Rumi Night: Shared Dance, Shared Song

On behalf of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS), we are pleased to invite you to a special cultural evening titled “Rumi Night in Washington: Celebrating Our Shared Humanity”, an evening of poetry, music, and shared conversation. The program celebrates Afghan, Christian, Persian, Jewish, Sufi, and American cultural heritage, reflecting the shared humanistic spirit expressed in Rumi’s timeless aesthetic poetries.

As September 30 marks the anniversary of Rumi’s birth, and in connection with the academic conference “Jews and the Persianate World: Politics, Culture, and Historical Ties” taking place the same day at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., we will gather to honor Rumi through this cultural evening.

The evening’s program will be continued with music that embodies the spiritual and cultural legacy of Mavlana Balkhi. The Yuval Ensemble, an acclaimed group devoted to Sephardic, Persian, and Middle Eastern traditions, will offer a repertoire where sacred melodies and folk songs intertwine across cultures. Their performance will be joined by Khawaja Ebrahim Ahrari, a renowned Sufi singer whose voice carries the depth of devotional heritage and mystical expression. To complete this experience, Elham Delavari will perform the Sama dance during the music, bringing to life the whirling devotion of the Sufi path. Her movements will transform sound into a visual expression of unity and transcendence, allowing music, poetry, and spirit to merge into one shared moment.

The evening will feature:

1. Launch of the Persian translation of From Kabul to Queens: The Jews of Afghanistan and Their Move to the United States by Sara Y. Aharon
2. "Convergence: At the Intersection of Hebrew and Persian Calligraphy” by Mr. Ruben Shimonov, National Director of Sephardi House & Education, American Sephardi Federation.
3. Special lecture on the history of the Afghan liturgical quire by Herschel Hepler, Associate Curator of Hebrew Manuscripts at the Museum of the Bible
4. Special conversation with Pastor Dr. Mark Burns, Chairman of the Multicultural Policy & Political Action Conference (MPAC)
5. Music performance by The Yuval Ron Ensemble
6. Dinner (Halal, Kosher and Vegetarian cuisine will be served)

Date: Monday, September 29, 2025

Time: 18:30 – 21:30

Venue: Museum of the Bible, 400 4TH ST. SW, WASHINGTON, DC 20024

Host or Publisher Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS)