FESTIVAL SEFARAD NY

SMQN Shabbat dinner
2026-06-19 - 2026-06-20
SMQN’s Shabbat dinners are a special time for us to gather as an LGBTQ+ community and celebrate our Sephardic & Mizrahi heritage with our friends and loved ones. Join us this month as we celebrate Festival Sefarad NYC with the American Sephardi Federation and UJA-Federation of New York.
Thanks to the support of UJA-Federation of New York, OneTable, and Jewish LGBTQ Donor Network, the highly subsidized cost of the entire dinner is only $10. No need to bring anything to add to the nourishment!
The Sephardic Mizrahi Q Network (SMQN) is an innovative grassroots movement that is committed to building a vibrant, supportive and much-needed community for an often-overlooked segment of the Jewish world: LGBTQ+ Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. We invite our friends from other backgrounds to join us in elevating these multilayered Jewish identities.

Ethiopian Shabbat Dinner by Kehilat Harlem
2026-06-19 - 2026-06-20

Synagogues of Greece exhibit opening
2026-06-21 - 2026-06-22
MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE THROUGH ARCHITECTURE, TECHNOLOGY, AND STORYTELLING
Join us for the opening of an exciting new museum exhibit featuring decades of dedicated research by Elias Messinas on past and present synagogues from across Greece.
View digital reconstructions of lost synagogues and discover the evolution of Greek synagogue architectural styles from ancient times through today.
Elias Messinas is an architect and urban planner. He was the first architect to complete a comprehensive in-situ survey and documentation on Greek synagogues, backed by extensive archival research and interviews by survivors. His work has been published widely, including 10 books on his 30-year journey throughout Greece. Since 2016, he was the leading architect for the preservation of synagogues in Thessaloniki, Trikala, and Kos, and he was commissioned by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture to enrich the Archaeological Registry with more than 270 Jewish sites throughout Greece.

Calligraphy workshop
2026-06-22 - 2026-06-23
Join educator, artist, and community builder Ruben Shimonov for a voyage into the rich visual worlds of Arabic, Hebrew and Persian calligraphy—as well as the connections between the languages. Ruben will also present his own multilingual calligraphy, sharing the ways he has used his art to build interfaith bridges and celebrate the cultural diversity of the Greater Sephardi world. Participants will then have the opportunity to engage with these languages through a hands-on calligraphy workshop.
This event is part of the American Sephardi Federation’s Festival Sefarad NYC, a monthlong celebration of the Greater Sephardi world.

Faith, Freedom, and the Founding: A Symposium on Sephardic Jews in America
2026-06-23 - 2026-06-24 | Shearith Israel, 2 W 70th St, New York, NY, 10023, United States
In 1654, 23 Sephardic Jews arrived in New Amsterdam, laying the foundations of the first Jewish community in North America. From that humble beginning, American Jews have served, sacrificed, and contributed in every generation to the flourishing and defense of American liberty. As we approach the Founding’s 250th Anniversary/372nd Anniversary of Jews in America, the ASF is creating a symposium in New York on 23 June at Shearith Israel (NYC’s Spanish & Portuguese Community) to spotlight the enduring yet unheralded legacy of Jewish patriots, as well as illuminating how Judeo-Christian Covenantal teachings helped shape the vision of the Founding Fathers. We seek to honor the role of Sephardic Jews in America’s story—both their direct contributions to the Revolution and the influence of Covenantal teachings on the Constitution—as well as to explore the Judeo-Christian intellectual, moral, and cultural roots of the Republic. Our event will bring together elected officials, scholars, community leaders, and the public in a space that fosters dialogue, recognition, and renewed understanding of the principles that unite all Americans.
By recovering the stories of America’s first Jewish community and their devotion to liberty, the event will remind all Americans of how the values that forged the Republic continue to sustain it.

Sephardic Jews in America: A Walking Tour & Special Visit to The CJH
2026-06-23 11:00 - 13:30 (Asia/Karachi)
In 1654, 23 Jews escaping the newly instituted Portuguese Inquisition in Brazil, landed in New Amsterdam (New York City) and were almost immediately expelled by Peter Stuyvesant. They persevered and there has been a Jewish and notably a Sephardic presence in this country for over 370 years, or 120 before the founding of the United States.
Join us on a captivating walking tour that unveils the rich and often untold history of the Sephardic Jewish community in New York City. Some of the sites visited will include colonial era cemeteries, famous homes and religious sites – all with stories of history, heritage and culture.
The walking tour concludes with a visit to the Center for Jewish History on East 16th Street, where guests will receive an exclusive, behind-the-science tour of treasures from the American Sephardi Federation, offering a fascinating glimpse into the rich cultural legacy of the Sephardic Jews in America.
This tour is being presented as part of Festival Sefarad (https://www.festivalsefarad.com), a series of evens in June 2026 made possible by the UJA-Federation of New York and the Ike, Molly and Steven Elias Foundation.
Co-Presenter: American Sephardi Federation.

An Intimate Evening with Tony Award Winner Ari’el Stachel
2026-06-25 - 2026-06-26 | Museum of Jewish Heritage
Fresh from the Off-Broadway run of his acclaimed solo play OTHER, Tony Award winner Ari’el Stachel joins Festival Sefarad NYC for a special evening of performance and conversation.
Drawing from his experiences as the son of a Yemenite Israeli father and Ashkenazi Jewish mother, Stachel explores identity, anxiety, belonging, and the pressures of assimilation through humor, vulnerability, and a cast of unforgettable characters. Blending personal storytelling with theatrical performance, he reflects on what it means to navigate multiple worlds while embracing the full complexity of his Jewish and Middle Eastern heritage.
Don’t miss this moving, funny, and deeply human exploration of resilience, self-discovery, and the diverse tapestry of Jewish life.

A Neighborhood Within: The Sephardic Lower East Side
2026-06-28 11:00 - 13:30
From 1881 – 1924, almost 1.5 million Ashkenazi Jews escaped the oppression of the Pale of Settlement and settled on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. But did you know more than 20,000 Sephardic Jews mainly from Turkey, Syria, Greece, and the Balkans ALSO settled in the neighborhood? A 1936 Columbia University study described the area “around Rivington and Allen Streets in New York City’s Lower East Side” as “the most vibrant Sephardic hub in the nation.”
These Turkino or “Oriental” Jews worshipped in their own Synagogues, smoked hookahs in their own cafes, and formed relief and settlement organizations – completely separate from the unwelcoming Ashkenazim.
Join Brad for this “very different” Lower East Side walking tour from Grand St. to Houston St. and Allen St. to Chrystie St. as he points out the important landmarks in the area which the Sephardim made their own.
Some of the things you will see and hear about:

The major Sephardic Synagogues

The clubs steeped in their tradition and culture

The places where many of them worked

The hardships they faced from being “different”

The leaders of the neighborhood who instilled personal pride

An active “Sephardic” Synagogue that really isn’t Sephardic

This tour is being presented as part of Festival Sefarad (https://www.festivalsefarad.com), a series of events in June 2026 made possible by the UJA-Federation of New York and Ike, Molly, and Steven Elias Foundation.
Co-Presenter: American Sephardi Federation
