Portuguese Holocaust Hero, A Moroccan Man’s Broad-Minded Mission, Tasty Tunisia/Libyan Tradition, and Ladino Had Gadya

15 April 2016 Mazel tov/Mabrook to Simo El Aissaoui for his invaluable efforts fostering fun and forging friendships between the Moroccan and Jewish communities in New York

“Moroccan Man Attempts to Bring Moroccans and Jews Together in NYC” By Kimberly Avalos, Morocco World News   When Simo El Aissaoui emigrated from Morocco to Long Island, he was disturbed by the anti-Semitism that he encountered. So he decided to import the “Moroccan example” of co-existence to his new country by organizing, “a Moroccan/Jewish social club where young professionals from both communities can come together for monthly meetings and simply ‘get to know each other.’”

Simo El Aissaoui (sporting a Fez) with members of Association Mimouna at the 19th NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival’s Midnight Orchestra After Party, 16 March 2016 (Photo courtesy of Chrystie Sherman)

“Moroccan Man Attempts to Bring Moroccans and Jews Together in NYC”
By Kimberly Avalos, Morocco World News

Simo El Aissaoui (sporting a Fez) with members of Association Mimouna at the 19th NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival’s Midnight Orchestra After Party, 16 March 2016 (Photo courtesy of Chrystie Sherman)

António Baptista Ribeiro, Mayor of the Municipality of Almeida, Portugal, spoke at the opening of Portugal, The Last Hope: Sousa Mendes’ Visas for Freedom, 7 April 2016 (Photo courtesy of Chrystie Sherman). Mayor Riberio presented medals on behalf of Almeida to Portuguese Counsel General in New York, Manuela Bairos, The American Sephardi Federation’s Executive Director, Jason Guberman-P., and President of the Sousa Mendes Foundation, Olivia Mattis

“Portuguese Holocaust Hero Remembered in NYC” By Alexandre Soares,Voices of NY Aristedes de Sousa Mendes was a Holocaust-era Portuguese consul general who saved approximately 15,000 refugees (Salvador Dali and the authors of Curious George amongst them) from the Nazis by defying the orders of his government to issue visas. Mendes’ heroic efforts came at great personal cost and went largely unrecognized until Yad Vashem declared him a “Righteous Among Nations” in 1966. Today, fifty years later, there is Portugal, The Last Hope: Sousa Mendes’ Visas to Freedom, an exhibit in The American Sephardi Federation’s Leon Levy Gallery at The Center for Jewish History co-created with the Portuguese Consulate General of NY and Sousa Mendes Foundation with the support of The Museu Virtual Aristides de Sousa Mendes,Turismo Centro de Portugal, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Luso-Americano Foundation, The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, American Jewish Historical Society, and Leo Baeck Institute. According to ASF Executive Director, Jason Guberman-P., “When following orders was the order of the day, Aristides de Sousa Mendes refused to be an accomplice… to monstrous attacks on human dignity.”

António Baptista Ribeiro, Mayor of the Municipality of Almeida, Portugal, spoke at the opening of Portugal, The Last Hope: Sousa Mendes’ Visas for Freedom, 7 April 2016 (Photo courtesy of Chrystie Sherman). Mayor Riberio presented medals on behalf of Almeida to Portuguese Counsel General in New York, Manuela Bairos, The American Sephardi Federation’s Executive Director, Jason Guberman-P., and President of the Sousa Mendes Foundation, Olivia Mattis “Portuguese Holocaust Hero Remembered in NYC”
By Alexandre Soares,Voices of NY

Aristedes de Sousa Mendes was a Holocaust-era Portuguese consul general who saved approximately 15,000 refugees (Salvador Dali and the authors of Curious George amongst them) from the Nazis by defying the orders of his government to issue visas. Mendes’ heroic efforts came at great personal cost and went largely unrecognized until Yad Vashem declared him a “Righteous Among Nations” in 1966. Today, fifty years later, there is Portugal, The Last Hope: Sousa Mendes’ Visas to Freedom, an exhibit in The American Sephardi Federation’s Leon Levy Gallery at The Center for Jewish History co-created with the Portuguese Consulate General of NY and Sousa Mendes Foundation with the support of The Museu Virtual Aristides de Sousa Mendes,Turismo Centro de Portugal, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Luso-Americano Foundation, The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, American Jewish Historical Society, and Leo Baeck Institute. According to ASF Executive Director, Jason Guberman-P., “When following orders was the order of the day, Aristides de Sousa Mendes refused to be an accomplice… to monstrous attacks on human dignity.” Video of the Week: Ladino “Had Gadya”

“Bsisa: A Tasty Tradition To Begin The Passover Season” By Adam Eilath and Tamar Zaken, My Jewish Learning   According to the Bible, the Tabernacle was completed on the first day of Nissan. Tunisian and Libyan Jews remember the completion of the Tabernacle, and in so doing also connect Purim and Passover, by performing a ritual on the first of Nissan called, “Bsisa.” Taking place exclusively in the home, Jewish women played a leading role in Bsisa, preparing foods, reciting special blessings, and, in imitation of the Biblical story, removing their necklaces and bracelets, “to symbolize the gold that women donated to the building of the [Tabernacle].”

Click here to watch the Jewish-Libyan Makhlouf family of New Jersey marking Rosh Chodesh Nissan 2009 by making Bsisa, a traditional sweet and bejeweled food concoction (Photo courtesy of YouTube)

“Bsisa: A Tasty Tradition To Begin The Passover Season”
By Adam Eilath and Tamar Zaken, My Jewish Learning

Click here to watch the Jewish-Libyan Makhlouf family of New Jersey marking Rosh Chodesh Nissan 2009 by making Bsisa, a traditional sweet and bejeweled food concoction (Photo courtesy of YouTube)

Nabucco, Opera by Verdi

April 17th at 8PM
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, New York City

An opera by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by and starring David Serero as Nabucco. Building on the biblical accounts of the Babylonian Exile found in Jeremiah and Daniel, Verdi’s Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar) combines political and love intrigues with some of the greatest songs ever written (including Va pensiero, The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves).
 

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

New Sounds of Old Judeo-Spanish Songs
April 18th at 7PM
Center for Jewish History 
15 West 16th Street, New York City

The  Jewish Music Forum of The American Society of Jewish Music, American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, and Center for Traditional Music and Dance present:

Edwin Seroussi, Director of the Jewish Music Research Centre, who will speak about some of the oldest recordings of Sephardic music (c.1906-1913), which were recently rediscovered in London and feature the voices of legendary performers of Judeo-Spanish songs. 
 

Please click here to RSVP

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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($54 tax-deductible)

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Copyright © 2016 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).

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


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