“When I say my name, they usually look at my face carefully and ask a second question:
- Where are you from? You speak Turkish very well.
- Of course I do, I say I am Turkish, I am a Turkish Jew.
From that moment on, they lock on to that magic word: “Jew”.
Some of them, with a twinkle of curiosity in their eyes, dare to say:
- “Oh, I've always wondered about you, can I ask you something, if you don't mind?” and they list the questions.
Why should I be angry? Over time, I accepted this innocent curiosity.
What I couldn't accept at first was always being asked the same questions!
Questions that start with “Why?” and carry a little bit of prejudiced information...Then I thought to myself;
- Why this perception? How is it that Jews of different nationalities spread all over the world have always created the same perception in minds? Why does a Jew from Yemen and a Jew from Sweden have the same traditions?
I kept asking, reading, researching, thinking and thinking... With your permission, we will tell...” Moris Levi
Prepared and Presented by Moris Levi
Presented by Nisya Isman Allovi
Text Readings by Emel Benbasat