Yiddish Isn't the Only Jewish Language....There are at Least Five Others

You might know about Yiddish, but have you come across other Jewish languages like Ladino, Aramaic, Judeo-Persian, Judeo-Arabic, and several more that are spoken across the Diaspora and Israel? 

It's true that all Jews connect through the same religion, culture, and history, but it doesn't mean they all speak the same "Jewish" languages (we're pretty sure there are at least 5 Jewish languages you've never even heard of). 

Throughout history, Jewish communities have made their mark all over the world, and their languages reflect the cultures they've interacted with. Take Yiddish for example, which originated in medieval Germany, or Ladino, shaped by Sephardic Jews after they were expelled from Spain, or the variety of Judeo-Arabic dialects. These languages aren't just about communication—they offer a unique window into a diverse linguistic heritage that's been evolving for centuries.

Unpacked, a division of Open Dor Media, has posted an interesting video about these Jewish languages. We found it informative and want to share it with you.

Enjoy!

Welcoming Shabbat with Yigdal by Rabbi Hillel Lavery-Yisraeli and Lara Traum

Most synagogues conclude the Friday evening service with the liturgical poem Yigdal. 

Yigdal (Hebrew: יִגְדָּל‬ means "Magnify [O Living God]") is a Jewish hymn which in various rituals shares with Adon Olam the place of honor at the opening of the morning and the close of the evening service. 

It is based on the 13 Articles of Faith formulated by Maimonides (The Rambam). A translation can be found in any bilingual siddur in the language of the country where it is sung.

Today we're welcoming Shabbat with a traditional Ladino Sephardic version of Yigdal by Rabbi Hillel Lavery-Yisraeli of the Israel Center of Conservative Judaism of Flushing, New York, and Lara Traum.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Welcoming Shabbat in Ladino with Sarah Aroeste Singing Buen Shabat

Tonight we welcome Shabbat with Buen Shabat, a lively song in the Ladino language, sung by Sarah Aroeste who, inspired by her family's Sephardic roots in N. Macedonia and Greece, has spent the last two decades bringing her contemporary vision for Sephardic culture- through music and books- to audiences around the world.  

Aroeste writes and sings in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish dialect that originated by Spanish Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. Those who left Spain, including Aroeste’s family, carried the medieval language with them to the various points where they later settled, primarily along the Mediterranean coast and North Africa. In time, Ladino came to absorb bits and pieces of languages all along the Mediterranean coast, including some Greek, Turkish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Hebrew, and more.

This exotic pan-Mediterranean language has, unfortunately, been fading away. But the continued musical legacy of Spanish Jews highlights the strength of an oral tradition that spans centuries and crosses many geographic boundaries.

American born and trained in classical opera as a teenager at Westminster Choir College and then at Yale University, Aroeste became drawn to her Sephardic musical past after spending a summer in 1997 performing at the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv.  There, she had the fortune of studying with Nico Castel, one of the world’s great Ladino singers and coaches at the Metropolitan Opera, with whom she learned she shared a similar Sephardic background.  Continuing to study with Castel upon her return to the US, Aroeste started incorporating classical Ladino songs into her opera repertoire. She quickly realized that Ladino, not opera, was her true musical passion and soon after made the leap to studying Ladino full time.

Since then, Aroeste has been a vocal advocate for exposing new audiences to Sephardic culture and has worked tirelessly to keep Ladino alive for a new generation. Aroeste is one of few Ladino composers today who writes her own music, and whether with her original compositions or with interpreting Ladino folk repertoire, she has developed a signature style combining traditional Mediterranean Sephardic sounds with contemporary influences such as rock, pop and jazz.

Sarah sings with participation from Alan Franco and Berkshire Salsa, and members of the Latino and Jewish communities of the Berkshires, Massachusetts.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews Celebrate Ladino Day in New York City

Yesterday was Ladino Day, a celebration of Sephardi culture. Yiddish instructor Moishele Alfonso attended the 7th annual event at the Center for Jewish History in New York City. There, he found several Yiddish speakers and chatted with them in order to find out what brought them there. 

Ladino Day is an educational and celebratory program that centers the Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) language through story and song, and with lectures and reflections from scholars, activists, and community members.

Due to demographic displacement, the destruction wrought by the Holocaust, and the pressures of assimilation, the number of native Ladino speakers has declined rapidly in the last 100 years: UNESCO has even designated Ladino an endangered language.

The language is being kept alive by colleges such as the University of Washington and Jewish organizations such as YIVO which conduct Sephardic Studies programs and annual celebrations with stories and song.

Moishele's video is in Yiddish, with English subtitles.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Tumbalalaika Around the World: A Yiddish and Ladino Version from Mexico

The Yiddish folk love song Tumbalalaika originated in Eastern Europe in the 19th century, but its exact origin is hard to pinpoint. That hasn't prevented it from being sung and played over and over, not only in places where Yiddish songs are sung, but just about everywhere in the world, in vocal and instrumental versions, in cabarets and in the movies.

Just as we have followed the songs Hava Nagila, Adon Olam, Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, and Abanibi as they took different forms as interpreted by a wide variety of singers, musicians, and dancers, we've been posting many interpretations of this universal courting and love song.
 
Here's a new one from Mexico. Sol de Enverano was born in 2011 as a Mexican research project focusing on the music and oral tradition of the Sephardic people and other cultures that inhabit the Mediterranean area, mainly from Greece and Turkey. 

In this interpretation, Sol de Enverano performs Tumbalalaika in Yiddish and Ladino.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Ladino Comes Alive in the Song Stylings of Mor Karbasi

Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish, was the language of the Sephardic Jews, similar to the way Yiddish was the language of the Eastern European Jews. It is influenced heavily by Hebrew and Aramaic, but also Arabic, Turkish, and to a lesser extent Greek and other languages where Sephardic exiles settled around the world, primarily throughout the Ottoman Empire.

Like many other Jewish languages, Judeo-Spanish is in danger of language extinction. Most native speakers are elderly, many of them having emigrated to Israel where the language was not transmitted to their children or grandchildren. However, it is experiencing a minor revival among Sephardic communities, especially in music.

Mor Karbasi, a second generation Israeli, is keeping Ladino alive in her singing performances and popular recordings. Her haunting melodies are based on the songs she learned from her grandfather, who grew up in Morocco and now lives in Nazareth.

In this video, Karbasi sings La Hija de la Primavera (The Daughter of Spring) in Ladino. Just below, we're sharing a short interview with Karbasi, in which she talks about her love for Israel and her Jewish identity, her roots in Morocco, the origins of Ladino, and how she and her mother write the words and music of piyutim (liturgical poems based on religious texts) that she sings in Ladino. Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)