#judeo italian

[spacelazarwolf]

i had my first judeo-italian class today! it was cut short bc the professor had to leave early but i have a good feeling abt this class.

[transmascpetewentz]

Use any definition of "speak" that you'd like. This poll is just for fun.

[hero-israel]

Judeo-Arabic, Ladino, Romaniyot, Judeo-Italian, Krymchak... No Jews have been subjected to genocide and the destruction of culture and language, right. That wasn't a motivator for the creation of Israel, right.

Just more Europeans endlessly colonizing the Middle East and fetishizing one side of its totally unrelated conflicts to ACTUALLY be about themselves.

I've said it before - some of the absolute worst, most poisonous fantasy-based takes on I/P come in particular from Ireland and South Africa. Because when you are horribly oppressed by your neighbors for centuries, and then the oppression mostly ends but your neighbors are still your neighbors and you never get closure or restitution or anything, it can be hard or dangerous to blame your neighbors but it's very easy to blame the Jews. Like people who don't solve the problems of a bad home life but instead turn to drugs - it's commonly, mundanely human, a very understandable bad coping strategy. It doesn't become "true" just because of how common it is.

More on the antisemitic shit you hear from Ireland in particular:

[mariacallous]

In recent days, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has capitulated to the far-right anti-immigration agenda of Marine Le Pen. In July, in an electoral pact with the left, he sought a firewall against her. Now he has turned rightwards, giving her an effective veto over prime minister Michel Barnier’s new government.

By the end of the month, the Austrian Freedom party (FPÖ), founded by two former members of the SS, Anton Reinthaller and Friedrich Peter, is expected to form an anti-immigration,pro-Russian government. It will cement a new hard-right axis across Austria, Hungary and Slovakia, and more importantly, Italy, where step by step the far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni (who met Keir Starmer on Monday), is accused of taking control of the press and the judiciary.

The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has just won the east German regional elections in Thuringia and came second in Saxony. This is despite Germany’s domestic intelligence agency listing the AfD in three states as an “extremist” organisation, reflecting concerns about the Holocaust denial and links to far-right political violence of some of its members – and their invoking of banned Nazi slogans, for which the party’s Thuringian leader, Björn Höcke, has twice been found guilty in German courts.

But while Germany’s centre-right opposition leader, Friedrich Merz, who last year supported coalitions with the AfD in local government, has now refused to enter any national or regional coalition with the AfD, he has come closer to much of its anti-immigration agenda. He now wants “to talk about the issue of repatriation” of existing residents.

Now Höcke is openly mocking what he calls the “dumb firewall” against him, forecasting that it will not last. And last week the German coalition government reacted to the AfD’s success by tightening control of its bordersin an effort to curb irregular migration.

Another lurch rightward came with the decision last month by the Dutch health minister, a member of Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom party, to refuse requests from African countries for urgent help in the fight against mpox, even when the Dutch stockpile runs to 100,000 boxes of unused vaccines – many of which will pass their use-by date next year.

The spectre haunting Europe is not communism, as Karl Marx once wrote, but far-right extremism. And not much is left of the cordon sanitaire that was to keep out the far right. Europe now has seven governments with hard-right parties in control or in coalition, with Austria likely to be next, as once-immovable barriers to contamination are swept aside by centre-right appeasers.

“Breaking point” was the slogan on a poster that Nigel Farage deployed in 2016 during the Brexit referendum campaign, portraying bearded and dark-skinned migrants appearing to march in droves towards us. The exact same photograph was later replicated in Hungary, with the caption changed from “Breaking point” to “Stop”.

Similar slogans include “Stop the invasion” (“Stop invasione”), used by Matteo Salvini’s Italian League party; and “Close the borders” (“Grenzen dicht”), adopted by German far-right groups the AfD and Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West).

A few years ago, when the now-imprisoned former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon attempted to form a global coalition of anti-globalists, he managed to herd together a number of Europe’s rightwing leaders, from Nigel Farage to Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. He was involved in setting up an “Academy for the Judeo-Christian West” in Italy. And Trump’s “America first” Republican party is now one of many to adopt the “my country first” slogan.

Spain’s far-right Vox party has used “Primero lo nuestro. Primero los españoles”; Italy’s League, “Prima gli Italiani”; Hungary’s Fidesz party, “Nekünk Magyarország az első”; Germany’s AfD, “Unser Land zuerst”; Austria’s FPÖ, “Österreich zuerst”; and the Swiss People’s Party, “Die Schweiz zuerst”.

Outside Europe, “Önce Türkiye” (“Turkey First”) is promoted by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development party. The far-right Japan First party marches under the banner of “日本第一” (“Japan first”). “India first” has been adopted by prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party.

Variations on this theme include “Polska dla Polaków” (“Poland for Poles”),used by nationalists in Poland, Vox’s slogan “España viva” (“Long live Spain”), and “Brasil acima de tudo” (“Brazil above everything”), used by Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro.

In all, about 50 countries have already gone to the polls in 2024. “Fears that this year would reflect the global triumph of illiberal populism have so far been proved wrong,” Francis Fukuyama, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy and the author of the End of History and the Last Man thesis, has concluded. “Democratic backsliding can and has been resisted in many countries.”

He can, of course, point to the return of Labour in Britain, the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission, the shift away from the far right in Poland and the setback for Modi in India. But the Polish and Indian results tell me no more than tolerance of rightwing extremism can ebb when the electorate finds out that the nationalist demagogues are good at exploiting grievances, but bad at eradicating them.

And so we must not forget what has happened in countries from Indonesia to Argentina, the knife-edge fight for power in the US and – what Fukuyama misses in Europe – the insidious surrender of the centre to far-right prejudice.

Of course, there are ways to frustrate the onward rush of rightwing populists. Not only did the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, defeat the right in national elections last year, but he has skilfully engineered a split between Spain’s centre-right People’s party (PP) and the far-right Vox over the fate of vulnerable child migrants. Until July the two were in coalition in five key regions: Valencia, Aragón, Murcia, Extremadura and Castilla y León.

But it was not the centre-right PP that abandoned the extreme-right Vox; it was the extreme right that walked away from the centre right. And as long as the so-called moderates continue to play with fire – believing that by keeping their opponent close, they can eventually tame the beast – they will continue to lose. Sooner rather than later, the far-right poison will have to be countered with a progressive agenda focused on what matters to people most: jobs, standards of living, fairness and bridging the morally indefensible gap between rich and poor.

[daloy-politsey]

Applications for language classes beginning in Michaelmas Term 2024 are now open! These classes include ones on the following languages: Haketia, Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic, Classical Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Italian, Judeo-Moroccan, Judeo-Neo-Aramaic, Judeo-Persian, Ladino, Old Yiddish and Yiddish.

The deadline to apply is 16 September at 12 noon UK time.

[sefaradweb]

Learning Ladino

Ladino, also referred to as Judeo-Spanish or Judezmo, serves as the linguistic heritage of Sephardic Jews, or Sepharadim, descending from the Iberian Peninsula, which encompasses present-day Spain and Portugal. Following their expulsion from Spain in 1492, Sepharadim dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and beyond, predominantly finding refuge in the Ottoman Empire. It was within this diverse cultural milieu that Ladino emerged, blending Spanish and other Iberian languages with a robust infusion of Hebrew-Aramaic elements, while also incorporating linguistic influences from the surrounding Mediterranean regions such as Turkish, Greek, Italian, French, and Arabic. Embracing versatility, Ladino became the language of everyday life, spanning from domestic settings to public spaces like markets and synagogues, and encompassing various aspects of culture including humor, politics, and literature.

[outreach-by-adellah]

Throughout Time & Space - Modern Jewish Languages (19 Shevat)

Everyone has heard of Hebrew, the official language of the Jewish people. With over 9 million speakers and 7 million learners, it is certainly the most important and well-known Jewish language as well. However, it is by no means the only one! Many Jews do know that there are other some Jewish languages besides Hebrew, such as Yiddish and Ladino, but did you know that there are actually dozens of other Jewish languages in 7 different language families that are still spoken to this day!? In this week’s edition of Throughout Time and Space, you will be introduced to the most widely spoken Jewish language from each of these 7 families, and the history and culture behind them.

Afro Asiatic: Hebrew. Well, I did just say that Hebrew is the official language of the Jewish people, and the one with the most speakers by far, so it makes sense that Hebrew would be on the list. The Afro-Asiatic language family contains all of the Semitic languages, such as Hebrew and Arabic, as well as the vast majority of North and Northeast African languages. However, Hebrew is by far the most unique language out of any of them, as it is the only language in all of human history to be brought back from the “dead”, meaning that Hebrew is the only language to ever regain native speakers after having none at all for thousands of years. Of course, it is no coincidence that this has only ever happened to the language of Hashem’s chosen people!

Austronesian: Judeo-Malay. Judeo-Malay is (or, was, as it may have recently gone extinct) the only Judeo language in the Austronesian language family, which includes a huge diversity of languages from Maritime Southeast Asia. It is spoken by Jews in the Northern Malaysian state of Penang, and is very closely related to the Malay language of that same region. All surviving manuscripts in this language exist in the notebook of Rahamim Jacob Cohen, an Iranian Jew, and are currently being kept by the British Library.

Dravadian: Judeo-Malayalam. Judeo-Malayalam is also the only Judeo language in its language family (the Dravidian family, spoken in southern India and Sri Lanka), and is spoken by the Cochin Jews (the oldest Jewish community in India, perhaps tracing back to the time of King Solomon) in both Israel and Kerala India. Since this language is extremely similar to Malayalam, it is considered by some to be a “dialect” rather than a language, but some argue that there are enough Hebrew loanwords and unique features in Judeo-Malayalam for it to be considered a unique language. Unlike other Judeo languages, Judeo-Malayalam is not written using the Hebrew alphabet. Unfortunately, this Judeo language may not be around for much longer, as the vast majority of its speakers now live in Israel, where they mainly speak Hebrew. Indo-European: Yiddish. Yiddish is perhaps the most well known Jewish language aside from Hebrew, as it was the primary Jewish language in Europe until very recently. However, it is certainly not the only Judeo language in its family. The Indo-European language family also includes the somewhat well known Jewish language of Ladino (also known as Judeo-Spanish), as well as dozens of lesser known languages such as Judeo-Persian (Jidi), Judeo-Portuguese, and Judeo-Italian. Yiddish originated in what is now Germany as a West Germanic dialect, but quickly became a language in its own right. Although many of Yiddish’s speakers were murdered in the holocaust, it is by no means an endangered language. Every year, the number of Yiddish speakers actually increases (it’s currently at about 1 million) due to its use as a primary language in Haredi communities in pretty much every country with Haredim. Many famous Jewish authors, such as Shalom Aleichem, have written in Yiddish.

Kartvelian: Judeo-Georgian. Judeo-Georgian (called Qivruli in the language itself) is one of two Kartvelian (South Caucasus) Judeo languages, the other being Judeo-Mingrelian which is nearly extinct. However, Judeo-Georgian actually has about 60,000 native speakers! It is spoken by Jews who live in the country of Georgia, a community which has been there for 2,600 years after escaping Babylonian captivity. Although Judeo-Georgian is mutually intelligible with Georgian, it has enough Hebrew loanwords to be considered its own language (a similar situation to Ladino and Spanish, or even Yiddish and German). The language is written using the Hebrew alphabet.

Turkic: Krymchak. Krymchak is spoken in Crimea in the Krymchak community, which is mostly composed of Jewish immigrants. The language shares a lot of similarities to Crimean Tatar, which is the dominant language of the region. However, Krymchak is considered a language in its own right due to the amount of Hebrew loanwords it contains. In the past, the language was also written using Hebrew letters, but it is now written using Cyrilic (and during the time of the Soviet union was written in a modified Latin alphabet). Although this language once had quite a number of native speakers, it is now nearly extinct, with fewer than 800 speakers in Crimea and a couple thousand worldwide. There are single digit numbers of native speakers.

Creole: Judeo-Papiamento. Judeo-Papiamento is a Jewish language with its roots in the Portuguese-based creole (creoles are languages that are formed by two or more distinct languages combining and simplifying. Many, including this one, were formed during the colonization of the Americas) language of Papiamento. The language was first spoken by Sephardic Jews in Curacao, which is where it is still most commonly used to this day. Judeo-Papiamento differs from Papiamento as it contains many Hebrew loanwords and is also pronounced slightly differently. Judeo-Papiamento is the only living Jewish creole language and also the only Jewish language with any ties to the Netherlands.

So, that was your first glance at Judeo languages across the world. The fact that Jews speak so many languages in so many different language families all across the world is truly a testament to how long we have been living in exile. However, the fact that many of these languages are now dying is a testament to another form of Jewish resistance. We no longer need to continue speaking languages tainted by our exile, as we have now revived the language of our ancestors for our children to become its native speakers. Normally, it is sad when languages die, but these languages are not dying because their speakers are dying - they are being laid to rest because their speakers are finally returning home to their motherland and mother tongue. Although these languages are fascinating to learn about, Iy”H they will soon be relegated to the history books while the people of Israel live.

Tell me in tags: How many of these languages have you heard of before? How many do you speak? Are you also a Hebrew speaker? Let me know in the tags!

Jew Joke:

What does a kvetcher always have for breakfast?

A (com)plain bagel.

[gorillawithautism]

arabic seems pretty i think

putting in on the list of "languages i would like to learn but probably never will" right next to indonesian

that list also features

literally every jewish language but especially judeo-italian and yiddish

"african" and "indian" (ik african and indian aren't language but specific languages aren't not mentioned because i haven't done any research or narrowed it down at all i just have a vague interest in african and indian languages respectively)

latin and/or greek but like the old stuff,, because etymology is interesting to me

probably more but i don't actually have this written down anywhere so idk

"native american" (again, not an actual language because same deal as african and indian languages with not narrowing it down... i just think it would be cool to learn more about various cultures of the land i occupy and learning languages is a great way to learn about culture from the people who speak said languages)

japanese

[sethshead]

ooohthatsmelll "JVPUSC's ig story is now full of major cope about their inability to read or write Hebrew lmao"

waluigistache "I mean yiddish is also written right to left💀,it isnt even modern hebrew,this seder plate has existed in the diaspora for CENTURIES,given they are college students,that means they celebrated passover a handful of times to know its not רורמ but מרור" Next_Dragonfruit_969 "What nonsense. If someone was showing off a homemade Basmala calligraphy, and they spelled everything wrong there would be serious questions about their connection to the faith. Praying in Arabic is required in Islam - it is the language of God. 

"Plus Yiddish and Judeo-Italian and others all use the Hebrew alphabet and Semitic style of reading (right to left). The oxford School of Rare Jewish Languages explains better than I could. 

"Jews have always prayed in Hebrew, even the most Reform, Reconstruction, or humanist branches. This is an insane statement."  minecrafthentai69 "'Dino' it's Ladino, lmao."

[bookwyrminspiration]

ALSO idk if youd be interested but oxford is also doing free zoom classes in endangered jewish languages, applications are out now :] im trying out for judeo moroccan because thats the only time slot i can do but they also have judeo greek, ladino, old yiddish, yiddish, judeo italian, and so many more its so cool sorry for rambling so much LMAO

OO I didn't know about those--and no need to apologize, you're far from rambling by my standards. And language is a topic I love!

I have the site pulled up and will have to think about whether I want to join one or not--I do love learning new languages, but I am about to start another. Especially since I'm also taking my own classes and don't know if I'll have the time. Either way, they do list materials, so I could look at those on my own.

Regardless of whether I can do it or not, I appreciate knowing about it! So thank you for sharing with me :)

[spacelazarwolf]

help me figure something that me n my friend have been arguing abt (we’re both jews shes ashkenazi im sephardi/mizrachi i need another non-ashkenazi opinion abt this and all my jewish mutuals r ashlenazi)

is yiddish the ‘mother tongue’? and if it is, does that mean that all jews should speak it, ashkenazi or not?

yiddish is the diaspora language that primarily ashkenazi jews spoke and some still speak. other diaspora groups had/have different diaspora languages depending on where they spent the diaspora. i’m taking a judeo italian class, and am hoping to take ladino (largely spoken by sephardi jews) as well.

yiddish is the mother tongue…for people whose communities spoke it. it is not The One Jewish Mother Tongue, and to say that all jews should speak it for that reason is ashkenormative as fuck.

[magickfromscratch]

Thank you for saying it.

Leftists, of course, excuse it by saying that we are white, and therefore fair game.

I look European. Sort of. I don't have a really obvious Jewish nose. You might peg me as Italian, or Irish. And so my positionality is "white" until I have the audacity to reveal any aspect of my culture. Then my positionality is "Jew."

I've lost jobs for being Jewish. I have literally been de-facto fired for being unwilling to work during the High Holidays (they just cut my hours to nothing, until it wasn't worth working there anymore). I've been stalked down streets with people screaming slurs at me, in Boston! Because I covered my head. Because I looked Jewish.

And people will say, "that's your religion. AndJudeo-Christian religion is evil. And it's garbage. And its a choice." There is no Judeo Christian anything. There's Judaism, and there's the shit white Christians stole from us, because they believe that they're the new us.

And it's not my religion. It's my culture. Not eating pork is my culture. Dressing that way is my culture. Those rituals are my culture. Do you know what it's called when you use power to force people to stop practicing their culture and to practice yours instead? It's called cultural genocide.

Pale skinned people are expected to give up their culture to become white. They'll say that I'm only experiencing bigotry because I won't allow "white" to replace my culture. I cannot tell you how many Democrats and Leftists have blithely told me, "well, your religion is a choice," by which they mean a bad one. And by my religion, they meant my food and dress. My taboos and obligations to the God of our tribes, and to our ancestors.

But you know what? The "blood drinking elites" shit isn't about visibly Jewish people. It isn't about Jews practicing Jewish culture.

"Secretly in control of the media" and "run all the banks" isn't about visibly Jewish people. It's about the people who've already succumb to the pressure and been assimilated. The minute we do what we're told, and consider ourselves white, as instructed, once we are no longer visibly Jewish, the hunt begins, the conspiracy begins.

The first Jewish people to die in the Holocaust were the ones serving in Germany's military. The stars we wore were an answer to the German anxiety about the "secretly Jewish."

We can't win. Never could. The Right wants us dead, the Left wants us to peacefully vanish in a puff of smoke in some way that absolves them of any responsibility. Because, you know, American Jews are terrible because Israel. Like I, personally, have any power over what Israel is doing. As if keeping Shabbos is me helping Israel do bad things. As if me covering my head is support for Israel's actions. The excuses change, but the reality hasn't.

"In every generation, they rise up against us."

We'll be fine. We'll survive. It's what we do. But how people treat us shows you exactly who they are.

im not Jewish nor am I educated enough on the topic to speak from any place of authority but its very concerning/frustrating/fucking aggravating how much antisemitism is seeping into leftists circles again (not that it ever really left). like popular bloggers on here are posting memes that have like 5 dog whistles in a row in them and are completely ignoring or mocking anyone that points it out. After all its all "ironic" anyways, so its actually funny to say "hollywood is full of devil worshipping, blood drinking, pedophiles" and not the oldest trick in the antisemitic playbook.

of course if that wasnt enough to just post it, you can look at the people reblogging it directly from these leftists and you'll see some of the most infamously racist bloggers on this website so like, how ironic is it? because that guy is taking it at face value and is now going to see you as being on his side no matter how many leftist words you have in your bio.

it fucking sucks and it all feeds into the constant harassment Jewish people face for just being alive and its not going to end there. be better or kill yourself

[dhampiravidi]

modern royalty - Naela

BASIC DESCRIPTION

Legal Name - Naela Asinia Vesune Antaryos, Princess of Braavos (Heir Apparent) Age - (plot-dependent) 15 to 30 Gender - Cisgender Woman Sexuality - Bisexual (Biromantic) Ethnicity - Arab, Berber, French, Italian Religion - Fuck Around & Find Out :) Family - Ferrego Cogite Saevin Antaryos (father; Lord of Braavos), Ashara Antaryos née Djabou (mother; Lady of Braavos) Languages - Standard Italian, (Moroccan/Darija) Arabic, Braavosi, some (British) English, some (European) French

APPEARANCE (FC is Tristin Mays)

Naela stands at 5'5" (1.65 m). Like the typical celebrity forced into the public frame, she has a healthy build, which is somewhat toned thanks to her athletics. Visually, Naela takes after her mother, inheriting her near-lavender irises, light brown skin tone, & facial features. She wears her dark, slightly wavy hair in a braided updo for formal occasions but prefers to wear it free, resting just below her shoulders.

PERSONALITY

It’s rare that she’s ever truly still or sad. The exceptions to this are when she’s learning history (which keeps her still) or longing for an adventure. Otherwise, she's playing sports (horseback riding or fencing), attending state events, or hanging out with her friends. She’s a hopeless romantic at heart, partly due to the fact that her parents fell in love at first sight. This quality ties into her main weakness–her naivety. Though admirably loyal, optimistic & true, Naela is often warned that her heart will be her undoing if someone with ill intentions tries to lead her astray. Naela likes reasonably spicy or tart foods, horses, furry animals, daydreaming, reading, making people laugh & playing with kids.

COUNTRY

Braavos is a Mediterranean country located between Algeria & Tunisia in North Africa. It overlooks Italy, which it has participated in several cultural & demographic exchanges with over the centuries. It was founded during the High Middle Ages, just after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, by people fleeing Western Europe, chiefly among them, escaped slaves. As such, the country has a long history of having civil rights protections. Braavos is wealthy because of its status as an important European port (which exports oil, electronics & fish) & because it commonly lends money to foreign nations (this always leads to a debt that accrues interest over time). Its national language, Braavosi, is similar to Latin; it is only spoken by 6% of the population, while 97% is fluent in Italian or Arabic. Unlike most countries, Braavos has a monarch who actively participates in politics. Theirs, the Lord of Braavos, has partial legislative & full executive powers. There is no official state religion. Still, there are a decent number of Judeo-Christian Gnosticists (who believe that the goal is to transcend our flawed material existence by reaching enlightenment & reconnecting with the benevolent god who opposes evil) in Braavos. There is also a large group of Sunni Muslims living there. Because Naela's father has not converted to Islam, his marriage to Naela's mother is not legally recognized in Morocco. The flag of Braavos features five small silver stars in a v-shape, all sitting on a navy blue background.

[swirlwineconsulting]

The Last Supper by Phillip Smeeton

Spring Forward to Wines for Easter and Passover

It is no wonder that Easter and Passover often occur so close together, even overlap in some years during the seven days Passover is observed in Israel and the eight days elsewhere among the Jewish diaspora.  After all, the Last Supper was, in fact, a Seder. Redemption and salvation are the central themes of the Judeo-Christian ties between these highest of holy days. I was blessed to experience the breadth of these themes growing up in a blended family of Catholics and Sephardic Jews, hearing the stories and eating the food. The relationship is reflected not just on the calendar; but in the meals partaken by observers at either or both tables. So much is shared in common, except of course, pork, leavened bread, shellfish and mixing dairy and meat; but that’s a different story. Wine was at the center of each meal, especially for early Christians for whom it was safer than the local water to drink.

Let’s design a list of wine pairings to bridge the gap-satisfy most palates without bending too many “kashrut” rules. For Passover you need Kosher wines, wines made by Sabbath-observant Jews with no non-kosher additives used in the process.  Kosher status is typically denoted by the letter U or K in a circle, with a P in superscript. “Mevushal” wines are flash-pasteurized so they can be handled by non-observant folks yet remain kosher. At Seder each adult will sip from four cups of wine, representing the redemption of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. A fifth cup is left unconsumed and reserved for the prophet Elijah. I like to propose five or six wines, to keep things interesting. Those celebrating the Resurrection of Christ can pair one wine with each course; serve one white and one red or stick with Welch’s-no judgement here.

So feel free to pass on the Manischewitz, my suggestions, like champagne, go with everything and will pair well with carrot tzimmes for Passover as well as that ubiquitous spiral cut ham on Easter. For starters- Champagne Drappier-The Drappier family tree can be traced back to1604. Since 2016, the eighth generation of the Drappier family incorporates animals and nature preservation, ploughing parts of the organically-farmed vineyard by horse and earning “Carbon Neutral” accreditation.  Drappier estate creates a wide array of Pinot Noir based demi-sec to extra brut cuvees, including “sans soufre” or zero dosage (added sugar), zero sulphur added bottlings, all delicious.

For the meal-Psagot Rosé is a blend of red varietals harvested from vineyards in the Northern Jerusalem Mountains. It is a beautiful salmon colored, dry wine with aromas of pink grapefruit and lemon zest. Psagot Edom is a well-rounded proprietary Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. Balanced and harmonious, it has a rich and wide structure with layered flavors and aromas.  Ditch the mint jelly and pair this with a garlicky roasted leg of lamb or braised lamb shanks for Seder or Easter dinner. Check Total Wine for the wines listed above, quickly as they sell out fast this time of year.

Not all kosher wines are made in Israel and not all wines made in Israel are kosher. Ask your local merchant for recommendations.  Other kosher producers that I like include Tulip, Flam and Teperberg…wineries that  make wonderful wines from Israel to round out your kosher friendly list.  For further biblical references, I turn to Palestine and Armenia for non-kosher but relevant selections. Cremisan Wine Estate sits on the West Bank of Palestine overlooking Bethlehem, in a monastery established in 1885 by Italian Monks making an array of wines using organically grown, auctochthonous, Palestinean grapes. Star of Bethlehem Dabouki is a super crisp white wine which smashed my misconceptions of winemaking in what I presumed was a day and night hot desert. This delightful wine has all the hallmarks of a moderate to cool climate - clean, stone fruit, tropical fruit notes and beautifully balanced minerality and acidity. Cremisan was the first winery to produce wines from local Palestinian grapes and to test their genetic analysis to confirm which are native to Palestine. The main varietals grown there are Dabouki, Hamdani, Jandali, Baladi, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier, Petit Verdot and Merlot. They created a unique distillery made of copper, from which Cremisan has produced a brandy now aged for 35 years in oak barrels. In 2020 Cremisan also started to make a unique traditional Arak from 53% Dabouki grapes.

The bible tells us that Noah’s Ark rested upon Mount Ararat, part of which lies in present day Armenia, where Noah planted grapes to celebrate the survival of humanity (my guess is that the animals were also grateful). Rich in historical and biblical references, Armenia is reviving its claim as one of the oldest wine growing regions in the world (Georgia and China argue otherwise; but again, that’s another story). Armenia was also home to one of the worst cases of genocide in the 20th century (please look it up, we should know these things).

My first encounter with Armenian wines took place in Montreux, Switzerland where I met winemaker Zorik of Zorah winery, who returned to Armenia after years in Italy to uncover the history and secrets of more than 6,000 years of winemaking that had been all but wiped out during Soviet rule. Zorik salvaged old vineyards, researched and collected amphora to recreate that rich history which now represents the pinnacle of his now highly prized and allocated wines.

American, Paul Hobbs journeyed from fame as a Napa Valley golden child in the ‘90’s to Argentina, then Cahors, France then further east to create Yacoubian-Hobbs, a collaboration with the Yacoubian brothers in 2008. Reviving such ancient varietals as: Voskehat -or "golden berry" the emblematic white variety of Armenia; Khatuni; Qrdi and Garan Demakor "sheep's tail". I adore the white blend and the red Yacoubian-Hobbs Sarpina of 100% Areni from the southern highlands. I felt like I’d encountered the burning bush in the desert that told me that I had found home. The flavors are like a Burgundian style Pinot blended with St. Joseph Syrah, satiny dark fruit aromas with muddled strawberries, blackberries, pomegranate, black cherries, black pepper, anise and bourbony vanilla.

There is so much to unpack here in the delta where Christianity and Judaism cross paths. So much history and so much yet to be discovered. What better place to start this discovery than at the table? Happy Easter and Chag Pesach Sameach!

[sefaradweb]

Matilda Koen Sarano Z'L: Despedida i Homenaje

🇪🇸 Emisión en Sefardí: El programa rinde homenaje a la memoria de Matilda Koen Sarano Z"L, destacada trabajadora por la difusión de la lengua y cultura sefardí. Matilda Koen, de origen sefardí italiano de Turquía, fue una destacada defensora del judeoespañol y del rico patrimonio de la tradición oral. Autora de numerosos libros y colaboradora en medios como Kol Israel, enseñó el cuento popular sefardí y la lengua en universidades en Israel. Se comparte parte de su obra teatral "Maridos i Mujeres" y sus poesías-kantes interpretadas por Mónica Monasterio. El programa concluye con el deseo de continuar su importante labor.

🇺🇸 Broadcast in Ladino: The program pays tribute to the memory of Matilda Koen Sarano Z"L, a dedicated advocate for the dissemination of Sephardic language and culture. Matilda Koen, of Italian Sephardic origin from Turkey, was a prominent figure in preserving Judeo-Spanish and its rich oral tradition. Author of numerous books and a contributor to Kol Israel, she taught Sephardic folk tales and the language at universities in Israel. The program shares excerpts from her musical comedy "Maridos i Mujeres" and her poetry-songs performed by Mónica Monasterio. The broadcast concludes with a hope to continue her important work.

[thevibrantcolor]

i really debated myself over responding to any such posts, bc obviously i hate everything israel is doing rn, and i think their entire gov belongs in jail, but this is literally the millionth time i've seen brain-dead takes from people with zero knowledge about mizrahi/spharadi communities, and i am at wit's end.

funny how this lady doesn't even know that most italian jews are not ashki, but are either spharadi or italki, another distinct identity.

funny that she knew to bring up ladino (poorly, but still), but didn't see fit to mention 4 JUDEO-ARABIC LANGUAGES as well as judeo-persian. and honestly, i doubt she knows hebrew was the connecting langues of nearly all jewish communities, and all judeo languages including ladino and yiddish use the hebrew alphabet.

funny how she knew to mention ethiopian jews in the context of oppression, but couldn't mention that they're called beta-israel, or name ANYTHING about their culture and language, anything that makes them people.

funny how she didn't know/see fit to mention that the main reason for the ashki/spharadi dichotomy is due to styles of prayer, and not a distinct culture, kind of like the eastern part of the roman empire spoke greek and the western part latin.

funnier still how people keep talking about the expulsion of jews from spain as if it only affected mizrahi culture - almost treating it as a year zero and ignoring preexisting mizrahi culture - but left no notable mark on ashkenazi culture, according to people like this lady.

my mother's family are afghan jews. very little is left of our history and culture, and not a single jew lives in afghanistan today. a community over 2000 years old is now gone and what do i have to show for it? how are we remembered? as a cheap fucking prop in an argument we didn't ask to be a part of, made by a lady who doesn't understand basic fucking genetics. for shame.