JIMENA Staff’s Suggested Readings in Sephardic and Mizrahi Studies

Sephardic History:

A History of the Jews in Christian Spain by Yitzhak Baer

A History of the Jews of Arabia: From Ancient Times to Their Eclipse under Islam by Gordon Darnell Newby

A Hug From Afar: One family’s dramatic journey through three continents to escape the Holocaust by Claire Barkey Flash

A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza by S.D. Goitein

A political and economic history of the Jews of Afghanistan by Sara Koplik

After the Eagles Landed: The Yemenites of Israel by Herbert S. Lewis

An Ode to Salonika: The Ladino Verses of Bouena Sarfatty by Renée Levine Melammed

Becoming Ottomans: Sephardi Jews and Imperial Citizenship in the Modern Era by Julia Phillips Cohen

Between Foreigners and Shi‘is: Nineteenth-Century Iran and its Jewish Minority by Daniel Tsadik

Change Within Tradition Among Jewish Women in Libya by Rachel Simon

Collectivization and Social Engineering: Soviet Administration and the Jews of Uzbekistan, 1917-1939 by Zeev Levin

Contemporary Sephardic Identity in the Americas: An Interdisciplinary Approach by Margalit Bejarano

Conversos on Trial: The Inquisition in Ciudad Real by Haim Beinart

Cov­er Me With My Izar by Nora Houri-Haim

Crisis and Creativity in the Sephardic World (1391-1648) by Benjamin Gampel

Egypt from Monarchy to Republic: A Reassessment of Revolution and Change by Shimon Shamir

Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World by Norman Stillman

Esther’s Children: A portrait of Iranian Jews by Houman Sarshar

Exile in the Maghreb: Jews under Islam, Sources and Documents by Paul B. Fenton; David Littman

Extraterritorial Dreams: European Citizenship, Sephardi Jews, and the Ottoman Twentieth Century by Sarah Abrevaya Stein

Family Papers: A Sephardic Journey Through the Twentieth Century by Sarah Abrevaya Stein

Folktales of the Jews, Volume 1: Tales from the Sephardic Dispersion by Dan Ben-Amos, Dov Noy, Ellen Frankel

Folktales of the Jews, Volume 3: Tales from Arab Lands by Dan Ben-Amos

Forging Ties, Forging Passports: Migration and the Modern Sephardi Diaspora by Devi Mays

Foundations of Sephardic Spirituality: The Inner Life of Jews of the Ottoman Empire by Rabbi Marc D. Angel

French Jews, Turkish Jews: The Alliance Israelite Universelle and the Politics of Jewish Schooling in Turkey 1860-1925 by Aron Rodrigue

From the Shahs to Los Angeles: Three Generations of Iranian Jewish Women Between Religion and Culture by Saba Soomekh

Ginger And Salt: Yemeni Jewish Women In An Israeli Town by Lisa Gilad

Golden Age of Aragonese Jewry: Community and Society in the Crown of Aragon, 1213-1327 by Yom Tov Assis

Homeless Tongues: poetry and languages of the Sephardic diaspora by Monique Balbuena

In the Shadow of History: Jews and Conversos at the Dawn of Modernity by Jose Faur

Irano-Judaica: Studies Relating to Jewish Contacts with Persian culture Throughout the Ages by Amnon Netzer; Shaul Shaked

Isaac Aboab da Fonseca: Jewish Leadership in the New World by Moises Orfali

Israel and Ishmael: Studies in Muslim-Jewish Relations by Tudor Parfitt; Yehud Nini

Jacob’s Children in the Land of Mahdi: Jews of the Sudan by Eli S. Malka

Jewish Communities of Iran by Houman Sarshar

Jewish Culture and Society in North Africa by Emily Benichou Gottreich; Daniel J. Schroeter

Jewish Identities in Iran: Resistance and Conversion to Islam and the Baha’i Faith by Mehrdad Amanat

Jewish Libya: Memory and Identity in Text and Image by Jacques Roumani, Judith Roumani, David Meghnagi

Jewish Life in Muslim Libya: Rivals and Relatives by Harvey E. Goldberg

Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece by Devin Naar

Jews and Arabs by Albert Memmi

Jews and Arabs: A Concise History of Their Social and Cultural Relations by S.D. Goitein

Jews and Muslims in the Islamic World by Zvi Zohar; Bernard Dov Cooperman

Jews and Muslims: Images of Sephardi and Eastern Jewries in Modern Times by Aron Rodrigue

Jews in an Arab Land: Libya, 1835–1970 by Renzo De Felice

Jews in Arab Countries the Great Uprooting: 1850-1975 by Georges Bensoussan

Jews of Egypt, 1920-70 : In the midst of Zionism, anti-Semitism and the Middle East Conflict by Michael M. Laskier

Jews, Turks, and Ottomans: A Shared History, Fifteenth Through the Twentieth Century by Avigdor Levy

Judaism on Trial: Jewish-Christian Disputations in the Middle Ages by Hyam Maccoby

La America: The Sephardic Experience in the United States by Marc D. Angel

Ladino Rabbinic Literature and Ottoman Sephardic Culture by Matthias B. Lehmann

Ladino reveries: Tales of the Sephardic experience in America by Hank Halio

Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt by Oded Zinger

Model Citizens of the State: The Jews of Turkey during the Multi-Party Period by Rifat Bali

Modern Ladino Culture: Press, Belles Lettres, and Theater in the Late Ottoman Empire by Olga Borovaya

Moreshet Sepharad: The Sephardi Legacy edited by Haim Beinart

My Mother’s Spice Cupboard by Elana Benjamin

New Babylonians: A History of Jews in Modern Iraq by Orit Bashkin

On the Mediterranean and the Nile: The Jews of Egypt by Aimée Israel-Pelletier

One Hun­dred Sat­ur­days: Stel­la Levi and the Search for a Lost World by Michael Frank

Pādyāvand by Amnon Netzer

Rabbinic Creativity in the Modern Middle East by Zvi Zohar

Ritual Medical Lore of Sephardic Women: Sweetening the Spirits, Healing the Sick by Isaac Jack Levy; Rosemary Zumwalt

Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jewries: History and Culture in the Modern Era by Harvey E. Goldberg

Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in America by Saba Soomekh

Sephardi Jewry: A History of the Judeo-Spanish Community, 14th-20th Centuries by Esther Benbassa; Aron Rodrigue

Sephardi Lives: A Documentary History, 1700–1950 by Sarah Abrevaya Stein and Julia Philips Cohen

Sephardic Genealogy: Discovering Your Sephardic Ancestors and Their World by Jeffrey S. Malka

Sephardic Jews in America: A Diasporic History by Aviva Ben-Ur

Sephardic Jews in the West Coast States edited by William M. Kramer

Sephardic Trajectories: Archives, Objects, and the Ottoman Jewish Past in the United States edited by Kerem Tinaz and Oscar Aguirre-Mandujano

Sephardic Wom­en’s Voic­es: Out of North Africa by Nina B. Lichtenstein

Sephardim in 20th Century America: In Search of Unity by Joseph M. Papo

Studies in Sephardic Culture: The David N. Barocas Memorial Volume by David N. Barocas; Marc D. Angel

Syrian Jewry in Transition, 1840-1880 by Yaron Harel

Tevye’s Ottoman Daughter: Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews at the End of Empire by Sarah M. Zaides

The Alliance Israelite Universelle and the Jewish Communities of Morocco, 1862-1962 by Michael M. Laskier

The Beauty of Sephardic Life: Scholarly, Humorous & Personal Reflections by Sam B. Maimon

The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950-1492 by Peter Cole

The End of Judaism in Muslim Lands by Shmuel Trigano

The Flying Camel: Essays on Identity by Women of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Heritage by Loolwa Khazzoom

The Geonim of Babylonia and the Shaping of Medieval Jewish Culture by Robert Brody

The History of the Jews of Italy by Cecil. Roth

The Jewish Center of Culture in the Ottoman Empire (History of Jewish Literature, Volume 5, Part Six) by Israel Zinberg (Author), Bernard Martin (Translator)

The Jewish Martyrs of Rhodes and Cos by Hizkia M. Franco

The Jews in Modern Egypt, 1914-1952 by Gudrun Kramer

The Jews in Sharifian Morocco: Aspects of Jewish life in Morocco from the 16th Century to Modern Times by Shalom Bar-Asher

The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times by Norman A. Stillman

The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book by Norman A. Stillman

The Jews of Beirut: The Rise of a Levantine Community, 1860s-1930s by Tomer Levi

The Jews of Iran in the Nineteenth Century: Aspects of History, Community, and Culture by David Yeroushalmi

The Jews of Iran: Chapters in their History and Cultural Heritage by David Yeroushalmi

The Jews of Iran: The History, Religion and Culture of a Community in the Islamic World by Houman M. Sarshar

The Jews of Iraq: 3000 Years of History and Culture by Nissm Rejwan

The Jews of Islam by Bernard Lewis

The Jews of Libya: Coexistence, Persecution, Resettlement by Maurice Roumani

The Jews of Moslem Spain by Eliyahu Ashtor

The Jews of North Africa during the Second World War by Michel Abitbol

The Jews of Ottoman Izmir: A Modern History by Dina Danon

The Jews of Rhodes: The History of a Sephardic Community by Marc Angel

The Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience by Jane S. Gerber

The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times by Simon; Laskier; Reguer

The Jews of the Ottoman Empire by Avigdor Levy

The Jews of the Yemen, 1800-1914 by Yehuda Nini

The Jews of Yemen studies in their history and culture by Yosef Tobi

The Journey: From Ismaeleya to Higienópolis – The story of an Egyptian Jew by Alain Bigio

The Juderia: A Holocaust Survivor’s Tribute to the Jewish Community of Rhodes by Laura Varon

The Last Ottoman Century and Beyond The Jews in Turkey and the Balkans 1808-1945 by Minna Rozen

The Lost World of the Egyptian Jews: First-person accounts from Egypt’s Jewish community in the Twentieth Century by Liliane Dammond

The Mellah Society: Jewish Community Life in Sherifian Morocco by Shlomo Deshen

The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain by Dario Fernandez-Morera

The New Babylonian Diaspora: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Community in Iraq, 16th-20th centuries C.E. by Zvi Yehudah

The Road to Redemption: The Jews of the Yemen 1900-1950 by Tudor Parfitt

The Schocken Book of Modern Sephardic Literature by Ilan Stavans

The Sephardic World – Le Monde Sépharade by Shmuel Trigano

The Woman Who Defied Kings: The Life and Times of Dona Gracia Nasi by Andrée Aelion Brooks

The Women of Israel: Characters and Sketches from the Holy Scriptures and Jewish History by Grace Aguilar

The Yemenites: Two Thousand Years of Jewish Culture by Ester Muchawsky-Schnapper

Threads of silk: The Story of Bukharian Jewry by David Yeroushalmi

Two thousand years of Jewish life in Morocco by Haïm Zafranim

Uprooted: How 3000 Years of Jewish Civilization in the Arab World Vanished Overnight by Lyn Julius

Voices in Exile: A Study in Sephardic Intellectual History by Marc D. Angel

Zionism in an Arab Country: Jews in Iraq in the 1940s by Esther Meir-Glitzenstein

Sephardic Rabbinic literature: 

Abrabanel on Pirke Avot: A Digest of Rabbi Isaac Abrabanel’s “Nahalat Avot” 

A Sephardic Passover Haggadah: With Translation and Commentary by Marc D. Angel

A Treasury of Sephardic Laws and Customs: The Ritual Practices of Syrian, Moroccan, Judeo-Spanish and Spanish and Portuguese Jews of North America by Herbert C. Dobrinsky

Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel by Samuel Usque

Ha-Emunot ve-ha-Deot (The Book of Beliefs and Opinions) by Saadia ben Yosef al-Fayyumi 

Homo Mysticus: A Guide to Maimonides’s Guide for the Perplexed by Jose Faur

Israel and Humanity by Rabbi Elijah Benamozegh

Ma’amar al Yishmael by Shelomo ben Avraham ibn Aderet

Rambam’s Perush ha-Mishna

Siddurim and mahzorim based on the Turkish and Rhodes customs of the Jews of Seattle, Washington by Isaac Azose

Siddur Edot HaMizrach

Tafsir RaSaG – Saadia ben Yose al-Fayummi’s Judeo-Arabic Translation of the Torah

The Essential Pele Yoetz by Rabbi Eliezer Papo, translated by Marc D. Angel

The Jewish Sermon in 14th-Century Spain: The Derashot of R. Joshua ibn Shu’eib by Carmi Horowitz

Yemenite Midrash: Philosophical Commentaries on the Torah: An Anthology of Writings from the Golden Age of Judaism in the Yemen by Y. Tzvi Langermann

Zionism in an Arab Country: Jews in Iraq in the 1940s by Esther Meir-Glitzenstein

Digital Projects:

Exploring Sephardic Life Cycle Customs

HeHaCham HaYomi (The Daily Sage)

Jewish Languages: Judeo-Arabic

Sephardic Heritage Museum Education Initiatives

Sephardic Studies Digital Collection at the University of Washington

The Journey to the Mizrah curriculum

The Sephardi Studies Project, Taube Center for Jewish Studies at Stanford

Children’s literature:

A Cage Without Bars by Anne Dublin

A Ceiling Made of Eggshells by Gail Carson Levine

A Persian Passover by Etan Basseri

A Persian Princess by Barbara Diamond Goldin (Author), Steliyana Doneva (Illustrator)

A Sweet Meeting on Mimouna Night by Allison Ofanansky (Author), Rotem Teplow (Illustrator)

A Treasury of Sephardic Bedtime Stories by Shmuel Blitz (Author) Rabbi David Sutton (Editor)

Apples and Pomegranates: A Rosh Hashanah Seder by Rahel Musleah, Judy Jarrett Gier

Buen Shabat, Shabbat Shalom by Sarah Aroeste (Author), Ayesha L. Rubio (Illustrator)

Bou Le-Gani: Piyutim in Early Childhood: an online resource for teaching piyutim to K-5

Day of Delight: A Jewish Sabbath in Ethiopia by Maxine Rose Schur, Brian Pinkney

El Princhipiko: The Little Prince (Ladino Edition) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Author), Avner Perez; Gladys Pimienta (Translators)

Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty by Linda Glaser (Author), Claire A. Nivola (Illustrator)

I Share My Name by Esther Levy Chehebar (Author), Luisa Galstyan (Illustrator)

Joha Makes A Wish: A Middle Eastern Tale by Eric A. Kimmel (Author), Omar Rayyan (Illustrator)

Judah Touro Didn’t Want to be Famous by Audrey Ades (Author), Vivien Mildenberger (Illustrator)

Las Aventuras de Alisia en el Paiz de las Maraviyas: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Ladino Edition) by Lewis Carroll (Author), John Tenniel (Illustrator), Avner Perez (Translator)

Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar

Much, Much Better by Chaim Kosofsky (Author), Jessica Schiffman (Illustrator)

Ora de Despertar – Time to Wake Up! By Sarah Aroeste

Osnat and Her Dove: The True Story of the World’s First Female Rabbi by Sigal Samuel (Author), Vali Mintzi (Illustrator)

Shoham’s Bangle by Sarah Sassoon (Author), Noa Kelner (Illustrator)

The Jewish parrot and other Judeo-Spanish tales by François Azar

The Button Box by Bridget Hodder and Fawzia Gilani-Williams (Authors), Harshad Marathe (Illustrator)

The Key from Spain: Flory Jagoda and Her Music by Debbie Levy (Author), Sonja Wimmer (Illustrator)

The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Sfar  

The Secret Shofar of Barcelona by Jacqueline Dembar Greene (Author), Doug Chayka (Illustrator)

The Sephardic Children’s Haggadah Shel Pesach by Ellis J. Safdeye

The Story of the Baba Sali by Sarah Feldbrand

The Wooden Sword: A Jewish Folktale from Afghanistan by Carol Liddiment and Ann Redisch Stampler

Tía Fortuna’s New Home: A Jewish Cuban Journey by Ruth Behar (Author), Devon Holzwarth (Illustrator)

Jewish Languages:

Dictionary of Medieval Judaeo-Arabic Texts by Joshua Blau

Judeo-Arabic Literature in Tunisia, 1850-1950 by Yosef Tobi; Tsivia Tobi

Judeo-Spanish and the Making of a Community by Bryan Kirschen

Ladino-English Concise Encyclopedic Dictionary by Elli Kohen & Kohen-Gordon 

Manuel of Judeo-Spanish by Marie-Christine Varol

The Arabic Dialect of the Jews of Baghdad by Assaf Bar-Moshe

The Language and Culture of the Jews of Sefrou, Morocco: An Ethnolinguistic Study by Norman A. Stillman

Additional books on Sephardic Thought:

Aleppo Tales by Haim Sabato

Anti Semitism in the Sepharadi Mind by Jose Faur

Confronting the Loss of a Baby: A Personal and Jewish Perspective by Yamin Levy

Loving Truth and Peace: The Grand Religious Worldview of Rabbi Benzion Uziel by Marc D. Angel

Horizontal Society: Understanding the Covenant and Alphabetical Judaism by Jose Faur

Rabbi Haim David Halevy: Gentle Scholar and Courageous Thinker by Marc D. Angel

The Mysticism of Andalusia: Exploring HaRambam’s Mystical Tradition by Yamin Levy

The Sephardic Book of Why by Rabbi Ilan Acoca

Recent articles and opinion pieces:

Bias Against Sephardim Tests Jewish Unity by Gary Rosenblat

Diasporic Reunions: Sephardi/Ashkenazi Tensions in Historical Perspective by Aviva Ben-Ur

Holocaust “Kaddish Day” & Sephardic Shoah Voices by Rabbi Daniel Bouskila

Jewish indigeneity to Israel by Sarah Levin

Many Jews of color and diverse Jews are politically conservative by Mijal Bitton

The Myth of Jewish Immigration by Devin Naar (Jewish in Seattle Magazine)

Who is an Arab Jew? by Albert Memmi

Novels:

Auto-da-Fé by Elias Canetti

The Pillar of Salt by Albert Memmi

The White Islands / Las Islas Blancas by Marjorie Agosín

White Zion by Gila Green

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