Books
Books recommended by JIMENA staff for readers, students, and educators exploring the history, literature, languages, and traditions of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. Browse children’s books, novels, history, Jewish languages, and Sephardic thought.
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The Sephardic World – Le Monde Sépharade (French)
by Shmuel TriganoA French language overview edited by sociologist Shmuel Trigano, gathering scholars to survey Sephardic history, culture, languages, and communities from medieval Spain through the Ottoman lands, North Africa, and the modern diaspora.
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The Septembers of Shiraz
by Dalia SoferA novel set after the 1979 Iranian revolution, following Isaac Amin, a Jewish gem dealer in Tehran who is imprisoned by the new regime, and his wife and children as they face fear and possible exile.
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The Story of the Baba Sali
by Sarah FeldbrandA children's biography of Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, the Baba Sali, the revered Moroccan kabbalist who later lived in Netivot, Israel, told through stories of his piety and kindness.
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The Sultan's Communists: Moroccan Jews and the Politics of Belonging
by Alma Rachel HeckmanA history of Moroccan Jews who joined the Communist Party from the 1930s through the 1960s, tracing their role in anticolonial and nationalist politics and their fate after Moroccan independence.
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The Weight of Ink
by Rachel KadishA novel alternating between 1660s London, where Ester Velasquez, a Portuguese Jewish orphan from Amsterdam, scribes for a blind rabbi, and the present day, as historians uncover her hidden letters.
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The White Islands / Las Islas Blancas
by Marjorie AgosínA bilingual Spanish and English poetry collection by Chilean Jewish writer Marjorie Agosín that meditates on exile, memory, and Sephardic heritage through imagery of Mediterranean islands such as Rhodes.
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The Woman Who Defied Kings: The Life and Times of Dona Gracia Nasi
by Andrée Aelion BrooksA biography of Doña Gracia Nasi, the sixteenth century Portuguese converso businesswoman who fled the Inquisition, ran a vast trading enterprise, rescued fellow conversos, and led Jewish life in Ottoman Constantinople.
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The Women of Israel: Characters and Sketches from the Holy Scriptures and Jewish History
by Grace AguilarA nineteenth century work by the English Sephardic writer Grace Aguilar offering character sketches of women from the Hebrew Bible and later Jewish history, written to inspire Jewish women of her time.
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The Wooden Sword: A Jewish Folktale from Afghanistan
by Carol Liddiment and Ann Redisch StamplerA picture book retelling of an Afghan Jewish folktale in which a disguised shah tests a poor man's faith, who replaces a sword with a wooden one when ordered to carry out an execution.
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The Yemenites: Two Thousand Years of Jewish Culture
by Ester Muchawsky-SchnapperAn illustrated Israel Museum volume on the material culture of Yemenite Jews, presenting their costume, jewelry, ritual objects, manuscripts, and daily life alongside essays on two thousand years of community history.
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This Is Not a Cholent
by Sarah Sassoon; illustrated by Viviana GarofoliIn this picture book, Amira and her Nana enter a cholent contest in Australia with their Iraqi Jewish t'bit, a slow cooked Shabbat stew of stuffed chicken, rice, and spices, gently showing that Jewish food is more than Ashkenazi food.
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Threads of Silk: The Story of Bukharian Jewry
by David YeroushalmiCatalogue associated with the 2013 Beit Hatfutsot exhibition on Bukharan Jews of Central Asia, presenting their history, family and religious life, textiles, dress, and jewelry, and their ties to Zion.