Sephardi Mizrahi Studies

Symposium: Sephardic Jewry and the Holocaust: The Future of the Field

Amalia — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:21:03 +0000

Co-organized through the Sephardic Studies Initiative of the University of Washington’s Samuel & Althea Stroum Jewish Studies Program and the Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, this symposium explores the unique history of Sephardic Jewry and the Holocaust.

Although extensive research has been conducted on the Holocaust in recent decades, the experience of Sephardic Jews on the periphery of occupied Europe, along the Mediterranean, and in Vichy-controlled colonies in North Africa has remained relatively unexplored. Understanding the Sephardic experience during the Holocaust forces us to refine our assumptions about its scope and the qualitative differences in the persecution, destruction, resistance, and survival of varied Jewish communities under occupation.

Read more information about the symposium here.

Keynote address by Dr. Aron Rodrigue: “Sephardim, Memory & the Holocaust.”

Documentary: “The Last Karaim of Istanbul”

Amalia — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 22:45:50 +0000

Based on oral histories, the documentary “The Last Karaim of Istanbul” is a testimony to a community on the verge of “extinction.” Fiercely protective of its uniqueness and discreteness, demographic (and socioeconomic) changes during the last decades have resulted in the community’s decline. Although this documentary is in Turkish, non Turkish-speaking list members will find engaging the rich archival material, views of the city, and music.

The documentary is part of a 26-episode series, based on 150 oral histories of the “Live Memory” project.

CFP: Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies Conference

evelyn — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:08:42 +0000

CALL FOR PAPERS

23rd Annual Conference Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies
Colorado Springs, CO
July 28-30, 2013

We invite papers on crypto-Judaism from any discipline (e.g., anthropology, history, sociology, philosophy, literature, music, etc.) and from any geographic location or time period. We also welcome papers on all aspects of the Sephardic experience and that of other communities exhibiting crypto-Jewish phenomena. Papers breaking new ground in research on crypto-Jews in New Mexico and Southern Colorado are particularly welcome. Interested scholars and professionals, including advanced graduate students, are invited to submit proposals for papers, presentations, or workshops. Conference presentation proposals must include a title, a 200-word abstract, and a brief bio.

Download the complete Call for Papers for more information.

Please send proposals or inquiries to Matthew Warshawsky, International Languages and Cultures, University of Portland (warshaws[at]up.edu)

Proposal Deadline: April 1, 2013
For more information on the society, on this conference, and on past meetings, see http://www.cryptojews.com/.

CFP: Rabbi Ben-Zion Uzziel: Halakhist, Thinker, Leader

evelyn — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:00:21 +0000

Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uzziel (1880-1953) served as rabbi of Jaffa (and Tel Aviv) from 1912 to 1939, and subsequently as Rishon Le-Zion, Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Mandatory Palestine and (from 1948) of Israel. He was one of the most original and interesting rabbis of the 20^th century, and wrote on many aspects of halakha and Jewish thought. In addition, he was active as a public leader, both on the local and the national levels.

Some aspects of his rich and diverse published legacy have attracted scholarly attention, but much more remains to be brought to light, researched and analyzed. With this in mind, we have decided (sixty years after his decease) to convene an academic conference devoted to the halakhic and ideational creativity of Rabbi Uzziel and to his wide ranging activities in the public sphere.

The conference will be held at Bar Ilan University from Sunday evening October 20^th 2013 through Tuesday afternoon, October 22^nd.

We invite proposals for presentation of original previously unpublished research on all aspects of rabbi Uzziel’s writings and public activities. One-page proposals, including title and brief explication should be sent no later than April 28^th 2013 (Lag ba-Omer) to one of the following addresses:

Prof. Zvi Zohar Prof. Elimelech Westreich Prof. Amihai Radzyner

zvi.zohar[at]biu.ac.il westreic[at]post.tau.ac.il amihai.radzyner[at]biu.ac.il

For more information, please download the call for papers.

Seminar: Inquisitions in Iberia (1/10/13, Jerusalem)

evelyn — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:42:07 +0000

Inquisitions in Iberia:
200 Years since the Abolition of the Inquisition by the Cortes of Cádiz

This interdisciplinary seminar will be held on Thursday, January 10, 2013 at Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, Rehov Ibn Gabirol 14, Jerusalem.