From: emc@doe.carleton.ca (Eli Chiprout)
Subject: 500 years of Jewish/gentile harmony (part II)
Keywords: Turkey, Sephardic
Organization: Dept. of Electronics, Carleton University
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 15:45:53 GMT

   
	THE QUINCENTENNIAL FOUNDATION OF ISTANBUL

The Quincentennial Foundation of Istanbul, established in
1989 by a group of Turkish Citizens, Jews and Moslems alike,
celebrates 500 years of of peaceful and harmonious life in
Turkish lands for Jews expelled from Spain in 1492.  

The Foundation, based in New York, has a lot of educational
material, videos, etc. that it can make available to any
school or organization interested.  It can also make available
this exhibition of photographs as a miniminal cost to your
group (approx. $650 plus Mr. Shipping and Mr. Handling :-)

All this year it has been organizing various activities 
throughout North America as well as sponsoring the reconstruction
of the Ahrida Synagogue in Istanbul at a cost of $1 million,
an international conference attended by over 50 scholars
on "Turkish Jews: 500 years of shared history", a Judeo-Spanish
Music Festival in Istanbul, a Gala attended by 1,100 dignataries
including the Prime Minister in Turkey, Jewish Heritage tours
to Turkey for organizations such as United Jewish Appeal, 
American Jewish Congress, B'nai B'rith, American and World Sephardi
Federations and Los Angeles Sephardic Home for the Againg.
They are also sponsoring the repair of the Ankara Synagogue,
the Zulfaris Synagogue in Istanbul, and constuction of new
buildings for Istanbul's Jewish schools.

The are minting gold and silver commemorative medallions, 
established a Forest of Thanksgiving and Tolerance as an eduring
symbol of 500 years of harmonious life for Sephardic Jews in
Turkey, and building a Monument of Honor by sculptor Yavuz Gorey

There is a 13 lesson Curriculum that is also available on
the story of the Sephardic Jews of Turkey made in consultation
with Dr. Avima Lombard, senior Research and Development staff
member at the NCJW Research Institute for Innovation in
Education and Proffesor at the School of Education of the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

I will give the Curriculum outline in part II.

Unit 1. The legacy of Spanish Jewry
	a. The historical context and causes of the Expulsion,
 	and places the Jews went;
	b. Their culture, knowledge and skills
Unit 2.	The Ottoman Relationship and Policies toward the Jews
	a.  Islam's view of the Jews
	b.  The Political Status of Jews and Chrisitians
	c.  The Socio-Cultural setting.
Unit 3.	The Role of the Jews in the Ottoman Turkish Economic and
	Political Life in the 16th and 17th centuries.
	a. Jewish contributions to Ottoman prosperity in the late
	15th and 16th centuries, and the factors which engendered it.
	b. Key Jewish figures of the period: Don Joseph Nasi, Moshe
	Hamon, Esther Kyra Handeli and others.
Unit 4. Major Dimensions of Turkish-Jewish Culture in the 16th and
	17th centuries.
	a. Jewish social life, self-helf and interdependance.
	   Kehilla and Kahal (includes a problem solving game)
	b. Religious creativity in the 16th and 17th centuries
   	   Biblical commentary - Rashi, the REM
	   Jewish Law Codes - Shulchan Aruch, Rav Josepoh Caro;
	   Jewish Responsa- Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrahi
        c. Messianic Ferver and the Land of Israel
  	   The role of belief in the coming of the Messiah.
           Shabetai Zvi and his followers.
Unit 5. Jewish Folk Culture and Creativity:  Art Forms
        a. Turkish Jewish Music:  Religious and folk songs in Hebrew
 	   and Ladino. (with tapes and translation)
	b. Jewish Art in Turkey:  Mastery of textile arts and interchange
	   of motifs between Jews and Moslems.
Unit 6. Modernization and Nationalism in Turkey in the 19th and 20th
	centuries:  The impact on Jews and Jewish life in Turkey
	a.  Overview of 17th-19th centuries: rise of foreign, secular
	    philanthropic schools; increase in nationalism in the
	    empire; blood libels and the government's response.
	b.  Emergence of modern Turkey, Migration of Jews to Israel.


Information can be obtained at the Quincentennial Foundation of Istanbul
New York (212)546-1548 or contact myself for photocopies of information
brochures.

--
Eli Chiprout                  " 'Al ta'am vereach, ein lehitvakeah!"
Dept. of Electronics, 
Carleton University, Canada
emc@doe.carleton.ca                                     
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish