Appelbaum, Joy Zacharia

Joy Zacharia was born Dec. 4, 1937, in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, NY, the daughter of Morris Isaac Zacharia (of Castoria, Greece) and Clara Telias (whose parents came from Tuscany and Izmir). Her paternal grandfather, Rabbi Isaac Menahem Zacharia, was Haham Bashi of Greek Macedonia with headquarters in Castoria. His wife, the Rubisa, was Estamou Mevorah Zacharia. Her maternal grandparents were Isaac Telias, of Izmir, Turkey and Anna Ouriel Telias of Tuscany, Italy. Anna’s grandfather, a member of the Pappo Family, was Chargé d'Affaires at the Austrian Consulate in Constantinople, where she was raised.

Joy attended Abraham Lincoln H.S. after her family moved to Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, from 1951 to 1955. Then, from 1955 to 1958, she earned a BA with Honors in Spanish at Brandeis University. While there she wrote a thesis entitled: A Study of the Castoriali (Ladino) Dialect, a grammar, dictionary and cultural dissertation that is cited in David Bunis' Sephardic Studies: a research bibliography (1981). From Brandeis, Joy went on to New York University, where she earned a dual MA in Spanish and Education during the years 1958-1959. In 1958 she was married, and she subsequently bore two children: David Appelbaum and Cara Kagan.

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