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Sarina Roffe

Growing Up In Bensonhurst

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Sarina Roffe, interviewed May 30, 2012, Brooklyn Borough Hall: My most favorite memories from growing up as a Jew in Brooklyn are playing street ball and street games with the Italian neighbors that I had growing up in Bensonhurst. I used to live on 69th Street between 21st Avenue and Bay Parkway, and all of the kids, and all my cousins would go to the Marboro Theater, and we would go for matinees… Read More »Growing Up In Bensonhurst

Traditions in Food: Esther Cohen Salem

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Sarina Roffe: Culture and tradition are passed down from one generation to another in a family through foods. Esther Cohen Salem was the first to own a Syrian catering service in the Syrian Jewish community. In 1920, Esther and her two younger brothers, Sam, 13, and Joe, 11, came to America from Beirut sharing a passport issued by the French Troops of the Levant. Esther and Selim built a kitchen… Read More »Traditions in Food: Esther Cohen Salem

Sarina turns 60

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A video celebration of a Brooklyn Jewish life in progress. BJHI’s own Sarina Roffe, mazel-tov!

Backyard Kitchen: Mediterranean Salads

Backyard Kitchen: Mediterranean Salads

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New York Times published Sarina Roffé, whose recipes have also been featured in NY Times Jewish Cookbook, Image Magazine and Joan Nathan’s Jewish Cooking in America, has released Backyard Kitchen: Mediterranean Salads. The book is available on Amazon. Sarina is the author of “Food and Drink, Modern Period: Syria.” Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World (Brill, Leiden, 2014). She is a recognized academic in the field of Syrian Jewish… Read More »Backyard Kitchen: Mediterranean Salads

Branching Out from Sepharad

Branching Out From Sepharad: Traces Community History And Selected Rabbinic Dynasties

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After 15 years of research, BJHI Co-chair Sarina Roffé has completed Branching Out From Sepharad (New York: Sephardic Heritage Project, 2017). Dedicated to her grandparents, Joe and Frieda Missry, Roffé outlines the global journey of selected rabbinic families from Iberia to Syria to the Americas. With the Foreword written by Dr. Walter Zenner A’H, Branching Out From Sepharad outlines the history of Jews in Spain, the 1492 Expulsion, the history… Read More »Branching Out From Sepharad: Traces Community History And Selected Rabbinic Dynasties

Sarina Roffe Elected to International Jewish Genealogy Board

Sarina Roffe Elected to International Jewish Genealogy Board

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Sarina Roffe, a resident of Belle Harbor , was elected to the Board of Directors for the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, (IAJGS) at its recent conference in Warsaw, Poland. Sarina Roffe has over 30 years of experience as a genealogist. Co-chair of the Brooklyn Jewish Historical Initiative and a former member of the JewishGen Board of Governors, Sarina is editor of Dorot for JGSNY and founder of the… Read More »Sarina Roffe Elected to International Jewish Genealogy Board

Rabbi Jacob S. Kassin of Bensonhurst

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A Leader Among Many: Rabbi Jacob S. Kassin of Bensonhurst Submitted by Sarina Roffe Rabbi Jacob S. Kassin was born in 1900 in the old city of Jerusalem and is a descendant of an unbroken chain of rabbis dating back to the mid-16th Century. Of Aleppan descent, he became the first Chief Rabbi of the Syrian Jewish community in Bensonhurst in 1933. A qualified Dayan (judge), shochet, mohel and kabbalistic… Read More »Rabbi Jacob S. Kassin of Bensonhurst