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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
International
Symposium to Focus on the
Sephardic Experience: Spain and Its Jews
Contact:
Lynne Winters at 212.294.8350 x2
[Printable
Format PDF] 
NEW
YORK, NY (November 16, 2009) - The historic
link between Spain and its Jews has been a
study of contrasts. Renowned as both the historic
birthplace of Sephardic culture, Spain was
also the site of dark moments in Jewish history.
The American Sephardi Federation/Sephardic
House (ASF/SH) will examine this historic
link between Spain and the Jewish people in
a Symposium entitled: "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. Senior Spanish Government 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. ASF is organizing this international
initiative with the invaluable assistance
of the Consulate General of Spain in New
York.
The Saturday night opening will feature a
Gala Concert and Dessert Reception with Spain's
Paco Díez, who brings his voice, guitar,
hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, 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 Dispersion, etc.) finally addressing "Spain
and its Jews Today," with the participation
of Enrique Múgica Herzog, Spain's Ombudsman
and Jacobo Israel Garzón, President
of the Federation of the Jewish Communities
of Spain. A book published on the proceedings
of the Symposium, documenting the deep roots
of the Sephardic heritage in Spain, will be
translated into Spanish and distributed to
universities, libraries, etc. throughout Spain.
The entire program has been made possible
through the generous support of The Edmond
J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation. The
Symposium has elicited the support and participation
of Casa Sefarad/Israel in Madrid; the
Red de Juderias in Girona, the Instituto
Cervantes, New York and The Catalan
Center at NYU.
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 pubic 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."
Click
Here for a Link to the Program Brochure
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