A compelling narrative tucked inside the Scripps College Clark Humanities Museum reveals the intricate and often-overlooked histories of the Mizrahi Jewish people in the Middle East.
The new exhibition, “The Mizrahi Jews: 3,000+ Years of Jewish Culture in The Middle East” features a series of photographs and other archival pieces that depict the often-overlooked history of the little-known community. The exhibition, which runs from Sept. 23 through Oct. 18, was organized and fact-checked by Scripps philosophy professor Yuval Avnur, co-researched by Noah Rinsler PO ’26 and curated by Marina Shishkina SC ’25.
“Mizrahi Jews have often been marginalized, both in the diaspora and in Israeli society,” Avnur said. “This is an opportunity to be seen and heard, and to tell their story, and people appreciate that.”
The exhibition includes photographs of celebrations and landscapes, supplemented with text that elaborates on historical moments. On display were events such as the 1947 riots in Aden, a city in Yemen, and the personal stories of the featured individuals, many of whom fled persecution.
The images depict communities in Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Afghanistan, with some dating back to 3000 BC. The exhibition also maps out the migration of these communities to Israel, noting that only one Jewish individual, Levi Salem Musa Marhabi, is currently known to reside in Yemen.
The exhibition seeks to dispel the common misconception that some Jewish communities are not indigenous to parts of the Middle East simply because today, fewer remain in regions outside of Israel.
“I noticed campus conversations focus only on European Jews, who claim to have a historical and spiritual connection to the Middle East but whom some consider to be outsiders,” Avnur said. “But this misses the fact that over half of Israeli Jews are from Mizrahi families, which have been in the Middle East and surrounding regions for thousands of years, as clearly indigenous as anyone else there.”
In the late 19th century, large numbers of Ashkenazi Jews from Russia, Poland, and Germany immigrated to the newly-formed state of Israel, which is bordered by Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan and Syria. Mizrahi Jewish immigrants were systematically marginalized by the government that favored Ashkenazi Jews.
“I had been thinking about what I can do to make conversations more productive, and I realized that I am here as an educator, and so my role should simply be to educate people on the relevant facts and history,” Avnur said.
The term “Mizrahi,” which means “Easterner” in Hebrew, refers to Jewish communities from the Middle East. Though Mizrahi sometimes include Sephardic Jewish communities who historically lived in modern-day Spain and Portugal, Avnur clarified that Mizrahi Jews have distinct histories and have lived in the Middle East and North Africa for millennia. In 2018, 45 percent of Jewish Israelis identified as either Mizrahi or Sephardic and this population has grown since.
“It is difficult to describe misconceptions about Mizrahi Jews because most people don’t have a detailed idea of who the Mizrahi Jews are,” Avnur said.
“The exhibition is trying to add Judaism to the conversation and not subtract anything else. It’s just an additional conversation.”
A standout feature of this exhibition is its series of portraits depicting young people, community celebrations and gatherings. These pieces added life and intimacy to the texts and timelines.
A self-portrait titled “Kutab Girl” depicts the artist Daniella Meller as a young girl in her classroom in Tunisia. The accompanying text describes her experiences of fleeing Tunisia after World War II. The girl holds an award she received in a class where she learned Hebrew in order to migrate to Israel with her family. The dress and background are painted from memory.
“The [self-portrait] to me represents something compelling about the power of the people, the language, and the tradition that has been passed on for thousands of years and which is still very much alive,” Avnur said.
Another personal story comes from photographer Zion Ozeri, whose work documenting the migration of Jewish immigrants from Yemen is featured in the exhibit. His photography practice is an important component of the exhibit’s conversation: Jewish communities in Yemen are some of the oldest in the world. Shishkina noted that many viewers took time to absorb the text, learning from all the data that their team presented.
“The exhibition is trying to add Judaism to the conversation and not subtract anything else. It’s just an additional conversation,” Shishkina said.
The vibrant stories and historical events offer a holistic, non-hegemonic worldview. Through portrait, landscape and candid photographs, the exhibit uplifts the often-suppressed but rich culture of the Mizrahi people.
“If nothing else, it shows that the history is not as simple as the dominant narrative makes it seem,” Avnur said.
A previous version of this article may have implied that Israel is not part of the Middle East. The text has been updated to clarify that Israel is located in the Middle East. TSL regrets this error.
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