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Ariel Sabar – My Father’s Paradise. A Son’s Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq

Reading and Discussion in English as Part of the Film and Reading Series Between Marrakesh and Mashhad (audio recording available)

“He was old Kurdistan. I was Los Angeles of the 1980s.”

As a teenager, Ariel Sabar – who grew up in California – found his father Yona Sabar, professor of the Neo-Aramaic language, whimsical. It was only when he himself became a father that he became interested in the story of his father Yona.

recording available

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The W. M. Blumenthal Academy is marked in green

Where

W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
Klaus Mangold Auditorium
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin (Opposite the Museum)

Yona was born in the city of Zakho in Iraqi Kurdistan where the Jews still spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus and the Talmud. In the 1950s, he immigrated to Israel and eventually went to California, where he devoted himself to the preservation of his dying language and became the best-known researcher of Neo Aramaic.

The book My Father’s Paradise by the journalist and writer Ariel Sabar is not only a fascinating life story, but also an exciting portrait of Kurdish-Jewish history and is not least a declaration of love from a son to his father and to their common cultural heritage. Ariel Sabar won the National Book Critics Circle Award for his literary debut.

Moderation: Dr. Karin Mlodoch (HAUKARI e.V.)

Audio recording of the reading with Ariel Sabar on 11 May 2017; Jewish Museum Berlin 2017
Photo: Ariel Sabar; Andy Nelson

Where, when, what?

  • When 11 May 2017
  • Where W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
    Klaus Mangold Auditorium

    Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
    (Opposite the Museum)

    See location on map

Audio Recordings of the Series: Between Marrakesh and Mashhad: Jews in Islamic Countries (2)

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Academy Programs: Past Events for You to Listen To and Watch 2011–2019 (40)

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