The Sephardi Studies Project

The Sephardi Studies Project is an initiative launched by the Taube Center for Jewish Studies and the Mediterranean Studies Forum to explore the history and culture of Sephardi and Eastern Jewries. 

Directed by Professor Aron Rodrigue (Stanford Department of History), the project sponsors a digital library featuring representative samples of writings in various Judeo languages of the Sephardim over the ages, starting with Ladino.  These rare manuscripts and key texts are translated and transliterated by Dr. Olga Borovaya  and Professor Isaac Jerusalmi (Hebrew Union College). 

Among the digitized sources is the complete text of the earliest known Ladino-language memoir, which is later published as a co-edited volume by Stanford University Press in 2012. Entitled A Jewish Voice from Ottoman Salonica: The Ladino Memoir of Sa'adi Besalel a-Levi (1820-1903), the book presents a vivid portayal of life in Salonica, a major port in the Ottoman Levant with a majority-Jewish population, and provides a unique window into a way of life before it disappeared as a result of profound political and social changes and the World Wars. Please review the Stanford News article about the book and also watch an interview with the book's co-editors Prof. Aron Rodrigue (Stanford University) and Prof. Sarah Abrevaya Stein (UCLA). 

For further information, please visit the Sephardi Studies website.