Did you know that there is a vibrant Sephardic community in Palm Beach, Florida? The Sephardi Federation of Palm Beach County was founded in 1992 and since inception, our mission has been to preserve and advance Sephardic culture and Ladino with quality educational and social programming. While our activities primarily serve South Florida, we maintain cooperative relationships with Sephardic communities and leaders across the globe. Later this year, we will be proudly celebrating our thirtieth anniversary. When the pandemic began in March 2020, all of our programs shifted to zoom, but for the 2022-23 season we plan to return to all in-person activities.
Our annual International Ladino Day in South Florida has featured renowned guest artists and speakers including Sarah Aroeste; Professors Bryan Kirschen and Devin Naar, singer Susana Behar, and the Harmonic Motion duo of Middle Eastern dancer Myriam Eli and musician husband Joe Zeytoonian. Our February 2023 celebration will feature Hazzan Ramon Tasat. Our Viva Ladino classes bring together students who want to learn and share Ladino. Textbooks edited by Alla Markova, Gloria Ascher, and Matilda Koen-Serano are used, in addition to a wide variety of other resources of stories, poetry and articles.
Echar Lashon originally started as a social and cultural club for native and new Ladino speakers who met informally to have a coffee and a biscochos once a month. When we switched to zoom, the program pivoted, with different invited guest speakers and interviewers each month. Last season’s guests were all “Who’s Who” in the Sephardic world: ethnomusicologist Dr. Judith Cohen; Professor Gloria Ascher; Hazzan Isaac Azose; Rachel Bortnick; Hazan Ramon Tasat, Albert S. Maimon; and Professors Jane Mushabac and Daisy Braverman. The coming season’s musafires (guest) will include: Ian Pomerantz; Alex Acero; Becky Franco; Annette Fromm; and Larry Confino.
The name Vijitas de Alhad translates to “Sunday Visits,” where we offer borekas, coffee, baklava, and biscochos and special programming. Previous “Vijita” guests have included Liliana and Marcelo Benveniste from Buenos Aires; Professor Dina Danon; and Flory Jagoda, z”l. Another “Vijita” guest included Brotherhood member Dr. Joe Halio, who is also a member of the SFPBC. We also present “Fascinating Sepharadim: A Film Series showcasing documentaries, culled from national Jewish Film Festivals, which shed light on the great diversity of Sephardic and Middle Eastern Jewish life and history.
Every year, we finish our season with a Model Seder in Ladino. Members prepare traditional Pesah foods, such as minas de spinaka i de keso; keftikas de prasa and bimuelos de Pesah.
If you ever visit South Florida, look us up! We invite you to experience an “Echar Lashon” or “Vijita de Alhad” and dunk a biscocho in your cup of coffee. And if you’re lucky, our President Rose Pappo Allen will read your fortune from your coffee grounds! For more information, go to www.sephardifederationpbc.org
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