Word of the Day: Sephardic
Se‧phar‧dim [suh-fahr-dim, -fahr-deem]
Jews of Spain and Portugal or their descendants, distinguished from the Ashkenazim and other Jewish communities chiefly by their liturgy, religious customs, and pronunciation of Hebrew: after expulsion from Spain and Portugal in 1492, established communities in North Africa, the Balkans, Western Europe, and elsewhere.
[Origin: 1850–55;
I think I probably saw the word written on the sign of a temple we passed while driving through L.A. - but it didn't ping my brain until we were walking through the parking lot to Baja Fresh tonight.
The word just sounds cool. As does its compliment Ashkenazi.
Ash·ke·naz·i (äshk-näz)n. pl. Ash·ke·naz·im (-nzm, -näzm)
A member of the branch of European Jews, historically Yiddish-speaking, who settled in central and northern Europe.
I remember these terms from one of my German classes for which I wrote a paper of the history of Zionism. Too bad I can't remember a lick of it, nor can I find the paper. Too bad, because Daniel recently mentioned wanting to learn more about Zionism. I could very well have thrown it away with all the other work from that class (I had actually wanted to burn it all) because I really, really hated the class. Just ask my tocaya. I still can't hear the words "Weimar Republic" without cringing. Nor do I ever want to visit Weimar itself again. It was just that painful.
Maybe I'll use my free movie coupon from Blockbuster to rent "Exodus." That's the only Zionism movie I can think of. Huh - I just noticed that Hugh Griffith was in the movie. I just saw him in "How to Steal a Million", a Peter O'Toole/Audrey Hepburn comedy that I highly recommend. 
Hugh Griffith is a very... unique looking man. His eyebrows - which should have an IMDB entry all of their own - remind me of the moustache competition website that Neal found. If only I could find it again...
posted by sarahanne @ 12:24 AM
3 Comments:
A good, albeit irreverent, treatment of the plight of modern Jews can be explored in the Comedy Central oft-rerun movie 'The Hebrew Hammer', plot summary as follows: Mordechai Jefferson Carver, aka the Hebrew Hammer, is an Orthodox stud who goes on a mission to save Hanukkah. When Santa Claus's evil son Damian is pushed over the edge by his father's liberal policies, he does away with the Christian patriarch. Subsequently stepping into his father's role, Damian launches a campaign to eradicate the Jewish Holiday. The Hammer joins forces with Esther, the gorgeous and dangerous daughter of the leader of the Worldwide Jewish Media Conspiracy, and his brother-in-arms Mohammed, head of the Kwanzaa Liberation Front, to topple Santa's evil progeny and to save Hanukkah for future generations of Jews.
No way, Jennifer. I've gotta find that. Sounds very Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert... I love it.
Speaking of Jewish root words, I was amused to find out that Sephiroth (a fictional character from that Final Fantasy movie) is named after a denominational Hebrew term which means "The 10 attributes of God". I shouldn't be suprised, since the other bad person is named Jenova. Not Jehova, but Jenova. I still hope that you can see it sometime.
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