eSefarad Noticias del Mundo Sefaradi
The First International Day of Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), a “celebration of a living historical Jewish language,” will be marked in Dallas with a special program on December 5, 2013, from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman Life Sciences building, Room 131.
The event is sponsored by the Nate and Ann Levine Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies of Southern Methodist University, and was organized by native Ladino speakers Rachel Amado Bortnick, founder of Ladinokomunita (the on-line forum in Ladino) and Dina Eliezer, Educational Director of Congregation Shearith Israel. According to Bortnick, the “multi-media, bi-lingual, interactive, informative, and fun” program will also honor the most senior of the Ladino speakers in Dallas: Edith Baker, born in Bulgaria, and Alegra Tevet, born in Greece.
The last day of Hanukah was designated this year in Israel as the date for the International Day of Ladino, to take place yearly on the same date around the world. The decision came from a committee in the government-supported National Authority for Ladino and Its Culture, whose president is Yitzhak Navon, the fifth President of the State of Israel and a native Ladino speaker. The largest celebration this year of the International Day of Ladino will be in Israel, at Bar-Ilan University’s 800-seat auditorium, andt Jewish communities around th eworld, including those of Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, and Dallas, will be holding special programs to promote knowledge of Ladino and Sephardic culture.
