The Sephardic Atlantic: Mendes I. Cohen and the Story of Early American Jewry

The Sephardic Atlantic: Mendes I. Cohen and the Story of Early American Jewry

Date

Jan 18 2015
, 12PM- 1:30PM

 

Speaker Dr. Ronnie Perelis, Yeshiva University

 

Sunday, January 18th at 12 p.m.

 

Included with Museum Admission

 
Before there were thriving Jewish communities in cities such as Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Charleston and Savannah, most Jews in the Americas lived in the Caribbean. They were part of a dynamic Sephardic network of trade and culture which connected major metropolitan centers such as Amsterdam and London to colonial ports such as Curacao and Kingston. The first American Jews were connected through their Atlantic connections. We will explore how early American Jews such as Mendes I. Cohen were a part of this global Jewish community.

 

 

Ronnie Perelis is the Chief Rabbi Dr. Isaac Abraham and Jelena (Rachel) Alcalay Chair and Assistant Professor of Sephardic Studies at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies of Yeshiva University. His research explores the connections between Iberian and Jewish culture during the medieval and early modern periods.

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