A complete shabbat, concert and conference celebrating the splendor and glory of our Sepharadi and Ashkenazi traditions, cultivating all Jewish community members who joyfully sustain and cherish our tradition.
The Kitchen is gathering artists, rabbis, hazzanim, scholars, and leaders from institutions around the world who are committed to transmitting the beauty of Sepharadi and Sepharadi/Ashkenazi traditions for all who seek to learn and lead it, with a special emphasis on inviting the increased leadership and honored participation of women and LGBTQ Jews.
Conference Highlights
◉ Shabbat at the Kitchen
Led by Rabbi Noa Kushner, Hazzan Asher Shasho Levy, Kitchen, Faisal Zeidan, and our Paytanim – Prayer Leaders: Aaron Danzig, Molly Seltzer, Craig Sakowitz, Jesse Kass, and Naomi Bardach
◉ Song of Songs Concert
Featuring Neta Elkayam & Yair Dalal
With Asher Shasho Levy (oud, musical director), Faisal Zedan (percussion), Eliyahu Sills (ney)
Featuring Galeet Dardashti, Shir Ifrah, Samuel Torjman Thomas, Chloe Poumorady, Liat Itzchaki, + more
◉ Conference
Sepharadi Hazzanut, Tefillot and its applications in the 21st century
Our Leaders include:
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Centro Cultural Sefarad, Buenos Aires- Ottoman Ladino tradition
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HUC Jewish Language Project, Los Angeles
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Degel Yehuda, Teacher and ba’alat keria'a, Jerusalem Syrian/Yerushalmi tradition
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Heftsi Cohen-Montagu, Degel Yehuda and Arevot, Jerusalem Moroccan tradition
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Composer, Multi-Instrumentalist, Jaffa Iraqi tradition
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Scholar, musician, hazzanit, NYC Persian tradition
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Neta Elkayam, Artist, Musician, New Orleans Moroccan tradition
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Director, IndieCity, Jerusalem
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Kedmah, HUC, NYC Syrian and Yemenite traditions
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Amit Hai Cohen, Artist, Filmmaker, New Orleans Moroccan tradition
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Shir Ifrah, Paytanit, Jerusalem Moroccan tradition
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Dr. Mark Kligman, Mickey Katz Chair in Jewish Music, UCLA, Los Angeles
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Rabbi Dr. Candice Levy, Professor, AJU, Los Angeles Moroccan tradition
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Rabbi Roly Matalon, Bnai Jeshurun, Piyut North America, NYC Syrian tradition
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Degel Yehuda Jerusalem Spanish & Portuguese/Western Sephardic tradition
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Kolot HaKahal; SOAS University of London; editor, Sidduré Or, London Spanish & Portuguese/Western Sephardic tradition
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University of Washington Seattle Ottoman Ladino tradition
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The Dreamy Kalimi, Hebrew Union College Jewish Language Project Los Angeles Persian and Kurdish traditionstem description
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Vocalist & Artist, Los Angeles Persian tradition
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Sephardic-Mizrahi Q Network; American Sephardi Federation Bukharian tradition
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Multi instrumentalist, San Francisco
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Asefa; NY Andalus Ensemble, NYC Moroccan tradition
Hillel Tigay, Hazzan, IKAR, Los Angeles
Song of Songs
Concert
Saturday, May 9th
Featuring
With Hazzan Asher Shasho Levy, Faisal Zedan, Eliyaho Sills, Galeet Dardashti, Shir Ifrah, Samuel Torjman Thomas, Chloe Poumorady + more
Featured Artists
Neta Elkayam
Neta Elkayam Multidisciplinary artist and musician Neta Elkayam has gained recognition worldwide as a performer of North African music.
Neta creates music and art inspired by Jewish artists of North Africa, linking their spirit and roots to contemporary global arts and music scenes, while integrating Andalusian, Amazigh and Mediterranean influences, rock, pop and jazz.
A Key School of Arts honours graduate, Neta was awarded the 2017 ACUM Music Prize and the Sami Michael Award for Social Equality in 2019, as well as the Moroccan “Salam Contemporary Arts Forum” prize in 2021 and was granted the Moroccan TMM Trophy for spreading.
Yair Dalal
Yair Dalal (Hebrew: יאיר דלאל; born 25 July 1955) is an Israeli musician of Iraqi-Jewish descent.
His main instruments are the oud and the violin, and he also sings as accompaniment. He composes his own music and draws on Arab and Jewish traditions, as well as European classical music and Indian music. He is also a peace activist, and works to enhance understanding and communication between Arabs and Jews.
Schedule
Sepharadi Hazzanut, Tefillot, and its applications in the 21st century
May 8th
Kabbalat Shabbat + Dinner
Time
6:00 PM Kabbalat Shabbat + Ma’ariv
8:00 PM Shabbat Dinner
Location
San Francisco Friends School
250 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA
May 9th
Shabbat Morning
Time
9:30 AM Shabbat Morning + Torah Service
12:30 PM Kiddush Lunch
Location
San Francisco Friends School
250 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA
Concert Saturday Evening
Time
7:30 PM
Location
San Francisco Friends School
250 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA
May 10th + 11th
Kitchen Conference
May 10th Schedule
Please check back for the complete conference day schedule with workshops & lectures from our guests soon!
Location
San Francisco Friends School
250 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA
Registration & Fees
Full Weekend – $360
Includes all fees and access to every event for the weekend, whether or not you attend them all. You will be able to select your preferred events on the registration form. Please note that registration does not cover hotel accommodations, airfare/travel, or any additional meals or activities beyond those listed.
Accommodations
The Kitchen has reserved a limited number of rooms at [TBD location], located within walking distance of the weekend's events. If you’d like to stay there, you must reserve your room by April 16th.
For more details and to book your stay, please email us at hello@thekitchensf.org.
Please note that the registration fee does not cover the cost of hotel accommodations, travel expenses (including airfare), or any additional meals or activities beyond those specified in the event schedule.
Individual Events
Members of the Kitchen community are welcome to join us for the entire weekend or for individual events.
Kabbalat Shabbat & Dinner on May 8th
$75 per person – Register here
Shabbat Morning & Kiddush Lunch on May 9th
No fee – Register here
Concert on May 9th
$18 for members / $36 for non-members
Register here
Conference on May 10th
Register here
Sponsorship
This extraordinary weekend is made possible by the generosity of our donors. If you'd like to support our first international conference, explore the sponsorship levels below and contact our Executive Director, Kate Glass, at kate@thekitchensf.org to get involved.
Sponsor Friday's Shabbat Dinner by Chef Chris Ratcliff
$6,000
Sponsor Saturday's Kiddush Lunch
$10,000
Sponsor Saturday Night Havdalah & Piyyut Concert featuring Neta Elkayam & Yair Dalal
$18,000
Sponsor our historic Sunday Conference
of visiting global scholars and lecture from Dr. Devin Naar
$36,000
Sponsor and name the full Shabbat and Conference
$100,000
Be an official Return to Eden Sponsor - Listed on our website
$1,800
“We knew we were not alone. Across the Jewish world, others were working to ensure that Sepharadi traditions lived in the hearts of all who cherished them.”
The Story
A few years ago, under the leadership of Rabbi Noa Kushner and Hazzan Asher Shasho Levy, the Kitchen started offering a beautiful shabbat with tefillot that not only drew from Ashkenazi and American sources, increasingly, we began to rely on the vast traditions of the Sepharadi world – melodies and liturgy originating from places like Syria, Morocco, Turkey and Uzbekistan. After creating a combined Sepharadi and Ashkenazi nusah, one of the only services in the United States to do so, and seeing how our custom took such a strong hold in our community and beyond, we soon created our own siddur, one recognized in the Israel and the US, so that our many melodies were supported by the lasting words of the tradition.
At the same time, we knew we were not the only ones who wanted Sepharadi traditions to live in the hearts of all who wanted to cherish them. And so, we started actively looking for our peers, the leaders and communities who were doing the same.
Two years ago, we started building a map of skilled leaders – academics, rabbis, hazzanim, artists and others – anyone anywhere around the world who was teaching Sepharadi tradition, or Sepharadi / Ashkenazi tradition with distinction, and offering it to communities where women Jews and LGBTQ Jews are honored as teachers, leaders and participants. With dedicated research and God’s help, we now hold a list of 150 such leaders from places such as: Buenos Aires, Paris, London, Sydney, Jerusalem, Istanbul, New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New Orleans, among many others.
Attempting to bring these teachers, leaders and artists together in person was the inevitable next step. In piloting a shabbat and conference for 25 leaders in the spring of 5785 / 2025, we found we were just scratching the surface. The joy, strength and help these few participants were able to receive from their exchanges with one another was palpable. In the months that followed, new collaborations resulted: conversations, visits, scholarly exchanges, as well as the establishment of a fellowship, to name a few early outcomes.
As soon as our shabbat and conference ended last year, it was clear there needed to be another. To that end, in 5786 we have increased our efforts – seeking out and speaking with all the dedicated leaders that we could find in this newly developing field, one that prizes Sepharadi tradition and approaches alongside our dedication to offering these precious jewels to those Jews who will continue to steward them, helping them to flourish. We have now made friends around the globe, connecting our work here in San Francisco, California with our many colleagues and teachers in Israel, Europe, Australia and South America. While ours is far from the only solution to this Jewish moment, we are clear that the connections that result from a gathering such as this will continue to have a demonstrable impact on our moment and current generations as well as on those generations that follow, connecting and elevating many Jews and many Jewish communities, representing tens of thousands of people around the world.
“Our tefillot draws from Ashkenazi and American sources, and increasingly from the vast and luminous traditions of the Sepharadi world — melodies and liturgy rooted in places such as Syria, Morocco, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.”