Announcing the Sefarad Newsletter
Yitzchak Kerem
soc.culture groups, but it didn't get here due to a typo.]
The word "Sefardic" refers to Jews whose origin is from Spain.
Until the last expulsion of Jews, which occurred in 1492, the center
of the Jewish world was located in Spain. Afterwards, the Spanish
Jews dispersed mostly to North Africa, and the Ottoman Empire.
However, they also later made their way to Holland, England and other
parts of Europe. By the 17th century they had reached the Americas.
As a result of Inquisitions in the Iberian Peninsula and in the
Americas, where Jews were forbidden to reside unless they converted to
Catholicism, many chose to become Crypto-Jews, outwardly appearing
Catholic while privately practicing aspects of Judaism. Thus, today,
millions in the Spanish and Portuguese speaking world have Jewish
roots.
This Judeo-Spanish culture, both that of those who remained Jewish and
those who assimilated into the surrounding non-Jewish population, is
the subject of this newsletter.
Sefaradic Jews are today found in the Americas, Western and Eastern
Europe, Turkey, Israel, Egypt and North Africa, and even in other
remote African countries such as Zaire, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
This newsletter will come out once a month (conditions permitting).
To receive it, send a message to list...@nysernet.israel.org, saying
subscribe sefarad "your name"
Do not specify a Subject: line in the message, and do not include any
other lines (e.g. do not include your signature). Specify your real
name, not your computer address.
Here, as a sample, is the latest newsletter.
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SEFARAD NEWSLETTER, Volume 1, Number 2. March 1992.
Edited by Yitzchak Kerem (ke...@israel.nysernet.org)
Technical Coordinator - Avrum Goodblatt (good...@israel.nysernet.org)
Technical Assistance - Warren Burstein (war...@israel.nysernet.org)
Dear reader,
This is our first full edition of the newsletter. Hopefully, it can
be of use to you. Great efforts were made to obtain and record this
information. Much is lacking and we apologize in advance for
omissions. Please send us your comments, contributions, questions,
announcements, short news items and articles. March has been very
busy for Sephardic events. There were evenings in Jerusalem where as
many as 4 simultaneous Sephardic related events were being held.
Words can't amply describe the wealth of Sephardic activities
currently being held. Only in Jerusalem and Israel can one experience
this.
We will try to put out information at least once a month. In between
IDF reserve duty and trips abroad, we'll do our best to answer mail.
Yitzchak Kerem and Avrum Goodblatt. Jerusalem.
Past Sephardic related events
Lecture by Prof. Shraga Avramson. "The Growth of the Torah Center in
Spain and the History of the Literary Debate." Jerusalem. The National
Academy of Israel for the Sciences. November 26, 1991.[Hebrew].
Prof. Yeshayahu Tishbi was awarded the Gershom Scholem Prize for
Kabbalah research. Jerusalem, The National Academy of Israel for the
Sciences. December 5, 1991. The prize was offered to an oustanding
scholar of Kabbalah, particularly specializing in Sabbateanism and
Hassidism. While writing this issue of the bulletin, Prof. Tishbi
passed away in March 1992. It is with great sorrow that we depart from
this renown scholar.
Second Annual Semana Sepharad. Dr. Robyn Loewenthal of California
Luthern University spoke on "Acculturation of Spanish Jews to Life in
the Ottoman Empire". Entertainment was provided by Ramon Tasat of
Buenos Aires. Temple Tiferet Israel. Los Angeles. February 20,
1992.(Sponsored by Yeshiva University in cooperation with the Tourist
Office of Spain and Iberia Airlines.)
Vangeli Chekimoglu."Poor Jewish Families in Salonika during
1940-1."Jewish Community of Thessaloniki and Society for the Study of
Greek Jewry. Commercial Study Center. Thessaloniki, Greece. February
26, 1992.
Publications
NOAJ, Revista Literaria. No. 6 of Agosto 1991 is devoted to "500 Anos
y Tres Culturas". It's published by the Asociacion Internacional de
Escritores Judios en Lengua Hispana y Portuguesa. To subscribe write:
NOAJ, P.O.B. 4658, 91042, Jerusalem, Israel.
Linea Directa. Issue No. 14 of Enero 1992 is devoted to "500 Anos
Despues, 1492-1992."Noteworthy is the article on the family research
of David Dasa of Kibbutz Kineret. Also there is an article on Amnon
Shamosh's recent activities. The film "Har Haanusim", based on his
work, is in progress. Another one of his works "La agente de dona
Gracia" is being converted into theatrical form at Beit Lessin in Tel
Aviv under the direction of Hagit Rehavi.
Sephardic Events in March 1992!!!!
Yehoram Gaon concert, "From Toledo to Jerusalem". Golden Center for
the Performing Arts. New York City. Sunday, March 22, 1992. 8 p.m.
An International Conference on Don Isaac Abravanel. March 22-23, 1992.
Queens College/CUNY.
"Jews and the Encounter With the New World, 1492/1992". Jean and
Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at the University of
Michigan, 206 Angell Hall, Ann Arbor, Michigan. March 28-29, 1992.
Beit Shmuel. Jerusalem. March 11 - Authentic Popular Song - Ladino.
Dr. Shoshana Weich Shachak
March 17 - Purim Allegra. Authentic Sephardic
Purim Celebration. Rhodian Jewry featured.
March 27 - Breira Tivit.
The Sephardic Public Council of Jerusalem(Vaad Eida Hasefardi) March
10, 1992. Sephardic Families' Reunion. Laromme Hotel. In the presence
of M.K. Itzhak Navon, 5th President of the State of Israel and Chm. of
the Public Council for the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of
the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Lolic and Nitza Termin sang
Sephardic romansas, there was a special slide show, Haim Zur provided
musical accompaniment, and Jak Cohen was be the moderator.
Meyuchas Family Reunion. March 22. Crown Hall. Jerusalem Theater.
Moderated by Avner Peretz.
International Conference "The Settlement of Spanish expulsees in the
Mediterranean Region." Haifa University. March 4, 1992.
Annual Ben Zvi Institute Conference on Research of the Communities of
the East. "Hahamim, Zaddikim, Veparnassim Bemizrah". Jerusalem, March
8-10, 1992.
Coloquio Internacional De Escritores, 500 Anos Despues: Reencuentro De
Sefarad E Iberoamericana En Israel. Sponsored by the Asociacion
Internacional de Escritores Judios En Lengua Hispana y Portuguese with
the collaboration of the Instituto Cultural Israel-Ibero America.
Mishkenot Shaananim. Jerusalem, 9-15 March 1992. Unfortunately the 7
page program is too long to reproduce here. A random sampling is
chosen for our readers:
Panel 1:Las multiples facetas de 1492
Delfin L. Garasa (Argentina)
Osvaldo Pol (Argentina)
Elkin Restrepo (Colombia)
Eleicer Cardenas (Ecuador)
Ricardo Lindo (EL Salvador)
Francisco Andres Escobar (El Salvador)
Alex Sussana (Espana)
Alberto Osorio Osorio (Panama)
Lupo Hernanadez Rueda (Republica Dominica)
Leonardo Garet (Uruguay)
Panel 2: La Tierra Santa en el imaginario ibero-latinamericano.
Marcos Ricardo Barnatan (Madrid) Las imagenes de la otredad.
Arie Schiller (Granada) La patria de la memoria y el exilio en la
tierra - Reflexiones de un campesino
israeli-andaluz
Esther Seligson (Mexico) Jerusalem y Tenochtitlan
Gerardo M. Goloboff El sonador de Smith
Panel 4: La cultura popular sefaradi
Tamar Alexander(Univ. Hebrea de Jerusalem) Popular Voices: Sephardic
Folktales of Jerusalem.
Gilda Salem-Szklo(Univ. Fed. Rio de Janeiro) Modalidades expressivas da Tierra
Santa: Do Cantico dos Canticos a
visao moderna de Palestina
Ayala Feller (Univ. Hebrea de Jerusalem) El cuento popular "Purim de
Zaragoza": Sus implicancias en el
arte liturgico sefaradi
Emilia Yulzari (Biblioteca Yad Vashem) Proverbios sefardies en Bulgaria
Shoshana Weich-Shahak (Univ. Hebrea de Generos en el repertorio musical
Jerusalem) sefaradi
Panel 5: Sefarad en la literatura israeli ibero-latinamericana
Bella Jozef (Univ. de Rio de Janeiro) El personaje judio en la literatura
del siglo XIX: Diferencia y expresion
Juan Mariel Erostabe (Univ. Nac. de San Juan) Una relectura de "Los judios
espanoles" de Domingo F. Sarmiento
Edna Aizenberg (Marymount Manhattan Coll., NY) Las peripecias de una
metafora: El sefardismo
leterario judeo-argentino
Joseph Schraibman (Univ. of Washington, St. Louis) Perez Galdos: Torquemada y
la Inquisicion
Panel 6: Sefarad en la literatura israeli
Shlomo Avayou, poeta
Margalit Mathitiahu, poeta y narradora
Jose L. Najenson, poeta, narrador y ensayista
Ionathan Ben Nahum, novelista
Aviva Doron, poeta
The conference also hosted the below cultural evening:
Kurtijo de Jerusalem: Kuentos i kantigas en judeo-espaniol
Velada artistica en cooperacion con la Casa Argentina en Israel-Tiera Santa.
Coordinador: Moshe Shaul (Kol Israel en Judeo-Espaniol)
Narraciones: Mathilde Cohen Sarano, Allegra Amado
_____________________________________________________________________________
Yad Vashem and Institute for the Research of Italian Jewry. Memorial
Service for Italian and Rhodian Jewry in the Holocaust, and
Presentation of the newly published book "Il Libro Della Memoria: Gli
Ebrei Deportati Dall'Italia(1943- 1945) by Dr. Liliana Picciotto
Fargion. Lectures by Prof. Sergi Della Pergola, Prof. Meir Michaelis,
and Dr. Liliana Picciotto Fragion. March 10, 1992. Yad Vashem.
Book presentation of the novel "La Gesta Del Marrano" with the author
Dr. Marcos Aguinus. Casa Argentina. Jerusalem. Saturday night, March
14, 1992. 20:00 p.m.
Velada Literaria, "Quinto Encuentro En Israel De Escritores De America
Latina Y Espana". La Asociacion Internacional De Escritores Judios En
Lengua Hispana Y Portuguesa and El Instituto Culturel Israel-Ibero
America. Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem. March 15, 1992.(The event
featured Jewish poets of Latin America. Numerous poets from
Argentina, Spain, Ecuador, Panama, and Mexico included Sephardic
themes of ritual, Marranos, inquisition, and poetry in their
presentations.)
Rabbi Dr. Yosef Green. "The Spanish Exiles in Italy After The
Expulsion". Fourth Annual Isaac Dabah Lecture. The Center for
Conservative Judaism and Moreshet Yisrael Congregation. Jerusalem.
Monday, March 16, 1992. 8 p.m.
Purim Celebration. Vaad Hakehilot Hasephardiot Beyerushalayim.
Moriah Hotel. Jerusalem. March 22, 1992.
Program: Purim Coplas - Avner Peretz
Guest Vocalist - Ilana Nulman
Purim Explanation - Judge Moshe Hasson
Moderator - Mordechai Falcon
Sarsuala Performance. Eighty person cast. Singing, dancing, arias,
romansas, etc. Directed by Jose Tamao. Heichal Tarbut, Tel Aviv. March
31, 1992.
Half day symposium "The Liturgical - Torah Work of Sephardic Jewry in
Jerusalem". Ben Zakkai Synagogue of the Old City of Jerusalem. 31 March 1992.
Program: Cantor Yigal Ben Haim - Piyyutim in the Jerusalemite Sephardic Style.
Dr. Avraham Haim - The Sephardim of Jerusalem from an Halachic-
Historical Aspect.
Cantor Ezra Barnea- Prayer and Melody of Sephardic Jewry.
Chief Sephardic Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu - "The Halachic Torah Work -
From Spain to Jerusalem".
Prof. Efraim Hazan - "Prayer, Piyyut, and Custom in the Prayerbook
and in the Mahzor of the Sephardim of
Jerusalem."
Dr. Yaakov Barnai - "The History of the Sephardim in Jerusalem".
Dr. Edwin Seroussi - "The Jerusalemite-Sephardic Musical Tradition".
Rabbis Moshe Angel and Eliyahu Barzilai - Hazzanut and Piyyutim in
the version of Sephardic
Jewry.
Moderator - Itzhak Ermoza, the Chm. of the Subcommittee of the
Yochanan Ben Zakkai synagogue.
Dr. Tamar Alexander - Academic Advisor.
Sponsored by the Committee for the 500th Year Commemoration of the
Expulsion of the Jews of Spain next to the Vaad Eidat Hasephardim
Veeidot Hamizrah Beyerushalayim, the Jerusalem municipality, and the
Ministry of Education and Culture.
Television: "The Good Half Hour"(Koltim Bashnayim). Dudu Fisher.
Special Guest - Prof. Ephraim Hazan. Bar-Ilan University. Interviewed
about the Ladino poetry of Spain. Saturday night, March 7, 1992.
Israel General Televison. 20:00. Jerusalem.
Film: Jerusalem Eli Kener's opening film presentation of the first two
films of his 6 part series "Esoterica Jerusalem". The films "Healing"
and "Channeling" were shown. Eli Kenner's deceased mother came from
the Recanati family of Trikala, Greece. Cinematek, Jerusalem. March
10, 1992.
Meeting of the Merkaz Lemoreshet Yahadut Sepharad with producers of
the oratorio "Halumot Beasfamia"; composer Prof. Andre Heidu,
conductor Ricardo Hegman, and historical researcher - the musicologist
Dr. Edwin Seroussi. Jerusalem, Beit Shmuel, March 25, 1992.
"The Genealogy of the Jews of Izmir in the Past Centuries". Dov
Hacohen. Jerusalem. Mevakshei Derech Synagogue. March 25, 1992.
Exhibition of synagogues in Toledo, Spain. Shreiber Gallery. Tel Aviv
University. March 29, 1992. Also at the Shreiber Gallery is the
watercolor exhibition of Alberto Astrada Vilarsa entitled "From Toledo
to Jerusalem".
"Echoes of Sepharad" Exhibit.(January 25-April 10,1992) Featuring "A
Precious Legacy" of art and ritual objects; "Paintings of the Spanish
Expulsion"(including the official Israel "1992" poster) by artist
Raphael Abecassis; "Jews of Fes Morocco" by Abraham Bouhsira; "Jews of
Greece" by Morris Camhi; and "Turkish Jews: 500 Years of Harmony" by
the Quincentennial Foundation of Istanbul and the Magnes Museum,
Berkeley. Jewish Federation Council. Los Angeles.[In association with
the exhibit on February 18 there was an evening of Sephardic culture
and entertainment with Rabbi Dr. M. Mitchell Serels, Director of
Yeshiva University's Sephardic Community Program. On Feb. 25, 1992
Prof. Stanford J. Shaw of UCLA lectured on "Ottoman Turkey: Land of
Refuge".]
Exhibition "Voyages To Freedom: 500 Years of Jewish Life in Latin
America and the Carribean". Presented by the Jarkow Institute for
Latin America of the Anti-Defamation League. It was launched in
January 1992. During the year it will appear at The Museum of the
Organization of American States in Washington, D.C.; the Spertus
Museum in Chicago; the exhibition gallery of the City University of
New York's Graduate Center; the Louisiana State Museum;and the
historic synagogue on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The
Chief Currator is Dr. Kenneth Libo, Curator of American Jewish History
at New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage; and Chief Consultant is Dr.
Judith Laikin Elkin, president of the Latin American Jewish Studies
Association (LAJSA). Rental inquiries of the exhibition should be
adressed to Rabbi Morton M. Rosenthal at 823 United Nations Plaza, New
York, NY 10017, Tel: (212) 490-2525.
Harpist of Sephardic music - Sunita Staneslaw. She lives half time in
Minnesota and half time in Jerusalem. She'd a former chief harpist of
the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. She has a tape called "Sunita,
Solo Harp", which contains a mixture of Celtic music and Sephardic
music from around the Mediterranean. She's part of a performing trio
called Vida. They have a harp and violin concert entitled "500 Years
of traditional music from the British Isles and the Mediterranean".
She has another tape entitled "Eastward winds" with David Barkley
playing on the keyboards. This tape combines Ladino music of medieval
Spain with new improvisations on Middle Eastern themes. For further
information contact:
Sunita Staneslaw, Maxemilian Productions
P.O.Box 40275, St. Paul, Mn. 55104, USA. (612)227-6041.
P.O.Box 61336, Jerusalem, ISRAEL (03)264-653.
Don't miss: Recently Rabbi Moshe Deri, the Rabbi of Moshav Shokeda and
the Rosh Metivta of the Yeshiva of Baba Sali(Zichron Tsadik veKadosh
Livraha), published a first volume of "Sheelot Vetshuvot, Eidut
Moshe"; an illuminating work featuring Ashkenzic and Sephardic
halachic sources including Hoshen Mishpat, the Rashba, etc. The work
has the haskama of Rabbi Ovadia Yossef, former Sephardic Chief
Rabbi(Rishon Lezion) of Israel. If interested write to: Rabbi Moshe
Deri. Moshav Shokeda, D.N. Negev, Israel.
Dr. Stanford J. Shaw recently published a book entitled, "The Jews
of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic" with New York
University Press. The book is listed as costing 60.00$, but may be
ordered at a special discount rate of 48.00$ per copy plus 3.00$
shipping and handling. Order from: New York University Press, c/o PCS
Data Processing, Inc., 360 West 31st Street, New York, N.Y. 10001.
Announcing the sale of Laurenzo Salzmann' photographic book, "Anyos
Munchos i Buenos, Turkey's Sephardim: 1492-1992." Soft cover edition
is available for $24.95 plus 3.00$ for shipping. Send check to 500
Year Project, 3607 Baring Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. For more
info call or fax: (215) 222-2649.
Shimon Rubinstein, the archivist of Yad Ben Zvi in Jerusalem wrote
several important Hebrew works related to the Jewish Yishuv in
Eretz-Israel in WWI:
1) "Hitmodedut Hayishuv Vebank Apak Bemashber Hafinanci Betchilat
Milhemet Haolam Harishona Vehashimush Beemtzaim Monetarim Lo Hukiim".
Jerusalem, 1988.
2) "Al Hayetsiya Vehachurban, Levatei Hayerida Mitzrayma Bereshit
Milchemet Haolam Harishona", Jerusalem, 1988. He also has researched
and written about the role of the Spanish consul in Jerusalem in
assisting the Yishuv in World War I.
You shouldn't miss the quarterly magazine "Encounters". It's sponsored
by The Latin American Institute of The University of New Mexico, The
Spain '92 oundation of Washington, D.C. and the Sociedad Estatal
Quinto Centenario, Madrid. For a subscription write to Encounters,
Latin American Institute, University of New Mexico, 801 Yale Blvd.
NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131- 9900.
Rare used Sephardic books: "Daat". Keren Kayemet 17. Jerusalem. Tel:
972-2- 637985.
News item from In Jerusalem, March 13, 1992. p. 2 :
Spain
President and Mrs. Herzog will pay a state visit to Spain at the end of this
month. The President has accepted an invitation from King Juan Carlos of Spain
to attend the opening on March 31, of the ceremonies commemorating the 500th
anniversary of the expulsion of Spanish Jewry. Both the King of Spain and the
President of Israel will be guests of honor at a special commemorative service
in the Madrid synagogue.
El Shofar(Vol. 14, No. 3 of February 1992, pp. 2,8.) informs us:
ALBA BIBLE FACSIMILE TO BE PRESENTED TO SPANISH MONARCH
The first copy of the facsimile edition of the Alba Bible will be
presented to His Majesty the ing of Spain on March 31, 1992 when at a
special ceremony, he will retract the Inquisition's order of
Expulsion. The Alba Bible facsimile has been published by Facsimile
Editions, which has earned a degree of renown for its superb
productions of the Kennicott Bible, the Rothschild Miscellany and the
Barcelona Hagadah. ... .
In Maqueda, Castile in 1422, a prominent churchman, Don Luis de
Guzman, commanded the famed scholar Rabbi Moses Arragel de Guadalajara
to translate the Hebrew Bible into Castillian and to compile an
extensive commentary, to be accompanied by a wealth of illustrations
and illuminations in a monumental script. Rabbi Aragel was reluctant
to accomplish this work because he feared that the text might conflict
with the Christian doctrine and thus expose Spanish Jewry to attack.
Strong pressure by the ecclesiastical authorities eventually forced
the rabbi to relent. The manuscript was completed in 1430. The
International Jewish Committee Sepharad '92 have set a price of the
facsimile at $26,000. United States residents amy be able to benefit
from a significant tax concession as the International Jewish
Committee Sepharad '92 is registered in the United States with the IRS
under Section 501(C)(3).
Future news
CALL For Papers!!!
International Conference - "The Sephardic Legacy in the Americas: The
First 500 Years". Ben Gurion University of the Negev. December 1992.
Contact Dr. Maurice Roumani. Elyachar Center for Sephardi Studies.
Ben Gurion University of the Negev. P.O.B. 653. Beer-Sheva 84105.
Israel. Tel: 057-461123. e-mail: ROU...@BGUVM.BGU.AC.IL
Israel TV produced a 4 part series entitled "Yerushalayim Asher Besepharad"
(Jerusalem in Spain) produced by Yigal Losin and featuring M.K. Yitzhak Navon.
It will be aired sometime later in the year.