Unveiling Judeo-Spanish Texts: A Hebrew Aljamiado Workshop

The Hebrew Aljamiado Research Group of the Department of Spanish & Portuguese and the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies are offering a workshop in learning to read 14th-16th century Judeo-Spanish texts written using the Hebrew alphabet: Hebrew “aljamiado” writing.  Attendees will also learn about the cultural context of Hebrew aljamiado writing in the Peninsula and in the Sephardic diaspora.

Professor Michelle Hamilton of Spanish & Portuguese Studies at the University of Minnesota, a leading scholar of these texts, will close the workshop with a lecture on “The Hebrew Aljamiado Versions of Ms. Parma 2666 and Their Cultural Significance: Danza de la muerte, Visión delectable.”

The four-hour afternoon workshop will offer hands-on practice with representative texts written in Hebrew aljamiado: Shem Tov de Carrión, Proverbios morales (14th C.), Alfonso de la Torre, Visión delectable (15th C.), Danza de la muerte (15th C.), León Hebreo, Diálogos de amor (16th C.).

The workshop is free and open to the public, but advanced registration is requested.  Attendees should have a basic knowledge of modern Spanish. Familiarity with the Hebrew alef-bet is also helpful. However, materials will be distributed prior to the workshop in order to introduce attendees to the Hebrew alef-bet and the basics of its use in writing Judeo-Spanish texts.

Organized by the Department of Spanish & Portuguese. Co-sponsored by the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, The Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies, the Center for the Study of Religion, the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and the Department of History.

For inquiries concerning the workshop, please contact John Dagenais (dagenais@humnet.ucla.edu).

Image:  Parma, Biblioteca Palatina, MS 2666: “Vision Delekt[a]ble”