Born | Samarkand, Uzbekistan; immigrated to the United States at age 14 |
Today | Founder and CEO, SAMi (Sephardic American Mizrahi Initiative) |
Teaches | Bukharian Jewish History and Culture, Queens College, CUNY (adjunct) |
Education | MSW, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College; BA, Baruch College |
Expertise | Bukharian Jewish history, Sephardic and Mizrahi student life, Jewish diversity |
Speaks to | College students, educators, Hillel professionals, and community audiences |
Website | |
Manashe Khaimov was born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, a Silk Road city where his family lived for more than 2,000 years. He grew up as a Bukharian Jew in the Uzbek school system, studied in an underground yeshiva, and immigrated to the United States with his family at age 14. He describes himself as a fourth generation community organizer whose identity draws on Bukharian, Sephardic, Mizrahi, and Russian speaking traditions.
He holds a BA from Baruch College and an MSW from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. At Queens College Hillel he directed community engagement and grew Sephardic and Mizrahi student programs across five CUNY campuses, and he served on Hillel International's diversity committee. In 2020 he launched SAMi, the Sephardic American Mizrahi Initiative, which runs campus hubs, leadership training, and a national conference for Sephardic and Mizrahi students. He also teaches Bukharian Jewish History and Culture at Queens College.
Khaimov founded the Bukharian Jewish Union, the AskBobo Bukharian dictionary, and The Jewish Silk Road Tours in New York City. His honors include the New York Jewish Week's 36 Under 36, the TimesLedger Queens Impact Award, Person of the Year from the Bukharian Jewish Congress of USA and Canada, appointment to the Queens District Attorney's Jewish Advisory Council, a 2025 Covenant Pomegranate Prize, and selection to the Wexner Field Fellowship. He serves on JIMENA's National Sephardic Advisory Committee.
Speaking Topics
What Manashe talks about
1. Bukharian Jews: From the Silk Road to Queens
The history, culture, and migration of Central Asian Jewish communities.
2. Growing Up Jewish in Uzbekistan
A personal account of Jewish life in Samarkand and the journey to the United States.
3. Sephardic and Mizrahi Students on Campus
How colleges and Jewish student organizations can welcome students of every background.
4. Mizrahim and Sephardim in Campus Diversity Conversations
Where Middle Eastern and North African Jewish students fit in campus diversity work.
5. The Jewish People as a Pomegranate
Many communities, one people: an introduction to Jewish diversity for students and educators.
Select Talks
Selected talks and appearances
2026 | JIMENA Sephardic Leaders Fellowship, New York cohort: Bukharian Jewish heritage and culture tour, Forest Hills, Queens |
2025 | Chai Mitzvah Scholars Circle: From Bukhara to Jerusalem, Part I: Memory, Migration, and Identity |
2024 | Columbia/Barnard Hillel, Kraft Center, New York: Mizrachi Heritage talk (December) |
2024 | National campus speaking tour with CAMERA on Campus: seven campuses in three days |
2023 | JIMENA Sephardic Leaders Fellowship, campus cohort: Mizrahim and Sephardim in campus DEI |
2021 | American Sephardi Federation, Institute of Jewish Experience (online): The Purim Experience: The Jews of the Great Silk Road (March); The Untold Story of Bukharian Jews during WWII (April) |
2021 | American Sephardi Federation, Institute of Jewish Experience (online): Why Am I Bukharian If I Am Not from Bukhara? (November); A Bukharian Jew in Uzbekistan (December) |
2020 | American Sephardi Federation, Institute of Jewish Experience (online): A Virtual Tour of the Bukharian Jewish Heritage Museum (December) |
These are a selection of Manashe’s talks. Manashe has given many more, at college campuses, Hillels, cultural institutions, and online audiences, with a focus on Bukharian Jewish history.
Publications and Media
Read, watch, and listen
Article
How to Make Jewish Student Organizations More Welcoming to Sephardic and Mizrahi Students
Six practical recommendations for campus organizations, published in The Algemeiner, 2023. Read in The Algemeiner
Article
More Than a History Lesson: Reflections From a Campus Tour
His reflections on a national campus speaking tour, published in eJewishPhilanthropy, 2024. Read on eJewishPhilanthropy
Article
An Act of Good Will Softens the Hurt of an Exodus in Uzbekistan
Essay in Distinctions: A Sephardi and Mizrahi Journal, published by JIMENA. Read in Distinctions
Profile
Manashe Khaimov, Covenant Pomegranate Prize
Covenant Foundation profile of his work as a Jewish educator. Read the profile
Affiliations
Organizations
- SAMi: Sephardic American Mizrahi Initiative (founder and CEO)
- Queens College, CUNY (adjunct professor)
- Bukharian Jewish Union (founding director)
- JIMENA National Sephardic Advisory Committee
- Wexner Field Fellowship, Class 9
- Nahum Goldmann Fellowship (alumnus)
Book Manashe
Bring this speaker to your audience
To invite Manashe Khaimov to your school, university, congregation, or organization, use the Book Speaker button above or email info@jimena.org.