iSound

My first encounter with some of the songs in this recording was in my grandmother Esther's kitchen. Back in my childhood town in Israel, I used to help her prepare her famous leek balls. At fifteen minutes to eight my grandmother, who came to Israel from Turkey, would turn on the radio. It was the daily broadcast for new immigrants, the segment for Ladino speakers. Centuries-old Ladino songs then entered the small kitchen, sung by an amazing mixture of pop singers, cantors and old women. My grandmother joined them all, not bothered by the differences of interpretation. The old folk songs were like good red pomegranates: some eat them, some use their juice for cooking, others say blessings on them at the High Holiday table, and everybody praises their beauty.

The origins of the Judeo-Spanish folk songs lie in Medieval Spain, where Jews have lived for more than a millennium. For hundreds of years they had flourished as an influential community, creating masterpieces in the li...