The Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County is pleased to present A New Awakening: a talk by Sol Romano on the History and Background of the Sephardic Jews of Spain through family heritage on Sunday, April 16, 2023 at 2:00 PM. Admission is $8 for Museum members, and $12 for non-members.

Using his family history of Turkish Sephardic immigrants as an example, Sol Romano aims to enlighten, or awaken, his audience to the story of Sephardic Jews with facts and stories about their origin, lifestyle, and traditions. Jews lived on the Iberian Peninsula from as early as the 11th century, and were identified as Sephardic, meaning “Spanish Jew.”

Following the Spanish inquisition in 1492, Jews scattered around the Mediterranean, including to Turkey where Sol picks up his family’s history. Both of his parents immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s and settled on the Lower East Side. Sol was born and raised in Brooklyn, and at his mother’s urging, graduated from trade school: Central Needle Trades High School (now the High School of Fashion Industries), and established himself as a fashion designer and retailer, eventually rising through the ranks to Vice President and CEO of several companies. Today, Sol lives in Marlboro, and continues to work in fashion retail, while eagerly sharing his insights into his cherished Sephardic tradition.

For more information, to register, or to receive the Zoom link, please call the Museum at 732-252-6990 or visit our website at http://www.jhmomc.org.

Funding has been made possible in part by a general operating support grant from the New
Jersey Historical Commission, a Division of the Department of State, through grant funds
administered by the Monmouth County Historical Commission.

The Jewish Heritage Museum is located in the Mounts Corner Shopping Center, at 310 Mounts Corner Drive, Freehold, NJ, at the corner of Route 537 and Wemrock Road (between the
CentraState Medical Center and Freehold Raceway Mall). It is on the second floor of the historic Levi Solomon Barn. The JHMOMC is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Now open to visitors by appointment, the Museum is handicapped and assistive-listening accessible. Masks and vaccinations are required.

The Museum’s Board of Trustees denounces racism and all forms of violence against any group, ethnicity, or race, and stands in support of any targeted community.