Lag B’Omer, the 33rd day between Passover and Shavuot, is traditionally celebrated with bonfires, parades and weddings. But at Magen David Sephardic Congregation, the celebration is on the 34th day.

I’m convinced that the pillars of my grandmother’s home are seasoned with allspice—the indispensable condiment that flavors many of the Egyptian and Syrian dishes she cooked for us growing up. It’s clichéd to say that food is the lifeblood of Sephardic Jews, yet anytime an outsider asks what differentiates my Middle Eastern community from others of, say Eastern European origin, I’m compelled to address our diet.

A Sephardi Jew explains some commonly confused terms.

Noam Vazana wrote her upcoming album “Andalusian Brew” in Ladino.

The Longest Journey: The Last Days of the Jewish Community of Rhodes’ can be rented online from Vimeo and viewed.

New song takes a lighthearted approach to Passover foods and customs

When six-year-old Elie Abadie and his family fled Lebanon in 1971, he was leaving behind a Jewish presence of millennia.

A recipe for masapan (marzipan) and details on Sephardi wedding customs.

Sephardic memory and tradition at Shavuot.

This ritual for the Jewish New Year goes far beyond dipping apples in honey.

In our Sephardic community, our roots being Ottoman Rhodes, we make a few special dairy foods for the occasion; sutlach, a creamy rice pudding is one, and burekas, a community and family favorite, is another.

Over the generations, our family tradition had been to go to the beach on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Now that we live in disparate parts of Los Angeles, have differing synagogue schedules and levels of observance, our extended families (about 40 of us) come from throughout the greater Los Angeles area and meet at Venice Beach on the Sunday morning between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, bringing our beach chairs and something to share at our informal brunch that follows.