Moïse Rahmani

Moïse Rahmani (29 August 1944 – 18 September 2016) was a Belgian Sephardic author, editor, and publisher of Los Muestros (Ladino-French-English language) magazine.[2][3][4][5][6]

Moïse Rahmani
Born(1944-08-29)29 August 1944
Cairo
Died19 September 2016(2016-09-19) (aged 72)
Brussels
Resting placeCimetière de Wezembeek-Oppem
NationalityBelgian
Occupation(s)author, editor, publisher
OrganizationInstitut Sepharade Europeen
Known forLos Muestros magazine[1]
Websitemoise.sefarad.org

Biography

Rahmani was born in Cairo, Egypt into a Jewish family. His Jewish paternal grandmother was from Rhodes. He grew up in the Heliopolis district.[6]

In 1956, at the age of 12, he and his family left for the then Belgian Congo, where a Greek-Sephardic Jewish community already existed. His family emigrated during the Congo Crisis of 1960–1966.[4][7]

A resident of Belgium since 1980, Rahmani worked as a diamond dealer.[4]

In 1990, he founded the Institut Sefarade European and launched the quarterly review Los Muestros (“Our Kin”), which published news of Sephardic communities around the world. The review published in three languages–French, English, and Ladino–as testified by its three-language subtitle: "La voix des Séphardes," "The Sephardic Voice," and "La boz de los Sefardim."[1][3][4][7][8]

Los Muestros ceased publication in 2015 due to a combinations of Rahmani's fatigue, declining health, and finances.[7]

Death

Rahmani died on 18 September 2016 in Brussels after a long illness.[3][4][5][6]

His funeral was held at the Cimetière de Wezembeek-Oppem on 22 September 2016.[5]

Works

Rahmani researched and wrote numerous publications on the Jewish community of the Belgian Congo. (Many Jewish families left their ancestral homes of Rhodes in the early 20th century and immigrated to various part of the world, including the Belgian Congo.[9][10][11][12][13])

He wrote in three languages.[7] He published the following books (in French):[3]

  • Rhodes, un pan de notre mémoire (2000): homage to the birthplace of his paternal grandmother on the Aegean Island of Rhodes
  • Shalom Bwana, la saga des Juifs du Congo (2002)
  • Les Juifs du soleil, portraits de Sépharades de Belgique (2002)
  • L’Exode oublié, Juifs des pays arabes (2003)
  • La Réponse de Noa (2003)
  • Lettre à un frère (2007)
  • Juifs du Congo La Confiance et l’Espoir (2007)
  • Tu choisiras le rire (2008)
  • 14 ans, 4 mois, 6 jours (2009)
  • Juifs en terre d’Islam, une minorité opprimée (2009)
  • Une pierre pour l’éternité (2010)
  • Rodi, una parte della nostra memoria (2012)

Legacy

In 2014, King Felipe VI of Spain sent personal wishes for the 25th anniversary of Los Muestros.[7]

In 2015, Rahmani said of his own concept of Convivencia, "In my ideal community, I would no longer be amazed if the head of the Hebrew State visits an Arab country, nor if one of his counterparts visits Israel."[7]

In September 2016, the Centre Communautaire Laïc Juif David Susskind remembered Rahman as a "pillar of the Sephardic community in Brussels, the Jews of Rhodes and memory of Congo" ("Pilier de la communauté sépharade de Bruxelles, mémoire des Juifs de Rhodes et du Congo").[4]

See also

References
  1. "Los Muestros". Institut Sefarade Europeen. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  2. JUIFS ET CHRETIENS EN TERRE D'ISLAM (de Jean A. Neyroud www.sefarad.org/?p=1560 "22 mai 2010 – Depuis 1980, Moïse Rahmani réside en Belgique. Il anime une émission à Radio Judaica, milite pour les organisations sépharades, fonde le ..."
  3. "Fallecimiento del Sr. Moise Rahmani". eSefarad. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  4. "Moïse Rahmani nous a quittés". Centre Communautaire Laïc Juif David Susskind. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  5. "Funérailles de M. Moïse Rahmani". Institut Sefarade Europeen. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  6. Dassa, Clément (18 September 2016). "Hommage à Moïse Rahmani par Clément Dassa". Institut Sefarade Europeen. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  7. S., Asher (1 October 2015). "Moise Rahmani: a quest for lost convivencia". Classroom Globe. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  8. S., Asher (24 September 2015). "Welcome back: Spain ends Jews' 500-Year exile". Classroom Globe. Archived from the original on 5 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  9. Archived 2005-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Los Muestros magazine 1999 "L'ouvrage de Moïse Rahmani sur l'histoire juive de Rhodes est passionnant à plus d'un titre. ... The aulhor was born in Cairo, descending partly from a Rhodes family who emigrated to Egypt at the end of the nineteenth century ..."
  11. Egyptian Jewry: guide to Egyptian Jewry in the mid-fifties Victor D. Sanua, International Association of Jews from Egypt - 2005 "(5) Remarks by Moise Rahmani on His Departure from Cairo and the Nostalgia over leaving Egypt. Moise Rahmani remembers vividly the blackouts and the deafening sirens in Cairo during the first Israeli war. It was assumed that Israeli ..."
  12. La lettre sépharade magazine 2005 "Moise Rahmani, discussing the ISRAEL family and the 1840 blood libel in his book Rhodes, un pan de notre Mémoire Les Editions "
  13. Avotaynu: the international review of Jewish genealogy: 12 1996 "In this issue is a summary of a talk given to the Cercle by Moise Rahmani, founder of the Sephardic review Los Muestros (66, ... In 1956, Rahmani's family left Cairo for the Congo, where a "Jewish Rhodes" was recreated."
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