Samuel & Althea

University of Washington

• fall 2013 • Ashley Celebrating 40 Anatoliy Klots Bobman years of Jewish goes behind the connects with Studies at UW scenes of Soviet her family’s with a special Jewish cinema from the Ladino legacy archival gallery 5 14 20 Chair

On the cover: What better way to celebrate our program’s 40th birthday than to create a new outlet for student leadership? The Jewish Studies Student Prof. Noam Pianko talking with members of the Jewish Studies Student Committee. Committee (JSSC) will give students an important voice in curriculum, event Engaged Jewish Studies: Reinventing the Field for the 21st Century planning, and program outreach. Find Since its founding in 1973, the Stroum Jewish Studies programs that attempt to continue offer- and adaptable, an important attribute in times of out more about Ha, Haley, Lindsay, Studies Program has shaped the cutting edge of ing highly specialized courses for smaller numbers rapidly changing technological and economic re- Silvi, Rebecca, and Griffin, who have big this field with its innovative Stroum Lectures, of students will have a difficult time sustaining alities. plans for making 2013-14 Hazel D. Cole post-doctoral fellowship, and influ- themselves as new models of higher education Guided by these principles—engagement, 18 a year to remember. ential scholarship. As we look forward to the next transform the priorities of university leadership. partnership, and innovation—the Stroum Jew- forty years, however, the fundamental assump- On the other hand, Jewish Studies programs ish Studies Program has the potential to be part Stroum Jewish tions of higher education are rapidly changing. are ideally positioned as models for the rapidly of shaping the future of Jewish Studies specifi- Studies Program Save the dates for terrific events in 2013-14, Economic, political, and social factors are radically changing landscape of higher education. First, as cally and higher education more broadly. We are Newsletter Fall • 2013 9 including the return of JewDub Talks in the fall transforming all aspects of higher education. It is state universities shift away from state funds, there already well on the way. This past year, we cre- Volume XXIV clear that there will be major restructuring on the is an increased recognition of the importance of ated two new public programs that highlight our models of budget allocation, faculty, curriculum, engaging local communities and demonstrating program’s dedication to community engagement. Chair Explore our out-of-the-box approaches to Prof. Noam Pianko and student demographics. Shifting resources the relevance of scholarship. Since their origins, The New Voices in World Jewish Music series Hebrew and Israel Studies have led to a variety of changes that challenge long- Jewish Studies programs have focused on public brought three young Jewish musicians to Seattle. Assistant Director 10 Lauren Spokane time assumptions. programming, community partnerships, and The three sold-out evening events and campus What does the new academic landscape mean community-engaged research. Second, efforts workshops showcased the creation of new Jewish Communications Coordinator An interview with Shalom Sabar, expert in for Jewish Studies at the University of Washing- to streamline resources have generated renewed culture based on traditional sources. A second Dr. Hannah Pressman Jewish art and folklore 13 ton over the next forty years? interest in creating interdisciplinary programs program we initiated this year was JewDub Talks, Photographer On the one hand, small programs like Jew- that integrate faculty from across the university. an evening of four short faculty lectures on big Meryl Schenker Walk down memory lane with one of the ish Studies face real challenges. The shift in The move toward departmental partnerships and Jewish ideas on the model of TED talks. The You- Designer first Jewish Studies majors at UW budget allocation to reflect student enrollment bridging intellectual boundaries has long been a Tube videos we produced from this event, focus- Steven Neuman 14 disproportionately impacts programs that offer hallmark of Jewish Studies programs, which seek ing on questions like “Why Yiddish?” and “Why Stroum Jewish Studies Program smaller classes with low faculty-to-student ratios. faculty from around the university with common Break a Glass at a Wedding?,” have already been University of Washington Box 353650 We say thank you to our dedicated supporters Compounding this trend is the increased pressure interests. Third, Jewish Studies programs are well watched by more than 11,000 people! Seattle, WA 98195-3650 and profile Dr. and Mrs. Buchman students feel to only explore courses and interests poised to innovate. Universities can be both cul- We have continued our program’s strength www.StroumJewishStudies.org 19 that they perceive as directly contributing to their turally and institutionally slow to adapt to change. of always looking to build connections across chances of employment after graduation. Jewish Jewish Studies programs tend to be more nimble the university and the community. This year we

2 | Stroum Jewish Studies Program Stroum Jewish Studies Program | 3 Thanks to our Advisory Board Reading Her Great-Grandfather Members 2013-2014 Terry Azose, Chair Adina Almo Norman Behar Tamar Benzikry-Stern Dr. Joseph Buchman Bob Center (ex-officio) Jeremy Derfner Lela Franco Carole Goldberg Prof. Noam Pianko with Galeet Dardashti, one of the performers featured in the New Voices in World Sonny Gorasht (ex-officio) Jewish Music Series during Winter 2013. Rabbi Oren Hayon (ex-officio) welcomed a new faculty member to the program, showcasing our faculty, students, and commu- Janet Lackman Ana Gomez-Bravo, a Prof. in Spanish and Por- nity members. Along with my Jackson School Rabbi Anson Laytner tuguese Studies who writes about the converso colleague, Prof. Sara Curran, I was fortunate to Jamie Merriman-Cohen experience through research on the culture of receive a Mellon grant to help the Jackson School Herb Pruzan (ex-officio) food in Medieval Spain. We created a Jewish consider how to create an interactive portal that Noah Tratt Studies Student Committee to provide our stu- brings the school’s resources into the public realm Patty Willner dents the chance to build bridges across various in an accessible fashion. backgrounds and areas of interest (see story on As the University of Washington shifts to meet Thanks to outgoing p. 18). In the community, our program is build- the changing realities of higher education, the Advisory Board members ing a new partnership with the Washington State Stroum Jewish Studies Program will continue to Jewish Historical Society to create an online por- position itself as a cutting-edge contributor to the Arlene Ehrlich, Eric tal showcasing the stories of local Jewish residents university community. The next several pages of Hasson, Al Maimon, of the state. our Fall 2013 newsletter showcase examples of Ashley Bobman discusses her great-grandfather’s notebook with Prof. Devin Naar, who is supervising her exploration of Ladino and Sephardic history. Our program’s commitment to innovation our students and faculty doing creative, engaging, Lucy Pruzan, Barri Rind, preserved, archived, and studied at the UW, the Bobman, a freshman taking pre-nursing courses, in digital Jewish Studies continues to make our high-caliber work in Jewish Studies. They are the good stories, this one is Like most Levy journals are completely unique, and they happened to sit near Prof. Devin Naar, who runs Michele Rosen, and Dave program a campus and national leader in the use present and future of our program. I’m so proud about luck and timing. have never been translated into English — until the Sephardic Studies Initiative, and Lauren Spo- Stone for their years of of technology in higher education. Our web site of them, and so excited to see what the next forty In 2011, the Sephardic Studies Initiative at the now. kane, Assistant Director of the Stroum Jewish (StroumJewishStudies.org) has reached more years will bring. University of Washington acquired four note- service to the Stroum And here’s the twist: the person doing this Studies Program. As they began chatting, Bob- than 10,000 people this past year with content books, ranging from 40 to 400 pages, belonging Jewish Studies Program to the Sephardic cultural activist Albert D. Levy painstaking work of translation is Levy’s own man revealed that her family on her mother’s side Advisory Board and to Noam F. Pianko (1896-1963). These notebooks are full of writings great-granddaughter, Ashley Bobman. was Sephardic. Prof. Naar asked about her moth- How did this come about? At a Hillel Shab- er’s maiden name. When she said Levy, a light Sonny Gorasht for his Lucia S. and Herbert L. Pruzan in Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish, the language spoken Prof. of Jewish Studies by Jews whose ancestors fled Spain and Portugal bat dinner in the autumn of 2012, members of bulb went off in the historian’s head: Levy was also service as interim chair. Samuel N. Stroum Chair of Jewish Studies and settled in the lands of the Ottoman Empire. the Jewish Studies faculty were meeting students the name on the four Ladino notebooks that had Like many of the rare Ladino documents being and sharing about their courses and research. recently been lent to his archive.

4 | Stroum Jewish Studies Program Stroum Jewish Studies Program | 5 “Do you happen to be related to an Albert one of the most important international voices As anyone who has ever tried to work between Levy?” Naar asked excitedly. When Ashley of Sephardic Jewry during the first half of the two (or in this case, three) languages knows, the Sephardic Treasures From The Albert Levy Notebooks Bobman confirmed that Levy was her mother’s twentieth century,” reflected Prof. Naar, who is translation process is time-consuming but re- grandfather, Naar knew he was sitting next to the the Marsha and Jay Glazer Endowed Chair in warding. Bobman first transliterates every Ladino great-granddaughter of one of the leading Ladino Jewish Studies and Assistant Prof. of History at word from Hebrew letters into Latin letters and writers of the twentieth century. UW. “The opportunity to bring his writings to then begins her translation; next she consults a

A prolific journalist, educator, and community leader, Albert Levy was born in 1896 Thanks to a chance meeting at UW Hillel, the in Salonika, a major port city then part of the Ot- curiosity of a Jewish Studies professor, and the dedication toman Empire. There he edited El Liberal, a La- dino political daily, and was a teacher. In 1916, to of a talented student, Albert Levy’s work will be accessible avoid military service recently implemented by the new Greek state, which now controlled Salonika, to a whole new generation. Levy immigrated to America. He lived on New York’s Lower East Side, where he was involved life and to recreate his cultural milieu — all pos- Ladino-English dictionary and uses contextual with several Ladino publications including El sible through these notebooks — is both rare and clues to put full verses or sentences together. At Kirbach Americano, El Proletario, and El Luzero exciting.” The notebooks, which contain clippings her regular meetings with Prof. Naar, they go over Sefaradi. Levy’s most significant contribution to of many of Levy’s published essays and poems, are her drafts line by line, and he offers suggestions for the American Ladino press was his leadership of on loan from Sephardic Bikur Holim, thanks to how to polish and refine. He also helps her survey Left: An obituary for Albert Levy’s father, David Judah (Yeuda), who died in Salonika in 1923. The obituary appeared in La Vara, the Ladino newspaper published La Vara, which he founded in 1922. La Vara was community leaders Lily DeJaen and Al Maimon, the contents of the notebooks and select which by Levy in New York. Middle: Handwritten Ladino title page of one of Albert Levy’s notebooks, which reads, “Souvenirs of My Activities in New York, 1920- the last Ladino newspaper published in Hebrew a member of the Stroum Jewish Studies Pro- text to try next. Bobman is currently working on a 1931.” Right: “A Grand Fiesta in Seattle!” Photographs of the inauguration of Sephardic Bikur Holim synagogue in Seattle. The picture of community members includes Rabbi Abraham Maimon. Published in La Vara in New York, ca. 1928. letters anywhere in the world; it folded in 1948. gram’s Advisory Board and its Sephardic Studies text about the history of the Jews of Salonika, writ- Albert Levy’s cultural activism gained him a na- Committee. ten in poetic verse. tional and international reputation as a teacher Even more exciting than grasping the mechan- A native of Seattle, she is the daughter of Bruce for herself. Although she has made extraordinary will eventually become part of the online Ladino and community leader. In the early 1930s, when meeting at After that fateful ics of how Levy wrote, though, is understanding Bobman and Karen Tacher-Bobman, whose par- progress in two quarters, she says, “I still have library being developed by the Sephardic Studies the Sephardic synagogues in Seattle, especially Hillel, Ashley Bobman made arrangements to what he wrote — the actual meaning and impact ents were the late Rachel (Levy) and Jack Tacher. much to learn about the language that my ances- Initiative at UW — the first library of this kind in Sephardic Bikur Holim, decided to establish a lo- spend Winter Quarter working with Prof. Naar of his writings. Bobman explains, “I knew from Bobman’s older brother Jacob graduated UW in tors spoke.” Currently, she is limited to working on the world. Her work will be a resource that others cal Sephardic Talmud Torah (Jewish school), they on an experiential learning project for the Inter- my family that he had done a lot of writing and the class of 2011; he earned a Jewish Studies mi- texts written with the standard Hebrew alphabet, can study in the future to understand this key fig- disciplinary Honors Program. Helped by her recruited Levy to be the director. Relocating from worked for newspapers, but I am only just begin- nor (and was featured in our Fall 2011 newsletter). but the notebooks also contain materials written ure in American Sephardic history, and Sephardic New York to Seattle, Levy continued contribut- knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet and Spanish, ning to understand the contributions he made The whole family gets regular updates on the Levy in Rashi script, or rabbinic type, and soletreo, the culture worldwide. ing his writing and oratorical skills to Sephardic she picked up the Ladino language rather quickly; to the Sephardic community.” As she worked notebook project. Bobman says proudly, “I share Sephardic cursive handwriting.. She is working on “Ashley’s contribution to the Sephardic Stud- cultural organizations. He even became involved in fact, she describes herself as “pleasantly sur- through the texts, she began to notice certain my translations with my siblings and parents, so learning these characters so she can access more of ies Initiative is absolutely invaluable,” commented in the nascent American Hebrew movement, prised” by the progress she made. She translated themes and motifs that repeat in Levy’s oeuvre, they can learn about what Albert Levy was doing. Levy’s works. Prof. Naar. “She continues to immerse herself in writing for HaDoar, a Hebrew magazine. Levy a range of Levy’s works, from an overtly political such as the need to unite the Sephardic commu- My mom reads a lot of my translations, and she is As Bobman notes, the project has connected her great-grandfather’s sophisticated writings, died in 1963, leaving behind a legacy of tireless poem about the impact of the Spanish Inquisition, nity. Thus a picture began to emerge of her great- really glad I am doing this work.” her with her family as well as her community: which deal with politics, community, identity, his- Sephardic cultural activity; in addition, he and his to more personal texts, such as obituaries Levy grandfather’s core values; she started to under- “This engagement provided me with an opportu- tory, and morality — and were largely composed wife Lucy had three children, eight grandchildren, wrote about his Salonikan family. So thoroughly stand who he was and what he stood for. Ashley Bobman plans to continue work- nity to learn more about my Sephardic heritage in poetic verse. Bringing together her knowledge and eventually seven great-grandchildren. did Bobman enjoy this learning experience that “For me it’s a great opportunity to get to know ing on the Albert Levy notebooks throughout and allowed me to become involved in the Sep- of Hebrew and Spanish, she immediately picked “Albert Levy was likely the most prolific Ladino she signed up to continue the independent study my great-grandfather Albert’s work and learn her time at UW and has specific learning goals hardic Studies Initiative.” All of her translations up the methods of transliteration; her vocabulary journalist and author in the United States, and in the Spring Quarter. about my family’s background,” Bobman says.

6 | Stroum Jewish Studies Program Stroum Jewish Studies Program | 7 and confidence improve every week, as does her An Excerpt from “Sultan Bayezid II familiarity with the history, culture and language Save the Dates: 2013 - 2014 and the Jews exiled from Spain” of her ancestors here in Seattle, in Salonika and in Please check our events calendar at www. Screening with Seattle Jewish Film A Ladino poem by Albert D. Levy (ca. 1920s) Spain. She has far exceeded my expectations and I StroumJewishStudies.org for updates Festival (film title TBD) Transliterated and translated by Ashley Bobman (2013) am thrilled to be working with her.” and more information. Dates, times, and 7pm at UW Hillel locations are subject to change. If you have During six decades of cultural activism that be- questions, call the office at 206-543-0138 gan in Salonika and zigzagged across the United or email [email protected] Monday, March 31 and Wednesday, Sultan Bayezid el segundo i los Sultan Bayezid II and the April 2 States, there was one constant in Albert Levy’s Fall 2013 djudios desterados de Espanya Jews expelled from Spain • Stroum Lectures with Profs. career: an eagerness to share his love of Sephardic Marianne Hirsch and Leo Spitzer, Wednesday, Oct. 9 history with dispersed Ladino-reading audiences Welcome Celebration and Lecture “School Photographs in Liquid El mando un “ ferman” ofisial, He sent an official “decree” Time: Assimilation, Exclusion, around the world. Now, thanks to a chance meet- by Schusterman Visiting Israeli asus provensias Evropeas en djeneral; to the European provinces, in general, Professor David Bunis Resistance” ing at UW Hillel, the curiosity of a Jewish Stud- komandando a todos los governadores, commanding all of the governors 6-8pm at UW Hillel 7:30pm in Kane Hall 220 ies Prof., and the dedication of a talented student, de no ronjar a los resfuidos Espanyoles to not expel the Spanish refugees Levy’s work will be accessible both in Ladino and Tuesday, Oct. 22 • Spring 2014 in translation to a whole new generation. Quite Film screening of Hannah Arendt de resirvirlos kon dulsor i afavilidad, to receive them with sweetness and affability, Thursday, April 24 fittingly, Ashley Bobman is now fulfilling the very 7pm in Kane Hall 220 darles avrigo, en kualonke sivdad; to give them shelter in any city, “’Cántame una cantiga/Sing me a same cultural goals as her dynamic great-grandfa- Prof. Deborah Lipstadt song’: Collecting Sephardic Ballads tratarlos komo sivdadinos pazeguozos, to treat them as peaceful citizens ther. I think it’s fair to call this a case of kismet. Thursday, Nov. 7 in Seattle, 1973” by Prof. Rina porke bivyeran kontentes i orozos. so that they live happily and with content. “JewDub Talks” Kick-off of 40th Monday, Feb. 10 Benmayor — H.P. Anniversary Year of Celebration 40th Anniversary Winter Celebration 7:30pm Kane Hall 110 7pm in UW T