New Article: LIMMUD UK 2018: “Bourekas and Haminados” Sephardischkeit, Ashkenazi Supremacy, and the “Dead Sephardim”
David Shasha
LIMMUD UK 2018: “Bourekas and Haminados” Sephardischkeit, Ashkenazi Supremacy, and the “Dead Sephardim”
The London Jewish Chronicle has posted the following article on the 2018 LIMMUD conference there:
https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/limmud-preserves-history-of-sephardi-jews-1.474163
Here is the complete article:
You may not be inclined to take a trip to Libya or Yemen. For obvious reasons: these countries which once had flourishing Jewish communities are too risky to include on the Jewish tour map.
But you can learn something about them through Diarna, an innovative online resource set up to preserve the history and stories of the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa before it is too late.
Its co-founder, Jason Guberman, is a guest at Limmud as part of an effort to highlight Sephardi and Mizrachi culture at this year’s festival. Rather than being boxed into a self-contained track, it has been threaded throughout the different strands of the programme.
The subject is close to the heart of Elliot Jebreel, the festival’s joint programming chair, whose parents and elder sister were born in Iran before the family moved to Manchester.
“The predominant Jewish culture in the UK is Ashkenazi,” he said. “For me, it is about trying to redress the balance a little bit. I went to Jewish schools and most of what I learned was Ashkenazi Judaism.
“I learned about the Shoah, the pogroms. I learned all the history, the halachah, I learned Yiddish songs when I was at Kerem [school in London]. And when you look at how Jews are portrayed in the UK, more generally, it’s Ashkenazi culture — bagels, smoked salmon, gefilte fish.”
One festival session is even entitled “We don’t eat bagels here”, which is being jointly presented by a lawyer from Istanbul, Ela Cenudioğlu.
Rabbinic teachers include Rabbi Haim Ovadia, a Sephardi teacher from the USA who is linked to Torat Chayim, a network of modern-thinking Orthodox rabbis: and Rabbi Joseph Dweck, head of the S&P Sephardi Community in London who will talk on why the Spanish and Portuguese eschewed kabbalah.
Angy Cohen, an academic at Tel Aviv University, is giving a variety of talks including one on Flora Sasson, an Iraqi Torah scholar in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Among those taking the stage will be Leila Broukhim, a flamenco dancer from Madrid, and Chloe Pourmorady, from the large Iranian Jewish community in Los Angeles, whose music blends new and old. Eurovision winner Dana International is of Yemeni lineage.
Late at night, the Eastern beats disco will be jointly hosted by Gal Farhi, a London-based Israeli who is of Libyan heritage, and Joey Leskin, part of the Limmud volunteer team, who has a Yemeni background.
A number of sessions will be led by Edwin Shuker, the Board of Deputies joint vice-president who appears in the film Remember Baghdad, about the lives of Jews in Iraq.
Another audio-visual trip back into the Iraqi Jewish past is the Wolf of Baghdad, while Parisian Miriam Tangi’s sessions include a photographic look at the last Jews of Yemen.
“There are a lot more of young Sephardim and Mizrachim trying to get back to their roots and rediscover what their family stories are,” Mr Jebreel said.
As is the case with many of these “Sephardic” programs, we are already familiar with some of the names involved and the usual deployment of Arab Jewish ephemera and the “Last Jews” trope.
I have presented the heritage of Sephardic Humanism with an emphasis on the Anglo-Jewish tradition in a special newsletter:
The following annotated reading list features seminal British Sephardim like David Nieto, Moses Angel, Grace Aguilar, E.H. Lindo, Sabato Morais, and Moses Montefiore, names who do not appear in the LIMMUD presentations:
And lest we forget another figure in the Anglo-Sephardic tradition, George Belasco, whose excellent book of sermons provide an excellent iteration of our culture:
In the following Huffington Post articles on Moses and Judith Montefiore I show the importance of the Sephardim for Modern Jewish History:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-shasha/moses-montefiore-the-most_b_610879.html
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-shasha/finding-jewish-feminism-i_b_572978.html
This is the sort of thing that we will not hear at LIMMUD this year – or any other year for that matter.
The contrast could not be more apparent.
In my article “Who Speaks for the Arab Jews?” I discussed the work of American Sephardi Federation director Jason Guberman and his DIARNA group which seeks to present material claims of Jewish property in the Arab-Muslim world in a way that perfectly dovetails to the Israeli government’s attempt to counter Palestinian demands:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/Davidshasha/diarna/davidshasha/2HvxkcywnAU/I28hoxu-AwAJ
The Ashkenazi Guberman is another racist institutional apparatchik who has sought to co-opt Sephardic history for his own purposes.
The ASF helped to oust David Myers as director of the Center for Jewish History:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/20983
We have seen the prominence of Ronn Torossian in the anti-Myers campaign and how members of the ASF leadership such as Rabbi Elie Abadie participated in the protest:
http://israelob.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-david-myers-debacle.html
Here is the relevant citation from that post:
Sadly, several supporters of the American Sephardi Federation, one of the five institutions that make up the CJH, got sucked into one-sided “news.” They wrote emails to the CJH leadership siding with Torossian.
“Allowing one of us to destroy us from within, that is not being tolerant, that is being FOOLISH!!, AND FOOLISH, SEPHARDIM ARE NOT!!” wrote Rabbi Elie Abadie.
For all their diligent efforts, the ASF is now part of the new faction controlling the CJH in the post-Myers era:
https://www.cjh.org/about/leadership
ASF president David Dangoor is now a member of the CJH Board of Directors as Vice Chair under Bruce Slovin.
The CJH recently held a big conference presented by the Yeshiva University Museum and Bar-Ilan University on the Arab Jewish Refugee issue which I discussed in the following article:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/Davidshasha/k8q8iQon_zU
Tellingly, the ASF was not a partner in the program.
When it comes to “serious” Sephardic culture, Ashkenazim are fully in charge.
They call the shots.
Then of course, we have Rabbi Joseph Dweck, now head of the British Sephardic community, but always looking to get back to Brooklyn and its big cash donors.
We have seen the controversy over Dweck’s statements on Homosexuality:
After pressures placed on him by both the Sephardic and Ashkenazi Haredi factions, Dweck relented on his support for the Gays, and has since been warmly welcomed back into the bosom of the Brooklyn Sephardic community:
He has continued to return frequently as a featured speaker for the Sephardic Community Alliance, a Brooklyn-based Modern Orthodox group:
https://www.facebook.com/345586748829891/photos/a.345868365468396/1701470246574861/?type=3
Dweck is no friend of the classical Sephardic tradition, instead allying with the YU Ashkenazified Sephardim and pressing forward with full steam to promote his own personal ambitions.
Rabbi Haim Ovadia is also known to SHU readers:
At the beginning of my article “The New Sephardic Jewish Binary” I made note of Ovadia’s Messianic Zionism as he attempts to eliminate the Four Fasts.
Just recently he has reiterated this bold claim:
https://files.constantcontact.com/64c06db0201/2314b703-1312-40aa-8b6e-366e483458ce.pdf
Tellingly, he has also just posted the following tribute to the arch Sephardi-hater Rabbi Ezra Labaton:
https://files.constantcontact.com/64c06db0201/09d35d86-3180-45de-9e5b-51f1c7675ff6.pdf
Indeed, Ovadia has come a very long way from the time when he attacked Zionism in his article on the deplorable Israeli movie “Sallah Shabbati”:
Even those Sephardim who have the courage to speak out against White Jewish Supremacy, eventually cave in and cravenly assume the position demanded of them by the Ashkenazim who run things.
The following article from the institutional mouthpiece eJewish Philanthropy takes a more general approach to the LIMMUD conference:
Here is the complete post:
Over 2000 participants are converging this week in Brimingham England for Limmud Festival 2018.
Presenters will include Dana International, celebrating the 20th anniversary of her Eurovision win, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary MP Emily Thornberry, Ephraim Mirvis, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Joseph Dweck, Senior Rabbi of the S&P Sephardi Community of the UK, flamenco dancer Leilah Broukhim, artist Siona Benjamin, Bukharan social innovator Ruben Shimonov, the Banot band, author and chef Gil Hovav, historian Jack Wertheimer, and comedians Rachel Creeger and Benji Lovitt.
Limmud Festival 2018 is unique in spotlighting Sephardi and Mizrahi culture, encompassing Flamenco dancing, women Torah scholars, food and art, as well as growing LGBTQ+ activism in the community. “We are focusing on Sephardi and Mizrahi culture – too often ignored in wider communal spaces – to expose audiences to the rich brocade of traditions stretching from Spain and Portugal to Iran, Iraq and India,” said Programming Committee Co-Chair Elliot Jebreel, himself a proud “Jewranian” and LGBTQ+ leader.
Limmud Festival brings together a diverse cross-section of people with widely varying opinions and affiliations who convene in an environment of mutual respect.
“We don’t shy away from the searing political controversies in the UK and wherever Jews live,” said Programming Committee Co-Chair Sarah Pinch. “We insist that we listen to one another and agree it is legitimate to disagree.”
The program is diverse and mind-stretching. Think “When Rebbe Nachman met Gal Gadot: from proto- to post-feminism,” “The Jewish Side of Adam Smith,”
“How is maternal experience registered in our DNA?,” “A Dummies Guide to Yemen,” and “Does religion spoil your sex life?” Learn about the continuing journey of Russian-speaking Jewry, the rise of alternative Jewish communities in the United States and around the world, and the transitions in the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora.
“Alongside sessions involving chavruta study, participants can explore important interfaith initiatives and the inclusion challenges facing those with disabilities,” said Programming Co-Chair Ezra Margulies. “Our 500+ presenters, like every Limmud team member, are volunteers. We are delighted by the incredible variety of choices we can offer thanks to the thought leaders from every field who share of their vast knowledge, expertise and joy in Jewish living.”
Limmud Festival is a cross-communal event, which provides an opportunity for many organizations to showcase presenters, including Beit Hatfutsot – Museum of the Jewish People, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, The Covenant Foundation, Dangoor Education, Hillel International, Honeymoon Israel, Yesod European Jewish leadership delegation and others.
In this description of the LIMMUD event we see a more pronounced “Bourekas and Haminados” approach which verges on the Orientalizing.
A Flamenco Dancer!
Just like Maimonides wanted.
What we see in both articles is a very uplifting and sunny presentation that never seriously addresses the ongoing problem of Ashkenazi racism against us.
It is all just a misunderstanding!
Nothing in the articles gives any indication that the “serious” culture of the classical Sephardic heritage will be presented at LIMMUD.
It is all very light-hearted, very New Convivencia.
More dead Sephardim.
More music.
More food.
I was struck by the following piece of duplicity:
Limmud Festival brings together a diverse cross-section of people with widely varying opinions and affiliations who convene in an environment of mutual respect.
“We don’t shy away from the searing political controversies in the UK and wherever Jews live,” said Programming Committee Co-Chair Sarah Pinch. “We insist that we listen to one another and agree it is legitimate to disagree.”
But when it comes to Sephardim there is no place for those who disagree with the White Jews.
The Ashkenazi establishment wants “Good Sephardim” who will do as they are told, and not “Bad Sephardim” who will raise a ruckus about White Jewish Hegemony.
After all, we are all “One People” and it is not appropriate to cause a stir when Jewish Unity is at stake.
Sephardim must always know their place, and not move an inch from it.
We remain on the Ashkenazi leash.
David Shasha