MANNY SAKS INTRODUCING THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Manny Saks stated that Mr. Alfassa is an international advocate for Sephardic Jewry. He is the founder and former Executive Director of the International Sephardic Leadership Council and the editor of the award winning International Sephardic Journal. Mr. Alfassa served as former Director of Research and Development for Sephardic House at the Center for Jewish History and as a consultant to the American Sephardic Federation. For four years he served as a vice-president of the New York based Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture and was a staff consultant for the Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem. He currently is the Director of the U.S. International Rights and Redress Campaign seeking Justice, Rights and Redress for Jews from Arab countries.
Holding both Israeli and U.S. citizenship he has served as a consultant to Yeshiva Hatefutsoth and Midrash Sefaradi (the Shehebar Sephardic Center Yeshiva) in Jerusalem. Mr. Alfassa is the author of Ethnic Sephardic Jews in the Medical Literature.. His articles have appeared in media such as The Jewish Press, Israel National News, Sephardic Image Magazine. Moment Magazine, and several other publications. Mr. Alfassa's family is from the Island of Rhodes and Ottoman Adrianople (Edirne), Turkey.
BeM'kom she'ayn ish, tishtadel lihyot ish. In a place where there are not any leaders, strive to be one. Pirkei Avot 2:6