Editor's Note
Dear readers of Sephardic Horizons,
In these times of self-isolation, so antithetical to the Sephardic spirit, we bring our readers the second issue of our Tenth Anniversary volume. Thank you for all the congratulations and compliments that came in for our tenth anniversary, and above all thank you to the writers who made it possible! We hope Sephardic Horizons continues to earn these accolades.
In this issue, Gloria J. Ascher, the celebrated teacher of Ladino/Judeo-Spanish, shares her many years of experience at Tufts University. Continuing our interest in Sephardic art, this issue also brings the work of two artists. A gallery of works in various media by Micaela Amato Amateau of New York and now Pennsylvania, challenges us with the social commitment of her creations. Her art also illustrates the ecological fable Zazu Dreams, by Cara Judea Alhadeff, reviewed in this issue by Sajay Samuel. The second artist, Marc Eliany, uses his art to illustrate Moroccan Jewish folktales, which he has collected and retells in abundance, allowing us to step into a world and mentality of another time, fragments of which still persist.
In our Ladino/Judeo-Spanish section, Carlos Yebra López contributes an important review of a new book in French by Jessica Roda on Judeo-Spanish culture, particularly music, in France, while Sharope Blanco generously shares a poem, “No les perdones,” and its French original. Liliana Benveniste of Buenos Aires and esefarad.com takes us on a tour of Juderías de España, Caminos de Sefarad, an organization for which she is an ambassador.
Among our reviews, Judith Cohen, the ethnomusicologist, discusses a book for children and two films about the singer and composer, Flory Jagoda. Sandra M. Cypess reviews Ilan Stavans’ latest book: Seventh Heaven: Travels through Jewish Latin America; Annette B. Fromm discusses two films with Sephardic themes from the recent Miami Jewish Film Festival; and Judith Roumani takes on Ninette of Sin Street, one of the original novels of the Tunisian Jewish Alliance School of fiction writers of the first half of the twentieth century.
Many thanks to Associate Editor Annette Fromm and to our loyal webmaster, Altan Gabbay, and to all our contributors to this issue.
We hope you find both interest and distraction in our current offerings, and do send us your responses! Also, if you enjoy Sephardic Horizons, please remember that there are expenses involved in publishing it online several times a year. If you would like to make a donation to help us continue, please click on the Donations tab on our homepage, which takes you to a secure Paypal link. Sephardic Horizons is a program of the Jewish Institute of Pitigliano, which is a 501(3)(c) organization, allowing all donations to be tax-deductible for US taxpayers.
Judith Roumani, Editor, Sephardic Horizons