Hola. This is Barbara with some news today covering the current situation in Colombia, Jews in Colombia and the Sephardic world as research topic.
Colombia Calling
Colombia is back in the news. Frustration with the government has led to massive protests in the big cities of the country. These protests have turned into violent demonstrations. Although president Duque has started to meet with civil society groups, the protests continue, with Cali being the center of clashes between protesters and security forces. Anyway, this newsletter is not meant to be a news outlet. Others are much better than this:
Luis Alfonso Yepes, whom I met during my last visit to Colombia in November 2019, distributes news and photos from MedellÃn via his Twitter account. He is a progressive voice in a rather conservative city. He and his wonderful wife MarÃa Helena Vivas gave me a splendid tour to some architectural treasures of MedellÃn’s old city center. Please, follow them if you like to know more of what is going on in Antioquia’s capital.
If you are interested in English-speaking news from and about Colombia, I can also very much recommend Richard McColl’s podcast Colombia Calling, available on all established podcast platforms and here is its home base - in his own words: «2,600 metres closer to the stars». I like the mix of news and background stories (I already recommended the podcast on my German blog last year) because its helps me to grasp of what’s going on.
Furthermore, to get deeper insights of the social unrest in Colombia, I can recommend this list of eight books that Catalina Oquendo and Ana Marcos have assembled for Babelia. The list offers different approaches of analysis towards better understanding the social crisis.
The «Emerging Jews» of Colombia
One of the most fascinating latest episodes of the weekly podcast Colombia Calling is Richard McColl’s recent conversation with Heidi Paster Harf, a US-American photographer, who has spent the last 15 years photographing daily life in Cali. He had invited her to talk about her article in the Washington Post that tries to give an answer to the following question: Why are so many Christians in Colombia converting to Orthodox Judaism?
When she, who herself grew up in a Jewish family in New York, moved to Cali, she was welcomed by the local Jewish community there and quickly got into contact with the members. Overall, Colombia’s Jewish communities consist of roughly 4’000 members. So, we’re talking about very small numbers. However, she was surprised to find out that there was a growing community of so-called «judÃos emergentes», Evangelical Christians who have converted to Orthodox Jewish rules. Conversion to Judaism follows very strict rules and it has been difficult for these converts to become accepted by the official Jewish communities. These challenges haven’t stopped the trend. Have a look at her terrific photography project about this growing community in Cali and listen to her explanations of why all this is happening in episode #374 of Colombia Calling.
Paloma DÃas-Mas, new member of the Real Academia Española
In April 2021, Paloma DÃas-Mas, Spanish writer and philologist, was elected to replace the late Margarita Salas as a member of the RAE. She will occupy chair «i». Paloma DÃas-Mas has a special interest in the Jewish heritage of the Hispanic cultures.
DÃaz-Mas studied Romance Philology and Journalism at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid. Between 1978 and 1982 she worked for the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), specializing in Sephardic Studies. From 1983 to 2001 she taught Spanish Literature at the Faculty of Arts of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in Vitoria. In 2001, she returned to the CSIC as «profesora titular» continuing with her research in the oral traditions of Hispanic literatures, especially the romancero, and the literature in Judeo-Spanish / Ladino produced in the Sephardic Diaspora from the 18th century to the present. She is also a creative writer and has surely also been elected because of this quality, but I must admit I have only known and appreciated her for her work in philology with her focus on Sephardic traditions. I hope her work as a member of the RAE will help nurture the interest in the Ladino language and culture.
Ladino classes during summer
The survival of an endangered language, such as Judeo-Spanish / Ladino, does not only depend on academics, but mostly on its use in daily life. You can all help to realise this aim - no matter if it’s to recollect some proverbs from your family past, academic interest or just for the curiosity of learning a diaspora language that has been surviving for more than 500 years.
The online magazine esefarad from Buenos Aires has an ongoing offer of online Ladino classes at all levels. Liliana Tchukran de Benveniste, one of the founders of the Sephardic online magazine, is a lovely teacher and is very flexible in assigning you to the right class. You should have a sound command of Spanish to follow the beginner levels. Thanks to Zoom, I attended Liliana’s classes from A1 to the final level last year. Above all, I loved the music, proverbs, and the cooking recipes. Yummy! Here, you can find classes that may suit your interest and knowledge: https://esefarad.com/?p=97451
If your interests are rather academic and you wish to learn Ladino for research or teaching purposes, I would also recommend Bryan Kirschen’s classes.
Now you may have a summer project at hand that will allow you to travel in your mind ;). I will probably attend the class about the Rashi script, a semi-cursive typeface for the Hebrew alphabet.
This is all news for today. Have a good time, or in Ladino: Kaminos de leche i miel para todos i todas.