Presenter: Sarina Roffe
Format: Download MP3 Audio

This presentation will focus on the 5,000 Jews from Aleppo and Damascus, Syria who immigrated to the United States and settled in the New York during the early part of the 20th century and the development of their community over a 100 year period. The presentation will cover the community?s infrastructure, religious observance, leadership, governance, communal institutions, demography, politics, relations with the majority society, publications and education. Today, this community has grown to include Sephardic Jews from Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and other countries who live in New York and New Jersey. All of these groups have agreed to be under the umbrella of Aleppan rabbinic leadership. The community is unique in that it has remained cohesive, with as many as four generations living in close proximity. The community has also retained much of its Middle East culture, such as naming practices, religious observance, respect for its spiritual lead