With music, fine food, events celebrate Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews
The phrase “Kan ya ma kan” is usually translated as “Once upon a time” in Arabic literature, and is the phrase that begins many stories. The founders of Clockshop, a Los Angeles nonprofit arts organization, adopted this phrase to launch a series of events highlighting the near-forgotten stories of the Sephardic- and Mizrahi-Jewish communities. Many of the Jews of North Africa and the Middle East were banished from their countries following Israel’s establishment in 1948, leading them to immigrate to Israel or the United States.