Literatuur

Did the Lilliputians REALLY speak HEBREW?

Before we answer this question (in the affirmative!) let’s recap: Who were the Lilliputians?* You might remember them from the children’s story you read, years and years ago, supposedly written by one Jonathan Swift, about a sea-traveler who was stranded on Lilliput, a little island, where everything was twelve times as small as in our world. Well, this is part of the truth. Next month a new book will be published, in which the whole … [Lees verder]

Muziek

Ladino, the Spanish Yiddish, an ancient culture that has a lot to teach us

You’ve probably heard of Hebrew and Yiddish, but did you know there’s another Jewish language out there? It’s called Ladino (or Judeo-Español) – a fun melange of Castilian Spanish and Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Turkish and some French and other Balkan languages. I see it as my personal mission to help the revival of this language and culture. If Yiddish is the language of Ashkenazi Jews, then Ladino is the language of Sephardic Jews – you … [Lees verder]