MEETINGS WITH OUR MEMBERS ABROAD Mr. Shlomo Toussia-Cohen, President of the Center, and Mr. Moshe Cohen, its Secretary-General, have held several meetings with leaders of the communities of Aleppo Jews abroad, with the view of enlisting cooperation in the enterprise of the Center, promoting the exchange of view and the coordination of attitudes and sharing information on subjects of common interest — in order to advance the objectives of the Center and the attainment of its goals.
★ With those aims in mind, talks were held in New York with Messrs. David Cohen, Edie Yedid, Albert Nasser, Moris Nasser, Joe Levy, Ezra Dayan, Moris Dabbah and others. In the course of these talks, the participants gave us the benefit of their opinion and contributed ideas as well as considerable funds to the Center.
★ The possibilities of cooperation were discussed by Mr. Moshe Cohen with several leaders of the Magen-David community in Mexico-City, as well as with adelegation of the leading women of the community. These meetings included several working debates with Messrs. Isaac Hamui-Moussali, President of the Community, and with Mesdames Sophia Sasson, Janet Yedid and Mrs. Sitt, spouse of Mr. Joe Sitt — both of whom have accompanied our enterprise from its inception.
★ His Eminence, Chief Rabbi of the Sephardi Communities in Argentina, Rabbi Yitzhak Sheibar, kindly agreed to meet Moshe Cohen in Buenos Aires, as well as to contribute an article to “Darchey Eretz”. The Buenos Aires Community has lent a shoulder to the activity of the Center, and a great many of its leaders and key public figures announced their readiness for extensive cooperation. Amongst them there were Dr. Ruben Beraja, President of Banco Mayo in Argentina; Mr. Abraham Abadi, Representative of the Trade Development Bank; Mr. Elias Salem, member of the Jewish Agency Executive; Mr. Albert Nasser, Mr. Abraham Kassar and the Honorable Rabbi Abraham Antebi.
★ The program of the Center was generally acclaimed also in Sao Paulo. Meetings and talks in this spirit were held with Rabbis Ephraim Laniado and Yaacov Garson. with Mr. David Sasson-Harari, and with the community’s activists and the local Jewish reporters. Mr. Ovadiah Horn, one of the well-known activists of Brazilian Jewry, has also joined the effort of promoting the Center’s ideas and objectives, and so has Mr. Rahmo Shayo.
★ Special mention must be made of the favourable attitude and generous contribution on the part of Mr. Edmundo Safdie, the President of Banco Cidade S.A. in Brazil. Both he and Mr. Yadaa Kayre, one of the Bank’s senior employees, responded with approbation to the issue of the Center presented to them. Accordingly, they met, during their stay in New York, met with Messrs. Toussia-Cohen and Moshe Cohen, as well as Mr. David Cohen from Brooklyn.
★ In Rio-de-Janeiro, Mr. Avigdor Sabatino, one of the activists of the local Jewish community, declared his support of the concept of the Center as well as its objectives. In addition, an introductory talk and discussion of future coordination was held with Mrs. Melia Shueke, one of the activists and public opinion-makers of the local Jewry.
CENTER RECOGNIZED AS PUBLIC INSTITUTION BY THE TAX AUTHORITIES:
The Income Tax Commission recognized the World Center as a non-profit public institution, (see photocopy of the confirmation issued by the Income Tax Authorities).
REVIVING A TRADITION: “Ten Commandments” Evening.
An old-time tadition of Aleppo Jews came to life on the 17th of February 1987, in an “Avtida Kalamna” evening organised by the Tel-Aviv Center: The Ten Commandments, rendered into Arabic, in verse, by the great scholar, Rabbi Sa’adia Gaon of blessed memory, were read out by ten readers, youth mostly, who had been painstakingly prepared for this evening by the Center’s activists. The singer David Giro and the ‘Magen David’ Choire, conducted by Mr. Nessim Batish entertained the audience. The event was accompanied by an orchestra under the baton of the conductor Mr. David Abraham.
REMINISCING WITH JOSEPH HADASS
Impressions and reminiscences were recounted at an evening organised by the Center of the 17th of August 1986 with the participation of His excellency Mr. Joseph Hadass, Israel’s Ambassador to Brussels and the Common Market. Dozens of the Center’s members and activists from all over the country attended the event, which took place at Beit Sokolov in Tel-Aviv. (see also inside of back cover).
DOCUMENTARY RECORDING
An enterprise which is gathering momentum these days is the documentary recording conducted by the Center. Volunteers visit the homes of the elders of the community in order to interview them with the view of reseraching and documenting ancestral memoirs, customs traditions. A number of students from various universities in Israel have been mobilized to carry out this work. Further details on the progress of this enterprise will appear in the next issues of “Darchey Eretz”.
COLLECTION OF ALEPPO HERITAGE EXHIBITS
The World Convention we are planning will include an exhibition which will display the various aspects of the life of the community of Aleppo Jews in the past hundred years.
We call on our members in Israel and abroad to inform us of any pictures or objects they may have in their possession which pertain to our heritage. Every picture and object will be kept under the name of the person who has lent it to the Center or, should it be required, will be copied, and the original will be returned to the owner.
