The Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced on Monday the completion of its inaugural Ladino International Summer School, an academic program aimed at preserving the endangered language.
The first-of-its-kind course in Israel offered an intensive educational experience dedicated to teaching Ladino, a language deeply rooted in the Sephardic Jewish heritage.
Ladino, also known as Judeo-Spanish, was originally spoken in Spain. After Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon issued the Alhambra Decree, also knowns as the Edict of Expulsion, in 1492, Ladino spread through the Ottoman Empire (the Balkans, Turkey, West Asia and North Africa), as well as France, Italy, the Netherlands, Morocco and England.
It is today spoken mainly by Sephardic minorities in more than 30 countries, with most living in Israel.
The two-week course brought together 28 students, with approximately half of them from Israel and other from around the world, including the United States, Europe and Asia.
The participants, many of whom were drawn to the course by a desire to reconnect with their familial roots, engaged in daily studies focused on Ladino grammar, vocabulary and cultural history. The curriculum also included research visits to libraries with Ladino collections and guided tours of Jerusalem.
“Ladino is classified as a language in a serious danger of extinction. The younger generations are no longer inheriting it, and today, it is mostly a language of nostalgia, associated with family traditions, cuisine and folklore,” said Dr. Ilil Baum, a Ladino lecturer at the Hebrew University and at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan.
The course also offered students the opportunity to engage in direct conversations with veteran Ladino speakers, providing them with a deeper understanding of the language’s history.
