Please adjust your email settings to "display images below". Click on images to enlarge. | | Sephardic Heritage International (SHIN-DC) wishes a good and sweet New Year to all those who are observing Rosh Hashana this weekend. As we enter the Jewish High Holidays, we welcome everyone to join us in community at the Sulla residence for an inspiring concert - Music of the West/Maghreb & Beyond - featuring Rabbi Hazzan Yosef Amiga, Moshe Elmakias (piano) and Gil Cohen (shofar), with remarks about Andalusi music from Sammy Ymar of Magen David Sephardic Congregation: | | 10TH ANNUAL CHEF COMPETITION - SPICE IT UP SEPHARDIC | | September 14, 6:30PM, with TZEDEK DC - Eat Well, Do Justice! Our colleagues at Trio Sefardi are presenting Sephardic music at Tzedek DC’s “Food Experience.” As their friends, and as a supporter of Tzedek DC's important work, we are letting you know about the event and wish them all the best — but should note that the food is not kosher and the event occurs during a Jewish fast day, which makes the event less accessible for some of us. Click here to register. | | In Review - Remembering the Farhud & October 7 | | |
A year after the first congressional Farhud remembrance, D.C.’s Iraqi Jewish community returned to Congress to commemorate the massacre that targeted Baghdad Jewry in June 1941. Speakers included Marc Sievers, the former U.S. ambassador to Oman who participated together with his son Sam; SHIN Board Member Maurice Shohet; Rabbi Brian Shamash; Rabbi Ambassador Yehuda Kaploun, U.S. Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism; SHIN Board Member Richard Foltin; Dalia Burgana, the cousin of Shlomo Mansour who survived the Farhud and was abducted and killed by Hamas on Oct. 7; Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL); and Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), a retired Navy SEAL who has prioritized defending Israel and the Jewish people. See our next newsletter for photos and video.
PRESS: Congressional Farhud Remembrance Expands to Include Oct. 7, Washington Jewish Week
| | SHIN-DC Engagement - Some Summer Highlights | | |
August 17-18, 2026, Sephardic Heritage International (SHIN-DC) was among the institutional partners of the Sephardic Rabbinic Conference, which also included the Orthodox Union and the RCA.
SHIN-DC Director Afraim Katzir had a meaningful and productive time in community at the conference with close friends and over 150 esteemed members of our Sephardic rabbinic community from around the world to discuss the challenges facing our Sephardic communities today and Sephardic continuity.
Director Katzir also had the opportunity to catch up with Sephardic colleague Ofir Akunis, Counsul General of Israel in New York (bottom photo, center).
| | The Kingdom of Morocco - Throne Day | | July 30, SHIN-DC Director Afraim Katzir and Board Member Richard Foltin were honored to join H.E Youssef Amrani for the 27th Throne Day, along with Christopher Landau from the administration, diplomats, and our community, to celebrate the reign of H.M. King Mohammed VI - أدام عليه موفور الصحة والعافية | | Sephardic & Moroccan Sports Diplomacy | | August 19, after following the Moroccan national team’s exciting run at this summer’s FIFA games, SHIN-DC Director Afraim Katzir and Mr. Hassan Samrhouni, a former international Moroccan soccer player who works with us each year to organize Mimouna, joined the Embassy of Israel at Audi Field to cheer Tai Baribo, D.C. United’s Israeli forward who is of Moroccan Jewish heritage. Mr. Hassan presented Tai with a hat from Wydad Athletic Club, the renowned multi-sports club based in Casablanca and home to one of Morocco’s most successful professional soccer teams. | | SHIN-DC is a Partner and Convening Coalition Member of the IRF Peace Builders Forum - America 250 | | |
The forum convened in Washington, D.C. on July 16-17 under the auspices of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable. SHIN-DC Board Member Richard Foltin presented on religious freedom for Jews in the U.S., while highlighting and raising awareness of the rich heritage and enduring contributions of Sephardic Jews in America, "At a time when antisemitism, racism, polarization, and cultural misunderstanding are increasing worldwide, we too often encounter a narrow understanding of Jewish identity that erases the stories of Sephardic, Mizrahi, African, Asian, Latin American, Caribbean, and other multicultural Jewish communities—representing centuries of coexistence, migration, resilience, and artistic achievement. Those stories remain largely absent from museums, classrooms, and public discourse."
Morocco and the UAE were awarded the inaugural America 250 Founders' Promise Award at the U.S. Senate. Director Afraim Katzir, pictured just below, also presented on SHIN-DC's Mimouna initiatives.
| | July 13-14, SHIN-DC Board Member Richard Foltin and Director Afraim Katzir participated in a Congressional Roundtable Discussion exploring interfaith harmony and pluralism in Azerbaijan with Rabbi Zamir Isayev, Spiritual Leader of the Sephardic Jewish Community of Azerbaijan (representing Azerbaijan's Jewish communities) and Pastor Rasim Khalilov, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Bible Society (representing the Christian denominations)—who also both participated in the IRF Peace Builders Forum. | | Other Meetings, Summer 2026 | | SHIN-DC Director Katzir had a meaningful conversation with Danny Danon, a fellow Sephardic Jew who serves as Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations. We were deeply honored to receive Ambassador Danon’s recognition of SHIN-DC and our Director Afraim Katzir for the important cultural diplomacy work we do to preserve and promote Sephardic heritage. | | This summer, SHIN-DC's Director also had meaningful conversations with colleagues, Albert Shlomo, President of the Jewish Community of Kazakhstan; Sam Kassin, Chief Rabbi of the Syrian Jewish Community; Assemblywoman Rosie Bagolie, a Caribbean Sephardic Jew; Robert Řehák, the Czech Republic's Special Envoy / Ambassador-at-Large for Holocaust Issues, Interfaith Dialogue, and Freedom of Religion, and so many others, including Allen Azoulay who was honored with the Emma Lazarus Young Leadership Award. | | | | |
SHIN-DC also joined with Members of Congress, senior U.S. Department of Justice officials, civil rights experts, and interfaith leaders at the Second Annual National Coalition Against Antisemitism and Hate Conference, held in Washington, D.C. on July 13 by American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council (AMMWEC). SHIN-DC was among more than 70 national and international organizations that came together to strengthen cooperation against antisemitism, extremism, and religious hatred.
Board member Richard Foltin, pictured here with featured speaker Dara Horn, a preeminent antisemitism scholar, represented SHIN-DC at the landmark conference.
| | August 23, SHIN-DC Director Afraim Katzir joined the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation for the presentation of its Moral Courage Award to SHIN-DC Ambassador Rachel Amar at Yankee Stadium. | | Mazal Tov and Mabrouk to the Elfassi, Grable/Elgrably, and Boyd families on the joyous occasion of the wedding of our esteemed Board Member, Marguerite Adams. | | SEPHARDIC HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL (SHIN) / SHIN-DC: SHIN is a pluralistic 501(c)(3) organization that builds intercultural bridges and understanding, while raising awareness of Sephardic and other under-represented Jewish heritages, and the cultures, arts and history of the Middle East, North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, Greece, the Balkans, Turkey, and Asia. Through a focus on celebrating Sephardic and other underrepresented Jewish heritages and their potential for cross-cultural bridge building, SHIN-DC engages in cultural diplomacy by bringing together diverse communities and working closely with the diplomatic community and the US Congress. The Multicultural Jewish Arts Museum (MJAM), a project of SHIN-DC, highlights the Jewish culture of African, Asian, and Hispanic communities and their manifestations in the Americas and is envisioned as part of an effort to combat prejudice of all types, including antisemitism. CLICK HERE TO DONATE or OBTAIN/RENEW SHIN MEMBERSHIP. | | | | |
