The Myer and Rosaline Feinstein Center for American Jewish History
Newsletter Volume 1 Number 3 May 1996

Americanization in a Sephardic Immigrant Community: 
Two Advice Columns from the New York Ladino Press

by Aviva Ben-Ur, Ph.D. candidate, Brandeis University, 
winner of the 1995 Anne and George Brown Summer Fellowship.


Between 1890 and 1924, 30,000 Jews from Turkey and the Balkans poured into
the United States. Most of these immigrants (approximately 20,000 by the
early 1920s) settled on New YorkÕs Lower East Side. Although among them
were Greek and Arabic-speaking Jews, the majority spoke Ladino, or
Judeo-Spanish, the language their ancestors had developed after their
expulsion from Spain four hundred years earlier.

One of the first independent endeavors of this community was the creation
of the Judeo-Spanish press. The first Ladino newspaper in New York and in
the country, La AmŽrika (1910-1925) was joined by at least fifteen others
of varying life spans, until the complete demise of the New York Ladino
press in 1948. Originally created to assist new immigrants in their
cultural and economic adjustment to the United States, the Sephardic press
is perhaps the richest and most encompassing primary source on the
struggles this community faced, and is an eloquent testimony to the social
and cultural transformation Ladino speakers underwent in their adopted
land.

From 1913 to 1934, two popular advice columns appeared in the
Judeo-Spanish newspapers, La AmŽrika, El Progreso and La Vara. The column
appearing most frequently (almost weekly) was directed at female
Sephardim; the other was addressed to their male counterparts. Written in
a popular Ladino idiom peppered with ironic proverbs and slang, these
columns sought to Americanize Sephardic immigrants through humorous
criticism. The installments describe scandalous anecdotes witnessed or
overheard by the commentator, and end with words of censure and
exhortation.

The womanÕs column, variably entitled ÒPalavras de MujerÓ and ÒPostemas de
Mujer,Ó included discussions on female sexuality and domestic propriety in
public and private spheres, excessive make-up, ostentatious and revealing
dress, flamboyant hair-styles, and ÒOriental gesticulations,Ó and urges
its readers to both abandon the ways of the Old Country and eschew
American consumerism. Among the most vivid and vehement installments from
the menÕs column, variably entitled ÒPostemas de Ham Avrah‡mÓ and
ÒPostemas de Ham Mosh—n,Ó are those dealing with public displays of
violent behavior and excessively loud prayer services. The menÕs column is
distinct in its emphasis on the importance of retaining Sephardic identity
and mores, including male literacy in Ladino and the preservation of
Sephardio religious rites and customs.

My study focuses on the columns as a tool employed alternatively for the
socialization of Sephardic men and women and the preservation of their
heritage. Many of the issues appearing in these two columns display
striking thematic parallels to both Ashkenazic and non-Jewish immigrant
history, while other struggles and responses appear to be unique to the
Sephardic immigrant experience.

Bula Satula, (the pseudonym of the womenÕs columnist), often refers to
ÒherselfÓ as the wife of the male columnist. One of the delightful
discoveries I made was that these columns were actually written by the
same person. The author, Moise Soulam (1890-1967), who fled his native
Salonika during the Greek invasion of 1913, was a journalist and
linotypist deeply committed to socialist ideals. Though ÒPalavras/Postemas
de Mujer,Ó one of the few examples of the womanÕs voice in the Ladino
press, is not genuinely female, Soulam was highly successful in creating a
distinct female authorial voice. His sensitivity to womenÕs sentiments and
experiences was empathic and vicarious.  This is particularly true in his
detailed descriptions of pre-Passover cleaning, which he frequently
referred to as the Òarduous labor so reminiscent of the slavery of Egypt.Ó

My readings in the Ladino press have led me to the grave of the author, a
mausoleum under which his wife, whom he describes as Òthe sincere
companion of my life,Ó also lies buried. In addition to an historical and
cultural analysis of the columns, my study will include transliterations
and translations of selected installments, and personal information
gathered from interviews with SoulamÕs descendants and acquaintances.