Books
Books recommended by JIMENA staff for readers, students, and educators exploring the history, literature, languages, and traditions of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. Browse children’s books, novels, history, Jewish languages, and Sephardic thought.
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Ladino Rabbinic Literature and Ottoman Sephardic Culture
by Matthias B. LehmannA study of Ladino rabbinic literature in the Ottoman Empire, focusing on moralistic works such as Meam Loez and their role in shaping religious life and popular culture among Sephardic readers.
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Ladino reveries: Tales of the Sephardic experience in America
by Hank HalioA collection of warm, humorous stories about Sephardic immigrant life in America, sprinkled with Ladino expressions and drawn from the author's memories of Judeo Spanish family and community life.
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Ladino-English Concise Encyclopedic Dictionary
by Elli Kohen & Kohen-GordonA bilingual reference dictionary of Ladino (Judeo Spanish) and English by Elli Kohen and Dahlia Kohen Gordon, offering vocabulary, idioms, and cultural notes on the language of Ottoman and Balkan Sephardic Jews.
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Las Aventuras de Alisia en el Paiz de las Maraviyas: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Ladino Edition)
by Lewis Carroll (Author), John Tenniel (Illustrator), Avner Perez (Translator)A Ladino (Judeo Spanish) translation by Avner Perez of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with John Tenniel's original illustrations.
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Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews
by David YeroushalmiAn illustrated history of the Jews of Iran from ancient times to the present, covering their religious life, languages, art, and relations with surrounding society, produced alongside a museum exhibition.
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Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt
by Oded ZingerA study drawing on Cairo Geniza documents to show how Jewish women and men in medieval Egypt navigated marriage, divorce, and disputes through rabbinical courts, communal leaders, and Muslim courts.
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Loving Truth and Peace: The Grand Religious Worldview of Rabbi Benzion Uziel
by Marc D. AngelA study by Rabbi Marc D. Angel of Rabbi Benzion Meir Hai Uziel, the first Sephardic Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel, exploring his inclusive, compassionate approach to Jewish law, Zionism, and Jewish unity.
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Lucky Broken Girl
by Ruth BeharA middle grade novel based on Ruth Behar's childhood about Ruthie Mizrahi, a Cuban Jewish immigrant in 1960s Queens confined to a body cast after a car accident, who finds strength through art and friendship.
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Luis de Torres Sails to Freedom
by Tami Lehman-Wilzig (Author), Oliver Averill (Illustrator)A picture book for ages 5 to 10 about Luis de Torres, the converso interpreter on Columbus's 1492 voyage, whose family secretly kept Jewish traditions and who sailed to escape persecution in Spain.
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Ma’amar al Yishmael
by Shelomo ben Avraham ibn AderetA thirteenth century polemical treatise by the Rashba, the leading rabbi of Barcelona, responding to a Muslim author's claim that the Hebrew Bible had been altered, and defending the integrity of the Torah.
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Manuel of Judeo-Spanish
by Marie-Christine VarolA reference course on the Judeo Spanish (Ladino) language and its culture, covering grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and readings, with background on Sephardic history and communities.
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Memories of Absence: How Muslims Remember Jews in Morocco
by Aomar BoumAn anthropological study, based on interviews across four generations in southern Morocco, of how Moroccan Muslims remember, imagine, and talk about the Jewish neighbors who emigrated after 1948.