By Avi Shlush, Secretary-General, World Sephardi Federation, Jerusalem

The World Sephardi Federation was founded in 1925 at the international convention of Sephardi Jews held in Vienna, prior to the 14th Zionist Congress. The initiative behind its establishment came from the heads of the Sephardi and Oriental communities in Palestine, who, together with the heads of the Sephardi communities in the Balkan countries and central Europe, set up the world union of Sephardi Jews. Moshe Pichotto was chosen as the first president of the union, whose center was set in Jerusalem. In a unanimous resolution, it was declared that the establishment of this union was essential for the Zionist movement, in order to build the land with the cooperation of all the Jewish communities. In the words of the Rabbi Ben Zion Meir Chai Ouziel: "These Jews must be awakened from their slumber and be brought into the work of our rebirth. This is possible only by creating a strong world Sephardi union with a certain plan."

In the 1920's and 1930's, the heads of the Federation devoted their energies to representing the Sephardi communities within the world Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency, Keren Hayesod and leadership of the Yishuv. They dealt with matters of aliyah, absorption and settlement, but didn't succeed in one of their main targets -- Sephardim being accepted as an organized body within the World Zionist Organization. This demand was accepted only in the course of the 28th Zionist Congress which convened in Jerusalem in 1972, 47 years after the establishment of the Sephardi Federation.

With the outbreak of riots in Palestine in the late 1930's, WWII, the struggle to establish the Jewish State in Palestine and then War of Independence, the activity of the Sephardi public on its own behalf slowed down. The majority of Sephardi and Oriental leadership joined in the Yishuv's struggle and the war against the Nazis, while battling the British Mandate's White Paper.

With the advent of the waves of aliyah from Middle Eastern countries, Sephardi Jewry came to the aid of the new immigrants who were being housed in maabarot, tents, and makeshift tin homes. At the same time, they tried to get representation in the government institutions and municipal institutions that were then being set up. Most of the parties dealt with these areas through representatives among the ethnic communities, especially when this served them in the elections to the Knesset and local authorities, in which the Sephardi and Oriental ethnic groups were not represented in proportion to their numbers in the Israeli population.

The heads of the Sephardi and Oriental communities came to the conclusion that they should renew their activity within the framework of the Sephardi Federation together with the Sephardi party activists, emphasizing subjects of housing, welfare, education, culture and heritage while at the same time trying to increase the representation of the Sephardim and Oriental communities within the state institutions and Zionist Movement. Together, the community and party activists initiated the renewal of the activity of the World Federation of Sephardi Communities at a convention which took place in Paris in November 1951. The activists from Israel were mostly the Chief Rabbi of Israel, the Rishon LeZion Ouziel, and the heads of the Sephardi communities' council in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa, such as Eliahu Eliashar, Bechor Shalom Shitrit and David Sitton. Among the participants from the Diaspora were Prof. Rene Cassin from France, David Alkalay from Yugoslavia and David De Sola Pool from New York.

The second world Sephardi conference took place in Jerusalem in 1954 and there for the second time the ideological path of the Federation was determined. Since then many meetings have taken place in which the policy of the world Federation has been set, and branches have been opened in North America, Central and South America, and European countries such as France, England, Italy and Spain. The body carrying out policy was the Executive, half from Israel and half from the Diaspora.

The chronicles of the Federation are full of deliberations, debates and struggles between Sephardim and Ashkenazim. Much has been written on the matter and many books and articles have been published in the press and Sephardi journals "Hed Hamizrachi" (Echo of the East) and "Bemaaracha" (On the Front).

With the increase in aliyah from the countries of Asia and Africa, the Sephardi and Oriental communities' councils had difficulties representing the immigrants from these countries and dealing with their absorption and struggle again discrimination and social gaps. The immigrants started to organize themselves according to country of origin. Moreover, sometimes new immigrants from a particular country set up more than one organization to speak on their behalf and represent them. The political parties also got involved and sponsored the organizations of communities and olim, and even initiated the establishment of these groups for their own benefit. But the reality then was that the Sephardi Federation and communities' organizations were not strong and lacked practical influence. With the outbreak of Wadi Salib events in Haifa and the appearance of the "Black Panthers", these institutions and organizations did not carry great weight and couldn't deal with the problems and challenges of those years. The social and economic gaps between Sephardi and Oriental Jews on the one hand and Ashkenazi Jews on the other hand grew and the problem of the representation of non-Ashkenazim in the important institutions of the state and society -- Knesset, government, Histadrut, local authorities -- worsened.

In light of this distress, the heads of the Sephardi communities in the Diaspora sounded their voice against this situation, and joined the public struggle for improvement of conditions of the immigrants from Asia and Africa in Israel.

A new stage in the activity of the world Sephardi Federation began with the election of Nessim D. Gaon (born in Sudan, living in Geneva) as president of the Federation in 1973 and Leon Tamman (who lived in London) as its Treasurer.

In his journeys around the world, Nessim D. Gaon succeeded in instilling the idea of organizing the Sephardi communities in the world and uniting them with their brothers in Israel, and especially participating in the frameworks of the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency. It turns out, then, that the functioning of the Sephardi Federation in Israel and its activities were dependent on people who were active in Jewish communities abroad and in Israel.

In 1987, Mr. Nessim D. Gaon decided to travel to Sephardi communities throughout America -- North and South, and in Europe with the purpose of bringing them closer to the World Sephardi Federation. This trip, which took place within the framework of the Sephardi Caravan, went from city to city and from country to country, and concluded with a world Congress of Sephardi communities which took place at the end of November 1987 in Jerusalem. This Congress was the climax and awakening of renewed activity. The Federation became involved in all the areas of Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

The Sephardi Federation is represented in the Zionist institutions - the Zionist Congress, the Zionist General Council, the Zionist Executive, as well as the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency and the World Jewish Congress. Its executive arm is the Sephardi Communities Dept. of the World Zionist Organization.

Among the main activities of the Sephardi Federation, we will note the program for training of public activists which was been operating in conjunction with the universities, subsidy fund for pupils and students, loans to owners of small businesses, bar mitzva celebrations for children from large families, and partnership with the Hebrew University in setting up and operating the Misgav Institute for Research into Heritage of Spanish and Oriental Jewry. The Sephardi Federation operated from the offices of the President, Mr. Nessim D. Gaon in Geneva from 1973. In 1994, the Presidium decided to transfer its secretariat to Jerusalem, just as all the Jewish organizations did. In 1994, Mr. S. Deri ended his term as secretary- general and in his place Avi Shlush, the Director-General of the Department for Sephardi communities in the World Zionist Organization, was appointed Secretary-General of the Federation.

The main officials today are: World President - Mr. Nessim D. Gaon, Geneva Vice Presidents - Agzan Nessimi, New York; Lilliane Shalom, New York; Aharon Uzan, Israel Treasurer - Yehezkel Zakai, Israel Welfare committee Chairman - Jacques Abihssira Aliyah Committee Chairman - Yehezkel Zakai, Israel Education Committee Chairman - Yosef Menasce Youth Committee Chairman - Yosef Ben Harush Secretary-General - Avi Shlush

Head of communities and branches of the World Sephardi Federation: Aharon Uzan - President of Sephardi Federation in Israel Leon Levy - President of Sephardi Federation in USA Yehuda Castiel - President of Sephardi Federation in Canada Shimon Haziza - President of Sephardi Federation in France Yitzhak Argaz Talias - President of Sephardi Federation in Latin America Rafaelo Pellach - President of Sephardi Federation in Italy Sami Shimon - President of Sephardi Federation in England Carlos Schorr - President of Jewish community in Spain Yehoshua Ruah - President of Jewish community in Portugal David Perrier - President of Jewish community in Holland Maurice Renault - President of Jewish community in Belgium Dr. Yosef Nessim - Chairman of Sephardi Educational Center, Los Angeles Lilliane Shalom - Member of Presidium, New York Steve Shalom - Member of Presidium, New York Maurice Hatchwell - President of community in Madrid

The rabbis: Mark Angel, New York Amram Asayag - Rabbi of Sephardi community in Toronto David Mashal - Chief Rabbi of Paris