Tabby Refael
Writer, speaker and civic action advocate
Tabby Refael is a Los Angeles-based writer, speaker and civic action advocate. Since 2019, she has served as a weekly editorial columnist for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, writing about topics related to Iran, Israel, women’s rights, Jewish identity and Mizrahi advocacy and representation. She has also written for Newsweek, Los Angeles Magazine, Moment Magazine and White Rose Magazine. Tabby served as a former executive director and co-founder of 30 Years After, which promotes the participation and leadership of Iranian American Jews in American civic, political and Jewish life. Born in Iran after the Islamic Revolution, Tabby fled the country with her family and was granted refugee asylum in the United States.
Articles
Blog
Jewish American Heritage Month: How a Female, Sephardic Singer Changed American Pop Music in the 1960s
A Sephardic Jew was once one of Latin America’s most beloved singers, however, she was an anomaly to most Americans. Eydie Gormé, the late pop singer, could sing beautifully in fluent Spanish despite not being a Latina. Many show business insiders (and some fans) knew she was Jewish, but with her olive skin, black hair and dark eyes, she didn’t look like Zsa Zsa Gabor, Lauren Bacall or other Ashkenazi Jewish female stars at the time.
Blog
The Magical Post-Passover Tradition of Mimouna
On the night Passover ends, some Jews around the world return to chametz with an innocuous slice of pizza or a quick noodle dish from a local restaurant. But Jews of Moroccan heritage enjoy what may arguably constitute the most magical night of the year: the festival of Mimouna. And the culinary star of each Mimouna table spread is moufleta, a crêpe-like pancake made with flour, water and oil and enjoyed warm with honey and butter. As a Persian Jew who had not celebrated Mimouna before, it was the lure of that delicacy that forced me to cut in line ahead of children at the LA house of a friend who had brought his family’s delicious traditions from the Maghreb to West L.A.