De la fasha asta la mortaja: From the cradle to the grave

Ladino Day 2019 will survey the life cycle customs and traditions unique to Sepharadim from the Ottoman Empire. From berit mila to bar mitsva, weddings to funerals, the program will highlight a selection of major life events and explore shifts in Sephardic culture and the Ladino language through textual and material artifacts, oral histories, and photographs. Performances of Ladino songs by the Ladineros, Seattle’s long-time Ladino conversation group, a Ladino reading by Anna Jacoby (Northwest Yeshiva High School ’22), and a multimedia presentation by Professor Devin Naar will bring memories of these Sephardic traditions to life.

Share your memories and photos with us

The Sephardic Studies Program is actively collecting photographs for the Sephardic Studies Digital Collection. We are specifically interested in photos that document:

• birth
• berit mila (circumcision)
• pidyon ha-ben (ceremony for the first born son)
• zeved ha-bat (baby naming for a girl)
• bar/bat mitsva (Jewish coming of age)
• weddings
• funerals/mourning

Please share your photos on this form.

We are also interested in hearing your memories, reflections, and impressions of Sephardic life cycle events that you experienced. Did your wedding have a Sephardic twist? Does your family have unique traditions related to celebrating birth, death, or anything in between? Share your memories with us here.

Beyond Ladino Day: Sephardic life cycles digital exhibit

The Sephardic Studies Program will be piloting a new digital exhibit with the same theme as this year’s Ladino Day celebration. The exhibit will go live online the evening of December 5th and will offer a deeper dive into the themes, questions, and artifacts presented at the public Ladino Day program. Make sure you are following the Sephardic Studies Program on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and are signed up for our e-newsletter, to receive updates about the digital exhibit!

Register for the event

If you are a UW student or faculty member, please register for a UW student or faculty ticket.

Because of a high level of interest in the program, our remaining general-audience tickets are very limited!

This event is made possible through the generosity of the Lucie Benveniste Kavesh Endowed Fund for Sephardic Studies. Cosponsored by the Departments of Spanish & Portuguese Studies, Linguistics, History, and Anthropology; The University of Washington Libraries; The Turkish and Ottoman Studies Fund at the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations; Sephardic Bikur Holim, Congregation Ezra Bessaroth, and the Seattle Sephardic Network.