Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

Renewed Interest in Sephardic Studies

March 28, 1980
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

The first group of Jewish students from Sephardic communities in the U.S. will arrive here next summer to take a three-week course in Sephardic heritage offered by the newly-created Educational Center for the Sephardic Community in Jerusalem. This visit was initiated by Dr. Joseph Nissim, an American gynecologist, of Beverly Hills, Calif., who is the chairman of the board of directors of the new institution. He believes that thousands of Sephardic Jews in the U.S. do not receive proper education in their Sephardic heritage.

The new center will offer young people between the ages of 18 and 25 intensive summer courses and tours, which are jointly sponsored by the American Zionist Federation and the World Zionist Organization. The project is currently available only to English and Spanish speaking students, but will be expanded next year to include French speaking students. The first group of students will arrive in Jerusalem in time, for the center’s inauguration ceremony next July. The center is located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem which was the spiritual center of Jerusalem’s Sephardic community for many generations.

In a related development, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem recently opened a Center for Sephardic and Oriental Jewish Studies in its Humanities faculty.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement