“Bendigamos al AltĂsimo,
Al Señor que nos crió,
DĂ©mosle agradecimiento
Por los bienes que nos dió”
(“Let us bless the Most High/ The Lord who created us,/ Let us give Him thanks/ For the good things He has given us.”)
Happy Thanksgiving from your friends at
The American Sephardi Federation
In honor of Thanksgiving, the ASF’s Sephardi World Weekly is pleased to offer the following “Letter from the Land of Israel”:
Professor Daniel J. Elazar (1934-1999) served as the first President of the American Sephardi Federation from 1973-75 and enjoyed a highly successful career as a political theorist, specializing in the Jewish political tradition and Federalism. A proponent of Classic Sephardic Judaism, Prof. Elazar also studied various issues connected to Israel and world Jewry before making Aliyah to Israel, where he founded and served as President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
Prof. Elazar thought deeply about the American experience and its connection to the Bible. A fascinating example of the connection between the two emerges in his thoughts on Thanksgiving.
One of the central ideas of Prof. Elazar’s thought was the concept of “covenant.” He even devoted a monumental four-volume series, The Covenant Tradition in Politics, to investigating the meaning and historical impact of the concept. While the idea of covenant was born in ancient Israel, Prof. Elazar argued that it still exerted a deep influence down through modern times, especially in the Founding of the United States: “The idea of separation of powers, especially among equals… is a product of covenantal political culture.”
In the third volume of his series, Covenant and the American Founding, Prof. Elazar treated the holiday of Thanksgiving. Together with Independence Day, he called the November holiday, one of “two major covenantal celebrations that persist into the postmodern epoch.”
What makes Thanksgiving so special? According to Prof. Elazar, Thanksgiving “is the premier national holiday because of what it combines and what it excludes. It combines both religious and patriotic sentiments in proper proportion.” This blending of religious and national dimensions characterized Biblical Israel, and it likewise characterized the original American point of departure when the Puritans arrived in their New Israel.
What’s more, Prof. Elazar points out how the religious dimension of Thanksgiving possesses its own uniquely American character: Thanksgiving “celebrates not only the American civil religion but the religious character of the American people, yet it is not identified with any specific religion or religious denomination.” The religious content of Thanksgiving is universal, not particular, i.e., Jewish, Christian, or Muslim. Anyone and everyone desiring to give thanks to the mysterious source of the American bounty is invited to participate in the holiday as an American. One does not even need to be religious to participate in the holiday, simply thankful: “Thanksgiving is not strictly religious just as it is certainly not strictly civil.” Ultimately, writes Prof. Elazar, “Each generation can develop its own combination of the two.”
Prof. Elazar’s thoughts on Thanksgiving stimulate the reader to a deeper appreciation of the unique character of Thanksgiving and, in a sense, the unique character of the American project. This Thanksgiving Holiday, we invite you to join us in giving thanks to the mysterious Providential power responsible for the improbable flourishing of American Sephardi and, indeed, all Jewish communities in the United States from 1654 to the present.
We are grateful for the opportunity to serve you and ask for your special support to accelerate the saving and sharing of Sephardi history, ideas, and culture. Together, we can succeed in revitalizing the Classic Sephardic way, a tradition “seriously Jewish, yet worldly and cosmopolitan,” as an integral, indeed essential, part of the Jewish experience.
“!תקבל ברחמים וברצון ×Ş×¤×ś×Ş× ×•â€ť
“May our prayer be accepted with loving favor!”*
The American Sephardi Federation
*Rev. David De Sola Pool, “Service for Thanksgiving Day” (The Union of Sephardi Congregations, New York, 1945), 15.
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Bendigamos (“Let us bless”)
Sephardic Songs of Praise by Rev. Abraham Lopes Cardozo
(Cover photo courtesy of JewishMusic)
Believed to have come to the United States from France via Curaçao and Jamaica, Bendigamos (translation) is a traditional Sephardic song of thanksgiving after a meal. In this recording, Rev. Abraham Lopes Cardozo, A”H, Hazzan of Congregation Shearith Israel: The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue at New York from 1946-1986, sings the hymn according to the Western Sephardic tradition.
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The American Sephardi Federation invites all individuals, communities, and organizations who share our vision & principles to join us in signing the American Sephardi Leadership Statement!
Please also support the ASF with a generous, tax-deductible contribution so we can continue to cultivate and advocate, preserve and promote, as well as educate and empower!
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Image credit: The historical and contemporary cornucopia or “horns of plenty” as represented by a Maccabean coin of Yoḥanan Hurqanos, a vintage Thanksgiving greeting card, and a modern Israeli shekel coin.
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Upcoming Events or Opportunities
The NY Jewish Week, B’nai Jeshurun Congregation, Natan Fund, Jewish Book Council, and ASF Institute of Jewish Experience present:
An Evening with “One Hundred Saturdays”
An event featuring Sephardic songs from Daphna Mor (vocal) and Adam Good (on the oud), artwork from Maira Kalman, and a wide-ranging conversation between celebrated author Michael Frank and award-winning journalist Sandee Brawarsky, with the participation of Stella Levi!
Wednesday, 30 November at 7:00 PM EST
Sign-up Now!
(Tickets: $14.36 – $22.85)
In-person at B’nai Jeshrun Congregation and online
257 West 88th Street,
New York, NY
A luminous work, One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World is the encounter of two brilliant storytellers: Stella Levi, who was born and grew up in the old Sephardic Jewish quarter of the island of Rhodes and is now almost 100 years of age, and Michael Frank, who listens to, captures, and retells the story of her survival and embrace of life.
Michael Frank will be in conversation with award-winning New York journalist Sandee Brawarsky.
About the author:
Michael Frank is the author of What Is Missing, a novel, and The Mighty Franks, a memoir, which was awarded the 2018 JQ Wingate Prize and was named one of the best books of the year by The Telegraph and The New Statesman. One Hundred Saturdays is a Jewish Book Council Natan Notable Book. The recipient of a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship, Michael lives with his family in New York City and Camogli, Italy.
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The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience, the Center for Jewish History, Bar-Ilan University, Dahan Center, and the Ben-Zvi Institute present:
From Middle Eastern North African Jewish Refugees to Israeli Cultural Renaissance
International Conference featuring speakers from Canada, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States
Sunday, 4 December 10:30AM – 6:00PM EDT
($8 G/A or Donation)
Sign-up Now!
The Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York City
Program Details:
Sunday, December 04, 2022, 4 Kislev, 5783
- 10:30-11:00: Arrival and Registration
- 11:00-12:00: Opening Session
Chair: Dr. Shimon Ohayon, Director, the Dahan Center, Bar-Ilan University
Greetings:
- Mr. Yaakov Hagoel, Chairperson of the World Zionist Organization
- Mr. Eyal Gabbai, Chairperson, Yad Izhak Ben Zvi
- Mr. David Dangoor, President, American Sephardi Federation
Keynote Adress:
Prof. Noam Norman Stillman, University of Oklahoma
Prelude to Exodus: the Jews of Arab lands in the face of the challenges and transformations of the modern era
- 12:00-12:15: Coffee break
- 12:15-14:00: Second session
Chair: Mr. Moshe Zaafrani, Manager of cultural-educational projects, Yad Ben Zvi
Mr. Gilad Erdan, Ambassador to the United Nations – Struggle and Recognition: Jews from Arab lands and Iran
Mr. Ben-Dror Yemini, Reporter – The Jewish Nakba: a Comparative Study
Dr. Stanley Yurman, Rutgers University & Director of JJAC – Justice for Jews from Arab countries: the case for rights and redress
Ms. Dana Avrish, Researcher, Artist & Creator – Rediscovering the Jewish roots in Islamic countries
- 14:00-14:45: Lunch Break
- 14:45-16:15: Third Session
Chair: Dr. Drora Arussy, Senior Director, ASF Institute of Jewish Experience
Dr. Sasha Goldstein-Sabbah, University of Groningen – Communal Dissolution and the Baghdadi Diaspora: Reframing Iraqi-Jewish Migration as Multidirectional
Mr. Edwin Shuker, Vice President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews – The Ethnic cleansing of the Jews of Iraq in the second half of the 20th century
Dr. Jesse Weinberg, University of Oklahoma – The End of Eden: Antisemitism in Iraq, 1917-1951
- 16:15–16:30 Coffee break
- 16:30-17:30 Fourth Session
Ms. Sarina RoffĂ©, Sephardic Heritage Project – Syrian Jewish Paths to Freedom
Mr. Ruben Shimonov, ASF’s National Director of Sephardi House – Conversation with Sephardi House Fellows
Student Presentations – The Story of Our Family Roots
- 17:30-18:00: Musical Program
Naama Perel Zadok
Concluding Remarks:
Dr. Shimon Ohayon and Dr. Drora Arussy
Supported by Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, World Zionist Organization, and World Jewish Congress – North America.
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The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:
Exclusive Authors Series with Alan Verskin
Join us for this episode of Exclusive Authors Series with Alan Verskin discussing his new book, A Vision of Yemen.
Tuesday, 6 December at 12:00PM EDT
(Complimentary RSVP)
Sign-up Now!
About the book:
In 1869, Hayyim Habshush, a Yemeni Jew, accompanied the European orientalist Joseph Halévy on his archaeological tour of Yemen. Twenty years later, Habshush wrote A Vision of Yemen, a memoir of their travels, that provides a vivid account of daily life, religion, and politics. More than a simple travelogue, it is a work of trickster-tales, thick anthropological descriptions, and reflections on Jewish–Muslim relations. At its heart lies the fractious and intimate relationship between the Yemeni coppersmith and the “enlightened” European scholar and the collision between the cultures each represents. The book thus offers a powerful indigenous response to European Orientalism.
This edition is the first English translation of Habshush’s writings from the original Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew and includes an accessible historical introduction to the work. The translation maintains Habshush’s gripping style and rich portrayal of the diverse communities and cultures of Yemen, offering a potent mixture of artful storytelling and cultural criticism, suffused with humor and empathy. Habshush writes about the daily lives of men and women, rich and poor, Jewish and Muslim, during a turbulent period of war and both Ottoman and European imperialist encroachment. With this translation, Alan Verskin recovers the lost voice of a man passionately committed to his land and people.
About the authors:
Alan Verskin is Associate Professor of History at the University of Rhode Island.
Click here for more about the book.
Sponsorship opportunities available:
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The American Sephardi Federation and the Moise Safra Center present:
Sephardi: Cooking the History with Hélène Jawhara-Piñer
Join Chef Hélène Jawhara-Piñer for an extraordinary cooking class as she recreates recipes from her award-winning and best-selling cookbook.
Thursday, 8 December at 10:00AM EDT
(Tickets: $50 – $95)
Sign-up Now!
The Moise Safra Center
130 E 82nd St. (7th Floor Culinary Studio)
New York, NY 10028
In this extraordinary cooking class, chef and scholar Hélène Jawhara-Piñer has selected some of her favorite recipes from her latest cookbook, Sephardi: Cooking the History. Recipes of the Jews of Spain and the Diaspora, from the 13th Century to Today, to serve up in our culinary studio. Steeped in the history of the Sephardic Jews and their diaspora, these recipes are expertly collected from such diverse sources as medieval cookbooks, Inquisition trials, medical treatises, poems, and literature. Original sources ranging from the thirteenth century onwards and written in Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Occitan, Italian, and Hebrew, bear witness to the culinary diversity of the Sephardim, who brought their cuisine with them and kept it alive wherever they went.
Jawhara-Piñer provides enlightening commentary for each recipe, revealing underlying societal issues from anti-Semitism to social order. Hélène Jawhara Piñer holds a doctoral degree in Medieval History and the History of Food. In 2018, she was awarded the Broome & Allen Fellowship of the American Sephardi Federation, dedicated to recognizing outstanding academic accomplishments and services to the Sephardic community, as well as encouraging continued excellence in the field of Sephardi studies.
Each creation and bite of the dishes are guaranteed to transport you to the most deeply moving and intriguing aspects of Jewish history. Jawhara-Piñer reminds us that eating is a way to commemorate the past.
Sponsorship opportunities available:
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ASF Broome & Allen & ADL Collaborative for Change Fellow Isaac de Castro presents:
Entre Diasporas: Telling the Latin-American Jewish story. Contando la historia judĂa latinoamericana
Tell your story. Cuenta tu historia.
We’re looking for first-generation Latino Jews in the United States who immigrated because of political and social turmoil. Jews of Sephardic descent from Colombia, Cuba, and Venezuela that now reside in the Miami area will be given priority, but others are welcome to apply as well.
Fill out this form to be considered as an interviewee for this project. After you’ve submitted, we will be in touch promptly to set up a preliminary phone call.
Click here for more information.