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Ramping Up Sephardic Education

New initiatives aim to preserve Sephardic culture and language for Jewish students

byPaula Jacobs

“Kayikçi, Balata, peshkadikos de la mar, choop, choop, a la mar!” This Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) nursery rhyme (“Oarsmen, take me to Balat, little fish of the sea, choop, choop, into the sea”) dates to when Istanbul’s Jewish population lived in Balat and Hasköy, and traveled between these two districts on opposite banks of the Golden Horn. For Janine Sadaka, whose two young daughters love hearing this ditty, these verses evoke memories of her Sephardic childhood in New York as the American-born daughter and granddaughter of Turkish Jewish immigrants whose ancestors had immigrated to the Ottoman Empire after the Spanish expulsion. “Ladino is part of my culture,” she told me. “Since language is such a big part of the culture, I want to continue it.” Ladino is part of her toddler and preschool daughters’ daily vernacular: They hear expressions such as “oras buenas” upon coughing (similar to “bless you” on sneezing) and customarily ask in Ladino for food such as “budaraho” or “bottarga,” a Mediterranean salted fish roe delicacy. “They recognize the word and don’t pay attention to the language,” said Sadaka. “These are words and phrases that are ingrained in me.” Sephardic studies professor Devin Naar has raised his two sons as Ladino speakers. Today he reads Ladino stories and listens to Ladino music with his 5- and 8-year-old boys; they also enjoy watching “Enkontros de Alhad,” a weekly Ladino program aired on Sunday from Buenos Aires, as well as Ladino videos such as “Unidos por el Ladino” and “Estreyikas de Istanbul” (Little Stars of Istanbul). “They do not have peers who are also learning or speaking Ladino,” said Naar, “so it makes the whole experiment more challenging.” Yet few Sephardic American kids speak Ladino at home. Developing a strong Sephardic identity is challenging without learning its culture, laws, traditions, and rituals at home, camp, or synagogue. And outside of large Sephardic communities like Seattle, they have little opportunity to socialize with Sephardic peers. That’s why recent initiatives such as a national Sephardic youth movement, a Sephardic authors project, and Jewish day school programs are critical to preserving Sephardic culture in America. ...

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American Jews Should Become a Little More Israeli

Instead of playing defense, we should learn how to stand up for ourselves better

byDiana Fersko

For Ladies and Girls Only

A Judy Chicago retrospective and a new book about ultra-Orthodox artists explore women who push boundaries

byRokhl Kafrissen

American Jews Should Become a Little More Israeli

Instead of playing defense, we should learn how to stand up for ourselves better

byDiana Fersko

Bearing Witness at Buchenwald

In an excerpt from the forthcoming graphic novel ‘Victory Parade,’ a Jewish American soldier named Sam Arensberg helps liberate the concentration camp—but the horrors he witnesses haunt his dreams

byLeela Corman

For Ladies and Girls Only

A Judy Chicago retrospective and a new book about ultra-Orthodox artists explore women who push boundaries

byRokhl Kafrissen

Bearing Witness at Buchenwald

byLeela Corman

Facing Hate in Berlin

It is fascinating how quickly people I knew—even in the city’s open-minded queer scene—turned against me for supporting Israel

byDaniel-Ryan Spaulding

Cydrick Garin's family at his funeral at the Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv on Jan. 25, 2024

‘I Love This Country and Want to Protect the People’

The son of Filipino immigrants, Cydrick Garin grew up in Israel as a ‘temporary resident.’ He worked security for the prime minister, rose through the ranks of the IDF, and became an Israeli citizen before being killed in combat in Gaza.

byHillel Kuttler

Eliran and Eden Abergel in Mitzpe Ramon after he proposed. Eliran was killed defending Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7.

‘He’s Not Here Physically, But His Soul Is Here’

More than two dozen Israeli women were pregnant when their husbands were killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and the ensuing war in Gaza. They have come together to support one another.

byHillel Kuttler

Heart of the Matter

Searching for safety—in a doctor’s office, or at a firing range—in a time of heightened risks

byLisa J. Wise

Tablet talks about Judaism a lot, but sometimes we like to change the subject. Maggie Phillips covers religious communities across the U.S.—from Christians to Muslims, Hindus to Baha’i, Jehovah’s Witnesses to pagans—to find out what they’re talking about.

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How to Talk to Kids About Death

Valuable lessons I learned from rabbis, friends, and Stephen Colbert

byJamie Betesh Carter

The Faith of Small Things

Rilke’s ‘Ninth Elegy’ and the people we lose

byYehuda Fogel

The Virtues of a Virtual Minyan

While saying Kaddish for both my parents, I spent nearly two years in various Zoom services—and found them, in some ways, better than the original

byJennifer Bleyer

The Forgotten Pioneer of Movie Music

The daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants, Ottalie Mark left her mark on the film industry—and the music industry—a century ago

byKaren Iris Tucker

Collection

The Dark Side of the Lower East Side

You know the Jewish history of Manhattan’s Lower East Side: pushcart peddlers, crowded tenements, Yiddish storefront signs. But Tablet has explored another world beneath all that—crooks, mobsters, thugs, and violent criminals.

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Samuel Leibowitz, seated at left, speaks with Haywood Patterson, one of nine men charged with the rape of two prostitutes on a train. The other defendants are standing behind Leibowitz and Patterson. The subsequent trial would be known as the Scottsboro Boys case.

Playing Defense

Before acclaimed criminal attorney Samuel Leibowitz earned a national reputation defending everyone from Al Capone to the Scottsboro Boys, he represented small-time crooks like ‘Izzy the Goniff’ and used his knowledge of gefilte fish to win a client’s acquittal

byAllan Levine

The Brief Reign of ‘Kid Dropper,’ the Lower East Side Gang Leader

At 28, Nathan Kaplan was a legend. Four years later, he was dead.

byAllan Levine

The ‘Firebug Brotherhood’ of the Lower East Side

For Isaac Zuker and other arsonists, defrauding insurance companies was a normal part of doing business in the late 1800s

byAllan Levine

The Brief Reign of ‘Kid Dropper,’ the Lower East Side Gang Leader

At 28, Nathan Kaplan was a legend. Four years later, he was dead.

byAllan Levine

The ‘Firebug Brotherhood’ of the Lower East Side

For Isaac Zuker and other arsonists, defrauding insurance companies was a normal part of doing business in the late 1800s

byAllan Levine

The Ruthless Racketeer

In the annals of crime in New York City no one was feared more than Louis ‘Lepke’ Buchalter, who ordered the murders of dozens of men

byAllan Levine

Why the Right Is Obsessed With Cancel Culture

Who’s worked up about it, and why

byMarjorie Ingall

“Cancel culture is driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees. This is the very definition of totalitarianism,” President Trump said in a recent speech. (He actually said “totalitaritanism” but we know what he meant.) “And it has absolutely no place in the United States of America.” Plenty of the people who pontificate most vociferously about “cancel culture” would agree with him—including those who typically don’t agree with him. That’s because cancel culture is like the elephant in the parable of the blind men and the elephant; the definition of what it is depends very much on the person describing it.

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‘We Must Engage the World Right Now’

Rabbi Norman Lamm—theologian, orator, and my grandfather—believed that in the struggle against racism, Jews should both teach and listen

byAri Lamm

Uncovering My Confederate Roots

Learning the truth about my great-great-grandfather made me commit to writing about African American history and battling racism

byAmy Cohen

Our True Colors

Coming face-to-face with racism in the Jewish community

byMarra B. Gad

In Defense of Wokeness

Awaking to systemic racism is good for America, good for the Jews, and just plain good ethical behavior

byCarly Pildis

‘We Must Engage the World Right Now’

Rabbi Norman Lamm—theologian, orator, and my grandfather—believed that in the struggle against racism, Jews should both teach and listen

byAri Lamm

Uncovering My Confederate Roots

Learning the truth about my great-great-grandfather made me commit to writing about African American history and battling racism

byAmy Cohen

Our True Colors

Coming face-to-face with racism in the Jewish community

byMarra B. Gad

In Defense of Wokeness

Awaking to systemic racism is good for America, good for the Jews, and just plain good ethical behavior

byCarly Pildis

My Choice

Why one ultra-Orthodox woman chose to have an abortion—and how she felt about her decision

bySara Shamansky

The second pink line was so pale, it was barely there at all, but when I saw it on the pregnancy test, I felt my whole soul light up. Already a mother of two, I would love this third baby so much. ...

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My Abortion, My Miscarriage, and My Right To Have My Own Feelings

Women are entitled to a wide range of emotions about their bodies and fertility. But under Jewish law, the rules are clear.

byMarjorie Ingall

New Jewish Rituals Offer Comfort to Women Who Have Had Abortions

‘Not being able to process it religiously makes it a very hard experience. We thought it’s important to give it a voice.’

byJosie Glausiusz

My Abortion, My Miscarriage, and My Right To Have My Own Feelings

Women are entitled to a wide range of emotions about their bodies and fertility. But under Jewish law, the rules are clear.

byMarjorie Ingall

New Jewish Rituals Offer Comfort to Women Who Have Had Abortions

‘Not being able to process it religiously makes it a very hard experience. We thought it’s important to give it a voice.’

byJosie Glausiusz

On Abortion

Strangers on the Sofa
Hosting women about to have an abortion is the most direct, intimate mitzvah I’ve ever had the privilege to perform.
BY LYNN HARRIS
When It Comes to Becoming a Mother, Sometimes Less Really Is More
When my fertility treatments worked too well, I faced an unexpected moral quandary.
BY REBECCA WOLF
Both Sides Now
As the abortion debate heats up, Christian groups in New York—on both sides—stake out positions beyond angry rhetoric and stereotypes
BY MAGGIE PHILLIPS

Roundtables on the state of the American Jewish community, bringing together people from a shared demographic or background—everyday people with personal opinions, not experts who earn their salaries discussing these issues.

Photographic illustration by Barry Downard/Debut; portait of Black: Nechama Jacobson; original photo of Bob Dylan © Barry Feinstein Photography, Inc. Used with permission from The Estate of Barry Feinstein

The New Jews

A montage of iconic moments from the Jewish past points the way to a Jewish future—one driven by a generation of new voices

byLiel Leibovitz

At least Ruth didn’t have to fret about social media. The only thing this Moabite woman, arguably the world’s first convert to Judaism—and ancestor of one King David—had to do was hold on to her mother-in-law and promise to go whither the older woman went. She wasn’t expected to share photos of her challah rising on Instagram, defend Israel on Twitter, bare her soul on Substack, or cultivate small communities of followers on Facebook. Her journey was decidedly private, intimate, all but forgotten if it weren’t for the Bible’s author peeking in and recording the grandeur of her experience for posterity. Today, we have a new class of Ruths, only this time many of them are trying to negotiate some of the most profound and pressing questions facing Jews—about identity and belonging, about money and politics, about making friends and losing faith—along with public or semipublic profiles. They are new Jews, but—if we are lucky—they will be among the most important Jews in the coming years. To illustrate the role we believe Jews-by-choice are increasingly playing in the American Jewish future, we matched each of our interviewees with an iconic image from the recent American past. Because every religious evolution is a conversion—every day brings with it the possibility of changing in ways until now unexpected—the stories these men and women tell us are particularly meaningful, and their wisdom so keenly appreciated. There are, to be sure, many more who share their trajectory, but here, in their own words, are some thoughts from these visible and inspiring people making their journey back home to Judaism. ...

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A Guide to Conversion on Tablet

A world of stories addressing issues around conversion—what converts give up and what they gain, and what it all means

byThe Editors

Over the past decade, Tablet has published dozens of stories about #conversion. We’ve covered notable Jews by choice—from a glamorous movie star to a former Catholic priest—as well as whole communities of converts, from India to Indiana. We’ve explored what the Jewish community gets wrong about welcoming newcomers, and how we can make the process better for everyone. We’ve shared stories about converts around the world: grappling with the legacy of civil war in Colombia, reviving a shattered community in Poland, adopting a new faith in Kenya, bringing together locals and American expats in Mexico. Many of these are personal stories about #converts from all different backgrounds—from a ballet dancer who performs in drag, to a former convict who found Judaism behind bars. Several have written firsthand about the process of converting, particularly immersion in the mikvah, and what it meant to them.

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Surprising Trends Driving Conversion to Judaism

It’s not just for marriage anymore

byMark Oppenheimer

A Guide to Conversion on Tablet

A world of stories addressing issues around conversion—what converts give up and what they gain, and what it all means

byThe Editors

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Surprising Trends Driving Conversion to Judaism

It’s not just for marriage anymore

byMark Oppenheimer

Hunting for Deer—and Meaning

When I helped kill a deer for the first time, I turned to Jewish sages to help me understand my discomfort, and the ethics of the hunt

byAndrew Berns

Deep Cuts

A surgery unexpectedly collides with unfathomable hate—and brings about a moment of clarity

byJill Kargman

Among the Mourners

As a woman, I felt left out of Jewish mourning rituals after my father died. Thirty years later, I found a new place where I finally feel like I count.

byAnna El-Eini