A Jewish Voice from Ottoman Salonica

The Ladino Memoir of Sa'adi Besalel a-Levi

Aron Rodrigue, Sarah Abrevaya Stein, Isaac Jerusalmi, Aron Rodrigue, Sarah Abrevaya Stein

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780804781770
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Jewish History
• Index: History

This book presents for the first time the complete text of the earliest known Ladino-language memoir, transliterated from the original script, translated into English, and introduced and explicated by the editors. The memoirist, Sa'adi Besalel a-Levi (1820–1903), wrote about Ottoman Jews' daily life at a time when the finely wrought fabric of Ottoman society was just beginning to unravel. His vivid portrayal of life in Salonica, a major port in the Ottoman Levant with a majority Jewish population, thus 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. Sa'adi was a prominent journalist and publisher, one of the most significant creators of modern Sephardic print culture. He was also a rebel who accused the Jewish leadership of Salonica of being corrupt, abusive, and fanatical; that leadership, in turn, excommunicated him from the Jewish community. The experience of excommunication pervades Sa'adi's memoir, which documents a world that its author was himself actively involved in changing.

Glossary

Abbreviations^*

abr.	abbreviation
ar.	Arabic
aram.	Aramaic
coll.	collective
engl.	English
fr.	French
gr.	Greek
it.	Italian
lad.	Ladino
lat.	Latin
Ne.	Nehama
old.sp.	Old Spanish
ott.	Ottoman
pers.	Persian
pl.	plural
port.	Portuguese
prob.	probably
Rd.	Redhouse
sp.	Spanish
syn.	synonym
tr.	Turkish

* For ease in usage, most entries are exactly as they appear in the text.

Ladino/Hebrew/Turkish-English Glossary

A

aaz	’azl > aaz, spelled dismiss from office, see azil
abarrontar	for abarrotar, to preserve, secure (evidence)
abasho	below •abasho de: less than; approximately
aborreser	to abhor, hate
achake	also achak, sp. achaque, pretext •kon el achake ke: under the pretext that, Ne. 5b
achetar	it. accetare, to accept
adjem	ott. , acem, name of a Turkish musical mode
adjente	it. agente, agent, agency
adjile	ott. , acele, hurry •kon adjile: in a hurry
adjunta	it. agiunta, gathering, council, committee •adjuntas i djuzgo: court sessions and sentencing
adjuntar	to join •adjuntar byervos: to combine Hebrew consonants with vowels to create words •embezar a adjuntar: learn to read
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