The first ever International Ladino Day will be celebrated in Seattle with a program at UW Hillel on Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 7 pm. The event is hosted by the Sephardic Studies Program of the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies in collaboration with our local Sephardic community.

This celebration of the Ladino language and Sephardic culture in Seattle and across the world will include poetry readings, the singing of Ladino songs, and a brief presentation of the history of Seattle’s Sephardic community. Presenters include community members, UW undergraduate and graduate students, and UW faculty. Kosher reception to follow.

Free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by Congregation Ezra Bessaroth, Sephardic Bikur Holim, and the Sephardic Brotherhood.

Seating is limited. Please register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/international-ladino-day-tickets-8881224983

Background on International Ladino Day:

The National Authority for Ladino in Jerusalem, established in 1997 under the direction of the Fifth President of Israel, a native Ladino-speaker named Yitzchak Navon, proclaimed December 5th, 2013 to be the first International Ladino Day throughout the world. It provides an opportunity for Sephardic Jews and their communities, cities, states, and countries to celebrate the Ladino language and culture around the globe. In Israel, throughout Europe, in cities in South America including Buenos Aires and Sao Paolo, as well as in the United States, in New York, Dallas, Los Angeles as well as Seattle, the Day will be celebrated far and wide.