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Contributors

CURRENT ISSUE

  • David Suissa is the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. For the past 17 years, he has been writing a popular weekly column that covers the Jewish world, Israel, spirituality, and life in general. Born in Morocco, he grew up in Montreal and graduated from McGill University. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s and now lives in a Jewish area of the city that reminds him a little of his old neighborhood in Casablanca.
  • David Suissa is the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. For the past 17 years, he has been writing a popular weekly column that covers the Jewish world, Israel, spirituality, and life in general. Born in Morocco, he grew up in Montreal and graduated from McGill University. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s and now lives in a Jewish area of the city that reminds him a little of his old neighborhood in Casablanca.
  • Sergio DellaPergola is professor emeritus and former chairman of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Avraham Harman Research Institute of Contemporary Jewry. A specialist on the demography of world Jewry, he has authored and edited numerous books and monographs, including the annual World Jewish Population chapter in the American Jewish Year Book since 1982. He is the recipient of the Marshall Sklare Award from the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry (1999), and the Michael Landau Prize for Demography and Migration (2013). He has advised the State of Israel’s president and many other major Israeli and international organizations, and lectured at over 100 universities in six continents. Born in Italy, he has lived in Israel since 1966.
  • Sergio DellaPergola is professor emeritus and former chairman of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Avraham Harman Research Institute of Contemporary Jewry. A specialist on the demography of world Jewry, he has authored and edited numerous books and monographs, including the annual World Jewish Population chapter in the American Jewish Year Book since 1982. He is the recipient of the Marshall Sklare Award from the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry (1999), and the Michael Landau Prize for Demography and Migration (2013). He has advised the State of Israel’s president and many other major Israeli and international organizations, and lectured at over 100 universities in six continents. Born in Italy, he has lived in Israel since 1966.
  • Ophir Toubul is a social activist, journalist, writer, speaker, and thought leader of the Mesorti-Mizrahi movement. He is the author of the book, Kol ha-Tor: Sephardic Masorti Zionism.
  • Ophir Toubul is a social activist, journalist, writer, speaker, and thought leader of the Mesorti-Mizrahi movement. He is the author of the book, Kol ha-Tor: Sephardic Masorti Zionism.
  • Gila Green is an author, editor, EFL (English as a Foreign Language) lecturer, and mother of five children. Her novels often feature characters with Yemenite and Sephardic backgrounds as she strives to broaden the scope of Jewish literature. Her fifth novel, With A Good Eye, is forthcoming with AOS Publishing Montreal (2024).
  • Gila Green is an author, editor, EFL (English as a Foreign Language) lecturer, and mother of five children. Her novels often feature characters with Yemenite and Sephardic backgrounds as she strives to broaden the scope of Jewish literature. Her fifth novel, With A Good Eye, is forthcoming with AOS Publishing Montreal (2024).
  • Cindy Seni was born in France and raised in Canada. She founded her high school’s Jewish Student Union and established the Hillel at Glendon College, York University. Having worked for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israel Defense Forces as a video editor and writer, she now freelances as an independent content creator. She works with Brothers For Life, an organization dedicated to injured soldiers helping other injured soldiers. She recently participated in the Netflix series, “Jewish Matchmaking.” She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a specialization in trauma, and graduated with honors.
  • Cindy Seni was born in France and raised in Canada. She founded her high school’s Jewish Student Union and established the Hillel at Glendon College, York University. Having worked for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israel Defense Forces as a video editor and writer, she now freelances as an independent content creator. She works with Brothers For Life, an organization dedicated to injured soldiers helping other injured soldiers. She recently participated in the Netflix series, “Jewish Matchmaking.” She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a specialization in trauma, and graduated with honors.
  • Sarah Sassoon is an Australia-born, Iraqi-Jewish writer, poet and educator who lives in Jerusalem. Her award-winning debut picture book, Shoham’s Bangle, was named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book. This is Why We Don’t Look Back, a collection of 10 of her poems, was awarded first place in the Harbor Review Jewish Women’s Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and publications. Her forthcoming picture book, This is Not a Cholent, is set for publication in 2024. She is an editorial advisor for Distinctions: A Sephardi and Mizrahi Journal. www.sarahsassoon.com
  • Sarah Sassoon is an Australia-born, Iraqi-Jewish writer, poet and educator who lives in Jerusalem. Her award-winning debut picture book, Shoham’s Bangle, was named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book. This is Why We Don’t Look Back, a collection of 10 of her poems, was awarded first place in the Harbor Review Jewish Women’s Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and publications. Her forthcoming picture book, This is Not a Cholent, is set for publication in 2024. She is an editorial advisor for Distinctions: A Sephardi and Mizrahi Journal. www.sarahsassoon.com

past ISSUEs

  • Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt is the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism under the U.S. Department of State. She has a storied career as a historian, academic, and author. She helped found the Tam Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University in Atlanta. She has taught at Emory, the University of Washington, UCLA, and Occidental College. She gained international notoriety after prevailing at trial against a leading Holocaust denier who sued her for libel. The case was depicted in the film Denial, which was based on her book, History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier.
  • Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt is the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism under the U.S. Department of State. She has a storied career as a historian, academic, and author. She helped found the Tam Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University in Atlanta. She has taught at Emory, the University of Washington, UCLA, and Occidental College. She gained international notoriety after prevailing at trial against a leading Holocaust denier who sued her for libel. The case was depicted in the film Denial, which was based on her book, History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier.
  • Sharon S. Nazarian, PhD, is president of the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation. She is the founder and board chair of the UCLA Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and is an adjunct professor of political science. She serves on the national board of directors of the Anti-Defamation League, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a trustee of Freedom House. A mother of three, she resides in Los Angeles with her husband.
  • Sharon S. Nazarian, PhD, is president of the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation. She is the founder and board chair of the UCLA Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and is an adjunct professor of political science. She serves on the national board of directors of the Anti-Defamation League, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a trustee of Freedom House. A mother of three, she resides in Los Angeles with her husband.
  • Tabby Refael is an award-winning weekly columnist for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles and has contributed to Newsweek, Los Angeles Magazine, Moment Magazine and other publications. She was first introduced to JIMENA as a student activist at UC San Diego, and has spoken on behalf of JIMENA for over a decade.
  • Tabby Refael is an award-winning weekly columnist for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles and has contributed to Newsweek, Los Angeles Magazine, Moment Magazine and other publications. She was first introduced to JIMENA as a student activist at UC San Diego, and has spoken on behalf of JIMENA for over a decade.
  • Rena Nasar First is the executive director of campus affairs at StandWithUs, where she directs the organization's campus outreach activities and leadership programs on an international scale. As a proud Syrian Jew, she represents her community wherever she goes. She resides in New York with her husband, Jason.
  • Rena Nasar First is the executive director of campus affairs at StandWithUs, where she directs the organization's campus outreach activities and leadership programs on an international scale. As a proud Syrian Jew, she represents her community wherever she goes. She resides in New York with her husband, Jason.
  • Regina Sassoon Friedland became regional director of American Jewish Committee Seattle in 2017. She regularly engages with elected officials and foreign diplomats on areas of interest to the Jewish and general communities, and with multi-faith and intergroup representatives toward advancing matters of shared concern. She is a member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s Washington Advisory Committee, the University of Washington’s Stroum Center for Jewish Studies Advisory Board, the Sephardic Study Advisory Committee of JIMENA, and the Sephardic Leadership Institute’s Women’s Leadership Committee.
  • Regina Sassoon Friedland became regional director of American Jewish Committee Seattle in 2017. She regularly engages with elected officials and foreign diplomats on areas of interest to the Jewish and general communities, and with multi-faith and intergroup representatives toward advancing matters of shared concern. She is a member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s Washington Advisory Committee, the University of Washington’s Stroum Center for Jewish Studies Advisory Board, the Sephardic Study Advisory Committee of JIMENA, and the Sephardic Leadership Institute’s Women’s Leadership Committee.
  • Irit Dallal Zalayet is the daughter of abstract painter Nessim Zalayet, who was born in Baghdad in 1923 and fled to Israel in 1951. She honors and extends her father’s artistic legacy by operating ZalayetArt, a gallery that opened in 2017 in the Tel Aviv home where Nessim Zalayet once lived. The gallery regularly features exhibitions of his work, as well as those of guest artists. This article has been translated from the author’s primary language of Hebrew.
  • Irit Dallal Zalayet is the daughter of abstract painter Nessim Zalayet, who was born in Baghdad in 1923 and fled to Israel in 1951. She honors and extends her father’s artistic legacy by operating ZalayetArt, a gallery that opened in 2017 in the Tel Aviv home where Nessim Zalayet once lived. The gallery regularly features exhibitions of his work, as well as those of guest artists. This article has been translated from the author’s primary language of Hebrew.
  • Rachel Benaim-Abudarham is an award-winning journalist, activist, and Ph.D. candidate studying interreligious cooperation in Morocco. She currently teaches Judaic Studies in South Florida, where she lives with her husband and two bonus-kids.
  • Rachel Benaim-Abudarham is an award-winning journalist, activist, and Ph.D. candidate studying interreligious cooperation in Morocco. She currently teaches Judaic Studies in South Florida, where she lives with her husband and two bonus-kids.

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