#sephardic

[chaoticamelay]

was never on Duolingo but i love at-risk jewish languages so: tagging in with some free resources for learning Ladino/Judeo-Spanish, the threatened Sephardic Jewish language!

Video Courses

Ladino 101- Language and Song: An Intro Course to the Language and Culture of Ladino (Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America/ La Ermandad Sefaradi): Virtual lessons with recorded videos, Powerpoint slides, exercises with answers, vocabulary etc. It looks like some of the videos aren't on the site but if you open the playlist on youtube they are all there, albeit out of order!

Ladino 102- Language and Song: Intermediate Ladino (Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America/ La Ermandad Sefaradi): Second course of virtual Ladino lessons!

Kurso De Ladino (Autoridad Nasionala del Ladino i su Kultura): Youtube playlist of Ladino video lessons, but they are geared towards Hebrew speakers)

Books and Dictionaries:

Kantoniko: I LOVE THIS SITE... in Ladino kantoniko means "hidden corner" and this is truly a hidden corner of Ladino! It's an online dictionary, you can type in a word in English, French, Spanish, Castilian, Turkish, Portuguese, or Ladino (transliteration or Rashi script) and it will translate into as many of the others as it can!

Diksionario de Ladinokomunita: A Ladino to English and English to Ladino Dictionary pdf!

Manual of Judeo-Spanish: Language and Culture (Marie-Christine Varol): A manual for learning Ladino that also has pictures and Sephardi cultural info! It was made with a CD to accompany, but if you aren't willing to pay hundreds of dollars you can find just the manual on Anna's Archive or internet archive which is what I did

Beginner's Ladino (Alla Markova): This workbook is a good place to start if you're looking for a Ladino primer! You can apparently get it on Kindle but also: Anna's Archive

Tandem (App): Full disclosure I've never used this one, but allegedly you can learn Ladino on here... the premise of the app is basically it pairs you up with a native speaker

Soletreo: Writing the Ladino Script (Stroum Center for Jewish Studies): Just for funsies, a video lesson on how to write the letters of soletreo, Sephardic Ladino script!

Well, in light of all the dumb decisions duolingo is making right now, here's a few free/accessible resources for learning Yiddish:

Ultimate Yiddish Resources Masterpost

Yiddish/Ladino Queer Vocab Glossary

And some free PDFs:

Basic Yiddish: A Grammar and Workbook, by Rebecca Margolis

A Manual and Grammar of the Yiddish Language, by J. Mazin

Colloquial Yiddish: The Complete Course for Beginners, by Lily Kahn

Idisch y Latinoamerica, by Eliahu Toker

English-Yiddish Dictionary, by Alexander Harkevy

Cursive Alef Beys Writing Practice, YIVO standard, from YBC

Digital Yiddish Library, over 12k titles for free, from YBC

[adiradirim]

"A Jewish woman of Gibraltar," John Frederick Lewis, 1835.

[bobemajses]

Jewish prayer shawl corners, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 19th century

[theprofessorofdesire]

Creatures from the Kennicott Bible, an illuminated manuscript copy of the Hebrew Bible, copied in A Coruña, Spain in 1476 by the calligrapher Moses ibn Zabarah and illuminated by Joseph ibn Hayyim 🔮🦇👼🏼🐉🐻🐊🐒🦚🪞

It is regarded as one of the most exquisite illuminated manuscripts in Hebrew and one of the most lavishly illuminated Sephardic manuscript of the 15th century. According to the historian Cecil Roth, one of the most outstanding aspects of this copy is the close collaboration it shows between the calligrapher and the illuminator, rare in this type of work.

In 1476, Isaac, a Jewish silversmith from Coruña, son of Salomón de Braga, commissioned an illuminated Bible from the scribe Moses ibn Zabarah who lived in Coruña with his family on behalf of his patron. He spent ten months to scribe the Bible, writing two folios on a daily basis. Illumination of the manuscript was the responsibility of Joseph ibn Hayyim, who is remembered thanks to this work.

The first documentation of the Jewish presence dates to 1375. Jewish population in A Coruña grew rapidly throughout the Late Middle Ages. It is thought that after the persecution of Jews in Castile, a large number of Jewish people took refuge in Galicia. The Jewish community in Coruña traded with Castile and Aragon, and in 1451 they contributed to the rescue of the Murcian Jews with a large sum of money, which could demonstrate the prosperity of the community.

[transition-with-the-torah]

[Image Description: A screenshot of tags that read:

#oh i never knew henna was jewish #i was always taught it was indian (i think hindu) #the more you know

/End of description.]

Am Yisrael is ultimately still one people, even after generations upon generations of exile- i fully support like ashkenazim learning Judeo-Arabic or Bnei Menashe making and eating kugel

[secular-jew]

The first beauty queen in Iraq was Jewish.

In 1946, Renée Rebecca Dangoor was crowned Miss Baghdad, and she became Miss Iraq the following year, making her the first and only Jewish woman to hold these titles.

Renée was born to a Jewish Baghdadi family in December 1925. Her father, Moshe Dangoor, was the son of Ezra Dangoor, a prominent rabbi in Iraq.

Iraqi Jews are one of the oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities, tracing their roots back to the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BCE. By 1948, Iraq was home to approximately 150,000 Jews. Today, nearly all have been forced to leave the country because of their Jewish identity.

[leroibobo]

part of an illuminated scroll for counting the omer from holland, dating to the early 18th century.

[adhdnojutsu]

Stop lumping Sephardim and Mizrahim together. We are not interchangeable.

Sincerely,

a Mizrahi.

That's all.

Also here's HaTzel fanart.

[chanaleah]

in light of Columbia University including ashkenormativity -- albeit defined poorly -- in their dictionary or DEI words, here are some things that people (jews and non-jews) say that are ashkenormative.

"All Jews are white european colonizers!" - While this doesn't even apply to Ashkenazim (who are not white and are not colonizers), it especially doesn't apply to Mizrahim, most of whom's families never stepped foot in Europe.

"Falafel, shawarma, hummus etc aren't Jewish/Israeli foods!" - This erases this culinary traditions of Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews by claiming that the only Jewish foods are Ashkenazi ones. Hummus is just as much of a Jewish food as Babka is.

"Jews should just go back where they came from." - While an Ashkenazi Jew might (but not definitely - ie Ukraine) be able to go back to where our recent ancestors lived, most Mizrahim and Sephardim definitely could not.

[guerillababe]

A Jewish bride from the city of Salé in Northwestern Morocco (1935)

[estera-shirin]

Wedding or betrothal ring, England, 1699 CE

ok back to my regularly scheduled Jewish history content

The inscription reads, "Good luck. Joshua and Judith Tsarfathi. May their Rock and Redeemer guard them. 1699."

[sefaradweb]

The Non-Arab Third World and Antisemitism

🇦🇷🇧🇴🇵🇾🇨🇱 En América Latina, aunque existen comunidades judías notables en países como Argentina y Brasil, su presencia es mucho menor en comparación con Europa, América del Norte o el Medio Oriente. El antisemitismo en la región tiene raíces en el catolicismo tradicional, influenciado por la Inquisición y aspectos medievales del cristianismo español. Además, la extrema derecha en estos países ha adoptado la narrativa de los judíos como promotores del comunismo, combinando prejuicios religiosos con teorías ultranacionalistas que ven a los judíos como desleales. En países como Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina y Chile, algunos regímenes autoritarios ofrecieron refugio a criminales de guerra nazis y persiguieron a judíos, especialmente durante la dictadura militar en Argentina. Sin embargo, estas actitudes han sido más limitadas fuera de Argentina, y los moderados en la política latinoamericana han mantenido una imagen generalmente positiva de los judíos.

🇺🇸 In Latin America, while there are notable Jewish communities in countries such as Argentina and Brazil, their presence is much smaller compared to Europe, North America, or the Middle East. Antisemitism in the region is rooted in traditional Catholicism, influenced by the Inquisition and medieval aspects of Spanish Christianity. Additionally, the far-right in these countries has adopted the narrative of Jews as promoters of communism, blending religious prejudices with ultranationalist theories that view Jews as disloyal. In countries like Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Chile, some authoritarian regimes provided refuge to Nazi war criminals and persecuted Jews, especially during Argentina’s military dictatorship. However, these attitudes have been more limited outside of Argentina, and moderates in Latin American politics have generally maintained a favorable image of Jews.

Rubin, B. (1990). The Non-Arab Third World and Antisemitism. In: Wistrich, R.S. (eds) Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism in the Contemporary World. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-11262-3_8

[adiradirim]

Great Synagogue of Edirne, Turkey, photographed by Iris Veldwijk

[bobemajses]

Sephardi Jewish girl from Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ottoman Empire), 1903

[throughtheages]

Jewish (Sephardic) couple from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1910.

The first Jews came to Sarajevo, later called "Little Jerusalem", from the Iberian Peninsula in the early 16th century, bringing with them the Ladino language and Sephardi customs. A prosperous Jewish quarter with a synagogue was erected in 1577 under the pasha Siavush. Known to the Bosnians as tchifut-khan, the Jews themselves called it El Cortijo (the communal yard). Making up more than 20% of Sarajevo' total population, they maintained excellent relations with their Bosnian Christian and Muslim neighbors and held renowned positions as merchants, weavers, tailors, blacksmiths and hatchims (from the Arabic-Turkish Hakīm, "doctor"). With the Holocaust, this rich Jewish life and history tragically came to an end.

[secular-jew]

The Jews of Iraq are one of the most ancient communities of the Middle East.

Jews arrvied in Iraq in 586 BCE, and later drafted the Talmud in the Babylonian cities of Pompedita, Nahrdeah, and Surah (Modern day Fallujah).