Community Magazine January 2017

KELLY JEMAL MASSRY As a community, we so value the Sephardic Heritage Museum because of its role in preserving our history. But what many of us neglect to realize is that the museum, pioneered by Mr. Joe Sitt and Rabbi Raymond Sultan, is urgently trying to preserve our present as well. Recently, Cabinet Minister and Knesset Member Zev Elkin visited from Israel and expressed his appreciation to the staff of the Sephardic Heritage Museum for the life-saving work they are doing on behalf of Syrian and Yemenite Jews. Not only have they helped two Jewish families leave Aleppo, they’ve also aided Jews amidst the turmoil in Yemen. A February 2015 New York Times article entitled Persecution Defines Life for Yemen’s Remaining Jews details just how unfortunate the situation in Yemen has become. “The last of Yemen’s once numerous Jews…have seldom been so threatened and had so few protectors,” the article states. The threat comes from the Houthi militants who rule the territory where these few Yemenite Jews live. Driven by hatred, these rebels do not hesitate to employ Holocaust-era language like “dirty Jew” or see us as sub-human. Their influence is particularly strong in the cities of Raida and Sana’a, the latter of which is Yemen’s capital. Jews live under house arrest there and are routinely jailed, kidnapped or worse. The government of Yemen is no match for these terrorists and all hope seemed lost – until the Sephardic Heritage Museum’s personnel got involved. “When we heard about what was going on, we made efforts to get these Jewish families out,” says Rabbi Raymond Sultan. “It was not easy. The airports were being bombed and there was no access – but be’ezrat Hashem we were successful.” Ultimately, the men of the Sephardic Heritage Museum managed to safely and clandestinely get 32 Jews out of Yemen. Working with the Satmar community and both the American and Israeli governments, they brought some Jews to the United States and some Jews to Israel to begin again. The museum also proved to be of tremendous help in preserving the Jewish cemetery of Gallipoli, Turkey. Just when the cemetery was on the brink of destruction, Rabbi Sultan of the Sephardic Heritage Museum intervened. He met with Turkish emissaries and got guarantees that the graves would not be overrun and decimated. The Sephardic Heritage Museum: Saving Lives, Preserving Souls (R-L) Cabinet Minister and Knesset Member Zev Elkin and Israel Council General to NY, Danny Dayan. Joe Sitt presenting Zev Elkin with a plaque thanking him for the assistance he provided with Sachnut, an immigration organization in Israel. 26 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE