A Journey Through Mizrahi Culture: Food, Film and Song

Join us for a Mizrahi Heritage Month celebration filled with flavour, stories, song, and film that will warm your heart and delight your senses.

Mizrahi Jews are descendants of ancient Jewish communities from the Middle East, North Africa, Iran, India, and beyond. Their rich traditions are centuries old, blending unique customs, music, and culinary delights that have been passed down through generations. Mizrahi heritage is a vital part of the Jewish mosaic, known for its resilience, joy, and cultural adaptability.

This special evening features Elana Benjamin, author of Indian Jewish Food, who brings to life the rich Indian-Iraqi Jewish culinary and cultural heritage through her storytelling and writings; filmmaker Carolyn Saul, whose powerful film, Majong & Mahashas, vividly portrays Mizrahi narratives on screen; and Emanuel Synagogue's multi-talented Rabbi George Mordecai, who is known for his powerful renditions of the traditional Sephardic and Judeo-Iraqi songs that are central to his family’s centuries-old heritage.

The event will include a baking demonstration, film screening, musical performance and more.

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ABOUT ELANA BENJAMIN

Elana Benjamin is a Jewish-Australian writer of Indian-Iraqi heritage and a home cook. Her writing has appeared in a range of publications, including Good Weekend, Sunday Life, the Sydney Morning Herald, SBS Voices and The Jewish Independent. Elana is the author of Indian-Jewish Food: Recipes and Stories from the Backstreets of Bondi and My Mother's Spice Cupboard: A Journey from Baghdad to Bombay to Bondi. She’s also a contributor to two anthologies: Ruptured: Jewish Women in Australia Reflect on Life Post-October 7 and Growing Up Indian in Australia. Elana is a co-founder of Sephardi Mizrahi Voices Australia, an organisation that seeks to raise awareness of the culture, traditions, and history of Jews from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Iran.

ABOUT MAHJONG & MAHASHAS

Mahjong & Mahashas is a rich and vibrant smorgasbord: it is an archival exploration of a family’s culture and heritage. The clatter of the mahjong tiles, the delicious aroma of Middle Eastern spices and the celebration of age-old traditions are some of the flavours in the melting pot that is Sydney’s Singaporean Sephardic community.

ABOUT CAROLYN SAUL

Carolyn has produced and directed several short documentary films and has worked on over 60 documentary and factual programs in various roles in a career spanning 20+ years in TV and film production. She has worked as an Associate Producer on documentary series such as ‘Restoration Australia’ and ‘Secrets of Our Cities ’, and as an archive producer and researcher on programs including ‘Australia in Colour ’, ‘Australia Now & Then’, and ‘The Gruen Transfer’. Mahjong & Mahashas is the 5th short documentary film that Carolyn has produced and directed. Her previous directorial credits are for the films "This Bond I & Bondi" (which won 3 awards, including Best Short Form Documentary Film at the City of Angels Women’s Film Festival in LA, USA in 2022), "Drawing Down The Moon," "Bondi Beggar", and "This is A Friend’s Place." Carolyn is an AFTRS Graduate in Producing and has a Bachelor of Social Science degree, a Master's degree in Theatre Studies, a Graduate Diploma of Visual Arts and an Advanced Diploma of Screen and Media (multiplatform screen producing).

Tickets are pay-what-you-can to ensure that this program is accessible to all members of our rich and diverse community. If you are able, please give generously to help us accommodate people who might otherwise be unable to attend.

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