The Forgotten Exodus: The Untold Stories of Jews from Arab Nations and Iran

The Forgotten Exodus - American Jewish Committee

The multi-award-winning, chart-topping Jewish podcast, The Forgotten Exodus, is back for season two. Find the latest episodes.

The world has overlooked an important episode in modern history: the 800,000 Jews who left or were driven from their homes in the Middle East and North Africa in the mid-20th century to forge new lives for themselves and future generations.

The Forgotten Exodus, a limited podcast series by American Jewish Committee (AJC), explores the important lessons we can learn from this pivotal moment and the little-known Jewish heritage of the Middle East and North Africa. As Jews around the world confront rising antisemitism, hear five new stories of Mizrahi and Sephardi courage, perseverance, and resilience from this transformative and tumultuous period of history for the Jewish people. The world has ignored them. We will not.

Honors:

  • No. 1 Jewish podcast in the U.S. (Apple Podcasts)

Awards:

  • Webby Awards | Nominee, Best Limited Series
  • Signal Awards | Silver award, History - Limited Series & Specials
  • American Jewish Press Association | First place award, Outstanding Digital Storytelling
  • Religion Communicators Council | Awards in Best in Class and Best in Show
  • Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts | Communicator Award of Distinction for Individual Episodes, Nonprofit

You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. If you like what you hear, subscribe, rate it, and spread the word.

*The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC.

Photo of Einat Admony smiling, wearing a black t-shirt with the word CHEFALICIOUS on it, arm around with her mother Ziona, who is wearing a hat, paintbrush effect around the photo, laid over a graphic representation of the desert
The Forgotten Exodus - Season 2: Iran
Einat Admony is a chef, cookbook author, comedian, and social media star who grew up in Bnei Brak, Israel. With parents from Iran and Yemen, Einat spent her childhood in the kitchens of Mizrahi, Sephardi, and Ashkenazi neighbors. Learn about her family's deep-rooted Jewish heritage in Iran and the broader Middle East. Along with her mother Ziona’s journey from Iran to Israel in 1948, Einat discusses the antisemitism she’s dealt with online and on the streets in the past year.
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Photo of orchestra in Morocco, paintbrush effect around the photo, laid over a graphic representation of the desert
The Forgotten Exodus: Morocco
Eli Gabay, an Israeli-born lawyer and current president of the oldest continuously active synagogue in the United States, comes from a distinguished family of Jewish leaders who have fostered Jewish communities across Morocco, Israel, and the U.S. Now residing in Philadelphia, Eli and his mother, Rachel, share their deeply personal story of migration from Morocco to Israel, reflecting on the resilience of their family and the significance of preserving Jewish traditions.
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Photo of Adiel Cohen and Manya Brachear Pashman, both smiling and sitting in armchairs with a small endtable in the middle, on a stage in front of a step and repeat with AJC lettering, paintbrush effect around the photo, laid over a graphic representation of the desert
The Forgotten Exodus: Yemen: Live Recording with Adiel Cohen – Part 2
Last week’s episode featuring Adiel Cohen—Jewish activist, social media influencer, and Israel Defense Forces reservist—received heartfelt feedback. In part two of this conversation, Adiel joins us live from the AJC Global Forum 2024 in Washington, D.C., where listeners had the chance to ask their questions directly.
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Photo of Adiel Cohen's grandmother Sarah smiling with her son Itamar, paintbrush effect around the photo, laid over a graphic representation of the desert
The Forgotten Exodus: Yemen: Live Recording with Adiel Cohen – Part 1
Adiel Cohen: Jewish activist, social media influencer, and Israel Defense Forces reservist, has a passion for storytelling – especially that of his beloved grandmother who fled Yemen in the mid-20th century. Recorded live at AJC Global Forum 2024 in Washington, D.C., hear about the vibrant life of Yemenite Jews and the country's history of Jewish persecution.
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photo of the Sadfie family at a wedding in Syria, Aleppo, 1914, over a graphic depiction of the desert
The Forgotten Exodus: Syria
Syrian Jewish Playwright Oren Safdie, son of world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, who designed Habitat 67 along with much of modern Jerusalem, knows loss, regret, and longing. Oren and his father explore their Syrian heritage and their connection to the Jewish State that has developed since Moshe’s father left Aleppo, Syria and moved, in the mid-20th century, to what is modern-day Israel.
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Photo of Hen Mazzig smiling with his grandmother Kamisa, paintbrush effect around the photo, laid over a graphic representation of the desert
The Forgotten Exodus: Tunisia
Hen Mazzig, a writer, digital creator, and founder of the Tel Aviv Institute, shares his powerful journey as a proud Israeli, LGBTQ+, and Mizrahi Jew, in the premiere episode of the second season of the award-winning podcast, The Forgotten Exodus.
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Roya Hakakian's family photo in Iran
The Forgotten Exodus: Iran
Author, journalist, and poet Roya Hakakian shares her personal story of growing up Jewish in Iran during the reign of the Shah and then Ayatollah Khomeini, which she wrote about in her memoir, "Journey From the Land of No." Joining Hakakian is Dr. Saba Soomekh, a professor of world religions and Middle Eastern history who wrote From the Shahs to Los Angeles: Three Generations of Iranian Jewish Women between Religion and Culture. She also serves as associate director of AJC Los Angeles, home to America’s largest concentration of Persian Jewish immigrants. 
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Dr. Alexandra Herzog's family in Sudan
The Forgotten Exodus: Sudan
Nessim Gaon's grandchild, Dr. Alexandra Herzog, shares the story of her grandfather's flight from Sudan, his quest for equality in Israel, and his pursuit of peace between the Jewish state and Arab nations. Joining Dr. Herzog in this episode are Gaon’s cousins, Diana Krief and Flore Eleini, and oral historian Daisy Abboudi.
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Guilietta Boukhobza's family in Libya
The Forgotten Exodus: Libya
Giulietta Boukhobza shares her family’s story of their harrowing escape from Libya when she was 16. Joining Boukhobza is filmmaker Vivienne Roumani-Denn, the creator of “The Last Jews of Libya,” who provides the historical backdrop for Boukhobza’s story, illustrating how life was never easy for Jews in Libya.
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Photo of André Aciman's family in Egypt
The Forgotten Exodus: Egypt
Hear the personal story of award-winning author André Aciman as he recounts the heart-wrenching details of the pervasive antisemitism during his childhood in Alexandria, Egypt, and his family’s expulsion in 1965, which he wrote about in his memoir Out of Egypt, and also inspired his novel Call Me by Your Name. 
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Photo of Yemeni Jewish family
The Forgotten Exodus: Yemen
Hear from Israeli windsurfer Shahar Tzubari, who won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, about how his grandparents left behind their life as dairy farmers in Yemen, and Ari Ariel, a Middle East historian at the University of Iowa, who delves into what the 2,600-year-old community was like and the dramatic transitions that led to the mass exodus.
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Carol Isaac's family in Iraq
The Forgotten Exodus: Iraq
The premiere episode of a new limited narrative series from American Jewish Committee (AJC), The Forgotten Exodus, shares the inspiring story of Mizrahi Jewish cartoonist Carol Isaacs’ family. Feeling alienated growing up as the only Jew in school from an Arab-majority country, Carol turned her longing for Iraq and the life her family left behind into a gripping graphic memoir, The Wolf of Baghdad. 
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The Forgotten Exodus logo
Introducing The Forgotten Exodus: A Limited Podcast Series From AJC
Listen to the trailer for The Forgotten Exodus, a limited podcast series brought to you by American Jewish Committee (AJC), explores the untold stories of Jews who left or were driven from Arab nations and Iran.
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