12 August 2004

International Society for Sephardic Progress welcomes Dr. Jane Gerber to the Academic Council of the International Sephardic Journal.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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The International Society for Sephardic Progress (ISFSP) welcomes Dr. Jane Gerber, Director of the Institute for Sephardic Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center to the Academic Council of the International Sephardic Journal (ISJ). The ISJ is a referred publication, produced from within the Sephardic community, the official publication of the ISFSP.

Dr. Gerber is a prominent scholar in Judaic Studies and is the Director of the Institute for Sephardic Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center. She has received numerous awards including National Jewish Book Award in Sephardic Studies. Prof. Gerber was visiting professor at Harvard, Yale, Columbia and the Hebrew University. She has published many books and articles in the area of Sephardim and European Judaism. Among her works: The Jews of Spain (1992), Jewish Society in Fez: 1450-1700 (1980). She also edited Sephardic Studies in the University (1994). Some of her articles include: “Jewish Studies in the Public University,” Association for Jewish Studies Newsletter (1997), “The Sephardic Experience and 1492,” Humanities (1992), and “April Memories of Soviet Jewry,” The New York Times (1979).

Shelomo Alfassa, Executive Director of the ISFSP feels the inclusion of Dr. Jane Gerber on the Academic Council, "is an auspicious addition to the Journal." "We are proud to have Dr. Gerber working with us, her research on the subject of Sephardic Jewry is admirable," he declared. Dr. Gerber stated that the International Sephardic Journal is, "a welcome addition to Sephardic Studies and long overdue."

As the only publication of its kind, the International Sephardic Journal strives to promote the study of Sephardic Jewish history while at the same promoting topics of interest from contemporary Sephardic life.

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The International Society for Sephardic Progress (ISFSP) is a Jewish agency developed to serve the Sephardic community--the descendants of the Jews of historic Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Levant who share both common religious and cultural bonds. Although based in the United States, the ISFSP is an advocacy organization representing Sephardim internationally. The ISFSP also functions to produce high quality Jewish educational projects which will educate the public on the rich Sephardic Jewish communities, past and present.

The ISFSP is a a non-profit organization.