The JIMENA team has been busy engaging with communities and leaders across the U.S. and Israel to educate others about Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. These are important opportunities to build or strengthen relationships and advance our cause. Enjoy this brief recap below about the efforts of each member of our team over recent weeks.

Hope you’re having a great summer!

From Sarah Levin, Executive Director:

It was a privilege to gather with my peers in the Schusterman Fellowship (cohort 7) for our mid-fellowship retreat.  I’m also fortunate to be a member of Cohort 3 of the Elluminate Collective (formerly the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York) and attended a convening with that program as well. It was wonderful and inspiring to have the opportunity to learn together with so many other talented women leaders. Lastly, I went to CAMERA’s gala in New York during the city’s Yom Ha’atzmaut festivities. JIMENA is an organizational partner of CAMERA and we are always excited to show up for them and support their important work. 

With all the wonderful gatherings and events from this past month, the highlight for me was the release of the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, which included JIMENA’s recommendation of teaching the histories of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews in public educational spaces. We are currently organizing our educational materials for distribution to public schools nationwide. 

Schusterman Fellowship Cohort 7 group photo.

Elluminate Collective cohort 3 group photo.

From Sapir Taib, Sr. Program Director:

I had the honor of meeting with Speaker of Knesset Amir Ohana as part of the "the Masorti network" annual conference in Jerusalem. The group met with speaker Ohana to discuss Mizrahi and Sephardic life and education, the Biton Committee's recommendations, and ways to promote the "Masorti movement" in Israel. Speaker Amir talked about the impotence of the Abraham Accords and shared insights from his recent historic visit to Morocco. This was the first official visit by a Knesset speaker to the parliament of a Muslim country, marking an exceptional milestone in the diplomatic relationship between Israel and the Muslim-world. The day-long Masorti conference also included roundtable meetings with JIMENA’s partner organizations in Israel, providing an opportunity for fruitful discussions and collaborations around Mizrahi and Sephardic heritage, education, and cultural preservation.

The Masorti Network delegation.

Masorti Network meeting with Speaker of Knesset Amir Ohana.

From Ty Alhadeff, Director of Education:

The Covenant Foundation awarded JIMENA with a 2022 Signature Grant to develop our Journey to the Mizrah Integration Program that will produce a comprehensive Sephardi and Mizrahi Studies Curriculum Guide that includes recommendations and best practices for building culturally responsive schools. This program grew as a result of the high demand for JIMENA’s Journey to the Mizrah Curriculum that has been utilized by over 600 educators and is in line with the Covenant Foundation’s mission to “strengthen educational endeavors that perpetuate the identity, continuity and heritage of the Jewish people”. As part of this grant award, I participated in the Covenant Foundation Project Directors’ recent conference in Pearl River, NY, with other Jewish educators seeking to improve efforts to spread knowledge of Jewish history and culture in our communities.  This gathering gave all of us there the opportunity to share our projects, collaborate, and brainstorm different ways we might be able to support each other's work. 

From Matthew Nouriel, Community Engagement Director:

This spring I had the privilege of representing JIMENA on two missions to Israel. The first was with the Jewish Federation of North America’s (JFNA) first ever JEDI (Jewish Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) mission. During this mission 30 Jewish communal leaders traveled throughout Israel and met with organizations and community leaders who helped us gain a deeper understanding of how Jewish diversity in Israel connects with our diverse populations within the U.S. At the end of the mission we attended the annual General Assembly hosted by Jewish Federations, which celebrated 75 years of partnership between North American Jewry and Israel. I had the honor of moderating a panel discussion at the GA summit titled “Celebrating the Racial and Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish people,” which featured the esteemed legal scholar and Mizrahi rights activist, Yifat Bitton, and Executive Director of the Association of Ethiopian Jews, Rina Ayalin-Gorelik.

I also participated in a mission with A Wider Bridge (AWB). During this mission a delegation of elected officials and LGBTQ+ and ally communal leaders visited various LGBTQ+ organizations and AWB partners throughout Israel to deepen our understanding of the particular issues LGBTQ+ people face within the country today, and what affects the current political climate could have on them.

In addition to the two missions, while in Israel I spoke alongside Emily Schrader on a panel discussion about the Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran for the Tel Aviv Institute Jews Talk Justice conference.

Throughout my time in Israel, I was honored to share a Mizrahi perspective and what it means to be an Iranian Jew within these spaces.

The JFNA JEDI delegation.

Matthew with Yifat Bitton and Rina Ayalin-Gorelik.

The A Wider Bridge delegation.

Matthew with Emily Schrader.

JIMENA's mission is to achieve universal recognition of the heritage, history, and rights of the one million indigenous Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa and their Mizrahi and Sephardi descendants.

June 28, 2023 | 9 Tamuz, 5783