Bivas - the Ladino High School Club of America, organizes 4th Sephardic Student Shabbaton in Orlando, Florida

Students and staff at the Spring 2025 Bivas Youth Shabbaton in Orlando, Florida

Bivas – the Ladino High School Club of America, held its 4th National High School Shabbaton from March 20-23 in Orlando, Florida. More than two dozen Sephardic high school students gathered for an incredible three-day weekend led by Sephardic Community Educators Rabbi Yosef Kassorla (Boca Raton, FL), Sephardic Singer/Songwriter Sarah Aroeste, Sephardic Educator Avi Garson, Brotherhood Managing Director Ethan Marcus (New York), and Brotherhood Bivas Director Miriam Raphael Klein (Boca Raton, FL).

Students joined from Sephardic communities in Philadelphia, New York, Seattle, Atlanta, and South Florida, meeting one another in-person and getting the chance to experience a unique Ladino-speaking weekend. Students first arrived Thursday night, where they had the chance to settle in, meet one another, and learn about the standards and practices for the weekend. Friday morning, students started off the day with morning Shaharit services, followed by breakfast. Students then participated in a special Ladino 101 session and icebreak with Sarah Aroeste where they were assigned specific Ladino phrases to learn and share throughout the weekend. After that, students had a Sephardic baking session, where they learned how to bake traditional Sephardic biscochos and delicious stuffed grape leaves (Dolmas/Yapraks). In the afternoon, students had the opportunity for some bonding activities, exploring Disney Springs and an afternoon Waterpark Excursion. 

Friday night, Avi Garson and Rabbi Yosef Kassorla helped teach and lead students in a traditional Sephardic Kabbalat Shabbat Tefillah, followed by an incredible Shabbat dinner with traditional foods including Moussaka, fasouliya (string beans), and more. Avi Garson led the students in Sephardic pizmonim (traditional Shabbat songs) along with classic Ladino songs like Kuando El Rey Nimrod and La Vida Dor Por El Raki. After a group led Tefillah Shabbat morning, which included Torah Q&As with Rabbi Kassorla and renditions of Ein Kelohenu in Ladino, students broke out into session groups led by Rabbi Yosef, Sarah Aroeste, and Avi Garson, discussing questions like “What does your Sephardic identity mean to you?” learning fun Ladino Refranes (proberbs) and exploring the influence of great Sephardic Hahamim on American history. Shabbat afternoon, students had the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful day out with basketball and soccer courts. Everyone joined back together for afternoon and evening Sephardic services along with Seudah Shelishit, the traditional third meal of Shabbat. Sarah Aroeste also taught the students some of our special Passover songs in Ladino, including Un Kavretiko (Had Gadya), Kien Su Piense (Who Knows One).

After a beautiful group Avdalah to close out Shabbat, students had the chance to have some downtime and had the special opportunity to explore a local theme park! To wrap up the weekend on Sunday, students spent the day exploring all the awesome rides at the Universal Orlando theme park.

By the end of the weekend, students were using their Ladino phrases actively, with a Ke Haber? (What’s Up?) question always receiving an enthusiastic response of Todo Bueno! (All Good!) and Mashallah poo poo poo!

Si Kere El Dio – Our next Bivas Shabbaton will be Fall 2024 in Philadelphia, PA – and if you would like to get your teen involved, learn more at bivas.org or reach out to Miriam Raphael Klein at miriam@bivas.org.