Paris, May 15, 2020
Dear friends,
The MUSSEF project, a museum dedicated to the living memory of Jewish communities in the Sephardic, Mediterranean and Eastern worlds, is progressing well despite the crisis that is crossing the world. We hope to be able to make it a pre-opening before the end of the year.
You know that the Mussef aims to recall the history of Jewish communities that once lived in Mediterranean and Eastern countries, including Afghanistan, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Spain, Ethiopia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Pakistan, Portugal, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen.
The migration of Jews from these communities began at the end of the fifteenth century with Isabella the Catholic but accelerated in the middle of the twentieth century with the creation of the State of Israel. In the next few years, about 900,000 Jews had to leave the countries where they had lived for centuries, even millennia. Two-thirds of them took refuge in Israel, which absorbed them quickly. The rest has spread around the world, including France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Argentina and Brazil.
This story has never been the subject of a real place of remembrance and risks falling into oblivion at a time when even the youngest of the exiles are coming to the end of their lives.
However, these uprootings are an integral part of the experience of every Sephardic, Mediterranean and Eastern Jew. They must be reported to present and future generations, to Jews as well as Christians and Muslims, to citizens of all countries, showing not only the plundering and suffering endured by exiles but also their resilience and their capacity to integrate into their host countries while retaining part of their identity and culture.
MUSSEF has made it its duty to maintain the memory of the exiled Jews of the Sephardic, Mediterranean and Eastern worlds. Its raison d’être is to do justice to their history and their suffering and to make it a universal example of openness and tolerance.
To help revive the memory of the history and culture of the exiled Jewish communities of the Sephardic, Mediterranean and Eastern worlds, help us bring MUSSEF to life ! Make a donation
- You can be an Active member with 50 € ; Donor 100 € ; Benefactor 300 € ; Patron 1000 € ; Founder 10,000 € ; Sponsor 50,000 € ; Maimonide Circle 100,000 € +
- Your name will be inscribed on the donor wall starting at €5,000
- The major pioneer donors will be part of the Maimonide Circle and will have pledges of recognition, including the opportunity to give their name to a room of the museum.
– If you are taxed in France, your donation costs you only a third. You will receive a Cerfa receipt by return.
– If you are subject to the IFI (French Impôt sur la Fortune Immobilière), your donation costs you only a quarter via the France-Israel Foundation.
The deadline is June 12 if you make a paper return. If you declare via the internet, it is June 4 (zone 1), June 8 (zone 2) and June 11 (zone 3).
- If you pay taxes in Germany, Belgium, Canada, Italy, Switzerland or the United States, you can also get tax benefits by making a gift to Amussef.
Are you one of the last witnesses to this ordeal suffered by the Sephardic, Mediterranean and Eastern communities in the middle of the last century? Or did your parents or grandparents or close friends tell you about it? Do you think it should be known to the public worldwide and serve as an example? Help us keep it alive by helping to fund the Mussef.
Do not wait and make your gift !
I thank you in advance and wish you good health and prosperity for you and your family.
Chairman of Amussef
