Once we were slaves, when will we be free?
!חג פסח כשר ושמח
Happy Passover from your friends at
The American Sephardi Federation
Beginning with disgrace but ending in glory, the Passover Haggadah ascends on two complementary planes. The text begins in the political realm, “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt…” and then shifts to the spiritual dimension, “Originally, our forefathers worshipped idols.” Then, as now, the ultimate freedom of the Jewish people needs to be considered from these separate but connected political and spiritual planes.
How are the planes linked? Rabbi Ben Zion Meir Hai Uziel argued that political freedom requires the cultivation of spiritual confidence, “Going out of slavery isn’t truly freedom unless the slaves are also saved from the inner feeling of inferiority.” In this context, self-knowledge is particularly critical “Slavish imitation is greater than chattel slavery.” If R’Uziel’s claim sounds exaggerated or even preposterous, a little later in the 20th c. century the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. highlighted a “type of slavery which is probably more prevalent and certainly more injurious than physical bondage, namely mental slavery.” Political freedom requires tapping into deep cultural roots, from the Jewish tradition to the American Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
These teachings remain as relevant today as when they were originally articulated. For at least two generations, an evil ideology that masks itself as concern for the oppressed has been peddling “critical theories” on American college campuses and poisoning the minds of American students with self-hatred, cynicism, and relativism. The result is clear for all to see. This evil ideology is inspiring increasing numbers of Americans to cheer for their own destruction in the face of Islamist barbarism while antisemitism, always an indicator of a society’s sickness, is at an all-time high.
At this critical hour, Jewish Americans are called upon to strengthen our connection to the Jewish tradition, to America’s founding ideals, and to allied American communities. This challenge requires the capacity to engage the world as strong Jews and strong Americans, or in other words, to realize the vision of Classic Sephardic Judaism as embodied and portrayed by the founder of the American Sephardi Federation, Prof. Daniel Elazar.
Prof. Elazar sketched the portrait of Classic Sephardic Jews as deeply rooted cosmopolitans, and the American Sephardi Federation follows in his footsteps.
ASF Sephardi House Fellows 22-23 at Magen David Sephardic Congregation
On college campuses, the ASF’s Sephardi House is sharing the soulful depths of the Classic Sephardic Jewish tradition with its 4th cohort of 30 students and in the process arming young and idealistic Jewish Americans with the knowledge and confidence to lead the fight on campuses, in the media, and on Capitol Hill. The ASF’s Institute for Jewish Experience hosts scholars to explore the beauty, depth, diversity, and vitality of the Jewish experience, while the ASF’s publications highlight Greater Sephardi Jewish voices from around the globe, pioneers research into Classic Sephardic Jewish culture, and provides the cultural knowledge necessary for understanding the contemporary Middle East.
Finally, the Omni-American Future Project is a collaborative effort that brings together scholars, writers, activists, artists and organizations, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, to fight the bigoted illiberal extremes on the left and the right by championing the Omni-American tradition, the cultural complement to the Civil Rights Movement.
This Passover, join the ASF in the interconnected fight for political freedom and spiritual confidence so we can say without any hesitation: Once We Were Slaves, Now We Are Free!
Pesach Alegre!
The American Sephardi Federation
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A Piyyut for Passover: R’Raphael Entebbi’s Yachid Nora (“Awesome One”)
(Screenshot courtesy of YouTube)
“The Love of Piyyut Project” performs a rousing rendition of Yachid Nora (“Awesome One”) by the great Syrian rabbi and payytan, R’Raphael Entebbi (1853-1919). The piyyut is still sung with gusto by Halabi (Aleppian) Jews on Passover.
Louis Armstrong’s Go Down Moses
(Photo courtesy Louis Armstrong House Museum/Crescent City Jewish News)
Did you know that Louis Armstrong, considered by many to be the founding father of all jazz soloists—hence his nickname, “Pops”—wore a Star of David around his neck for most of his life? At the 1st Omni-American event, “Combating Racism and Antisemitism: Shaping an Omni-American Future,” the Co-Founder and CEO of the Jazz Leadership Project, Greg Thomas, shared the story behind Satchmo and the star. In this 1958 recording, Louis Armstrong and The Good Book, Pops lends his voice and horn to the African American spiritual that turned the Exodus story into an American anti-slavery anthem. Let My People Go!
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Image credit: The Bread of Affliction in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.
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Upcoming Events or Opportunities
Our friends at Qesher present:
Sefarad: Music of the Jews of Spain, Portugal and their diaspora
“Sefarad is both a geographical place and a concept – it’s Spain and Portugal, and it’s the centuries and continents of the Sephardic diaspora, to the present. We’ll travel – musically – from medieval Jewish life in Spain and Portugal through the diaspora in Morocco and the eastern Mediterranean, former Ottoman lands. Old ballads with hypnotizing stories, irresistible wedding song rhythms, songs of the Jewish calendar cycle, and the popular love songs and songs of daily life will be presented both live and in archival recordings, with photos and stories of the Sephardim who kept this tradition alive against all odds.”
Sunday, 21 April at 3:00PM ET
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: $9-$18
About the speaker:
Judith Cohen is a Canadian ethnomusicologist and singer known for her work in Sephardic music, and related traditions. Village songs of Spain and Portugal, narrative ballads and stories in English and pan-European traditions, Balkan singing, songs of French Canada, Yiddish – and music of Medieval Europe are among her performance and workshop repertoires. Besides, she has spent many years of fieldwork and research on music in the lives of Portuguese Crypto-Jews, who maintained their identity throughout the centuries of the Inquisition.
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Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum presents:
Greek Jewish Festival
Sunday, 19 May 12:00-6:00PM EST
(280 Broome Street, Lower East Side, NYC)
Join the Greek Jewish Festival as we celebrate the unique Romaniote and Sephardic heritage of the Jews of Greece!
Experience a feast for the senses including authentic kosher Greek foods and homemade Greek pastries, traditional Greek dancing and live Greek and Sephardic music, an outdoor marketplace full of vendors, arts and educational activities for kids, Sephardic cooking demonstrations, and much more!
The ASF is once again proud to be a Festival Sponsor.
Learn more at www.GreekJewishFestival.com
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The American Sephardi Federation presents:
Convergence: Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian Calligraphy in Conversation
Featuring the multilingual art of Ruben Shimonov Convergence creates a visual world where Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian languages interact with, and speak to, one another; a world where stylized letters and words dance together on the page; a world where cultures, religions, communities, and philosophies intersect.
Juxtaposing cognates from these ancient West Asian languages, artist Ruben Shimonov encourages the viewer to explore the deep-rooted connections between these tongues, as well as the multilayered and transnational identity of the artist himself.
On View in the Leon Levy Gallery
through 30 June 2024
@ the Center for Jewish History
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The American Sephardi Federation and Mimouna Association’s Rebuilding Our Homes Project present:
Re-Creation: Judaica by Moroccan Muslim Artisans
Explore the exhibition of Judeo-Moroccan art, Moroccan Judaica, cultural and religious objects, including Menorot, Mezuzot, Yads, Shabbat Candleholders, Seder Plates, Hallah Covers, and much more.
On View through 30 June 2024
@ the Center for Jewish History
As Moroccan Jewish populations largely left the mellahs (Jewish quarters) in the latter half of the 20th century, there was a danger that not only designs but even the traditional artisanal techniques needed to create them would be lost. Passed down from one artisan to another and perfected over time, these designs and techniques. ranging from vibrant patterns to intricate metalwork and soulful wood carvings, are expressions of Moroccanity and reflect the individual character of each city. The materials and craftsmanship of Rabat are different than Fez, and Essaouira is distinct from both.
Mimouna Association and the American Sephardi Federation’s Rebuilding Our Homes Project, a multi-year USAID-supported New Partnerships Initiative, brought three notable experts-Ms. Zhor Rehihil, Ms. Deborah Koenigsberger Gutierrez, and Ms. Meryem Ghandi to train Moroccan Muslim artisans in the history of Judeo-Moroccan art and guided them in re-creating Moroccan Judaica, which encompasses a diverse array of cultural and religious objects, including Menorot, Mezuzot, Yads, Shabbat Candleholders, Seder Plates, Hallah Covers, and much more.
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The American Sephardi Federation presents:
“The Golden Age of the Jews of Alandalus” | “La Edad de Oro de los judíos de Alandalús”
On View in the Paul S. And Sylvia Steinberg Great Hall
through 14 June 2024
@ the Center for Jewish History
The Jewish community of Alandalús gave the world extraordinary thinkers like Maimonides, diplomats like Ibn Shaprut, and poets like Ibn Gabirol and Judah Halevi, whose wisdom, works, and accomplishments resonate through the ages. 820 years after his death, the RAMBAM’s contributions to medicine, philosophy, diplomacy, and Jewish law continue to inspire wonder and influence till today. Across the Mediterranean in Fustat (Cairo) about two hundred thousand documents accumulated in the Ben Ezra Synagogue’s Genizah—a room or grave where obsolete sacred documents are respectfully discarded—over the course of nearly a millennium.
The geographical location of Egypt, a natural bridge between the Islamic East and Christian West, made it possible for many of these documents to be of Andalusian origin. This exhibition, curated by the University of Granada Professor José Martínez Delgado, takes us on a journey from the origins of this important community to its exodus and extinction in the XIX century. Although subsequently scattered all over the world, Sepharadim have maintained connections to their past by perpetuating traditions, the Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) language, and exemplifying a seriously Jewish yet cosmopolitan worldview.