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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
[Printable
Format PDF] 
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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