As we settle into the comfort of 2023, it is an opportune time to reflect on the last few months of activity in our thriving Sephardic Community, and to look ahead at the exciting line-up of events in the coming weeks. I'd like to take a moment to thank our contributors to this issue of El Ermando Sefaradi. In the next several pages, you will find rich content and independent thinking. Mark Greenspan, in his piece My Mother Tongue, describes this invisible pull that many of us know intimately to our Sephardic roots again and again. In his poem, These are the Names, you will be left with chills and with longing for more. Dr. Michel Azaria, gives us a window into the Judeo-Spanish Community of Paris and their revival of the language and Sephardic culture.
Rabbi Marc D. Angel writes a gripping piece on the story of Esther, reminding us that as modern Jews, we must strive to act and speak with discretion, courtesy and respect for others - to focus on the big issues that confront us, and how each of us can be constructive members of our community. Not only do we profile poetry in English, but we are blessed with original content in Ladino, from Rachel Amado Bortnick's piece La Profesora Diaz-Mas Onorada, Onoro a Los Sefaradim, and Andrés Piña's poem, LETRA. Our Culture Editor, Ian Pomerantz, is back with a piece on 400 Years of Sephardic Choral Music, taking us on a journey from Amsterdam to Turkey and the Balkans.
Finally, if you're searching for your next must-read book, not only do we have book reviews to spark your interest, but we're back by popular demand, with our Young Professional's Bookclub list of What We Read in 2022. Mersi muncho a todos. Sanas i rezios!
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