Jewish Multiracial Network » Abayudaya http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org Because Jews come in all colors! Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:27:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Columbus of Hidden Jews http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/2011/01/columbus-of-hidden-jews/ http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/2011/01/columbus-of-hidden-jews/#comments Wed, 26 Jan 2011 03:47:37 +0000 jmnetmoderator http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/?p=336 He wanders Amazon jungles, travels to Chinese villages, searches Spain for Marranos, and sees India’s Bnei Menashe as his life's mission. Michael Freund has an obsession: Discovering remote Jews.

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Itamar Eichner

Israel Jewish Scene
It happened six years ago. Michael Freund decided to go on a South American adventure. Armed with high motivation, he entered a small canoe and went off into the Amazon River of Peru, quickly finding himself among wild jungles filled with trees and animals resembling those which appear in children’s nightmares.

Suddenly, he noticed a group of Native Americans in a canoe approaching him. He waved to them. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed something strange – the names of their boats were typical Moroccan Jewish names: Ben-Zaken, Levi, Ben-Shushan.

Freund, the Christopher Columbus of Jews, smiled with satisfaction. Right then and there he knew his journey was a successful one: Another lost Jewish tribe had been found.

Read the full story here.
]]> http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/2011/01/columbus-of-hidden-jews/feed/ 0 ‘Delicious Peace’ Documentary Screening in NYC http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/2010/05/delicious-peace-documentary-screening-in-nyc/ http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/2010/05/delicious-peace-documentary-screening-in-nyc/#comments Tue, 25 May 2010 18:49:45 +0000 tzaadi http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/?p=123 From June 4th through June 10th, the “Delicious Peace” documentary will be screened at IFC Center theater on 6th Ave and 3rd Street in Manhattan. Show times have not been set — but save the dates. And tell your friends! [+]

]]> From June 4th through June 10th, the “Delicious Peace” documentary will be screened at IFC Center theater on 6th Ave and 3rd Street in Manhattan. Show times have not been set — but save the dates. And tell your friends!

If you’re unfamiliar with Delicious Peace, it’s the story of the Mirembe Kawomera (translated as “delicious peace”) coffee cooperative in Mbale, Uganda comprised of interfaith farming families of Christians, Muslims and Jews. These families set aside their religious and cultural differences to pool and sell their coffee crop to an artisan roaster in the United States.

Since its founding in 2004, the cooperative has been a success. It has increased yields and, by selling on the fair trade model, is realizing higher profits. The co-op now reinvests profits in land and equipment, diversifies to include vanilla beans, and offers microfinancing to members. It also contributes a fixed percentage of every sale to community public health and education projects.

This new economic prosperity is only part of their success. From the beginning, they realized that theirs is a unique story. Their current, elected leadership represents each religious group within their community. The co-op president is an Abayudaya Jew, the vice-president, a Christian and the treasurer, a Muslim. They are all African and, in doing something together that none of them could have done alone, they have built a successful business.

Indeed, a fair-trade, sustainable, African cooperative with interfaith members should be an inspiration to all of us. For more information of the coffee cooperative, please visit the Mirembe Kawomera website.

]]> http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/2010/05/delicious-peace-documentary-screening-in-nyc/feed/ 0 Regina Carter: Translating African Folk To The Jazz Violin http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/2010/05/regina-carter-translating-african-folk-to-the-jazz-violin/ http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/2010/05/regina-carter-translating-african-folk-to-the-jazz-violin/#comments Thu, 20 May 2010 02:15:22 +0000 jmnetmoderator http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/?p=115 Regina Carter, the jazz violinist and onetime MacArthur Fellow, stopped by NPR headquarters recently to perform and discuss material from her new album, Reverse Thread. The sampling of African music includes a song originated by the Jews of Uganda.

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Regina Carter

Regina Carter says she’s drawn to the dark, lower-pitched registers of the violin.
May 21, 2010, National Public Radio
Photo by Rahav Segev

Regina Carter, the jazz violinist and onetime MacArthur Fellow, stopped by NPR headquarters recently to perform and discuss material from her new album, Reverse Thread. The record marks a new direction for Carter, who used it as a vehicle for interpretations of African folk songs, both traditional and contemporary.

“For many years, I’ve wanted to do a ‘world music’ record, if you will,” Carter says. “And my journey, when I started this project, was extremely broad. And then it was narrowed down to certain music from different parts of Africa. So I’m just skimming the surface, but it’s our Western and contemporary arrangements on pieces — some very old folk melodies that I found to be very beautiful, and that would work with this instrumentation.”

Carter spoke with host Robert Siegel about the new album and her approach to jazz violin. And, with Will Holshouser on accordion and Yacouba Sissoko on kora, she played stripped-down versions of three songs from Reverse Thread.

Listen to the interview and Carter’s music here.

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