Language:
English
Year of publication:
2023
Titel der Quelle:
Routledge Handbook on Jewish Ritual and Practice
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2023) 472-500
Keywords:
Language and languages Religious aspects
;
Judaism
;
Sephardim Languages
;
Ladino language History
;
Judaism History
;
Fasts and feasts Judaism
;
Rites and ceremonies
Abstract:
Since the resettlement of the Sephardim in the Ottoman Empire and Austro-Hungary following their expulsions from Iberia and into the modern era, Judezmo or Ladino, the distinctive Jewish language of the group often known today as the ‘Ottoman Sephardim’ or more broadly, ‘Ottoman Jewry,’ has played a key role in its speakers’ practice of Jewish ritual and religious life. The chapter offers a panoramic overview of that role. Basing itself on primary rabbinical and periodical sources in Judezmo and Hebrew as well as the extensive research literature on the language and culture of Judezmo speakers, the chapter analyzes the centrality of Judezmo among the Ottoman Sephardim as a language of sacred-text translation (e.g., Biblical, Mishnaic and Hebrew liturgical texts), paraliturgical literary creativity (e.g., original songs, rhyming couplets, hymns and dirges enriching celebrations of the calendar and life cycle), and language of holiday and life cycle event greetings, blessings, proverbs and sayings. Passages from Judezmo literature, in the original language and in translation, exemplify how the group’s rabbis and journalists related to Jewish religious ritual and custom, and commented on the decline of the traditional religious lifestyle under the influence of Western European liberal humanism from the beginning of the modern era. The chapter ends with some observations on the current Judezmo language and culture revival and suggests that this development may inspire a resuscitation of long-abandoned traditional religious ritual practices including some in which Judezmo played a central vital role.
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