Sephardic History, Articles, and Lectures

The History

Last Century of a Sephardic Community: The Jews of Monastir, 1839-1943, is an original history based on new research into archives in Europe, North America, and Israel. Excerpts have appeared in scholarly journals (see below). The book tells the story of the Spanish-speaking Sephardim of Monastir (today's Bitola, Macedonia) during its last century, when tradition gave way to innovation. The volume includes 80 rare illustrations, new translations of Sephardic folktales and songs, and the names of every Monastir Jew killed in the Holocaust. The Forward called it "an important addition to the study of Sephardic Jews." See more reviews.

Talks

Cohen's Sephardic talks address universal and timely themes: How shrewd women get a fair shake in a man's world, the cultural disconnects between east and west, and figuring out where you fit into history.

Please take a look at a list of his appearances and some words of praise.

Long Live the King: Women in Power in Sephardic Folktales. From Ulysses to James Bond, we love a hero with a trick up his sleeve. Nearly always, it is a role reserved for men. But in these three Sephardic tales, it is the women who get to do the lying, the spying, and the double-crossing.

How the West Won: Teaching French to Spanish Jews. Fights about Jewish education are fights about the Jewish future, and those fights can be ruthless. In 1863, Western reformers met Sephardic traditionalists for a showdown in the Ottoman Balkans.

What Can We Learn From this Story? A Personal History Lesson. Cohen's research into his Sephardic past led him to the source of some unfortunate personal traits, and taught him that the burdens of history are sometimes offset by its consolations.

Tourist town. In the mid-19th century, Monastir was a favorite destination for a new type of traveler: the tourist. Cohen found their glowing accounts and published his research in the peer-reviewed Turkish Studies Association Bulletin (Fall, 2000).

First photos. In his search for original photographs of Monastir, Cohen discovered 1863 photographs that were the very first taken in the region. His research appeared in History of Photography (Summer, 2003).

Fire! Cohen's account of Monastir's 1863 fire was the first to show how it wrought social changes in the Sephardic community. His article appeared in Oxford University's Journal of Jewish Studies (Spring, 2004).

How the West Won. This article is an excerpt of a talk Cohen delivered at New York's Center for Jewish History. It outlined the rise of Western education among the Ottoman Sephardim.

Memorial. (Bitola Memorial Book) Monastir's Sephardic Jews were killed in the Holocaust. The existence of the community's memorial book was in doubt until Cohen found it in Israel. It was published, with Cohen's introduction, by the National Yiddish Book Center's Yizkor Book Project.

Tower of Sephardic Faces. Thousands of photographs of the Monastir Jews were collected or taken prior to their deportation during the Holocaust. An exhibit of these photographs, with text by Cohen, is posted on the web site of the United States Holocaust Museum.