Members of Seattle’s Sephardic community hit the streets in July to join the first in-person tours of the old Sephardic neighborhood hosted by the Seattle Sephardic Network, in partnership with the Washington State Jewish Historical Society and the two Sephardic synagogues – Congregation Ezra Bessaroth (EB) and Sephardic Bikur Holim (SBH). The tours, which included a traditional desayuno (breakfast) and tour of the synagogues, had been discussed and tried before the COVID pandemic struck and shut down in-person gatherings. During the COVID shut down, a digital tour was created so that people could walk the old neighborhood on their own or take the tour virtually from the comfort of a computer in their home. The digital tour resides today at the Washington State Jewish Historical Society’s Digital Museum.
The community was especially excited to hit the streets once in-person tours were announced. The July 23rd and August 20th tours – with the first starting from EB and the second starting from SBH – sold out within days. Many others who were interested joined the growing waiting list.
The tours were led by three “guides,” community members who are descendants of those who grew up in the old Seattle Central Area neighborhood, and “community commentators” – senior community members who grew up in the neighborhood and relayed personal memories of the Shabbat stroll, shopping the Kosher markets where Ladino was regularly spoken, playing tavleh or shesh besh at the Turkish coffee shop, or enjoying sweet treats at Condiotti’s Confectionary.
Seattle Sephardic Network plans to run additional tours in the future to meet the community’s demand. The tours are just one of the new community activities the Seattle Sephardic Network has recently launched. The grassroots organization, which started in 2015, continues to bring the community together through concerts, films, university events, and an original podcast focused on Ladino refranes. It also continues to add content to its blog (found at seattlesephardicnetwork.org).
As the Seattle Sephardic Network continues to create unique programming, it also promotes and supports the programming of other Sephardic institutions – the two Seattle synagogues, Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington, as well as Sephardic events held at the Stroum Jewish Community Center and other institutions.
Meanwhile, the two Seattle Sephardic synagogues continue to hum along this summer with plenty of religious, historical, and cultural programming. Congregation Ezra Bessaroth, the Rhodes Sephardic Synagogue of Seattle, hosted a special commemorative Shabbat service in August to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the deportation of the Jews from Rhodes and Kos. Its Young Professionals Network has also been busy with new events, including a comedy club night featuring two local comedians. Sephardic Bikur Holim, Seattle’s Turkish Synagogue, launched a Summer Beit Midrash Learning program led by Rabbi Ben Hassan and Sephardic Brotherhood Central Council Member Al Benoliel (currently a rabbinical student at Yeshiva University). The program featured weekly guest Rabbi speakers, along with classes on topics such as Tzurba Merabbanan, Talmud, Ramban and more. These many activities are just the beginning of additional engaging events to come in the future.
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