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Images
of a Lost World: Pictures & Stories of
Balkan Sephardic Life
The
American Sephardi Federation
presents an exhibition
created by Centropa and co-presented
with YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
On
Display Now - Through May 2011
Click
To Enlarge Image
This
exhibition is based on the family stories
and pictures pulled from Centropa's archive
of more than 200 interviews conducted in Turkey,
Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Croatia.
The pictures and stories take us back into
the world of Balkan Sephardic Jewry in its
last decades, and through these personal stories
of going to school, falling in love and recalling
family holidays, Jewish history comes to life.
This exhibition was originally commissioned
by the Foreign Ministry of Spain and has been
funded by the Spanish Embassy in Washington,
DC and Casa Sefarad/Israel in Madrid.
There
is no charge to visit and see this exhibition
Location:
At the Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th St. NYC (map)
International
Symposium on Jewish Life in Morocco
Sunday,
May 15 and Monday, May 16, 2011
The
ASF will conduct a two-day international symposium
entitled: ‘Jewish Life in Morocco’
at its home at the Center for Jewish History
in New York City. The symposium will feature
international scholars from Morocco, France,
Canada, Israel and the U.S., who will present
the history, contributions and contemporary
story of Jewish Morocco. Specific topics will
include, among others: Evolution of Jewish
Life, Moroccan Jews and the Arts, Moroccan
Rabbis and Jewish Thought, Relationships Between
Jews and Muslims, Moroccan Jewish Diaspora
and the Jews of Morocco Today. The symposium,
open to the public, is part of the year-long
series: ‘2,000 Years of Jewish Life in
Morocco: An Epic Journey,’ which is being
held under the High Patronage of His Majesty
Mohammed VI, King of Morocco.
For
more information, please
click here.
Location:
At the Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th St. NYC (map)
Sounds
of Immigrant New York: Bukharian Jewish Music
in New York City
Sponsored by the Center
for Traditional Music and Dance, the Center
for Jewish History and the American
Sephardi Federation.
Wednesday,
April 13, 2011 at 7pm
Multi-Media
Lecture Ethnomusicologist Evan Rapport,
Ph.D. will provide a multi-media introduction
to the music of New York City’s fascinating
Bukharian
Jewish Community. A thriving community
of over 50,000 transplanted from Uzbekistan
and Tajikistan is today centered in Rego Park
and Forest Hills, Queens. The community maintains
a lively culture, and features some of the
best Central Asian musicians in the world,
including masters of the courtly Shash maqâm
tradition, and unique Jewish musical forms
such as sâzanda wedding music. "Bukharian
Jewish Music in New York City" is part
of a series of free public lectures by leading
scholars on the continuity and development
of diverse music and dance traditions in New
York City's immigrant communities. A reception
will follow the program.
This was0 a lecture with music samples but
not a concert.
Location:
At the Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th St. NYC (map)
15th
NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival (NYSJFF)
Sponsored
by the American Sephardi Federation;
Co-sponsored by Yeshiva University Museum
Opening
Night: Thursday, March 10, 2011
This year's special focus on Morocco will
bring feature films and documentaries to entertain
and enlighten our audiences. As always, we
will have a breadth of film surveying the
richness of Sephardic Jewish culture with
roots in medieval Iberia, the Ottoman Empire,
and covering Jewish communities worldwide
with post-screening dialogues. SephardicFilmFest.org
Tableau
Vivant: The Berberisca Ceremony (A Living
Picture)
A
program of the year-long series, "2,000
Years of Jewish Life in Morocco: An Epic Journey",
presented Under the High Patronage of His
Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, and
made possible through the generous support
of the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation.
Sunday,
February 6, 2011 at 4pm
Join
us for a live re-enactment – in ceremonial
dress and authentic Moroccan setting –
and a discussion of the picturesque Noche
de Berberisca or Soirée du Henné.
This most traditional Moroccan Jewish ceremony
takes place during the week that precedes
the wedding, in an atmosphere full of joy
and emotion. It is enhanced with wedding songs,
elegant outfits and delicious pastries. The
evening reaches its climax when the bride
makes her entrance magnificently made up and
dressed in the Berberisca gown called Traje
de paños in Spanish or Keswa
Elkbira (Great Dress) in Arabic. Come
see the Berberisca bride and her bridesmaids!
Sing along with singer Vanessa Paloma,
taste our Moroccan tea and pastries, and much
more. Do not miss this magnificent and unique
event!
Tickets:
$18 General Admission/$12 for ASF members.
RSVP
requested: 212.294.8350 x0; or [email protected]
BOOKS
AND AUTHORS
The
Farhud--The
Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust
Monday,
January 31, 2011 at 6:30pm
Join
author Edwin Black for a book presentation,
lecture and signing. "…In The
Farhud, Black presents well-documented truths
about Arab-Nazi collaboration during the Holocaust.
It will shed new light on the discussion of
the Middle East and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
This book fills a long-standing gap in our
understanding of the terrible events of 70
years ago and their continuing impact on today's
Middle East." -- Malcolm Hoenlein
executive vice chairman, Conference of Presidents
of Major American Jewish Organizations.
CLICK
HERE TO LISTEN
Behind
the Scenes: An intimate video visit to Morocco
A
program of the year-long series, "2,000
Years of Jewish Life in Morocco: An Epic Journey",
presented Under the High Patronage of His
Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, and
made possible through the generous support
of the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation.
Thursday,
January 27, 2011 at 6:30pm
Peter
Geffen, on annual travels to Morocco with
college students and teachers, has encountered
a growing collection of remarkable stories
of Muslim-Jewish co-existence. In small villages
across Morocco one encounters a relationship
still vibrant, even in the total absence of
Jews for the past 50 years. This evening will
include video interviews with Berbers who
still fondly remember their Jewish neighbors;
go into the villages of Arazane, Telouine
and Telouet for a first hand visit to the
old mellah, its synagogues and the warm and
gracious people who make it all come alive.
College student alumni of the KIVUNIM program
will join Peter and Raphael David Elmaleh,
the only Jewish guide in the Arab world and
co-founder of the Museum of Moroccan Jewry
in Casablanca, for this very special evening.
Tickets:
$12 General Admission/$8 for ASF members.
RSVP requested: 212.294.8350 x0; or [email protected]
Location:
At the Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th St. NYC (map)
Sepharad:
Voices From Across the Strait [live
music and singing]
Sephardic
Music Festival Scholar Series
December
6, 2010
Presented
in collaboration with the American Sephardi
Federation and Yeshiva University
Museum
Program curator: Samuel R. Thomas; Artists:
Vanessa Paloma and d'Safi Takht Ensemble
The
Strait of Gibraltar has long served as a
bridge between North Africa and Iberia,
facilitating transcontinental kingdoms for
centuries and as an important passage for
Sephardic migrants. Moroccan cultural expressions
remain central to the perpetuity of Sephardic
culture. As a part of the sixth annual Sephardic
Music Festival, this evening's Scholar Series
provides an opportunity to explore aspects
of Sephardic musical culture through performances
by singer and scholar, Vanessa Paloma, and
the d'Safi Takht Ensemble, performing North
African and Jewish music in a contemporary
way. An audience-interactive panel discussion
follows with the artists, led by ethnomusicologist
and curator, Samuel R. Thomas.
Co-sponsors:
The Foundation for Iberian Music, American
Jewish Historical Society, American Society
for Jewish Music, the Institute for Sephardic
Studies, AsefaMusic and Shemspeed.
General
Admission: $15/ $12 for ASF, YUMuseum, American
Jewish Historical Society and American Society
for Jewish Music members and students with
ID. Ticket includes performance and panel
discussion with the artists, entrance to
YUM Galleries and viewing the current ASF
exhibit, Looking Back: Jewish Life in
Morocco.
The
Routes of Exile: A Moroccan Jewish Odyssey
[a
film]
Sunday,
November 14, 2010
Join
director, Eugene Rostow, for a screening
of his fascinating film about the
once-thriving Jewish community of Morocco.
In 90 minutes, the documentary approaches
the situation of the migrant or the immigrant
or the refugee, who goes from a place
he always called home to another home,
whether the spiritual one of Israel or
the ones primarily for earning a living,
in France or Canada. The situation of
the Moroccan Jews has its uniqueness,
but it also has aspects that attest to
the universality of the hopes and disappointments
of those who have uprooted themselves.
"Fascinating and
compelling."-Washington Post
"An intriguing
exploration."-Los Angeles
Times
The
filmmakers have found footage from the
past that communicates the flavor of the
cloistered Jewish life in Moroccan towns
and of the way that Jewish farmers lived
in peace with their Arab neighbors. One
sees Jewish traders dealing with Berbers
and catches glimpses of Jewish Moroccan
folkways. But one also learns of the anti-Semitism,
a constant minor chord that occasionally
became terrifyingly dominant in relationships
often marked by cordiality and trust.
This
evening is part of a year-long series
of programs on Jews of Morocco made
possible through the generous support
of the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation.
Jewish
Song and Prayer of Aleppo
[live music and singing]
Thursday,
October 21, 2010
CLICK
TO LEARN MORE AND SEE PHOTOS FROM THIS PAST
EVENT
The
liturgy of the Syrian Jewish community synthesizes
the maqam music of their Arab neighbors
with their own Hebrew poetry and prayers.
Mark Kligman, PhD, Professor of Jewish Musicology
at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute
of Religion in New York will trace the development
of this music which he explores in his book
Maqam and Liturgy: Ritual, Music and Aesthetics
of Syrian Jews in Brooklyn. Isaac Cabasso,
Cantor of Congregation Beth Torah, a Syrian
synagogue in Brooklyn, NY, will lend his
50 years of experience in Syrian Hazzanut
to the conversation, and perform excerpts
of the prayers in various maqamot. Musical
accompaniment on the oud will be performed
by Victor Esses, Cantor of Sephardic Synagogue.
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