Jewish Humor Central is a daily publication to start your day with news of the Jewish world that's likely to produce a knowing smile and some Yiddishe nachas. It's also a collection of sources of Jewish humor--anything that brings a grin, chuckle, laugh, guffaw, or just a warm feeling to readers.
Our posts include jokes, satire, books, music, films, videos, food, Unbelievable But True, and In the News. Some are new, and some are classics. We post every morning, Sunday through Friday. Enjoy!
It's another Throwback Thursday and today we're turning the clock back 58 years to 1966 when Lainie Kazan appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show to sing What Now My Love.
Kazan was born Lainie Levine in Brooklyn. She is of Ashkenazi Jewish and Sephardic Jewish descent with Russian and Turkish roots.Some of her grandparents lived in Jerusalem before moving to Manchester, England and settling in Brooklyn.
In 1966 she was primarily a singer, but she is best known as an actress who has appeared in many Broadway musicals and TV shows. Most recently Kazan played Maria Portokalos, the mother of Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise. She also played Aunt Freida on The Nanny.
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Candid
Camera
was an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series
created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as
The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947.
After a series of theatrical
film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone,
Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued
into the 1970s. The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being
confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props,
such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car
with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims would
be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."
Peter
Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host
with
his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS
television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which
he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show
full-time.
The
show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was
a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted
over 200 episodes.
In
this classic episode people responding to an ad for a baby sitter for a 3-year-old girl are surprised that the 3-year old Gretchen is not a child, but a prize winning orchid.
Enjoy!
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In 2020 the Forverts launched a daily series of
short informal video clips called Yiddish Word of the Day.
The series,
written and narrated by Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter, aims to give
non-Yiddish speakers an introduction to familiar Yiddish words and phrases and
how they might be used in everyday situations.
Schaechter, who was appointed the new editor of the Forverts in 2016, is
the first woman to helm the paper in its 119-year history, its first
editor to have been born in the United States, and likely its first editor
who is shomeret Shabbat.
Today
we're sharing some of the Forverts' words and expressions for a sourpuss, or someone who is spiteful.
Enjoy!
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It's another
Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're sharing a
joke by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (YY) Jacobson, one of America's premier
Jewish scholars in Torah and Jewish mysticism.
Rabbi Jacobson, an American Chabad rabbi from Monsey, New York, is one of the most sought after
speakers in the Jewish world today, lecturing to Jewish and non-Jewish
audiences on six continents and in forty states, and serving as teacher
and mentor to thousands across the globe.
He is considered to be one of
the most successful, passionate and mesmerizing communicators of Judaism
today, culling his ideas from the entire spectrum of Jewish thought and
making them relevant to contemporary audiences.
He served as editor-in-chief of the Algemeiner Journal, and as a choizer (transcriber) for Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
He also loves to tell jokes, and here's
the setup: A Jew, a Hindu, and a Politician go hiking. They were searching for a hotel or motel. In desperation they knock on the door of a home of a farmer. And then...
Enjoy!
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If there's anyone who knows how to make an audience laugh, it's Annie Korzen, a writer, actress, and performer who has appeared on Seinfeld and other TV shows, and was a regular on Old Jews Telling Jokes. Korzen began her career as an actress-writer in New York's
Off-Broadway scene. She has also worked in films (Tootsie, Stardust
Memories, etc.). In Los Angeles, Annie had a recurring role on Seinfeld,
playing Doris Klompus in the Florida condo. She also has been on E.R.,
Judging Amy, Oliver Beene and many other TV shows. Annie created two solo shows that combine comedy, original music,
and provocative issues. One of them is called Yenta Unplugged, a
sophisticated 90-minute celebration of womanhood, from the Bronx to
Beverly Hills. She has appeared as a storyteller with The Moth Mainstage in L. A.,
Berkeley, and Boston, and has been a regular participant at spoken word venues in Los Angeles and New York.
Now Annie has published a new book, The Book of Annie, which includes funny stories, anecdotes, and random observations from her life in New York and Los Angeles.
“Understated” and “tasteful” could never be applied to Annie, and
that’s just fine with her. A colorful actress with a decades-long career
in TV, film, and theater—including a recurring role on Seinfeld and a
center-stage spot touring with The Moth—Annie offers her trademark
unabashed takes on both everyday and typically taboo topics. Whether
she’s sharing her thoughts on the miracle of childbirth (“It’s a miracle
that anyone who’s been through it is willing to do it again”), religion
(“William Shakespeare was not Jewish; no Jew could write a play called All’s Well That Ends Well”), motherhood, or any other topic, Annie will have you laughing out loud.
Underlying
the humor are poignant observations that feel particularly relevant
today: the importance of kindness and consideration, how we’re all more
alike than different, and the freedom to be found in self-acceptance.
You’ll put down this book feeling not just lighter but inspired by
Annie’s wisdom and insight, gathered over eight decades.
Recently, Annie sat down with Deborah Vankin of the LA Times at a book launch and signing event at a Los Angeles bookstore. Here is a video clip from the event.
Enjoy!
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Eli Schwebel is a Brooklyn based recording artist and producer with Jewish music running through his veins.
Schwebel spearheaded the renaissance of Jewish a cappella music, as well as creating a vocally rich, pop-rock sound that transformed the definition of traditional Jewish music. He launched his solo career with his album, “Hearts Mind”, which has been called "groundbreaking" in its genre.
Eli has performed in Avery Fisher Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto, The Jerusalem Theater, Universal Studios in Hollywood, and just came off sold out performances a Joe's Pub and David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.
He has co-headlined with Mordechai Ben David, Avraham Fried, Matisyahu, Yaakov Shwekey, Yonatan Razel, 8th Day, Lipa Schmeltzer, Benny Friedman, Abie Rotenberg, Rivie Schwebel, Neshama Carlebach, Elly Kranzler and has joined D'veykus and The Rabbi's Sons a substitute member.
Today we welcome Shabbat with Eli Schwebel, accompanied by Daniel Hoffman & Yossi Bronfman singing Adon Olam to the melody of Sharm el Sheikh.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
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In October 1964 Jack Benny was telling a joke on The Jack Benny Program. In the middle of the joke he was interrupted by the operator of the show's sound boom, telling him that he wasn't telling it correctly.
The sound boom operator was Arte Johnson, who four years later would become one of the stars of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in, a comedy show that would run for 140 episodes from 1968 to 1973. It became the most popular TV show in the United States and was the forerunner to shows like Saturday Night Live, which debuted in November 1975.
Johnson became famous on Laugh-in for portraying the roles of the dirty old man on the park bench and the helmeted Nazi soldier who rose from his grassy hideaway to deliver his punch line "Verrry Interrresting."
Enjoy!
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Candid
Camera
was an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series
created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as
The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947.
After a series of theatrical
film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone,
Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued
into the 1970s. The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being
confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props,
such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car
with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims would
be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."
Peter
Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host
with
his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS
television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which
he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show
full-time.
The
show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was
a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted
over 200 episodes.
In
this classic episode set in a restaurant in Branson, Missouri that has a trick table. It's on a hydraulic lift that raises the table ever so slightly during the course of a meal until it's ten inches higher at the end of the meal.
Enjoy!
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One hundred years ago this month, George Gershwin composed Rhapsody in Blue. The rhapsody is one of Gershwin's most recognizable creations and a key composition that defined the Jazz Age.
Gershwin's piece inaugurated a new era in America's musical history, established his reputation as an eminent composer and became one of the most popular of all concert works. In the American Heritage magazine, Frederic D. Schwarz posits that the famous opening clarinet glissando has become as instantly recognizable to concert audiences as the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
Gershwin was of Jewish ancestry. His grandfather, Jakov Gershowitz, was born in Odessa, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), and had served for 25 years as a mechanic for the Imperial Russian Army to earn the right of free travel and residence as a Jew, finally retiring near Saint Petersburg. His teenage son Moishe, George's father, worked as a leather cutter for women's shoes.
The 100th anniversary of Rhapsody in Blue is being celebrated worldwide. The story of how and why George Gershwin wrote it in just a month is one of the legends of American music and is told by Andy Hollandbeck in the February 11th issue of The Saturday Evening Post.
We're joining the celebration by sharing a short excerpt from a concert by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in Frankfurt in 1976.
Enjoy!
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It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.
Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory.
With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.
Mickey
also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one to share with you. Here's
the setup: Dorothy Lefkowitz was as happy as she could be. It was a beautiful day in June and she was getting married to her high school and college sweetheart, Harold Shapiro. And then...
Enjoy!
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Emil Cohen (1911-2000) was an American comedian,
humorist and entertainer. He was billed as "America's Foremost American
Jewish Humorist". He frequently performed at the Grossinger Hotel in Liberty, New York, in the so-called "Borscht Belt". Cohen's Yiddish humor was well received by the predominantly Jewish audiences in this area.
Cohen developed a unique style of humor in which he delivered jokes and stories with a punch line in Yiddish
followed immediately by an English translation. His smooth delivery
ensured that audience members who only understood English could still
appreciate the joke in its authentic style. Cohen was known for his double-entendre Yiddish-English humor, particularly his translation of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address into Yiddish. His humor was inspired by the lives of the Jews of Eastern Europe in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Cohen worked to preserve the heritage of Yiddish humor.
In this courtroom scene, Cohen describes the funny results of a Yiddish to English interpreter translating the answers of an elderly Yiddish speaker to a judge's questions in English about the man's age and why he stole a chicken. The inflection of the Yiddish answers and English translations are hilarious.
Enjoy!
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David Ricky is a South African singer musician based in Cape Town. Born in Pretoria into a musical family where music was just as important as food. He grew up listening to the likes of Franco Corelli, Harry Belafonte, Miriam Makeba, Abdullah Ebrahim, Johnny Clegg, David Kramer, and many others.
He plays clarinet, saxophone and piano but has recorded mainly as a singer. Most of the songs recorded are original works written and composed by his father Eugene Woolfson AKA Eugene Wessels. David spent many years studying singing in both Jazz and Opera genres. He also played in various bands and did many nightclub gigs.
In this video the David Ricky Quartet plays and sings Adon Olam.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
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For
almost half a century, from the 1930s to 1976, The Barry Sisters,
Claire and Merna, were the voice of Jewish jazz in recordings, nightclub
acts, and television appearances on The Jack Paar Show, The Tonight
Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. Born
in the Bronx to Yiddish speaking immigrants from Kiev, Clara and Minnie
Bagelman started out in show business using their real names as The
Bagelman Sisters, but after awhile, Clara became Claire, Minnie became
Merna, and Bagelman became Barry. They performed songs in nine
languages. Looking
glamorous and sparing no expense for their orchestrations, they sang to
a full house at the Concord and other Catskills resorts.
In this Throwback Thursday special, Claire and Merna perform "King of the Road" in a 1965 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Enjoy!
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Because today is Valentine's Day, we think it's appropriate to share the Yiddish word for love, and some expressions involving love.
There
always have been mixed feelings in the Jewish world about celebrating
this day which originally was named in honor of Valentine, a Christian
saint. And today, you can find opinions from rabbis of all Jewish
denominations that approve and disapprove of its observance.
We did some searching and found that despite some views that the holiday is foreign to Judaism
and should be avoided, there are a growing number of opinions, even in
the Orthodox world, that not only should the holiday be observed, but
that it should be embraced.
As Rabbi Benjamin Blech, professsor of Talmud at Yeshiva University, has written about Valentine's Day on the aish.com website,
As
Jews, we may not be sure whether it's proper for us to join the party.
After all, for the longest time the full name of this holiday was “St.
Valentine's Day” because of its legendary link with the apocryphal story
of one of the earliest Christian saints. Yet academics aren't the only
ones who have recognized the dubious historical basis of this
connection. Vatican II,
the landmark set of reforms adopted by the Catholic Church in 1969,
removed Valentine's Day from the Catholic church's calendar, asserting
that "though the memorial of St. Valentine is ancient… apart from his
name nothing is known… except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on 14 February."
What's
left for this day, as proponents of its universal celebration declare,
is something that people of all faiths may in good conscience observe:
A day in which to acknowledge the power of love to make us fully
human.
When
I am asked as a rabbi if I think it's a good idea for Jews to
celebrate Valentine's Day, my standard answer is, "Yes, we should
celebrate love… every day of the year."
In 2020 the Forverts launched a daily series of
short informal video clips called Yiddish Word of the Day.
The series,
written and narrated by Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter, aims to give
non-Yiddish speakers an introduction to familiar Yiddish words and phrases and
how they might be used in everyday situations.
Schaechter, who was appointed the new editor of the Forverts in 2016, is
the first woman to helm the paper in its 119-year history, its first
editor to have been born in the United States, and likely its first editor
who is shomeret Shabbat.
Today we're sharing some of the Forverts' expressions of love, including "They're having a love affair" and "I'm crazy about her."
Enjoy!
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In a video published to the X account of the Israel Foreign Ministry on
Wednesday, a Christian men's choir, named ACA for Him, from Malawi in
East Africa, sings the song "Home" in Hebrew, while calling for the release of the hostages in Gaza.
The
video of the men's choir was filmed by Solomon Chilemba, edited by Ehud
Manor, composed by Yair Klinger, and the audio was by Kingsley Tembenu.
The video opens up with text reading, “On October 7 2023, Hamas
conducted a terror attack on Israel and killed innocent people. They
abducted over 200 people including women, children, and elderly. ACA - 4
- HIM is calling the world to bring hostages back home. Israel and Jews have the right to exist and defend themselves like any other country.”
In its X post, the Foreign Ministry wrote, “Many and diverse parties
from around the world are joining the fight to return the abductees from
Gaza in different and diverse ways.” The Foreign Ministry said this
video, in particular, moved them.
Malawi was the first country in Africa to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
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It's another
Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're sharing a
joke by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (YY) Jacobson, one of America's premier
Jewish scholars in Torah and Jewish mysticism.
Rabbi Jacobson, an American Chabad rabbi from Monsey, New York, is one of the most sought after
speakers in the Jewish world today, lecturing to Jewish and non-Jewish
audiences on six continents and in forty states, and serving as teacher
and mentor to thousands across the globe.
He is considered to be one of
the most successful, passionate and mesmerizing communicators of Judaism
today, culling his ideas from the entire spectrum of Jewish thought and
making them relevant to contemporary audiences.
He served as editor-in-chief of the Algemeiner Journal, and as a choizer (transcriber) for Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
He also loves to tell jokes, and here's
the setup: A guy comes into a bar, orders a glass, throws it at the bartender. And then...
Enjoy!
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We continue to be amazed by the number of countries where Hava Nagila
has been performed. This is the 121st rendition of the popular Hebrew
song that we've posted since starting Jewish Humor Central in 2009.
Here's
the latest version that we just found, a concert performance last month conducted by Tomaz Podlesnik. It's an expanded version, called Fantasy on a Hebrew Folk Song, performed at the annual concert of the Band of the Upper Savinja Valley, at the Mozirje sports hall in Slovenia.
Enjoy!
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Iris
Karlin, a native Israeli, is an internationally acclaimed soprano, song
leader, worship leader, director, conductor, composer, and educator.
Iris
started her musical path as a pianist and flutist, and as she started
singing she moved from rock to musical theatre to operettas and operas.
She was praised for her rare combination of stage presence and
musicianship by critics and conductors alike. She continued to direct
and conduct choirs, theater productions, and kids' shows.
Iris is now on
her path to becoming a Cantor, studying at Hebrew Union College, and
serving as a student Cantor at Temple B'nai Israel in Clearwater, FL.
In her years of studies at HUC Iris had been composing and distributing
liturgical contemporary music to Reform Synagogues, and had won prizes
for excellence in composition.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
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It's another Throwback Thursday, so come with us on a nostalgia trip back to 1970 when Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show to sing a medley of love songs by the Beatles.
Included in the medley are All You Need Is Love, With A Little Help From My Friends, When I'm 64, And I Love Her, Michelle, Ob La Di, and All My Loving.
Enjoy!
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Candid
Camera
was an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series
created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as
The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947.
After a series of theatrical
film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone,
Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued
into the 1970s. The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being
confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props,
such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car
with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims would
be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."
Peter
Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host
with
his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS
television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which
he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show
full-time.
The
show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was
a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted
over 200 episodes.
In
this classic episode set in an office in 2000, a company turns the tables on Casual Friday and implements a policy of Formal Friday and Wacky Wednesday for its employees with mixed results.
Enjoy!
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Last week Park Avenue Synagogue's Cantor Azi Schwartz led a group of New York City cantors in singing Hinei Ma Tov to the melody of "Oh what a beautiful mornin'", the opening song in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
It was quite fitting for an event taking place at the site of Oklahoma's original premiere.
For the first time ever, a Shabbat service was brought to the Broadway stage. Featuring leading Broadway stars at the St. James Theatre for Shabbat Shira last week, Shabbat on Broadway was an inclusive experience that blended prayer and inspirational showtunes. Produced by Amanda Lipitz and Henry Tisch, this event fostered a sense of togetherness during a challenging time for Jews worldwide.
Cantors in this video (in order of appearance):
Azi Schwartz, Mira Davis (Park Avenue Synagogue); Jenna Pearsall (Central Synagogue); Irena Altschul (Temple Israel); Daniel Singer (Stephen Wise Free Synagogue); Mo Glazman (Temple Emanuel); Shiree Kidron (Or Olam); Shimon Smith (Romemu); Shayna De Lowe (Congregation Rodeph Sholom); Todd Kipnis (Temple Shaaray Tefila); Olivia Brodsky (East End Temple); Natasha Hirschorn (Ansche Chesed); Luis Cattan (Sutton Place Synagogue)
Enjoy!
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It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. This week we're posting another joke from Dr. Jay Orlikoff, a retired dentist from Centereach, New York, a community on Long
Island in Suffolk County.
After
a distinguished and meritorious dental career, he is shifting his focus
to telling and posting jokes on YouTube. We were fortunate to find some
of his jokes and we're sharing one of the family-friendly ones with you
today.
Here's
the setup: An old Jewish guy was taken to a Catholic hospital for an emergency operation. While he was registering, one of the nuns came over to him and asked him who will be responsible for the bill. And then...
Enjoy!
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In 2020 the Forverts launched a daily series of
short informal video clips called Yiddish Word of the Day.
The series,
written and narrated by Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter, aims to give
non-Yiddish speakers an introduction to familiar Yiddish words and phrases and
how they might be used in everyday situations.
Schaechter, who was appointed the new editor of the Forverts in 2016, is
the first woman to helm the paper in its 119-year history, its first
editor to have been born in the United States, and likely its first editor
who is shomeret Shabbat.
We posted the
first
of this series in May 2020. Now that the Forverts is continuing the
series, we'll continue sharing some of the words and phrases as a regular feature of
Jewish Humor Central. Today
we get to learn the Yiddish word for court and other words related to courtroom proceedures.
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Tonight we welcome Shabbat with Buen Shabat, a lively song in the Ladino language, sung by Sarah Aroeste who, inspired by her family's Sephardic roots in N.
Macedonia and Greece, has spent the last two decades bringing her
contemporary vision for Sephardic culture- through music and books- to
audiences around the world.
Aroeste writes and sings in Ladino,
the Judeo-Spanish dialect that originated by Spanish Jews after their
expulsion from Spain in 1492. Those who left Spain, including Aroeste’s
family, carried the medieval language with them to the various points
where they later settled, primarily along the Mediterranean coast and
North Africa. In time, Ladino came to absorb bits and pieces of
languages all along the Mediterranean coast, including some Greek,
Turkish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Hebrew, and more.
This
exotic pan-Mediterranean language has, unfortunately, been fading away.
But the continued musical legacy of Spanish Jews highlights the strength
of an oral tradition that spans centuries and crosses many geographic
boundaries.
American born and trained in classical opera as a
teenager at Westminster Choir College and then at Yale University,
Aroeste became drawn to her Sephardic musical past after spending a
summer in 1997 performing at the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel
Aviv. There, she had the fortune of studying with Nico Castel, one of
the world’s great Ladino singers and coaches at the Metropolitan
Opera, with whom she learned she shared a similar Sephardic background.
Continuing to study with Castel upon her return to the US, Aroeste
started incorporating classical Ladino songs into her opera repertoire. She quickly realized that Ladino, not opera, was her true musical passion and soon after made the leap to studying Ladino full time.
Since
then, Aroeste has been a vocal advocate for exposing new audiences to
Sephardic culture and has worked tirelessly to keep Ladino alive for a
new generation. Aroeste is one of few Ladino composers today who writes
her own music, and whether with her original compositions or with
interpreting Ladino folk repertoire, she has developed a signature style
combining traditional Mediterranean Sephardic sounds with contemporary
influences such as rock, pop and jazz.
Sarah sings with participation from Alan Franco and Berkshire Salsa, and members of the Latino and Jewish communities of the Berkshires, Massachusetts.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
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