Most of the events I cover in this column reflect the culture of American Jewry's majority Ashkenazi Jews. This weekend American Sephardi Federation/Sephardic House(ASF/SH) will host a symposium that will highlight the culture and history of Sephardi Jews. The program will begin with a concert Saturday night at 8:00 PM and will continue with the symposium on Sunday and Monday. From ASF/SH's press release:
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 Di?ez, 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 Mu?gica Herzog, Spain's Ombudsman and Jacobo Israel
Garzo?n, 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.
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."
Full details on all programs are available on the ASF/SH website.
All the events will take place at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street in Manhattan.
Event contact: Lynne Winters at 212.294.8350 x2
For more info: http://davidfcooper.com
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