YAD MIZRAH ISSUE NO. 3:
RESIST!
Exploring the resistance and courage that have defined Sephardic and Mizrahi communities across the Middle East and North Africa.
The word resistance is a word whose meaning, especially in the last year, has been deeply twisted and corrupted.
Yet Mizrahi and Sephardic Jewry hold their own rich yet often overlooked legacy of resistance, from defying islamic colonization to preserving tradition in the face of persecution, exile, and discrimination.
Yad Mizrah invites you to explore and celebrate the powerful physical, spiritual, and cultural resistance that have defined Mizrahi and Sephardic communities across the Middle East and North Africa throughout history.
Issue 3 is filled with essays, poetry, book reviews, and visual art that we believe illuminate and honor the unyielding resilience of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewry— from the bravery of Soleika to Doña Gracia, to the fight for survival during Islamic colonization, to Greek Jewish resistance during the Shoah, to artwork that memorializes Jewish struggle and triumph, and more. While our collection here is only a drop in the bucket, we believe its deeply significant in fully understanding Jewish history, identity, and survival.
It is no coincidence either, that Issue 3 emerges on the eighth night of Hannukah. As Hannukah’s story inspires and reminds Jews everywhere of our people’s miracles and resilience, so too do we hope that these visual and literary testimonies to Sephardic and Mizrahi resistance inspire and strengthen. Hag sameach, and may our resilience continue our inheritance!
— The Editors
featured essays:
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Safiyyah's Story: Reclaiming jewish Women's survival during islamic colonization
By Maia Zelkha, Founding Editor.
Safiyyah bint Huyayy, a revered figured in Islam, endured profound tragedy as a survivor of the Khaybar Massacre, which saw the slaughter of her family and Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir. While Islamic scholarship celebrates her as a devoted wife of Mohammad, it often whitewashes her enslavement, forced conversion, and both her loss and resilience in her identity as a Jewish woman.
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Soleika ha' Tzaddikah, the martyr
By Einav Grushka.
Sol Hachuel (Suleika), a Moroccan Jewish teenager executed in 1834 for allegedly converting to Islam and reverting to Judaism, is an icon in Sephardic memory for her resistance against religious persecution and patriarchal authority. Refusing forced conversion, her martyrdom exemplifies Jewish resistance, feminist autonomy, and cultural defiance. Her story remains deeply embedded in Jewish consciousness as a symbol of faith and resistance.
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The Defiance of Doña Gracia
By Aurele Tobelem.
Doña Gracia Mendes Nasi, born into a converso family during the Inquisition, became a symbol of Sephardic resistance. After fleeing Portugal, she established a powerful network to save Jewish refugees, managing immense wealth and influencing European and Ottoman politics. Her dedication to preserving Jewish identity and life, often at a great personal risk, left a lasting legacy, though her story remains largely forgotten in mainstream Jewish history.
“Pin garlic wrapped in foil to your baby’s cot / Put salt in your son’s pockets / Pin to the swaddling
blanket an amulet of gall nuts / enveloped with gold strands shaped like breasts
linked to a small gold hand hanging in between a hamsa / with a blue sky stone.
Hamsa, Hamsa, Hamsa
This is how you survive.“
[Exerpt from “Ayouni” by Sarah Sassoon]
The Maccabee by Eliyahu Harkham
Oil on canvas, 2024.
My Family’s carpet
By The Surreal McCoy [Carol Isaacs]
My Family’s Carpet is inspired by the war rug tradition of Afghanistan. This tradition originates from when rug makers began to use images from the years of Soviet occupation during the late 1970s, and later the American invasion, in their designs. Tanks and machine guns fill their carpets in response to the military, political, and social conflicts. Incongruous images depicted in rich colors, expertly woven.
In My Family’s Carpet, amongst the amulets, religious paraphernalia, musical instruments, and Iraqi sweetmeats, Carol Isaacs also pictures guns and hand grenades. Isaacs writes, “This is to remember the time after the 1941 Farhud when Iraq’s Jews decided they could never allow that to happen to them again; some of my family learned to use guns as young teenagers. The centerpiece of the carpet is a map of Baghdad with the Tigris river running through it. This is my own family’s war rug.”
Literary analysis: the novel “sara’s homeland”, and the duality of kurdish -jewish identity
By Peshraw Mohammed.
“Sara’s Homeland” by Miran Abraham is a Kurdish-language novel exploring the history and struggles of the Kurdish-Jewish community in Iraq. Through themes of persecution, identity, and solidarity, it delves into the complexities of Jewish and Kurdish identities, highlighting the intertwined histories of oppression and resistance.
prose: “shema israel”, my people are listening
By Sadie Benjamin.
Jewish resilience is reflected in the diverse ways the Shema is chanted—each version a testament to faith, history, and connection. Whether whispered softly, sung passionately, or held with deep care, these expressions embody the enduring strength and continuity of Jewish identity across generations. Read Sadie’s prose here:
Forgotten fighters: salonikan greek jewish resistance in auschwitz, warsaw, and beyond
By Yitzchak Kerem.
Salonikan Jews played a crucial role in key resistance movements during the Holocaust, including the Sonderkommando revolts at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Warsaw Uprising, and Operation Torch in Algeria. Despite overwhelming odds and near-certain death, they displayed incredible bravery, fighting fiercely against oppression and Nazi genocide.
Sephardic heroines and the spirit of yehudit
By Dyusa Chapiro, Contributing Editor.
Hannukah’s icon of Yehudit serves as the original face of Jewish women’s resistance, embodying unwavering faith and courage. Her spirit continues to resonate through figures like Dona Gracia, Soleika, and other Sephardic heroines, whose actions reflect the timeless legacy of resilience and determination that she first inspired.
"‘The Continuation’ is a deeply personal self-portrait. In this work, I stand nine months pregnant with my fourth child, embodying strength and pride while reflecting on the generations of women who came before me and the life growing within me. The composition weaves together my Jewish, Egyptian, and Syrian experiences, drawing on the spiral of time and the power of tradition as we move forward.
I wear a garment I created, hand-drawing 1,200 Jewish stars in memory of the victims brutally murdered on October 7. This garment is a testament to strength, resilience, and the enduring spirit of our people and our nation. ‘The Continuation’ honors both the past and the future, celebrating the power of life and tradition as we carry forward our legacy.”
double-edged moroccan knife
Variation on John Murillo
By Or Mor-Yosef
Not brick in hand. Not olive green. Not red barrette. Not icy steel. Not metal slung across your back. Not axe to sever fruit. Names once taken will not be given back with whips but with words. Set arms aside. Bullets to ammo box. Knives to sheath. We had our Panthers. But we cannot war with fellow countrymen. Poems are teeth enough.