The Boyle Heights Chavurah

05/19/2026

This is the text of the Ladino translation of the Shavuot Day One readings from Exodus 19:1-20:23 as transcribed in Ladino by Moshe Lazar in his Ladino Pentateuch: (Constantinople, 1547) (1988), and retranscribed as digital text by Shmuel Gonzales (2026).

Ladino is the common language of Sephardic Jews. The Spanish language itself is descendant from the vulgar Latin spoken by Romans who had settled Iberia, which there blended with other local languages over many centuries to create its own distinct tongue. Ladino follows the same evolution within the Jewish communities of Spain prior to the Inquisition and was then spread all over the world by Sephardic Jewish refugees after the enforcement of the Edict of the Expulsion of the Jews in 1492.

Shavuot – the Festival of Weeks; also known as Pentecost, because it takes place 50-days after Pesach (Passover) – in the Jewish tradition it is also recognized as the anniversary of the giving of the Torah. In the festival Torah reading we have the declaration of the Aseret ha-Dibrot – the Ten Commandments.

The Hebrew Mesoretic text is provided with a linear Ladino translation written originally in Hebrew lettering, as well as a matching romanized transliteration of the Ladino text. Which means I had to type and edit this Ladino text twice, one in Hebrew lettering and the other in Roman lettering.

This next year I hope to likewise transcribe the entire Ladino Torah. And with your continued support, I hope to eventually acquire and transcribe the entire Ladino Bible.

Head over to the Open Siddur Project to get this text, as well as the Day Two reading.

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=67503

*** Note: The original source text of the Ladino Torah was published in square Hebrew letters in 1547. However, it soon after became common practice for Ladino translations and commentary to be printed in Sephardic script (a.k.a. Rashi script) as shown. If you require the Ladino text in square Hebrew letters, DM me and I can send it to you.

This is the text of the Ladino translation of the Shavuot Day One readings from Exodus 19:1-20:23 as transcribed in romanized Ladino by Moshe Lazar in his Ladino Pentateuch: (Constantinople, 1547) (1988), and retranscribed as digital text by Shmuel Gonzales (2026).

10/13/2025

This is an archive of prayers composed for or relevant to Indigenous People’s Day, a civic holiday in the United States that celebrates and honors Native American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures. It is celebrated across the United States on the second Monday in October, and i...

01/09/2025

Prayer for wildfires to subside, composed in response to the November 2016 fires set in Israel.

10/02/2024

אשא עיני אל-ההרים, מאין יבא עזרי
עזרי מעם ה', עושה שמים וארץ

Lyrics: Psalm 121Music: Yosef KardunerMusic Arrangement and Production: Ma'ayan BandDina Levin: VoiceDima Graziani: Keys, Darbuka, VoiceYuri Kaplunovich: Gui...

09/08/2024

Parshat Shoftim
Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9

In this week I call this to our attention to these famous words of the Torah, because at The Boyle Heights Chavurah we all know these words: “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof / Justice, justice shall you pursue.” (see Deut. 16:20)

This lesson for this week is that the pursuit of justice is not just an intellectual pursuit, it requires determined action.

One might ask themselves why we are told to radaf – to pursue, to run after justice.

The reason is obviously because justice if often hard to grasp, and can often elude us in this world. Therefore we are mandated to chase down justice.

However, it means something more still. To radaf means to seek something with persistence; to track and hunt it down; to seek something hauntingly, annoyingly, and to trouble someone until justice is met.

Most of us are annoying people already, if only we would use it for a righteous purpose!

08/14/2024

CLUE: Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice spent Tisha B'Av at LA City Hall supporting tourism workers, Jewish Angelenos and interfaith allies because we need immediate action to move forward the . We know that low-wage workers are indispensable members of our communities, whose vibrancy is dimmed when people aren't paid enough to survive.

08/09/2024

Mark your calendar: Join CLUE, the coalition, and social justice leaders from across LA’s Jewish and interfaith communities for the 2nd annual Worker Justice Tisha b’Av Ritual & Advocacy, on Tuesday, August 13 at 2 PM at LA City Hall!

RSVP at bit.ly/tishabav2024

On Tisha b’Av, the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, people of all faiths will come together for sacred rituals of mourning and action in Downtown Los Angeles, joining in solidarity to pass the Tourism Workers Living Wage Ordinance. Please join us!

06/29/2024

שכינתא תתעטר בשית נהמי לסטר, בווין תתקטר, וזינין דכנישין

“May the Shechinah be crowned with the six loaves on each side [of the table], and may they correspond to the two sets of six loves and the other articles [of the Beit haMikdash]”

from The Boyle Heights Chavurah

06/12/2024

There are various traditions as to the numbering of the commandments, as well as the enumeration of verses of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandment. In this transcription of the Ladino text we are following the numeration of verses according to the Constantinople Codex of 1547 C.E., as edited by the gr...