Pearl Sofaer

About Pearl Sofaer

Pearl Sofaer was born and grew up in Bombay, India.  Her large family originated in Baghdad and Kirkuk, Iraq, before migrating to Burma and India during the latter part of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.  After the partition of India in 1947, most of her family moved to the four corners of the globe to become a living collage of many nations.  One of the results of their rich heritage and embrace of their new cultures has been an expanded repertoire of cuisine, grounded, of course, by the traditional foods of Iraq and India.  Food continues to be the centerpiece of celebrations hosted by members of this vast clan, many of who generously opened their kitchens to their cousin.

Educated in India and England, Pearl earned a masters degree in mediation in the United States. Besides writing, Pearl is an accomplished visual artist and singer.  She has shown her paintings and sculptures in art exhibitions throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and has performed at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle, Southern Oregon University, and elsewhere.  In addition, she served as a cantor for the Barah Congregation for more than 10 years.  She currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area near her children and grandchildren.

Click link below to preview Pearl's oral history interview with JIMENA:

Pearl Sofaer, An Iraqi Jew from India. JIMENA, Oral History 2010