The SCA Board of Trustees and Directors are proud to welcome our new President Micael A Mishaan.

 

On August 11, 2008, at the office of Mr. Joe Cayre, over sixty community leaders met to discuss the formation of a new organization dedicated to preserving the Sephardic values, customs and traditions that our parents and grandparents brought with them to this country.

At that meeting Mr. Stanley Chera A”H asked Michael Mishaan to join Mr. Morris Bailey on the subcommittee that Morris would assemble to take the next steps, most importantly crafting the Mission Statement and Declaration of Values for the Sephardic Community Alliance (SCA). Michael would go on to serve on the SCA’s Executive Committee and as its Secretary for the next decade.

A graduate of Rutgers College and the University of Chicago Law School, Michael began his career at the international law firm of Jones Day and in 1998 was admitted as a partner in Battle Fowler LLP, specializing in real estate development and finance. He established his solo practice in 2002.

Having founded the Jewish Law Students Association at Chicago, Michael joined with four fellow students on a trip to the former Soviet Union visiting and aiding refuseniks. The courage of those would-be émigrés, who fought for their Jewish heritage against all odds, and of those of their brothers and sisters who refused to forget them until finally the Iron Curtain was raised, remains indelible.

Fresh off that experience, in 1989, Michael joined the Executive Committee of the Council for the Rescue of Syrian Jews, arranging for Jones Day to host meetings with government officials and successfully including the issue of free emigration for Syria’s Jews on Washington’s agenda with Damascus.

Appreciating that over so many years the collective effort of so many individuals could help bring about the miraculous, Divine exodus of Jews from the Soviet Union and from Syria, Michael resolved to always be involved in causes that make a positive difference in and for the Jewish community.

A former President of Congregation Magen David of West Deal, Michael served on the synagogue’s board from 1998 to 2008. Since 2011 he has helped raise funds for the Jersey Shore Erub, working to repair its destruction from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and to continually expand its reach. He has also served on the Board of the Yeshivah of Flatbush from 2013 to 2016. In 2019, Michael formed Stand with Your Neighbors in Crisis (SYNC) raising thousands of dollars for pandemic relief. He currently serves as President of the SCA.

In his professional capacity, Michael has also served as counsel to numerous synagogues and institutions throughout the community.

Michael married Celeste Sultan and  Hashem has blessed them with a beautiful family– three boys (Albert, Isaac and Joseph) and two girls (Rose and Leslie)–and has since given them another gem, son-in-law Robert Shamah.