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Spanish
Ombudsman Enrique Mugica Herzog Coming to New York to Keynote
International Symposium
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Contact:
Lynne Winters at 212.294.8350 x2
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NEW YORK,
NY (December 3, 2009) - His Excellency Enrique Múgica
Herzog, the Defensor del Pueblo Español (Ombudsman
of Spain), will be featured at an international Symposium
on the 'Jews of Spain: Past and Present' which
will take place December 5-7, 2009 at the Center
for Jewish History in New York City.
This
program is being organized by the American Sephardi
Federation/Sephardic House (ASF/SH) with the generous
support of The Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation;
the invaluable assistance of the Consulate General of Spain
in New York; along with the participation of Casa Sefarad-Israel
in Madrid; the Red de Juderías de España
in Girona; the Instituto Cervantes, New York; and
The Catalan Center at NYU. Other sponsors include Banco
Santander, Iberia Airlines and Telefonica.
Numerous
Spanish officials will be coming to New York to join eminent
scholars from the United States, Canada and Israel in addressing
both the triumphs and travails of the Sephardic Jewish legacy
in Spain.
In addition
to H.E. Enrique Múgica Herzog, other featured participants
from Spain include Jacobo Israel Garzón, President
of the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Spain;
Diego de Ojeda, Director General of Casa Sefarad-Israel;
Assumpció Hosta Rebes, Secretary General of the Red
de Juderías de España; and Deputy Mayors
of the Spanish cities of Girona, Ribadavia and Segovia.
"The
American Sephardi Federation is extremely pleased to present
this program, as it is of great historic interest and goes
to the very core of our mission," said Florence Amzallag
Tatistcheff, ASF Board Member and Chair of the Program Committee.
"This Symposium will increase knowledge of the Sephardic
Jewish experience which emanated from Spain and its impact
on Jewish thinking up to today."
The Saturday
night opening will feature a Gala Concert and Dessert Reception
with Spain's Paco Díez, who brings his voice, guitar,
percussion, and scholarship of the folk traditions from the
varied regions of Spain.
The Symposium
program will initially address the contributions of Jews to
Spain through scholarship (Jewish thought, mysticism, Maimonides,
etc.) Culture (e.g. artists, poets, etc) then focus on the
darker medieval period (the Inquisition, the 1492 Expulsion,
etc.) finally addressing 'Spain and its Jews Today.'
While
this project will no doubt be of interest to Sephardim, the
ASF/SH is committed to promoting this program to a wider Jewish
and non-Jewish audience in order to enrich the public knowledge
about the Sephardic Jewish experience.
The Symposium
is part of a year-long initiative that ASF has organized throughout
2009-2010, on 'The Jews of Spain: Past and Present.'
Other programs include an exhibition entitled 'Jerusalem
and the Jews of Spain: Longing and Reality' which
is free and open to the public through May 2010; the February
4-11, 2010 NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival,
which will feature selected films on Spain; and a series of
lectures on a variety of topics including "Maimonides,
Spinoza and Us"; "Daughters of Sara, Mothers of
Israel"; and "The Jewish Presence in Contemporary
Catalan Literature."
The program will take place at 15 West 16th Street in New
York City.
Click
Here for a Link to the Program Brochure
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