Jews -- Middle East

The collection documents the work and correspondence of Joseph A. D. Sutton and reflects various aspects of his life, personal research and writings in the field of Syrian Jewish culture and society, mainly as the Syrian Jews made their way in the United States. The collection also documents the Syrian Jewish experience of the immigrants who came to America and settled, as they are described in his two books: Magic Carpet: Aleppo-in-Flatbush and Aleppo Chronicles. An extensive portion of the collection examines the Syrian community which settled in Brooklyn, including articles by colleagues as well as correspondence.

The collection documents the work and correspondence of Joy Zacharia Appelbaum and reflects various aspects of her life, personal research and writings in the field of Sephardic Jewish culture and society, mainly as they made their way here in the United States. Collection consists in large part of a large array of newspaper and magazine articles describing Sephardic life in various areas of the world, and especially in the United States. An extensive portion of the collection examines the various customs and traditions found among the Sephardim, including customs for the Jewish Holidays (and especially Passover). The collection also includes a significant quantity of information about the American Sephardi Federation, focusing a great deal on its conventions and activities in the late 1980s to early 1990s. There is also a sizable amount of information about the Sephardic communities in the Ottoman regions of Turkey, Greece, and the Balkans, with a considerable amount of material that focuses on the Quincentennial celebrations held to commemorate the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.

The primary contents of these papers are a collection of communal records created by the Sudan Jewish Community (approx. 183 pp.). These records deal with the lives and interactions of the Sudan Jewish Community, including such materials as Betrothals (Ketubot), Marriages (Kiddushin), and Divorces (Gittin). These records were initiated by Rabbi Eliahu Hazzan Chief Rabbi of Alexandria, and continued by Rabbi Shlomo Malka (Rabbi from 1906 until 1949). Originals are to be found in the Jewish Nation and University Library in Jerusalem; its signature JNUL Heb 4 7306/I-2. Copies are in the library of Beit Hatefsoth in Tel Aviv, and Ben Zvi Institute in Jerusalem. Includes photo-copies of: A) Betrothals (Ketubot) B) Divorces (Gittin) C) Marriages D) Conversions