World Sephardi Federation

Formed 1951 by merger of Union Universelle des Communautes Sephardites (ca. 1925) and World Federation of Sephardi Communities (1944).

The World Sephardi Federation (WSF) 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 decades following the founding of the organization the Federation attempted to represent the Sephardi communities within the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency, the Foundation Fund (Keren Hayesod), in Palestine and later in Israel. The first conference of the WSF took place in Paris in November 1951. The delegates stressed the issues of housing, welfare, education, culture and Sephardi heritage. The WSF attempted to speak for Sephardic communities in North America, Central and South America, as well as European countries such as France, England, Italy and Spain.

The election of Nessim D. Gaon as President of the Federation in 1973 and Leon Tamman as Treasurer started a new era. In his journeys around the world, Nessim D. Gaon succeeded in instilling the idea of organizing the Sephardi communities in the world. In 1987, Nessim D. Gaon visited Sephardi communities in North and South America and in Europe with the purpose of bringing them closer to the World Sephardi Federation. This trip, dubbed the Sephardi Caravan, was relatively successful and attracted over 180 new members to the Board of Governors of the WSF. It concluded with a Congress of Sephardic communities in Jerusalem at the end of November 1987. The Federation brought involvement in all areas of Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora. In 1988 Steve Shalom became a Treasurer of the WSF and Lillian Shalom held the position of Vice-President responsible for Public Relations.

The World 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 main activities include scholarships for schoolchildren and students, loans to owners of small businesses, bar mitzvah celebrations for children from large and poor families, and partnerships with the Hebrew University in setting up and operating the Misgav Institute for Research into the Heritage of Spanish and Oriental Jewry. The body executing policy is the Executive, half of whose members are from Israel and half from the Diaspora.

The Sephardi Federation operated from the offices of the President, Mr. Nessim D. Gaon in Geneva since 1973. In 1994, the Presidium decided to transfer its secretariat to Jerusalem.

Source: Avi Shlush: Letter of Introduction. The World Sephardi Federation. Available on http://www.jafi.org.il/wsf/intro.htm . Accessed on November 11, 2002.