My vision now is not of my own success, but of continuing to build out this community. Sephardic culture is world culture.

I’m not sure who is more surprised, me or my mother, that my career in Ladino continues to flourish two decades on.

Twenty years ago, I told my mother that I wanted to start a Ladino rock band.

This Sephardic language, also known as Judeo-Spanish, has a rich history and is more accessible than you think.

It was not until she was already on her way to adulthood, that singer Sarah Aroeste discovered the connection between her Sephardic roots in Greece and her love of music with the Sephardic musical traditions in Ladino.

When I think of home, I imagine the physical space I return to at night, the one with the white-washed façade, the apple trees in the backyard, and of course my daughter’s contagious toothy grin waiting for me inside.

Mom. Mommy. Ima. Madre. Mother.