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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Jews and Muslims: Images of Sephardi and Eastern Jewries in Modern Times
by Aron RodrigueA collection of historical photographs from the Alliance Israélite Universelle archives with an essay on how Western Jews viewed and sought to modernize Sephardi and Eastern Jewish communities.
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Jews in an Arab Land: Libya, 1835–1970
by Renzo De FeliceA history of the Jews of Libya from 1835 to 1970, covering late Ottoman rule, Italian colonization, Fascist racial laws, wartime persecution, the 1945 and 1948 riots, and the community's departure.
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Jews in Arab Countries the Great Uprooting: 1850-1975
by Georges BensoussanA history of Jews in Arab lands from 1850 to 1975, arguing that rising nationalism, colonial transitions, and hostility toward Jews led to the uprooting and mass departure of ancient communities.
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Jews of Egypt, 1920-70 : In the midst of Zionism, anti-Semitism and the Middle East Conflict
by Michael M. LaskierA history of Egyptian Jews from 1920 to 1970 examining Zionism, antisemitism, and the Arab Israeli conflict, and how these pressures led to the community's decline and near disappearance after 1948 and 1956.
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Jews, Turks, and Ottomans: A Shared History, Fifteenth Through the Twentieth Century
by Avigdor LevyAn edited volume of essays examining relations between Jews, Turks, and the Ottoman state from the fifteenth through twentieth centuries, covering Sephardic settlement, community life, and the transition to modern Turkey.
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Joha Makes A Wish: A Middle Eastern Tale
by Eric A. Kimmel (Author), Omar Rayyan (Illustrator)A picture book folktale about Joha, the trickster of Middle Eastern folklore, who finds a wishing stick that grants the opposite of every wish until he learns to use it wisely.
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José and the Pirate Captain Toledano
by Arnon Z. ShorrA middle grade historical graphic novel about José, the son of secret Jews in sixteenth century Santo Domingo, who flees an Inquisition agent and finds refuge aboard the ship of a crypto Jewish pirate captain.
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Judah Touro Didn’t Want to be Famous
by Audrey Ades (Author), Vivien Mildenberger (Illustrator)A picture book biography of Judah Touro, the nineteenth century New Orleans merchant and philanthropist from a Sephardic family, who gave generously to many causes while avoiding public recognition.
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Judaism on Trial: Jewish-Christian Disputations in the Middle Ages
by Hyam MaccobyA translation and analysis of three medieval disputations between Jews and Christians, held in Paris in 1240, Barcelona in 1263 with Nahmanides, and Tortosa in 1413 to 1414, showing how Judaism was put on trial.
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Judeo-Arabic Literature in Tunisia, 1850-1950
by Yosef Tobi; Tsivia TobiA scholarly study of the Judeo Arabic press, poetry, fiction, and translations produced by Tunisian Jews between 1850 and 1950, showing how print culture reflected their encounter with modernity and French colonial rule.
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Judeo-Spanish and the Making of a Community
by Bryan KirschenAn edited volume of essays from the ucLADINO Judeo Spanish symposia on the language, history, and culture of Sephardic communities in Turkey, the Balkans, Morocco, and the United States, and on efforts to sustain and revitalize Ladino.
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La America: The Sephardic Experience in the United States
by Marc D. AngelA history of Sephardic Jews in the United States, emphasizing the Ladino speaking immigrants from Turkey, Greece, and the Balkans who arrived in the early twentieth century and built new communities.