David M. Bunis (PhD., Columbia University, 1981) is a professor in the Department of Hebrew and the Center for Jewish Languages and Literatures, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and heads its program in Judezmo (or Ladino) studies. He is also an advisor to the Israel National Authority for Ladino Language and Culture and a member of the Ladino Academy of Israel. He is the author of A Lexicon of the Hebrew and Aramaic Elements in Modern Judezmo (Jerusalem, 1993), The Judezmo Language (in Hebrew, Jerusalem, 1999), Voices from Jewish Salonika (Jerusalem-Salonika, 1999), and numerous articles on the Judezmo language and its literature and on Jewish languages as a field of scholarly inquiry. He is the editor of Languages and Literatures of Sephardic and Oriental Jews (Jerusalem, 2009), and a co-editor of Massorot, and Caminos de leche y miel: Festscrift in Honor of Michael Studemund- Halevy II (Barcelona, 2018).
The ideology of Judezmism (or the popular Sephardic Ladino language movement) – the native writer... more The ideology of Judezmism (or the popular Sephardic Ladino language movement) – the native writers' attitudes toward the language and their efforts to maintain and promote it, as extrapolated from articles in the popular Judezmo (Ladino) press of the Ottoman Empire.
Among scholars of Judezmo (Ladino, Judeo-Spanish), David Fresco, editor of the important Istanbul... more Among scholars of Judezmo (Ladino, Judeo-Spanish), David Fresco, editor of the important Istanbul Judezmo periodical El Tyempo and others, is well known for his strong anti-Judezmo stance. The article demonstrates that, rather than being an original idea of Fresco's, this stance reflected the strong influence on Fresco of the mostly Central and Eastern-European Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, with its fierce opposition to Yiddish and other Jewish Diaspora languages. Like the European maskilim, Fresco was a supporter of and participant in the Hebrew Revival, and an advocate of the transfer from Judezmo to Turkish among the Jews of the Ottoman Empire.
Between the sixteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, the distinctive Rabbinic Judezmo (or Ladino o... more Between the sixteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, the distinctive Rabbinic Judezmo (or Ladino or Judeo-Spanish) linguistic variety was the predominant literary variety used by the Sephardic Jews of the Ottoman Empire for publishing in the vernacular. An example of its use in Late Ottoman Eretz Israel (Land of Israel) or Palestine in the first half of the nineteenth century is the language of the taqqanot or communal regulations governing aspects of life in Eretz Israel at that time formulated by Ḥ. A. Gagin and published in the book Matoq mi-dĕvaš (Sweeter than honey) at the press of Israel Baeck in Jerusalem, 1842. With the onset of westernization and modernization from the end of the eighteenth century, a Judezmo press and secular literature began to emerge at the middle of the nineteenth century. In Ottoman Eretz Israel the first Judezmo periodical, Ḥavaṣelet: Mĕvasseret Yĕrušalayim, edited by Jerusalem-born E. Benveniste, began to appear at the press of Israel Baeck in 1870/71. It continued to use some linguistic and stylistic features typical of Rabbinic Judezmo; but it also incorporated elements being borrowed into Judezmo at the time from influential Western European languages such as Italian and French. The language and style of the periodicals edited and published by the next generation of Judezmo journalists in Ottoman Eretz Israel, whose most outstanding representative was probably Jerusalem-born S. I. Sherezli, were characterized by far fewer features reminiscent of traditional Rabbinic Judezmo and much more significant influence from Western European languages such as French, Italian, and to a lesser extent, Castilian. With the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 a new generation of journalists, mostly immigrants from regions of the former Ottoman Empire, continued Judezmo journalism, mostly based in Tel Aviv, employing an even more highly western-influenced language. But with the growing success of the Hebrew Revival movement in Eretz Israel and the State of Israel, Judezmo journalism there was almost entirely replaced by the burgeoning Hebrew press. The article illustrates and analyzes the transition in the Judezmo press of Late Ottoman Eretz Israel from a more traditional to a considerably more modernized, westernized language and style; as well as the allusions in the local Judezmo press to the increasing use of Hebrew as a living spoken and written language amongst all of the Jewish residents of Late Ottoman Eretz Israel.
The Jewish Pearl of the Aegean: Izmir (Language, Literature, History, Art and Culture) (ISBN 978-625-8472-70-7), 2023
Over the centuries of their sojourn in the Ottoman Empire, the attitude of the Ottoman Sephardim ... more Over the centuries of their sojourn in the Ottoman Empire, the attitude of the Ottoman Sephardim to the Turkish language has been consistently positive. Their attitude toward the Turkish component in their Judezmo group language, on the other hand, has diverged from period to period. This article discusses the Turkish component of Judezmo and the speakers' shifting attitudes toward it from the 16th through 20th centuries. The characteristics of the component in the 20th century are exemplified through a transcription and analysis of Izmir Judezmo writer and journalist Alexandre Benghiat's fictional turn-of-the-century series of letters "Letras del kazal' by 'Kabastil', which appeared in Benghiat's periodical El Meseret.
Advances in educational technologies and instructional design book series, 2020
Judezmo, or Ladino or Judeo-Spanish, is the traditional language of the Sephardic or Iberian Jews... more Judezmo, or Ladino or Judeo-Spanish, is the traditional language of the Sephardic or Iberian Jews who after 1492 resettled in the Ottoman Empire, many of them remaining in the region into the 21st century. Structurally, Modern Judezmo is composed mostly of elements of popular medieval Ibero-Romance, Ibero-Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic, Turkish and Balkan languages, and Italian and French. Into the first half of the 20th century, the language was written primarily in the Hebrew alphabet; from the second half of the 19th century, Romanization was also used, leading to the unique Romanization which predominates today. The language was not taught formally in the speech community until the 19th century; instead language study focused on Hebrew. In the late 1970s, popular social pressure led the Israeli government to acknowledge the important role played by Judezmo in the Sephardic Diaspora by introducing Judezmo courses in Israeli universities. The chapter focuses on the challenges of teaching Judezmo at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Since the resettlement of the Sephardim in the Ottoman Empire and Austro-Hungary following their ... more Since the resettlement of the Sephardim in the Ottoman Empire and Austro-Hungary following their expulsions from Iberia and into the modern era, Judezmo or Ladino, the distinctive Jewish language of the group often known today as the ‘Ottoman Sephardim’ or more broadly, ‘Ottoman Jewry,’ has played a key role in its speakers’ practice of Jewish ritual and religious life. The article offers a panoramic overview of that role. Basing itself on primary rabbinical and periodical sources in Judezmo and Hebrew as well as the extensive research literature on the language and culture of Judezmo speakers, the article analyzes the centrality of Judezmo among the Ottoman Sephardim as a language of sacred-text translation (e.g., Biblical, Mishnaic and Hebrew liturgical texts), paraliturgical literary creativity (e.g., original songs, rhyming couplets, hymns and dirges enriching celebrations of the calendar and life cycle), and language of holiday and life-cycle event greetings, blessings, proverbs and sayings. Passages from Judezmo literature, in the original language and in translation, exemplify how the group’s rabbis and journalists related to Jewish religious ritual and custom, and commented on the decline of the traditional religious lifestyle under the influence of Western European liberal humanism from the beginning of the modern era. The article ends with some observations on the current Judezmo language and culture revival and suggests that this development may inspire a resuscitation of long-abandoned traditional religious ritual practices including some in which Judezmo played a central vital role.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Nov 29, 2021
The Ibero-Romance-speaking Jews of medieval Christian Iberia were linguistically distinct from th... more The Ibero-Romance-speaking Jews of medieval Christian Iberia were linguistically distinct from their non-Jewish neighbors primarily as a result of their language’s unique Hebrew-Aramaic component; preservations from older Jewish Greek, Latin, and Arabic; a tradition of translating sacred Hebrew and Aramaic texts into their language using archaisms and Hebrew-Aramaic rather than Hispanic syntax; and their Hebrew-letter writing system. With the expulsions from Iberia in the late 15th century, most of the Sephardim who continued to maintain their Iberian-origin language resettled in the Ottoman Empire, with smaller numbers in North Africa and Italy. Their forced migration, and perhaps a conscious choice, essentially disconnected the Sephardim from the Spanish language as it developed in Iberia and Latin America, causing their language—which they came to call laðino ‘Romance’, ʤuðezmo or ʤuðjó ‘Jewish, Judezmo’, and more recently (ʤudeo)espaɲol ‘Judeo-Spanish’—to appear archaic when compared with modern Spanish. In their new locales the Sephardim developed the Hispanic component of their language along independent lines, resulting in further differentiation from Spanish. Divergence was intensified through borrowing from contact languages of the Ottoman Empire such as Turkish, Greek, and South Slavic. Especially from the late 18th century, factors such as the colonializing interests of France, Italy, and Austro-Hungary in the region led to considerable influence of their languages on Judezmo. In the 19th century, the dismemberment of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires and their replacement by highly nationalistic states resulted in a massive language shift to the local languages; that factor, followed by large speech-population losses during World War II and immigration to countries stressing linguistic homogeneity, have in recent years made Judezmo an endangered language.
The ideology of Judezmism (or the popular Sephardic Ladino language movement) – the native writer... more The ideology of Judezmism (or the popular Sephardic Ladino language movement) – the native writers' attitudes toward the language and their efforts to maintain and promote it, as extrapolated from articles in the popular Judezmo (Ladino) press of the Ottoman Empire.
Among scholars of Judezmo (Ladino, Judeo-Spanish), David Fresco, editor of the important Istanbul... more Among scholars of Judezmo (Ladino, Judeo-Spanish), David Fresco, editor of the important Istanbul Judezmo periodical El Tyempo and others, is well known for his strong anti-Judezmo stance. The article demonstrates that, rather than being an original idea of Fresco's, this stance reflected the strong influence on Fresco of the mostly Central and Eastern-European Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, with its fierce opposition to Yiddish and other Jewish Diaspora languages. Like the European maskilim, Fresco was a supporter of and participant in the Hebrew Revival, and an advocate of the transfer from Judezmo to Turkish among the Jews of the Ottoman Empire.
Between the sixteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, the distinctive Rabbinic Judezmo (or Ladino o... more Between the sixteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, the distinctive Rabbinic Judezmo (or Ladino or Judeo-Spanish) linguistic variety was the predominant literary variety used by the Sephardic Jews of the Ottoman Empire for publishing in the vernacular. An example of its use in Late Ottoman Eretz Israel (Land of Israel) or Palestine in the first half of the nineteenth century is the language of the taqqanot or communal regulations governing aspects of life in Eretz Israel at that time formulated by Ḥ. A. Gagin and published in the book Matoq mi-dĕvaš (Sweeter than honey) at the press of Israel Baeck in Jerusalem, 1842. With the onset of westernization and modernization from the end of the eighteenth century, a Judezmo press and secular literature began to emerge at the middle of the nineteenth century. In Ottoman Eretz Israel the first Judezmo periodical, Ḥavaṣelet: Mĕvasseret Yĕrušalayim, edited by Jerusalem-born E. Benveniste, began to appear at the press of Israel Baeck in 1870/71. It continued to use some linguistic and stylistic features typical of Rabbinic Judezmo; but it also incorporated elements being borrowed into Judezmo at the time from influential Western European languages such as Italian and French. The language and style of the periodicals edited and published by the next generation of Judezmo journalists in Ottoman Eretz Israel, whose most outstanding representative was probably Jerusalem-born S. I. Sherezli, were characterized by far fewer features reminiscent of traditional Rabbinic Judezmo and much more significant influence from Western European languages such as French, Italian, and to a lesser extent, Castilian. With the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 a new generation of journalists, mostly immigrants from regions of the former Ottoman Empire, continued Judezmo journalism, mostly based in Tel Aviv, employing an even more highly western-influenced language. But with the growing success of the Hebrew Revival movement in Eretz Israel and the State of Israel, Judezmo journalism there was almost entirely replaced by the burgeoning Hebrew press. The article illustrates and analyzes the transition in the Judezmo press of Late Ottoman Eretz Israel from a more traditional to a considerably more modernized, westernized language and style; as well as the allusions in the local Judezmo press to the increasing use of Hebrew as a living spoken and written language amongst all of the Jewish residents of Late Ottoman Eretz Israel.
The Jewish Pearl of the Aegean: Izmir (Language, Literature, History, Art and Culture) (ISBN 978-625-8472-70-7), 2023
Over the centuries of their sojourn in the Ottoman Empire, the attitude of the Ottoman Sephardim ... more Over the centuries of their sojourn in the Ottoman Empire, the attitude of the Ottoman Sephardim to the Turkish language has been consistently positive. Their attitude toward the Turkish component in their Judezmo group language, on the other hand, has diverged from period to period. This article discusses the Turkish component of Judezmo and the speakers' shifting attitudes toward it from the 16th through 20th centuries. The characteristics of the component in the 20th century are exemplified through a transcription and analysis of Izmir Judezmo writer and journalist Alexandre Benghiat's fictional turn-of-the-century series of letters "Letras del kazal' by 'Kabastil', which appeared in Benghiat's periodical El Meseret.
Advances in educational technologies and instructional design book series, 2020
Judezmo, or Ladino or Judeo-Spanish, is the traditional language of the Sephardic or Iberian Jews... more Judezmo, or Ladino or Judeo-Spanish, is the traditional language of the Sephardic or Iberian Jews who after 1492 resettled in the Ottoman Empire, many of them remaining in the region into the 21st century. Structurally, Modern Judezmo is composed mostly of elements of popular medieval Ibero-Romance, Ibero-Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic, Turkish and Balkan languages, and Italian and French. Into the first half of the 20th century, the language was written primarily in the Hebrew alphabet; from the second half of the 19th century, Romanization was also used, leading to the unique Romanization which predominates today. The language was not taught formally in the speech community until the 19th century; instead language study focused on Hebrew. In the late 1970s, popular social pressure led the Israeli government to acknowledge the important role played by Judezmo in the Sephardic Diaspora by introducing Judezmo courses in Israeli universities. The chapter focuses on the challenges of teaching Judezmo at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Since the resettlement of the Sephardim in the Ottoman Empire and Austro-Hungary following their ... more Since the resettlement of the Sephardim in the Ottoman Empire and Austro-Hungary following their expulsions from Iberia and into the modern era, Judezmo or Ladino, the distinctive Jewish language of the group often known today as the ‘Ottoman Sephardim’ or more broadly, ‘Ottoman Jewry,’ has played a key role in its speakers’ practice of Jewish ritual and religious life. The article offers a panoramic overview of that role. Basing itself on primary rabbinical and periodical sources in Judezmo and Hebrew as well as the extensive research literature on the language and culture of Judezmo speakers, the article analyzes the centrality of Judezmo among the Ottoman Sephardim as a language of sacred-text translation (e.g., Biblical, Mishnaic and Hebrew liturgical texts), paraliturgical literary creativity (e.g., original songs, rhyming couplets, hymns and dirges enriching celebrations of the calendar and life cycle), and language of holiday and life-cycle event greetings, blessings, proverbs and sayings. Passages from Judezmo literature, in the original language and in translation, exemplify how the group’s rabbis and journalists related to Jewish religious ritual and custom, and commented on the decline of the traditional religious lifestyle under the influence of Western European liberal humanism from the beginning of the modern era. The article ends with some observations on the current Judezmo language and culture revival and suggests that this development may inspire a resuscitation of long-abandoned traditional religious ritual practices including some in which Judezmo played a central vital role.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Nov 29, 2021
The Ibero-Romance-speaking Jews of medieval Christian Iberia were linguistically distinct from th... more The Ibero-Romance-speaking Jews of medieval Christian Iberia were linguistically distinct from their non-Jewish neighbors primarily as a result of their language’s unique Hebrew-Aramaic component; preservations from older Jewish Greek, Latin, and Arabic; a tradition of translating sacred Hebrew and Aramaic texts into their language using archaisms and Hebrew-Aramaic rather than Hispanic syntax; and their Hebrew-letter writing system. With the expulsions from Iberia in the late 15th century, most of the Sephardim who continued to maintain their Iberian-origin language resettled in the Ottoman Empire, with smaller numbers in North Africa and Italy. Their forced migration, and perhaps a conscious choice, essentially disconnected the Sephardim from the Spanish language as it developed in Iberia and Latin America, causing their language—which they came to call laðino ‘Romance’, ʤuðezmo or ʤuðjó ‘Jewish, Judezmo’, and more recently (ʤudeo)espaɲol ‘Judeo-Spanish’—to appear archaic when compared with modern Spanish. In their new locales the Sephardim developed the Hispanic component of their language along independent lines, resulting in further differentiation from Spanish. Divergence was intensified through borrowing from contact languages of the Ottoman Empire such as Turkish, Greek, and South Slavic. Especially from the late 18th century, factors such as the colonializing interests of France, Italy, and Austro-Hungary in the region led to considerable influence of their languages on Judezmo. In the 19th century, the dismemberment of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires and their replacement by highly nationalistic states resulted in a massive language shift to the local languages; that factor, followed by large speech-population losses during World War II and immigration to countries stressing linguistic homogeneity, have in recent years made Judezmo an endangered language.
Mizmor Le-David : Studies in Jewish languages, 2023
Mizmor Le-David: Studies in Jewish Languages brings together twenty-six essays by leading scholar... more Mizmor Le-David: Studies in Jewish Languages brings together twenty-six essays by leading scholars in Jewish and Hispanic studies from the most prestigious universities and research centers of Israel, Europe and the United States. Their contributions focus on the languages, literatures, cultures, and history of the major ethnic sub-communities of the Jewish people in their rich diversity. Topics in the Hebrew language and Jewish Diaspora languages, such as Jewish Aramaic, Judezmo/Judeo-Spanish, Haketia, Yiddish, Judeo-Arabic and Judeo-Italian, receive detailed treatment. The contributions are brought together to honor Professor David M. Bunis of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a leading, world-renowned scholar of Judezmo/Ladino, Yiddish and other Jewish languages, on the occasion of his seventieth birthday.
The new International Ladino (Judezmo/Judeo-Spanish) Summer School will be held on the Mount Scop... more The new International Ladino (Judezmo/Judeo-Spanish) Summer School will be held on the Mount Scopus Campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from July 28 to August 12, 2024. The courses about the traditional language and culture of the Ottoman and post-Ottoman Sephardim (6 credits) will be held in English and will form a meeting point between Israeli and international students. The courses will include an introduction to Ladino for beginners, an advanced course with those already having a background, an introduction to the soletreo or Ladino cursive script, and lots of in-class readings. Special attention will be given to texts of particular interest to the participants. There will also be visits to Ladino collections, archival work, and field work with Ladino speakers with origins in Israel, Turkey, Greece and the Balkans. Rothberg MA students should register via their program. Non-HUJI international students should register via RIS Ladino Summer School (https://overseas.huji.ac.il/academics/summer-and-short-term-programs/summer-courses/ladino/).
This volume is an excellent basic resource for scholars and textbook for students, it offers a ne... more This volume is an excellent basic resource for scholars and textbook for students, it offers a new look at the history of Izmir and will not only be an exciting eye-opener for scholars but willl also surprise those familiar with the field. The contributors of this solid and wellresearched reader-historians, linguists, Hebraists, Romance scholars, journalists-explore the rich, complex, and contradictory history of Jewish Izmir, and seek to capture and interpret the diversity of the Jewish experience in its breadth and diversity from a multidisciplinary perspective. With an eye toward urban studies, the reader brings together language and literature, archaeology and art, architecture and cemeteries, printing and journalism, music and theater, Jewish institutions, Jewish-owned business and shops, history, and family history.
Statement by University Faculty Members in Israel and Abroad, 2023
ANTI-TERROR GROUP STATEMENT REGARDING THE “SBL COUNCIL STATEMENT CONCERNING THE ONGOING HUMANITAR... more ANTI-TERROR GROUP STATEMENT REGARDING THE “SBL COUNCIL STATEMENT CONCERNING THE ONGOING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA AND ISRAEL”
Program in Sephardic and Eastern Jewish Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2022-2023, 2022
Brief description of the Program in Sephardic and Eastern Jewish Studies, Hebrew University of Je... more Brief description of the Program in Sephardic and Eastern Jewish Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2022-2023: Languages, Literatures, History, Music and more
Program in Sephardic and Eastern Jewish Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2022-2023, 2022
A description of the new Program in Sephardic and Eastern Jewish Studies, The Hebrew University o... more A description of the new Program in Sephardic and Eastern Jewish Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2022-2023: History, Music, Ladino/Judezmo and other Jewish Languages, and more.
PROGRAM of the Eighth International Conference on Jewish Languages Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1-4 August 2022, 2022
Program of the Eighth International Conference on Jewish Languages which will take place at the H... more Program of the Eighth International Conference on Jewish Languages which will take place at the Hebrew University Mount Scopus Campus, Jerusalem, from August 1 to 4, 2022. The conference, on “Tradition and Innovation in Jewish Languages,” is organized by the Center for Jewish Languages of the Hebrew University, and is dedicated to Professor David M. Bunis on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The four-day conference, which is supported by the Israel Science Foundation, includes lectures on Ladino (Judezmo), Yiddish, varieties of Judeo-Arabic, Jewish Neo-Aramaic, Judeo-Persian, Juhuri, Judeo-Italian, Judeo-Portuguese, Judeo-Georgian, and other Jewish languages.
Bunis_Course_Sephardic Life in the East through the Reading of Ladino Texts, The Hebrew Universit... more Bunis_Course_Sephardic Life in the East through the Reading of Ladino Texts, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Spring Semester Mondays, 17:00-18:45, Humanities Rm 2505 Instructor: Prof. David Bunis
An introduction to the life of the Judezmo-speaking Jews of the Ottoman Empire and its successor states through reading and analysis of Judezmo (Ladino) texts.
The Jewish Theatre in Turkey: Program of an International Conference, 2023
A close look at the Jewish theater in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, in Judezmo (Ladino, Judeo-Sp... more A close look at the Jewish theater in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, in Judezmo (Ladino, Judeo-Spanish) and Turkish, from its nineteenth-century origins to the present.
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Papers by David Bunis
With the onset of westernization and modernization from the end of the eighteenth century, a Judezmo press and secular literature began to emerge at the middle of the nineteenth century. In Ottoman Eretz Israel the first Judezmo periodical, Ḥavaṣelet: Mĕvasseret Yĕrušalayim, edited by Jerusalem-born E. Benveniste, began to appear at the press of Israel
Baeck in 1870/71. It continued to use some linguistic and stylistic features typical of Rabbinic Judezmo; but it also incorporated elements being borrowed into Judezmo at the time from influential Western European languages such as Italian and French. The language and style of the periodicals edited and published by the next generation of Judezmo journalists in Ottoman Eretz Israel, whose most outstanding representative was probably Jerusalem-born S. I. Sherezli, were characterized by far fewer features reminiscent of traditional Rabbinic
Judezmo and much more significant influence from Western European languages such as French, Italian, and to a lesser extent, Castilian. With the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 a new generation of journalists, mostly immigrants from regions of the former Ottoman Empire, continued Judezmo journalism, mostly based in Tel Aviv, employing an even more highly western-influenced language. But with the growing success of the Hebrew Revival movement in Eretz Israel and the State of Israel, Judezmo journalism there was almost entirely replaced by the burgeoning Hebrew press. The article illustrates and analyzes the transition in the Judezmo press of Late Ottoman Eretz Israel from a more traditional to a considerably more modernized, westernized language and style; as well as the allusions in the local Judezmo press to the increasing use of Hebrew as a living spoken and written language amongst all of the Jewish residents of Late Ottoman Eretz Israel.
With the onset of westernization and modernization from the end of the eighteenth century, a Judezmo press and secular literature began to emerge at the middle of the nineteenth century. In Ottoman Eretz Israel the first Judezmo periodical, Ḥavaṣelet: Mĕvasseret Yĕrušalayim, edited by Jerusalem-born E. Benveniste, began to appear at the press of Israel
Baeck in 1870/71. It continued to use some linguistic and stylistic features typical of Rabbinic Judezmo; but it also incorporated elements being borrowed into Judezmo at the time from influential Western European languages such as Italian and French. The language and style of the periodicals edited and published by the next generation of Judezmo journalists in Ottoman Eretz Israel, whose most outstanding representative was probably Jerusalem-born S. I. Sherezli, were characterized by far fewer features reminiscent of traditional Rabbinic
Judezmo and much more significant influence from Western European languages such as French, Italian, and to a lesser extent, Castilian. With the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 a new generation of journalists, mostly immigrants from regions of the former Ottoman Empire, continued Judezmo journalism, mostly based in Tel Aviv, employing an even more highly western-influenced language. But with the growing success of the Hebrew Revival movement in Eretz Israel and the State of Israel, Judezmo journalism there was almost entirely replaced by the burgeoning Hebrew press. The article illustrates and analyzes the transition in the Judezmo press of Late Ottoman Eretz Israel from a more traditional to a considerably more modernized, westernized language and style; as well as the allusions in the local Judezmo press to the increasing use of Hebrew as a living spoken and written language amongst all of the Jewish residents of Late Ottoman Eretz Israel.
The contributions are brought together to honor Professor David M. Bunis of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a leading, world-renowned scholar of Judezmo/Ladino, Yiddish and other Jewish languages, on the occasion of his seventieth birthday.
The four-day conference, which is supported by the Israel Science Foundation, includes lectures on Ladino (Judezmo), Yiddish, varieties of Judeo-Arabic, Jewish Neo-Aramaic, Judeo-Persian, Juhuri, Judeo-Italian, Judeo-Portuguese, Judeo-Georgian, and other Jewish languages.
An introduction to the life of the Judezmo-speaking Jews of the Ottoman Empire and its successor states through reading and analysis of Judezmo (Ladino) texts.