Bivas! Kreskas! Engradeskas!
"May you live, grow up, and be brought up for good!"
Many happy sneezes have been blessed with this Ladino phrase conveying life, health and prosperity. The beauty of these Ladino phrases and customs have survived centuries of displacement and persecution. Passed on from one Sephardic generation to the next - they are like a savory pasteliko meat pie, lovingly and intricately formed, baked to perfection and served with love by one's doting Nona.
We are blessed in our generation to have a proliferation of community Jewish day schools, yeshivas and summer camps to ensure our Jewish continuity. The unfortunate consequence is that the product of these schools and programs are students with a shared cultural and religious background lacking any traditional diversity. Middle Eastern Jewish customs dominate the educational sphere in Israel while the Ashkenazi customs dominate in the Diaspora. Meanwhile, the nuanced traditions of many Jewish groups are homogenized and lost by students from other ancestral backgrounds and absorbed into the cultural Jewish mainstream. The Ladino-Sephardic tradition is just one example of a Jewish tradition threatened by cultural homogeneity.
Among the Sephardic community, Ladino is a treasured and venerated language but, sadly under threat. While there are many families and a handful of synagogues keeping the Ladino-Sephardic traditions, most of the Sephardic kahals do not incorporate Ladino liturgies and customs in their frequent services and programs. Many families inculcate the Ladino customs in their homes - as was done in my own family. My earliest memories are of singing 'Ya Komimos' after the Shabbat meal, my Father leading the Pesah seder in Ladino, and of my parents hollering 'Bivas' after a sneeze. Even then, I understood that Ladino, although not spoken colloquially in our home, was special and sacred. I trace my own roots back to the expulsion and I believe the story of the Jewish exile of Spain is a compelling one that teens of all Jewish backgrounds, whether Ashkenazi or Sephardic, should learn and understand. I believe the more stories we incorporate about Jews from different walks of life and backgrounds, the more we expand our sense of what it means to be Jewish.
The Ladino High School Club of America was born this past Spring at the Katz Yeshiva Day School of Boca Raton, Florida. The 2023 International Ladino Day was approaching and I very much wanted my kids to mark the occasion at their school as well as bring awareness of Ladino's precarious state and recent revival work. March 15, 2023 also marked the 80th anniversary of the deportation and destruction of the Jewish community of Monastir, today located in North Macedonia. Many people are unaware of the Sephardic/Ladino communities in the Netherlands, France, Italy, Greece and the Balkans that were destroyed in the Holocaust. My maternal side is Monastirli and extended relatives were shipped to Treblinka. Being a Mother of two teenage children, it was important to me that they carry their Sephardic heritage with pride and ultimately convey that to their children and grandchildren.
With the blessing of the school's administration, my children and I went about creating storyboards describing the 1492 Expulsion, the history of Ladino, and the story of the Solitreo script (written Ladino cursive). We then collected names of students who expressed an interest in learning more of this UNESCO endangered language and from there the club grew. This past summer, the Sephardic Brotherhood of America expressed interest in becoming the beneficiary of the club and supporting the efforts to bring Ladino awareness to high school youth. We are very grateful for the leadership of the Brotherhood as well as the ongoing efforts of La Ermandad to support its growth.
Teaching Ladino at the high school level is effective for a number of reasons. Students at this age are idealistic, sentimental and eager to contribute to causes that are meaningful and visionary. This new group of high school students are embracing the Ladino language and reclaiming traditions that are declining and at risk of disappearing. I am truly proud of them and their engagement in learning and reviving the language.
In addition to weekly zoom classes, taught by the phenomenal Aaron Shapiro, we also have plans for future shabbatons, Boreka Bakes, a Fruitikas party, a Solitreo course taught by Professor Bryan Kirschen and a new endeavor to match Young Ladino students with native Ladino speakers ('Bivas Buddies'). This past December we had an inaugural Shabbaton in Manhattan, sponsored by the Sephardic Brotherhood and we have a Pre-Pesah Shabbaton in Orlando planned for Spring 2024. I would be remiss if I did not mention the help and guidance I received over the past six months from both Al Maimon and Bryan Kirschen. Both of them were helpful in suggesting Ladino resources and corrections as well as guidance on the best way to initiate the club. I am truly grateful to both of them.
We are excited about the future of this club and the opportunities we will have to share the traditions, songs and history of Sephardic Jewry with our youth. We encourage all teens, whether Sephardic or not, to learn more about our group by visiting Bivas.org and coming to one of our events!
Comments