What is the difference between Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews?

Ashkenazi Jews trace their heritage to Central and Eastern Europe and historically spoke Yiddish, while Sephardic Jews trace their heritage to Spain, Portugal, and the wider Mediterranean and Ottoman world, historically speaking Ladino.

Is Ladino the same as Spanish?

Ladino, also called Judeo-Spanish, developed from medieval Spanish but incorporated Hebrew, Turkish, Greek, and Arabic vocabulary over centuries, making it a distinct language rather than simply a dialect of modern Spanish.

Is Ladino still spoken today?

Yes, though the number of fluent speakers has declined. Ladino is preserved through publications like El Amaneser, cultural institutions such as Israel's National Authority for Ladino and Its Culture, and music and family traditions passed down in Sephardic households.

Where did Sephardic Jews settle after 1492?

Many were welcomed into the Ottoman Empire, settling in cities such as Thessaloniki and Istanbul, while others moved to North Africa, the Netherlands, and eventually the Americas.

Who was Flory Jagoda?

Flory Jagoda was a Bosnian-American Sephardic singer, songwriter, and guitarist celebrated for preserving and popularizing Ladino songs, including the widely performed Hanukkah song 'Ocho Kandelikas.'

Ladino and Sephardic Heritage: A Living Culture

Quick answer: Sephardic Jews trace their heritage to the Iberian Peninsula (Sepharad is Hebrew for Spain), and many still carry Ladino (Judeo-Spanish)—a language born from medieval Spanish blended with Hebrew, Turkish, Greek, and Arabic. After the 1492 expulsion from Spain, Sephardic communities flourished across the Ottoman Empire and North Africa, and their language, food, music, and traditions remain a vital, distinct branch of Jewish culture today.

What Does “Sephardic” Mean?

“Sephardic” comes from Sepharad, the Hebrew name for the Iberian Peninsula. For centuries, Jewish communities thrived in Spain and Portugal, producing towering scholars like Maimonides (Rambam), born in Córdoba in 1138, and poets like Judah Halevi. This era is often remembered as a golden age of Jewish philosophy, poetry, and science, conducted in close dialogue with Muslim and Christian neighbors. Poets like Solomon ibn Gabirol and Abraham ibn Ezra wrote enduring Hebrew verse during this same period, contributing to a broader flourishing of Sephardic scholarship that shaped Jewish thought for centuries afterward.

1492 and the Sephardic Diaspora

That golden age ended abruptly. In 1492, the Alhambra Decree expelled Jews who would not convert from Spain, and Portugal followed a few years later. Hundreds of thousands of Sephardic Jews scattered—many welcomed into the Ottoman Empire, where cities like Thessaloniki (Salonika) and Istanbul became major centers of Sephardic life. Thessaloniki, in fact, grew such a large Jewish population that it was once nicknamed the “Jerusalem of the Balkans.” Others settled in Morocco, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Greece, and later the Americas, carrying their language and customs with them. In cities like Fez and Tetouan, Sephardic exiles joined long-established Moroccan Jewish communities, blending their Spanish-inflected traditions with local Jewish life that had existed for centuries.

Ladino: The Language of the Sephardic World

Ladino, also called Judeo-Spanish or Djudezmo, is the everyday language that Sephardic exiles carried out of Spain and preserved for centuries, absorbing Turkish, Hebrew, Greek, and Arabic words along the way. It was historically written in Hebrew (Rashi) script and printed in newspapers such as La Vara in New York and, more recently, El Amaneser, a contemporary Ladino-language newspaper published in Istanbul. In Israel, the National Authority for Ladino and Its Culture, established by law, works to preserve the language and its literature, and it has helped promote an annual Ladino Day, marked with readings, songs, and classes celebrating the language. Ladino proverbs, songs, and expressions still circulate in Sephardic families, even where fluent speakers have become rare.

Sephardic Ballads and Oral Tradition

Long before Ladino appeared in print, it lived in song. Sephardic families preserved a rich oral tradition of romanceros—narrative ballads tracing back to medieval Spain—alongside coplas, sung poems often composed for holidays and lifecycle events. Passed from grandmother to granddaughter for generations, these ballads and songs carried medieval Spanish vocabulary and stories forward through communities that never returned to Spain, making them one of the richest surviving windows into pre-expulsion Iberian culture anywhere in the world. Even everyday speech carried this inheritance forward, and Ladino proverbs and sayings—often passed down informally rather than written—are still quoted by grandparents in Sephardic families to this day, a living link to a language many never formally studied.

Sephardic Roots in Colonial and Early America

Sephardic Jewish history in North America is older than the United States itself. In 1654, a small group of Sephardic Jews fleeing Portuguese Brazil landed in New Amsterdam and founded Congregation Shearith Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in North America, still active today in New York City. In Newport, Rhode Island, the Touro Synagogue—dedicated in 1763 and the oldest surviving synagogue building in the United States—was built by a Sephardic congregation and is remembered for the letter President George Washington wrote to its members affirming religious liberty for all. These communities followed Sephardic customs and liturgy long before larger waves of Ashkenazi immigration reshaped American Jewish life in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Sephardic Music and Culture in America

Sephardic song has found passionate keepers even far from the Mediterranean. Flory Jagoda, a Bosnian-born Sephardic musician who settled in the United States, became known as the “keeper of the flame” of Sephardic music; her song “Ocho Kandelikas” is now a beloved Hanukkah standard performed far beyond Sephardic communities, and she was honored with a National Heritage Fellowship. American cities with historic Sephardic communities, like Seattle—home to Congregation Ezra Bessaroth and a community with roots in Rhodes and Turkey—continue to celebrate that heritage, and the University of Washington’s Sephardic Studies program documents and preserves it for researchers and families alike.

Keeping Sephardic Heritage Alive Today

Sephardic and Ladino heritage is a reminder that Jewish culture was never one single story—it’s a family of related traditions, shaped by Spain, the Ottoman world, North Africa, and beyond, that deserves celebration alongside Ashkenazi and Yiddish traditions. Whether your family lit Hanukkah candles to Ladino songs or you’re just discovering this heritage for the first time, there’s room at the table.

Bring the Culture Home

Use the Community Explorer to connect with Sephardic and broader Jewish communities near you, check Jewish Events for Sephardic music nights and heritage programs, and turn to Chessed for community support rooted in the same values Sephardic families have carried for generations. Looking to put down roots? Browse Jobs, Real Estate, and Rentals near vibrant Jewish communities, and Add a Listing to share your own resources with others.

By the HeimishMart Community Desk — HeimishMart is the community marketplace for Jewish homes, jobs, and local life across North America.