TURKEY

4th International Ladino Day celebrated in Istanbul

To preserve the Judeo-Espanyol language which is a part of Turkish-Jewish culture, the 4th International Ladino Day (Dia Enternasional del Ladino/Judeo-Espanyol) was celebrated in Istanbul on Saturday evening on March 4th and on Sunday March 5th at Ulus Private Jewish School.
4th International Ladino Day celebrated in Istanbul

Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva, Rabbi Yeuda Adoni, guests from other countries and members of Turkish Jewish Community attended the event. The event once again highlighted the need to keep this language alive. 

The event kicked off on Saturday evening with the song of the day followed by Silvyo Ovadya and Karen Sarhon’s opening speeches. Prof. Susanna Weich-Shahak gave a presentation with the title “Tangos Sefaradis” and talked about Sephardic tangos, tangos originated from the countries Sephardic people once lived in. After the presentation, Los Pasharos Sepharadis music group performed a cheerful concert with a repertoire consisting of various Sephardic tangos. 

On Sunday, at noon, the screening of the second Judeo-Espanyol film “La Istoria de la Libreria Molho en Salonik” produced by Centropa Research Center took place. The film about the historical Molho Library also depicted life at Salonika, a city that once had the largest Sephardic community. After the film, Anna Eskenazi, Suzet Herman and Karen Şarhon gave a presentation with the title, ‘Djoha Avlo i Espajo’.  Anne Eskenazi explained the philosophy hidden in Dhoja’s anecdotes. Then Suzet Herman gave examples from Djoha’s anecdotes. Karen Gerson explained the meaning of some of those anecdotes along with the meaning of some popular idioms. 

Can Evrensel, a Turkish speaker coming from Israel gave a presentation with the title, “Perception and Judeo Espanyol”. In his presentation, Can Evrensel said, “Do not believe some of the statements by media and some people that imply Judeo Espanyol is dead. It is not true. It is only perception. We can change this perception. Judeo-Espanyol is a comprehensive culture we must learn. We must keep this culture alive.” 

Yurri Sasson, the President of La Kaza Muestra at Malaga who came from Spain for the event, also spoke at the event. He gave information about the project ‘Museo Sefaradi del Retorno- The Return of Sephardim Project’.

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