EMILY RUBIN, author of STALINA
"Jean Naggar’s memoir Sipping from the Nile brings the world of Egypt’s privileged class to us like a Downton Abbey set in Cairo. This is history told with the fluidity of poetry, the sensuality of life, and with empathy that resonates from an extended family determined to survive upheaval.”
RITA CHARON, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
"One life in Cairo exposes the meaning of today's Arab revolution. Jean Naggar's Sipping from the Nile: My Exodus from Egypt achieves the goal of memoir--to illuminate the full context of life by examining one life within that context. The writing is transparent, evocative, and muscular while the events brought to life are consequential for us all. Read this book if you want to understand our world! Naggar's intense focus on the individual life explains what is at stake in the revolution now taking place in the Arab world.
SIPPING FROM THE NILE REVIEW from BOOK CLUB CLASSICS.com :
"My favorite way to learn history is through the eyes and lives of those generous enough to share their stories. Jean Naggar’s memoir — subtitled “My Exodus from Egypt” — is the best kind of memoir.... each story comes to life in a tapestry of privilege and responsibility. The pages fly by and the reader is able to get a rich sense of Egypt’s history through the fascinating lives of her family. I am so grateful that Naggar shared her story. I had the privilege of visiting Egypt years ago and now feel much closer to this country after experiencing Naggar’s story. I RECOMMEND IT!"
Jean Naggar was born Jean Mosseri in Alexandria, Egypt on December 5th, 1937. She grew up in Cairo and attended the Gezira Preparatory School and the English School in Heliopolis before going to boarding school at Roedean School, Brighton, England.
She and her family left Egypt in 1957 following the international Suez crisis. She attended Westfield College at London University and was awarded a BA Hons. degree from London University in 1960.
In 1962 she married Serge Naggar and moved to New York City where she has lived ever since.
Jean lives in Manhattan with her husband, Serge, and is the mother of three and grandmother of seven.
Her son, Alan Naggar, who lives in California, is an actor, director and theatrical producer.
Her son, David Naggar, works at Amazon.com in charge of digital Kindle content. He moved there after 16 years in various executive positions at Random House followed by a year as President of iAmplify, an internet start-up focused on digital content and distribution.
Her daughter, Jennifer Naggar Weltz, is her partner in the literary agency Jean founded in 1978, the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency Inc.(JVNLA). Jennifer runs the financial and administrative side of the business while also operating as agent of her own list and rights director for the agency.
Revealing Storybookworld InterviewA significant interview of Jean with both hats on: Agent and Author
I hope to include some links that will give a larger portrait of ancestors and the way the lives of this significant community of Sephardic Jews were tightly interwoven with the Egyptian socioeconomic landscape from 1800 on.
A Tale of the Cattaoui Dynasty in Egypt from 1800Great-grandmother Elena's ancestors. Click on the link!
Point of no Return Blogspot Muslim caretaker Takes over Alexandria Jewish Community
Nebi Daniel Synagogue in Alexandria, where my parents were married
Legendary Nebi Daniel Synagogue in Alexandria taken over by Muslim caretaker
Nebi Daniel Synagogue in Alexandria, where my parents were married
Disturbing information about events taking place in Alexandria, Egypt. Read the blog by Lyn Julius and join the international outcry. The last Jews in Egypt are under siege today. The situation of the dispossessed Jews of Egypt needs everyone's help. A last bastion has fallen.
Lyn Julius writes: The Jewish community in Alexandria no longer runs its own affairs, a Jewish visitor discovered on a visit to Egypt in March
Egypt's Jews 2012: click on this LinkNo Rabbi for the High Holidays in Alexandria. First time in 2000 years...
An icon of Egypt's Jewish past survivesAngry crowds save the Cicurel villa in Alexandria from the bulldozer
A different view from Cairo Rosh Hashana 2012 at Shaar Ha Shamayim in Cairo
Shaar Ha Shamayim synagogue in Cairo, 2012
I remember walking carefully holding a white wax taper taller than I, into the vastness of this beautiful sanctuary ahead of a bride following her small attendants in clouds of white tulle. We advanced amid gasps of admiration from the packed guests. The flame on the taper trembled in my hands and drops of wax slid down, as the synagogue organizer hovered over us, anxious that the flaming tapers should not slip from small hands and cause a fire. I am not sure whose wedding it was, but I think it was one of the daughters of my father's Uncle Maurice Mosseri.
The portrait seems to be of Yacoub Cattaoui Bey (see link above), a bow to the temple's illustrious past?
It seems from this recent link that services took place in the Cairo synagogue, complete with minyan and rabbi. The series of photos included in the link is comprehensive and lovely, and seems to indicate a fairly numerous community with some younger participants, possibly supportive visitors from other countries.
I was amused and interested to observe that the vast space of my childhood memory seems not vast at all.
Important U-Tube Talk by Maurice MizrahiA Half-Hour talk in French about leaving Egypt in 1967. Well Worth a Listen
