Editor's Note
By Judith Roumani
We are pleased to bring you the new Spring 2014 issue of Sephardic Horizons. This issue presents a new onomastic analysis by Matilde Tagger, this time of the name Sulam, and a review article on a number of prose fiction works by Sephardic writers who deal with the Holocaust. We also present a fascinating study of North African Jewish pop stars, by Geoffrey Clarfield. The last article consists of excerpts from a book that was published some time ago, Istanbul Intrigues by Barry Rubin, z”l, who passed away recently at the young age of 64. The full text of this fascinating book is available as a free download here.
We will greatly miss Barry as a mentor, friend and scholar. He has established a legacy of the best writings on the Middle East, illuminating complex issues in history and for future policy-making with remarkable courage and objectivity. Barry will be remembered as a caring, warm-hearted friend whose numerous activities made a difference to those who knew him and beyond. Barry was my personal mentor when I worked with him between 2006 and 2009 on the internet-delivered Covenant Global Jewish Magazine, which has served as something of a model for Sephardic Horizons. I would therefore like to dedicate this issue to his memory, in the hope that we might approach the high standards of critical thinking, scholarship and brilliant writing that he exemplified.
Two items in Ladino/Judeo-Spanish, by Rivka Abiry and Haim Vitali Sadacca, figure in this issue, and reviews by Regina Igel, Nimrod Raphaeli, and Bension Varon. With thanks to all our contributors for entrusting us with their work, to Jane Mushabac, and to Yeru Chernilovsky, director of publications at the GLORIA Center for Global Research in Internal Affairs of the Interdisciplinary Center of Herzliya, as well as Chelsie May and Elliott Blufer. Wishing you pleasant reading,
Judith Roumani
Editor, Sephardic Horizons