BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6262@columbiajewish.org DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251204T203000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251204T203000 DTSTAMP:20250826T135829Z URL:https://www.columbiajewish.org/events/travel-with-us-jewish-istanbul-2 / SUMMARY:TRAVEL WITH US -- Jewish Panama DESCRIPTION: \; \;\nwith David M. Mizrachi Fidanque\nThe Isthmus of Panama sits at the crossroads of the Americas and is home to its world-fa mous Canal is one of the busiest trading routes in the world. \; Unkno wn to many\, Panama is also home to a thriving Jewish Community dating bac k over a century. It is perhaps the only country other than Israel to have had two Jewish presidents in the XX Century. Its Jewish Community has exi sted openly only since the end of Spanish colonial rule in the 1820s. Home to more than 10\,000 Jews\, it is the largest continuously existing Jewis h Community in Central America and the Caribbean. Its members are mostly o f Middle Eastern\, Ashkenazi and Spanish-Portuguese origins. Most Panamani an Jews can be considered Orthodox. \; A majority of the children atte nd Jewish Day Schools. \; It also has one of the highest concentration s of kosher restaurants in the world. \; The Panamanian Jewish communi ty has seen consistent demographic growth due to recent arrival of Jews fr om other Latin-American countries fleeing political and economic instabili ty. My presentation will give a historical\, demographic\, social\, gastro nomic\, and spiritual visit to this small but outstanding community.\nDavi d M. Mizrachi Fidanque \;was born in Panama\, Republic of Panama into a loving family of longtime Jewish Community and pro-Israel activists\, pa rticularly in the fields of education\, culture and social services. He gr aduated from Instituto Alberto Einstein\, Panama’s oldest Jewish Day Sch ool. \; During high school\, he served on the board of the Macabi Yout h Movement of Panama and was awarded the B’nai B’rith Best Young Leade r Medal at his graduation. \; He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania\, a Juris Doctor degree from Tulane Univers ity Law School and an Executive Master of Law (ELLM) degree from Columbia University Law School \;and is a Senior Fellow of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School of Harva rd University. \; David has served as President of Panama’s Central Jewish Community Council\, of B’nai B’rith Irving Zapp of Panama and o f Panama’s Anti-Defamation Commission. \; He was awarded the Communi ty Service Award by the American Jewish Committee\, the Lifetime Jewish Le adership Award of B’nai B’rith Panama and the Label Katz Award of B’ nai B’rith International. He has been a member of the Board of Governors of B’nai B’rith International and is a Nahum Goldmann Fellow of the M emorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. \; David is also a writer and c ollege educator. He is married to Caroline (née Pitchon). \; They hav e three children and a son in law\, all of whom have also been involved in Jewish communal life and pro-Israel activism\, as well as two lovely gran dchildren. They are his pride and joy.\nPlease register in advance\n\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.columbiajewish.org/wp-content/upload s/2022/11/travel-with-us.png CATEGORIES:Featured Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR