-deductible contribution will help ASF “Connect, Collect, and Celebrate” Sephardi culture throughout the year with engaging programs and compelling publications. 
 

Contact us by email or phone (212-548-4486) to sponsor future issues of the Sephardi World Weekly in honor or memory of loved ones. 

Copyright © 2015 American Sephardi Federation, All rights reserved.

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

American Sephardi Federation | http://www.AmericanSephardi.org | info@Sephardi.House | (212) 548-4486


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Copyright © 2015 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’s Sephardi House is located at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th St., New York, New York, 10011).

American Sephardi Federation | http://www.AmericanSephardi.org | info@Sephardi.House | (212) 548-4486


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