American Sephardi Leadership Statement

• We affirm that “the wisdom and warmth of the Sephardic tradition has much to offer to humanity. In these challenging times, we need that resilient spirit that has been passed down through the ages in the form of Sephardic poetry, philosophy, music, food, and spirituality” (Josh Benaim/ASF Sephardi House). The Jewish tradition is full of beauty, depth, diversity, and vitality.
   
• We recognize that antisemites do not discriminate among the types of Jews they hate, but rather hate all Jews.
   
• We stand as one with Jewish communities across the country and around the world against:
  • The increase in verbal and physical assaults on Jews
  • Attempts to weaken the Jewish people by dividing us into identities that deny the history and value of Jewish unity
  • Defining Jews only by antisemitism rather than our achievements; and
  • Reducing Judaism to a political abstraction and the Jewish American experience to a narrative of victimhood.
     
• We affirm the Jewish people’s rootedness in the Land of Israel, and the centrality of Israel throughout Jewish history and in contemporary Jewish life. Remembering Zion and Jerusalem and practicing Ahavat Israel are natural and positive aspects of Sephardic life, and the safety and well-being of Israel is a core communal concern.
   
• We are committed to remembering that our ancestors came to America as refugees in search of freedom and its blessings of peace and prosperity. Benjamin Franklin contributed to Philadelphia’s Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, Mikveh Israel, an expression of the philosemitic views of many of the Founders. Indeed, Sephardic Jews have served and sacrificed for America in every generation since its founding.
   
• We “support that [American] government which is founded upon the strictest principles of equal liberty and justice” (Gershom Mendes Seixas) even as Jews remain the most likely minority to be victims of hate crimes. Antisemitism has no place especially in America, a nation of immigrants and ideas that are a force for good in the world.
   
• We believe that antisemitism cannot be confronted unless it is first identified. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition with its examples of antisemitism is essential to recognizing, measuring, educating against, and confronting the world’s oldest hatred.  We accordingly affirm the Combat Antisemitsm Movement Pledge to do our part “in order to build a more just, free, and civilized world” without antisemitism.
   
• We revere our elders and work with them to ensure their memories, books, documents, and artifacts are preserved for future generations.
   
• We particularly support our young people, the future of our community, and work to ensure that they have the intellectual and moral strength, knowledge, and commitment to overcome any of the challenges they face.
   
• We affirm that, as Hakham Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel, Israel’s 1st Sephardic Chief Rabbi, wrote: true learning improves understanding of different cultures & means adding our “own blessings to the cultural treasury of humanity” (e.g., at least 12 Jewish Noble Laureates are Sephardi).
   
• We urge scholars, educators, and organizations to both recognize and study the much-neglected tragic impact of the Holocaust on Sephardic communities, especially in Greece, the Balkans, North Africa, and the Middle East.
   
• We are committed, moreover, to preserving, perpetuating, and promoting the full diversity of Greater Sephardic cultures and histories through an array of projects, events, publications, and contemporary advocacy, such as our campaigns to secure justice for Dr. Sarah Halimi, HY”D, free Levi Marhabi, and raise awareness about the Yemenite Jews who are the forgotten refugees being forgotten in real time.
   
• We must work with total devotion to elevate, amplify, and empower Sephardim of all ages and backgrounds to articulate the teachings of Classic Sephardic Judaism. For too long Sephardim have been underrepresented and both Sephardic culture and concerns have often been overlooked within the broader Jewish community to the detriment of all Jews. We need to “bring all Jews, without distinction, together around our shared Sephardic traditional, intellectual, and cultural roots.” (Rabbi Elie Abadie/ASF Council of Sephardi Sages)

 

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Together, we can go from strength to strength in the New Year!