What Distinguishes Sephardic Jewish Communities?

October 20, 2023 - 11:14 am

The new graphic novel, We Are Not Strangers, is a story about the relationship of a Japanese American family and a Sephardic Jewish family leading up to and after WWII. 

The book’s author, Josh Tuininga, Densho Founder, Tom Ikeda and Dr. Devin Naar, University of Washington, Associate Professor of History & Jewish Studies will speak about the parallels and relationships between these communities on Monday, October 23rd at Third Place Books.

Dr. Devin Naar speaks about the characteristic culture of the Sephardic Jewish  group, largely from Mediterranean regions in the Jewish diaspora , in comparison to the Ashkenazi Jewish groups from Central and Eastern Europe.

Producers: Lucy Braginski and Yuko Kodama

Photo: Naar standing beside fragments from the Jewish cemetery of Salonica built into the old city walls (2014) | Photo by Argilo Mitilinou