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Newsletter: Autumn 2022

Director’s Message:

On June 2, 2022, Sephardi Voices celebrated the donation of the Victor and Edna Mashaal Canadian Collection of interviews to Library and Archives Canada. The Honorable Irwin Cotler, the former Justice Minister of Canada and currently the chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, was the keynote speaker. His message spoke to all Jews displaced from Arab lands:

 

June 2, 2022
The Honourable Irwin Cotler, delivering the keynote at Library and Archives Canada.

“Let there be no doubt about it: where there is no remembrance, there is no truth; where there is no truth, there will be no justice; where there is no justice, there will be no reconciliation; and where there is no reconciliation, there will be no peace.”

Authors Richard Stursberg and Henry Green, at the Canadian book launch of “Sephardi Voices: The Untold Expulsion of the Jews from Arab Lands”.

The event was also the Canadian book launch of Sephardi Voices: The Untold Expulsion of Jews from Arab Lands and the opening of The Forgotten Exodus—A Canadian Refuge, a portrait exhibition of the last generation of Sephardi-Mizrahi Jews by the internationally renowned photographer Liam Sharp.

Our book has been honoured by the North American Jewish Book Council which has invited the co-authors to speak at book fairs, synagogues, and community centers throughout the USA and Canada for the fall (2022) and winter/spring (2023).

BUY IT ON AMAZON | BUY IT ON INDIGO

August 7, 2022
Edwin Shuker giving Ephraim Mirvis, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, a copy of “Sephardi Voices: The Untold Expulsion of the Jews from Arab Lands”.

And the excitement continues. On November 21st In the UK, SV will co-host an event with JW3, the premier Jewish arts, cultural and educational hub in London and the Board of Deputies of British Jews to honor David Dangoor for his unwavering support of Sephardi Voices and making the book publication possible.

The fall will be busy in Israel as well. On Nov 17th, the Israeli Association of Jews from Arab Countries and the Yemini Museum will host a conference around the book’s themes. In addition, the Babylonian Museum in Or Yehuda, the Libyan Museum and the Ben-Zvi Institute (Jerusalem) have invited the co-authors to book presentations.

The overwhelming response to the book has created a buzz, and educational institutions and synagogues are requesting copies of the book to serve as a resource for Yom Plitim and Sephardi/Mizrahi heritage.  Please help us in making it possible for our Jewish schools to have a copy of Sephardi Voices: The Untold Expulsion of Jews from Arab Lands.

Rosh Hashanah 5783 is a beacon of light.  We are blessed with new horizons.  Sephardi Voices looks ahead to a bountiful year.

Shana Tova

Henry Green

PAST EVENTS:

January 31, 2022
Executive Director Henry Green, leading a Temple Judea Zoom lecture on Florida’s Converso and Sephardi Jews.

February 24
Marco Misano, Roman Jewish Specialist, lecturing at the American University of Rome on the history of Sephardi Jews in the Roman Ghetto.

February 25, 2022
David Gerby, Libyan Jewish historian, leads Dr. Henry Green’s American University of Rome class on a tour of the Libyan Jewish Cemetery.

To help Sephardi Voices continue the effort to collect the interviews of those displaced and preserve the Sephardi legacy, we urge you to donate now.

DONATE

Newsletter: Winter 2022

Director’s Message:

Sephardi Voices has been extremely busy since our last newsletter. We have partnered with National Libraries, Sephardi-Mizrahi Museums, Israeli Embassies and North American Federations for events celebrating Yom Haplitim, Sephardi Refugee Day, November 30th. Each event included a launching of our coffee table book, Sephardi Voices: The Untold Expulsion of Jews from Arab Lands, a portrait exhibition, and testimonies from those who had experienced first-hand displacement and resettlement. 

 

November 11, 2022
Sephardi Voices Chair, Richard Stursberg, speaking at the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Or Yehuda, Israel. 

Israel was especially busy for us as we crisscrossed the country with events at the Babylonian Heritage Center, the Libyan Museum, the Ben Zvi Institute in Jerusalem, and the Museum of Yemenite Jewish Heritage in Rehovot. A piece on the Yemeni event was shot by the Israeli Foreign Ministry and distributed widely in the Arab world.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

November 17th, 2022 
Pre-show musical interlude at the Sephardi Voices Portrait Exhibition, Museum of Yemenite Jewish Heritage, Rehovot, Israel. 
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Our next stop was London, England where Sephardi Voices, along with the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Tzipi Hotovely, The Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom, and JW3 sponsored a sold-out event marking Yom Haplitim. It was an extra special evening for us because for the first time, Sephardi Voices honored David Dangoor CBE DL, for his vision and support of the Sephardi legacy, with SV’s first Humanitarian Award. 

November 21st, 2022
SV Executive Director Henry Green awards David Dangoor CBE with Sephardi Voices’ first Humanitarian Award. 

Special thanks to the Mashaal family, Walter Arbib, Levana Zamir, Linda Menuhin, Lior Haiat, the Israel Ministry of Culture, and Edwin Shuker for making our most recent international efforts such a success. 

In Miami in early December, in a program co-hosted with Sephardi Voices, for the first time, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation recognized Yom Haplitim as a day of remembrance for Jews displaced from Arab lands. Our special guest was the Mayor of Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava who spoke movingly, advocating for human rights.

December 4th, 2022
Miami-Dade Mayor, Danielle Levine Cava, speaking at the Greater Miami Jewish Federation about Sephardi Voices and human rights. 

Our book, Sephardi Voices: The Untold Expulsion of Jews from Arab Lands, continues to receive great reviews in the international press. 

Over the next several months, the Jewish Book Council has invited SV to many events around the United States to launch our coffee table book. SV is also moving forward with CIJA in Canada, and the Miami Jewish Federation Foundation in South Florida, to provide every school and synagogue with Sephardi Voices: The Untold Expulsion of Jews from Arab Lands as an educational resource for Yom Haplitim. 

With our collective efforts, I am dreaming that next year, 2023, there will be an event at the United Nations for Yom Plitim to foster dialogue, truth, and justice. To all of you who have taken the initiative to share your voice and embrace hope, thank you. May the miracles of Hanukkah shine brightly. 

Chag Hanukkah sameach,

Henry

 

To help Sephardi Voices continue the effort to collect the interviews of those displaced and preserve the Sephardi legacy, we urge you to donate now.

DONATE

Newsletter: September 2023

As we head into the new year, Sephardi Voices is on the move once again. In October 2023, the National Library of Israel will be inaugurating its new building situated between the Knesset and the Israel Museum in the heart of Jerusalem.


NATIONAL LIBRARY OF ISRAEL designed by world renowned Swiss architects Herzog & De Meuron

We have been invited to the VIP opening, and to finalize our discussions regarding the deposit of the entire Sephardi Voices collection in 2024, as well as the opening of a special portrait exhibition of our interviewees. We are indebted to the many volunteers, interviewees, donors, and organizations that are making this possible. Many of those interviewed were highlighted in our recent publication, Sephardi Voices: The Untold Expulsion of Jews from Arab Lands.

Sephardi Voices has continued to evolve in dynamic new ways. In March, we introduced students at the American University of Rome to Libyan refugees and brought them to the Great Synagogue for Purim. The Great Synagogue also houses the Jewish Museum of Rome and is a location for a future Sephardi Voices portrait exhibit.


March 6, 2023
Purim, the sanctuary of the Great Synagogue, Rome.

In Canada, Sephardi Voices became the first organization that featured a Sephardi experience and shabbat in Israel as part of the March of the Living educational program, which brings students from around the world to encounter the remnants of the Holocaust, followed by a celebration of Israel by sharing the experience of Independence Day.


April 28, 2023
SV Israel Director Tamar Morad speaking at Kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar, 
PBL photography.

This autumn, several events have been planned in Canada and the United States for Yom Haplitim (Sephardi/Mizrahi Refugee Day). We will partner, for the first time, with national organizations to launch a significant new initiative to highlight Sephardi/Mizrahi heritage.

In Montreal, Sephardi Voices will present a special event with CIJA, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Canada.

In Miami, Hillel International, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, and the American Jewish Committee will be joining us for the first time. Miami and Montreal have been at the center of collecting interviews for Sephardi Voices.


December 4th, 2022
Miami mayor, Danielle Levine-Cava speaking at SV Yom Halplitim event.

For many years, we have labored to construct a more inclusive Jewish story of Israel and the Diaspora by bringing the voices of Jews from Islamic lands to the table. The National Library of Israel will provide an open platform for everybody, and we invite more national organizations to join us in this effort. May 5784 bring more balance to the Jewish world and may you be inscribed in the Book of Life for a sweet year.

Henry Green

Executive Director, Sephardi Voices

To help Sephardi Voices continue the effort to collect the interviews of those displaced and preserve the Sephardi legacy, we urge you to donate now.

DONATE

Newsletter: November 2021

This year Yom Plitim (Sephardi/Mizrahi Refugee Day) is the second day of Hanukkah. We celebrate the legacy and dignity of Jews from Arab lands. The displacement and trauma of nearly one million Jews after World War II was not an end of Jewish life, but a transformation that led to a new beginning. Today more than 50% of Israelis identify as Sephardi/Mizrahi and vibrant communities live throughout the Diaspora especially in France, the USA and Canada.

Sephardi Voices’ mission is to tell their stories and increase awareness among Jews and non-Jews in the context of human rights – to spread the light of Hanukkah. The publication of Sephardi Voices: The Untold Expulsion of Jews from Arab Lands will soon be available for you to read their stories and see their faces. Readings and events with portrait exhibits will begin in Miami in March 2022 and continue in Europe and Israel. The first leg of the book tour and exhibitions will finish at Library and Archives Canada on April 7, 2022, with the deposit of the Canadian interviews and a two-week portrait exhibition. The Canadian government welcomes the SV collection as part of its multicultural mosaic and recognizes that Arab Jewish refugees have unique stories to share.

The miracle of Hanukkah is that we have the opportunity to teach and nourish our children and grandchildren with the Sephardi narrative of the 20th century, to bring new curriculum to our schools, to empower our Jewish leaders that Jewish civilization is more than European, Ashkenazi. Help us collect the stories and shine the lights of the Hanukah menorah. Chag sameach.

Henry Green
Executive Director

Sephardi Voices: The Untold Expulsion of Jews from Arab Lands

Take a sneak peek at some sample pages from our new book, SEPHARDI VOICES: The Untold Expulsion of Jews from Arab Lands, available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indigo.

Watch our short promo video:

PAST EVENTS

November 30, 2021

Executive Director Henry Green, presents a video on the genesis of Yom Plitim at the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal.

November 19, 2021

Israel in Iraq, through the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, subtitles an SV video on Ezra Zilkha in Arabic with a reach of 600,000 people in the Middle East.

Watch the video…

November 2021

Sephardi Voices’ films, What We Left Behind and Last Class in Baghdad, are subtitled in Indonesian, for screening at the Tolerance Film Festival. See the subtitled films in links below:

What We Left Behind

Last Class in Baghdad

October 10, 2021

Temple Beth Am and the Miami Jewish Genealogical Society, Sunday Salons, Miami Florida. Executive Director Henry Green moderated a panel on Jewish Life in Morocco.

October 7, 2021

The Hidden Jews of Brazil, A Zoom lecture co-sponsored with the Miles Nadal JCC in Toronto.

UPCOMING EVENTS

December 13, 2021

Executive Director Henry Green will moderate a Yom Plitim event with the Consulate General of Israel in Miami with Iraqi witness and journalist Linda Menuhin AbdelAziz and a video on Danny Ayalon, former Israeli Ambassador to the USA.

January 2022

Executive Director Henry Green will moderate a discussion with Mano Khalil, the director of the film Neighbours, at the Miami Jewish Film Festival.

March 14, 2022

Book launch and portrait exhibition at the Jewish Museum of Florida, Miami Beach

April 7, 2022

Book Launch and two-week portrait exhibition at Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.

Director’s Message – Autumn 2021

Shana tova. May the new year bring health and tikkun olam. Despite the surge in the Covid Delta variant, Sephardi Voices has just gone through a period of extraordinary productivity. The production of our coffee table book, Sephardi Voices: The Untold Expulsion of Jews from Arab Lands, was completed and is now at the printer; a grant from the Florida Humanities Council led to our first program in Spanish in June, and the Canadian Sephardi Collection is near completion with plans moving forward for a launch event with the Library Archives Canada in 2022.

Gladys (Mooallem) Daoud has been appointed our Director of Canadian Programming and Adam Knelman Ostry our Director of European Programming. Gladys is a Jewish refugee who fled Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Adam is a career public servant and proudly carries a Jewish identity.

In the coming months, Sephardi Voices will be collaborating with Israeli Consulates and organizations in Canada and the USA for Yom Plitim (November 30th) events via zoom. I look forward to sharing with you many Sephardi stories to commemorate and celebrate the rich Sephardi legacy.

Please join us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube and on our Zoom events.

Henry Green