Bridging Sephardicthe Ashkenazi DIVIDEA conversation with Yehuda Azoulay, founder of the Sephardic Legacy Series: Institute for Preserving Sephardic Heritage By Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter Ami411_Cover Feature.indd 74 3/25/19 10:44 PM COVER FEATURE Bridging Sephardic Ashkenazi DIVIDE Ami411_Cover Feature.indd 75 3/25/19 10:44 PM Cover feature: Bridging the Sephardic/Ashkenazi Divide n American poet once said: “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to rec- ognize, accept, and cele- Yehuda Azoulay at a brate those differences.” reception with Sephardic Chief Rabbi AThis perceptive statement Yitzchak Yosef is all the more true when it comes to the Sephardic/ Judaism and to bring Sefardim and Ashke- the largest Jewish community in the Muslim Ashkenazi divide. nazim closer, it certainly resonates. world. Jews were the first in the country to Lest anyone needs to be reminded, many adopt the French language. Today, very few of the greatest Jewish leaders and scholars A Well-Balanced Life Jews remain. were Sefardim who lived in lands under “The entire Jewish world learns the “I grew up in Toronto, and in the syna- Muslim control. In fact, the Rambam, who Rambam, the Beit Yosef, and many other gogues we attended I heard more French, was born in 1138, lived under Islamic rule Sephardic Rishonim and Acharonim,” he tells Arabic and Spanish being spoken than his entire life. He grew up in Córdoba, in me. “At one point, 90% of world Jewry was English,” he shares. “I went to a Sephardic what is now southern Spain, and after it was Sephardic. But the ratios have changed since school and a Sephardic camp. Everything conquered by the extremist Almohads when the 12th century, when the Rosh and other around me was 100% Sephardic. It wasn’t he was ten years old, his family fled to gedolim and their families and communities until the eighth grade when I heard an Ash- Morocco. In 1166, after a brief yet formative left Spain for Germany.” kenazi rabbi make a brachah on the Torah visit to Eretz Yisrael, then under Crusader Yehuda, however, is determined to bring that I heard someone pronouncing the rule, they ultimately settled in Egypt, first the Sephardic legacy back to the fore. A first- words that way. I didn’t even know that such in Alexandria and then in Fustat (part of generation Canadian, Yehuda is of Moroccan a thing existed. We knew about Ashkenazim, present-day Cairo). The Rambam lived there descent. Both of his parents were born in but we didn’t know that they prayed differ- until his passing in 1204. Yet how many Morocco. His father came to Canada at the ently.” Ashkenazim, the majority of whom cling to age of 23, and his mother’s family arrived “How would you define the Sephardic every utterance of the Rambam, especially when she was five. heritage in a nutshell?” I ask. his Mishneh Torah, are aware of his Sephardic Before the founding of the State of Israel “I would describe it as a unique amalga- heritage? So when Yehuda Azuolay tells me in 1948, there were between 250,000 and mation of Torah and mitzvot and whatever about his mission to promote Sephardic 350,000 Jews living in Morocco, making it positive things we can incorporate from the ® NEW YORK | HACKENSACK | LAKEWOOD | MONSEY CHERRY HILL | PHILADELPHIA Ami411_Cover Feature.indd 76 3/25/19 10:44 PM Yehuda Azoulay visiting Rav Shaul Kassin “In keeping with the ways of many of the both fields discourages any inclination to sages of Aleppo, my grandfather did not defect from the straight and narrow. When make a living from the Torah. He was a he shut up his fabric shop each day, grand- trader in fabrics, spending a few hours in father would return to his studies and sit his shop and the rest of the day at his studies. among the sages of the beit midrash.” What would have been surprising in Eretz “My goal is to promote Sephardic Judaism Israel was considered normal in Aleppo. in any way possible,” Yehuda tells me with Once a certain scholar came from Eretz Israel evident passion, “whether through educa- to Aleppo. He went into the beit midrash and tion or the media. We are currently working asked the local scholars about a halachic on a Sephardic encyclopedia, which is a year ruling that was the subject of a dispute in or two away from completion. Part of it is Eretz Israel. They could not answer him. funded by the Israeli Ministry of Education They told him, ‘We have no answer, but and the rest by a philanthropic family. The there is a sage among us; perhaps he can project will cost a quarter of a million answer your question.’ He asked them, ‘And dollars. where is he studying?’ They told him, ‘In the “Our group has also saved hundreds of secular world,” he states assertively. “If you textile market.’ manuscripts from Iraqi archives. We’ve study the history of the Jews in Morocco or “He went to the market and found him lobbied the United States Congress, and in the Ottoman Empire or Egypt, they didn’t grappling with rolls of satin fabric. He asked Ottawa we were in contact with Prime Min- isolate themselves from the rest of society. him, ‘Is it possible you have knowledge of isters Harper and Trudeau. We’ve also They participated in it up to a point, but they such-and-such a halachah?’ The sage gave lobbied the government of Morocco and the also knew how to draw the line and maintain him the answer, then said, ‘Wait for me. I royal family. And there are other things in kedushah in their homes and communities. have a transaction to complete with this roll the works that I’m not at liberty to mention. Our greatest gedolim, from the Rambam to of fabric, and then I shall tell you the source.’ “I actually just received an email from the the Arizal, worked to earn a parnasah. On “He went to wherever he went, sold what- California-based JIMENA (Jews Indigenous the other end of the spectrum, c The best ever he sold, and returned to his shop. He to the Middle East and North Africa). The term to describe it would be ‘balanced took the scholar from Israel by the hand, organization is in the midst of discussions Judaism,’ and there is still much to learn from went with him to the beit midrash, climbed with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regard- such an approach today. I’m not saying that up, took from the bookcase a copy of Nehar ing certain cultural property agreements we are better than the Ashkenazim, but our Shalom, showed him the reference and re- with Arab lands. There’s a big movement unique lifestyle can bring a big, shining turned to his shop. The scholar said to the trying to have Jewish property excluded, brightness to the entire Jewish world.” people in the beit midrash, ‘Have you taken and I was asked to represent 12 organiza- Yehuda’s description of Sephardic culture leave of your senses? You have such a trea- tions in North America. as “balanced Judaism” reminds me of the sure in your midst, and yet you let him waste “One of the things I’m involved in is the narrative that appears in the critically ac- his time among spools of fabric?’ return of sifrei Torah, books, manuscripts claimed book Aleppo Tales by Rabbi Haim “Our teaching has always been that it is a and land. But I don’t really do it aggressively Sabato, whom I have the great privilege of fine thing whentalmud Torah is combined because I’d rather focus on what I feel are knowing personally: with secular employment, since success in more realistic goals. I’m not going to spend וזאת תורת המנחה • מנחה היא שלוחה אשריכם AS AN EXPRESSION OF HAKARAS HATOV THOUSANDS OF HOURS ישראל! were learned this Purim by avreichim in AN INTERNATIONAL RELIEF RESPONSE Eretz Yisroel as a Mishloach Manos for their partner Kehillos in Chutz La’aretz. Giving every individual the opportunity to collectively make a difference. 866.953.2735 [email protected] Ad paid for by private donors Ami411_Cover Feature.indd 77 3/25/19 10:44 PM Cover feature: Bridging the Sephardic/Ashkenazi Divide Yehuda Azoulay visiting Rav Shlomo Amar my whole life battling governments. I’ve spoken at the UN and I testified before the House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights in Ottawa about the threat posed by the Iranian regime and the historical significance of Purim. I don’t believe that it’s possible to achieve everything politically, which is why I basically do my own thing. I was told by the Safra Foundation that when you support an event, the event comes and goes, but when you support something tangible like a book or a documentary, it lasts forever. I do occasionally speak pub- licly, but that’s not my focus. “I’ve written five books under my own name, starting at the age of 20, but we’ve years. Then one day someone said to me, ‘If halachah are often different. Many of the published approximately a dozen titles in you’re raising all this money for non-profits, known differences have to do with Pesach. total, and five or six more are coming out why not do it for real estate investments?’ Sephardic Jews are permitted to eat rice, very soon. B’ezrat Hashem we’re going to “That was over four years ago, and today corn, peanuts and beans on Pesach, while have dozens and dozens of books.