A lot has been happening in our NYC-area community! This month, we had not one but two in-person Sephardic Selihot programs to connect our local communities, prepare for the holidays, and celebrate our beautiful liturgical customs. We partnered with the Sephardic Congregation of Fort Lee for the annual Sephardic Selihot Program that brings together over a half dozen Sephardic synagogues in the NY/NJ area. It was a powerful evening of singing and chatting our Sephardic tunes for the High Holidays with over a hundred particiaptns and some delicious Sephardic treats to enjoy.
Next, we had a special Turkish Selihot Program led by Rabbi Frank Varon, Hazzan of Sephardic Bikur Holim in Seattle, who came out for a special visit to New Jersey. Along with our friend Rabbi Yossi Azose, this wonderful program brought together 50 Greek and Turkish Jews in the area for a rendition of our unique songs in both Hebrew and Ladino. It almost sounded like we were back in Salonika or Izmir!
On October 2, we’ll be leading a special Ziara - a Sephardic tradition of making an annual trip to the cemetery around the holidays - for our members in the region to visit their loved ones. This will be led with gratitude by Rabbi Yossi Azose and other local Sephardic Hahamim from our community to several local Brotherhood cemeteries including Cedar Park. And beginning October 30th, we’re excited to be producing the New York Premiere of Arrivals - A Sephardic-Ashkenazi Love Story, for a weeklong run at the Center for Jewish History in New York City. A brand new show about the arrival of the Sephardic Jew to our Seattle community in 1902, the story follows a young man as he falls in love with an Ashkenazi girl from Russia in this Romeo and Juliet-esq production, which prominently features Ladino! Tickets are now on sale, with early bird prices at $36 until October 9th (go to www.sephardicbrotherhood.com for more details).
Next up into the Fall, we have more exciting programs set, including some Sephardic Young Professionals happy hours, community education lectures, young families programs, and more. Make sure to keep an eye out in our weekly newsletter for all the exciting announcements to come!
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