THE MINHAGIM OF CONGREGATION AHAVATH ACHIM
(SEPHARDIC CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES)
Compiled by Richard Matza
Today, Ahavath Achim is a proud Congregation with over 100 years of continuous operation and with a broad membership which includes not only Jews of Spanish and Portuguese decent, but Jews with roots in Greece, Turkey, Israel, Yemen, Persia, Morocco, and many countries of Ashkenazi heritage. “Everyone is welcome under our tent” as we Sephardim express all over the world. Sephardic Judaism, unlike Ashkenazi Judaism, does not divide observance between Reform, Conservative and Orthodox streams of adherence. We are simply Sephardim, with a traditional synagogue service, conducted mostly in Hebrew, with Sephardic pronunciation and with complete oral recital of the liturgy.
In addition to the general remarks above, there are several other distinctions that are noteworthy in the way of language and Torah service.
WORDS AND PRONUNCIATION:
This is an area to take note of, because we desire to use Sephardic words and phrases in our synagogue to help prolong our culture and distinctiveness. It is an important component of preservation. Therefore, we respectfully ask you to be aware and to incorporate these nuances in your participation at Ahavath Achim.
In many cases, Sephardic pronunciation of words is slightly different than Ashkenazi pronunciation, especially when it comes to the letter Tav in Hebrew. We make a “T” sound and the Ashkenazim make an “S” sound.
Here are some examples:
We say “Shabbat” rather than “Shabbos”, we say “Succot” rather than “Succos”, we say “Tallit” rather than “Tallis”, we say “Keter Israel” rather than “Kesser Israel” and there are many more words like these. We greet with “Shabbat Shalom” rather than “Good (Gut) Shobbos” We say Kahal or Kal to describe the synagogue rather than the word Shul, which is a Ashkenazi/Yiddish term. We also use the word Kehilah to refer to synagogue or congregation. We say “Meldatho” rather than “Yahrtziet” We say “Amidah” rather than “Shimone Esre”. Instead of the word “Rebitzen” to describe the Rabbi’s wife, we say “Rabbisa”. We say “Tizku Leshanim Rabot” (May you merit many years), as our greeting on Rosh Ashana, or “Hag Semacha” rather than “Good (Gut) Yom Tov”. Names and words may be spelled differently too. The name Haim is a Sephardic spelling and the same name Chaim is an Ashkenazi spelling. The same for Hanukah and Chanukah.
There are also differences in Torah ta’am (trope) and practices. For example:
The line spaces and writing of the Torah letters may be different in a Sephardic Torah than in an Ashkenazi Torah, even though the content is exactly the same in every Torah. Torah ta’am (trope - - the pace and rhythm) of the reading of the Torah is different between Sephardim and Ashkenazim. Also, the melodies of prayers will differ between the two cultures. On the High Holydays (and on Shabbat in some congregations), before the Seferi Torah are brought out of the Ark for use in the service, Sephardim conduct an oral auction to raise funds for the maintenance of the synagogue. The purpose of the auction is for members to bid on the various honors of opening the Ark, carrying the multiple Seferi Torah and other ceremonial components of a Torah service and then presenting the honor for someone else to carry out. This auction is customarily conducted in Ladino.
Noteworthy is that Sephardim do the ceremony of Akama (Sephardic spelling) (showing the open Torah scroll to the congregants) before the Torah reading begins, whereas the Ashkenazim do this ceremony after all the Torah readings are completed.
Our Torah is housed in a round case called a Tik and it stands erect on the Tevah when it is read by the Hazzan. When a man is called to the Tevah for Torah reading, his full Hebrew name, including his last name is mentioned in the call. For example, “Nissim Ben Aron Behar”, rather than the Ashkenazi custom of calling “Nissim Ben Aron” only, which omits the family name at the end. During the time a man is called to the Torah for a reading, his family will stand, showing him honor and respecting the process. And, if after the Torah reading, Askavah (memorial prayer) is recited for a departed loved one, the family will continue to stand in honor and recognition. It is a custom in our synagogue that the entire family stand, but in other synagogues it may be only the younger family members that stand to show respect to the older man who is at the Tevah representing the family. We honor either tradition at Ahavath Achim.
When someone is called to the Tevah for Torah reading, the congregation says B’Havod (“with honor”) to acknowledge the person and the call to a reading. After the reading, the congregants shake the hands of the man and say “Hazak u Baruch” (with strength and blessing”) to him. Sephardim do not say “Ya’asher Koach” as the Ashkenazim do.
After the Torah reading, it is traditional for the man to make a donation to the synagogue/congregation for whatever purpose he feels is worthy. Many times these donations are in multiple amounts of $18 which is called “hai” (Sephardic spelling). For example, $54 which is three times hai, or $180 which is 10 times hai.
FOOD AND HOLIDAYS:
Everyone seems to know that there are distinctive food differences between the Sephardic and Ashkenazic cultures. Sephardic food is more of the spicy Mediterranean diet, while the Ashkenazi menu is sweeter. Both traditions vary in the
specific types of food offered, such as borekas vs. bagels. Noteworthy is that symbolic holiday foods vary significantly. For example: On Rosh Ashana, Ashkenazim have honey cake and Sephardim have Travados or Baklava.
On Hanukah, Ashkenazim have latkes and apple sauce while Sephardim have Burmuelos (fried donut balls with honey). On Purim, Ashkenazim have hamentaschen and Sephardim have pastelicos, which are meat and rice stuffed cupcakes. Of course there are many other differences too, and a good Sephardic cookbook will highlight hundreds of recipes. In any case, both traditions offer excellent food choices.
CONCLUSION:
In summary, it is clear that both Sephardic and Ashkenazic traditions are rich in culture and observance. They both should be cherished and prolonged. Here at CONGREGATION AHAVATH ACHIM we ask you to observe the Sephardic minhagim and to help us preserve the original bastion of Sephardic culture in the State of Oregon. We are a minority within a minority and we ask for your support and your help in preserving what we have as our cultural heritage.
You are so welcome to be here, and we sincerely appreciate you.
Thank you very much for your kind consideration and for your participation.
HISTORY OF CONGREGATION AHAVATH ACHIM
In 1911 a small minyan of Sephardic men met to worship on the High Holydays. Five years later, a congregation was constituted and given the name Ahavath Achim, meaning “brotherly love”. We were listed with other congregations in the local Jewish press indicating that were of the Sephardic tradition and held services at the B’nai B’rith building located at SW 13th and Mill St. The ritual committee consisted of Isaac B. Hasson, and Jacob Piha. Services were conducted by Joseph Notrica, who acted as Hazzan. Founding members were Turkish and Greek immigrants who descended from Jews of Spain and Portugal. The B’nai B’rith building was a fine venue for us since we would not acquire a site for our own sanctuary until 1921.
As the years passed, our Sephardic community grew to the extent that we required our own place of worship. Property at SW 3rd and Sherman was purchased in 1921 and it would take the next seven years to collect sufficient funds for construction. On October 13, 1929, the Honorable Ben Selling broke ground for the new building and on August 31, 1930, our first synagogue was dedicated in the presence of our Sephardic members and friends in the Portland Jewish community. For the next 30 years the Congregation enjoyed varied and interesting religious, social, educational and cultural programs on that site.
In 1961, the Urban Renewal Commission of Portland requested that we remove the
synagogue building to make way for a freeway project. Rather than construct a new
building, the decision was made to move the existing building. During the move however, the building collapsed and was later condemned. “Ah Dio”. Fortunately, the building was insured and with the insurance proceeds, the congregation began construction in July 1965 at a site on Barbur Blvd. It was completed and dedicated in 1966. That same year Rabbi Michel Albagali was hired as our Rabbi, but due to poor health, he served only one year through October of 1967, and as Rabbi Emeritus until his death in 1988. From 1933 to 1983, Mr. Jack Maimon of Seattle acted as our Hazzan for High Holyday and Purim services in the Sephardic tradition or 50 continuous years. Mashalah! Hazzan Sam Nechemia z''l, followed him from 1986 to 1989. Between 1989 and 1994, we had no formal Hazzan and relied upon the able members of our congregation to perform services. Weekly Friday evening and Shabbat services were conducted by Sol Varon, Yossi Malka, and David Boussi, as well as others. In the fall of 1995, the Board contracted with Hazzan Nechemia z''l to return to Portland and lead services with his beautiful voice and Sephardic Hazzanut. He retired in 2015 and passed in 2021.
In 2005, Rabbi Truzman was retained as our religious leader and served four years in that position. Then, in 2012, Rabbi Michael Kaplan was retained as our spiritual leader and he served with distinction until 2018. Rabbi Kaplan and his family made Aliyah, and Rabbi Gadi & Eve Levy joing as the Rabbi and Program director from 2018 - 2020. Currently, Rabbi Sholom Skolnik is our congregational Rabbi and is at the helm of a great resurgence of both religious and social activity.
In 2014, the Congregation celebrated its 100 year anniversary with a gala dinner event, photographic show, exhibit at the Oregon Jewish Museum and a year of other celebratory events. A historical book was published and a DVD was produced to mark the milestone achievement. One hundred years of continuous operation as Oregon’s authentic Sephardic community has created renewed interest in our little Kahal and practices of Sephardic rituals.
We at Congregation Ahavath Achim are extremely proud of our Sephardic heritage, realizing we are a minority within a minority, and invite Jews of all backgrounds and ethnicity to join us, because we Sephardim have a big tent that welcomes all Jews.
(HISTORICAL COMPILATION BY VICTOR FERRERA Z’L AND MARK ABOLOFIA)
Contact Us
Hillsdale Prayer Location:
6686 SW Capitol Hwy.
Portland, OR 97219
Event Center Building:
3225 SW Barbur Blvd.
Portland, OR 97239
Mailing Address
C/O Ahavath Achim
5150 SW 85th Ave.
Portland, OR 97225
(503) 227-0010
info@ahavathachim.com
(SEPHARDIC CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES)
Compiled by Richard Matza
Today, Ahavath Achim is a proud Congregation with over 100 years of continuous operation and with a broad membership which includes not only Jews of Spanish and Portuguese decent, but Jews with roots in Greece, Turkey, Israel, Yemen, Persia, Morocco, and many countries of Ashkenazi heritage. “Everyone is welcome under our tent” as we Sephardim express all over the world. Sephardic Judaism, unlike Ashkenazi Judaism, does not divide observance between Reform, Conservative and Orthodox streams of adherence. We are simply Sephardim, with a traditional synagogue service, conducted mostly in Hebrew, with Sephardic pronunciation and with complete oral recital of the liturgy.
In addition to the general remarks above, there are several other distinctions that are noteworthy in the way of language and Torah service.
WORDS AND PRONUNCIATION:
This is an area to take note of, because we desire to use Sephardic words and phrases in our synagogue to help prolong our culture and distinctiveness. It is an important component of preservation. Therefore, we respectfully ask you to be aware and to incorporate these nuances in your participation at Ahavath Achim.
In many cases, Sephardic pronunciation of words is slightly different than Ashkenazi pronunciation, especially when it comes to the letter Tav in Hebrew. We make a “T” sound and the Ashkenazim make an “S” sound.
Here are some examples:
We say “Shabbat” rather than “Shabbos”, we say “Succot” rather than “Succos”, we say “Tallit” rather than “Tallis”, we say “Keter Israel” rather than “Kesser Israel” and there are many more words like these. We greet with “Shabbat Shalom” rather than “Good (Gut) Shobbos” We say Kahal or Kal to describe the synagogue rather than the word Shul, which is a Ashkenazi/Yiddish term. We also use the word Kehilah to refer to synagogue or congregation. We say “Meldatho” rather than “Yahrtziet” We say “Amidah” rather than “Shimone Esre”. Instead of the word “Rebitzen” to describe the Rabbi’s wife, we say “Rabbisa”. We say “Tizku Leshanim Rabot” (May you merit many years), as our greeting on Rosh Ashana, or “Hag Semacha” rather than “Good (Gut) Yom Tov”. Names and words may be spelled differently too. The name Haim is a Sephardic spelling and the same name Chaim is an Ashkenazi spelling. The same for Hanukah and Chanukah.
There are also differences in Torah ta’am (trope) and practices. For example:
The line spaces and writing of the Torah letters may be different in a Sephardic Torah than in an Ashkenazi Torah, even though the content is exactly the same in every Torah. Torah ta’am (trope - - the pace and rhythm) of the reading of the Torah is different between Sephardim and Ashkenazim. Also, the melodies of prayers will differ between the two cultures. On the High Holydays (and on Shabbat in some congregations), before the Seferi Torah are brought out of the Ark for use in the service, Sephardim conduct an oral auction to raise funds for the maintenance of the synagogue. The purpose of the auction is for members to bid on the various honors of opening the Ark, carrying the multiple Seferi Torah and other ceremonial components of a Torah service and then presenting the honor for someone else to carry out. This auction is customarily conducted in Ladino.
Noteworthy is that Sephardim do the ceremony of Akama (Sephardic spelling) (showing the open Torah scroll to the congregants) before the Torah reading begins, whereas the Ashkenazim do this ceremony after all the Torah readings are completed.
Our Torah is housed in a round case called a Tik and it stands erect on the Tevah when it is read by the Hazzan. When a man is called to the Tevah for Torah reading, his full Hebrew name, including his last name is mentioned in the call. For example, “Nissim Ben Aron Behar”, rather than the Ashkenazi custom of calling “Nissim Ben Aron” only, which omits the family name at the end. During the time a man is called to the Torah for a reading, his family will stand, showing him honor and respecting the process. And, if after the Torah reading, Askavah (memorial prayer) is recited for a departed loved one, the family will continue to stand in honor and recognition. It is a custom in our synagogue that the entire family stand, but in other synagogues it may be only the younger family members that stand to show respect to the older man who is at the Tevah representing the family. We honor either tradition at Ahavath Achim.
When someone is called to the Tevah for Torah reading, the congregation says B’Havod (“with honor”) to acknowledge the person and the call to a reading. After the reading, the congregants shake the hands of the man and say “Hazak u Baruch” (with strength and blessing”) to him. Sephardim do not say “Ya’asher Koach” as the Ashkenazim do.
After the Torah reading, it is traditional for the man to make a donation to the synagogue/congregation for whatever purpose he feels is worthy. Many times these donations are in multiple amounts of $18 which is called “hai” (Sephardic spelling). For example, $54 which is three times hai, or $180 which is 10 times hai.
FOOD AND HOLIDAYS:
Everyone seems to know that there are distinctive food differences between the Sephardic and Ashkenazic cultures. Sephardic food is more of the spicy Mediterranean diet, while the Ashkenazi menu is sweeter. Both traditions vary in the
specific types of food offered, such as borekas vs. bagels. Noteworthy is that symbolic holiday foods vary significantly. For example: On Rosh Ashana, Ashkenazim have honey cake and Sephardim have Travados or Baklava.
On Hanukah, Ashkenazim have latkes and apple sauce while Sephardim have Burmuelos (fried donut balls with honey). On Purim, Ashkenazim have hamentaschen and Sephardim have pastelicos, which are meat and rice stuffed cupcakes. Of course there are many other differences too, and a good Sephardic cookbook will highlight hundreds of recipes. In any case, both traditions offer excellent food choices.
CONCLUSION:
In summary, it is clear that both Sephardic and Ashkenazic traditions are rich in culture and observance. They both should be cherished and prolonged. Here at CONGREGATION AHAVATH ACHIM we ask you to observe the Sephardic minhagim and to help us preserve the original bastion of Sephardic culture in the State of Oregon. We are a minority within a minority and we ask for your support and your help in preserving what we have as our cultural heritage.
You are so welcome to be here, and we sincerely appreciate you.
Thank you very much for your kind consideration and for your participation.
HISTORY OF CONGREGATION AHAVATH ACHIM
In 1911 a small minyan of Sephardic men met to worship on the High Holydays. Five years later, a congregation was constituted and given the name Ahavath Achim, meaning “brotherly love”. We were listed with other congregations in the local Jewish press indicating that were of the Sephardic tradition and held services at the B’nai B’rith building located at SW 13th and Mill St. The ritual committee consisted of Isaac B. Hasson, and Jacob Piha. Services were conducted by Joseph Notrica, who acted as Hazzan. Founding members were Turkish and Greek immigrants who descended from Jews of Spain and Portugal. The B’nai B’rith building was a fine venue for us since we would not acquire a site for our own sanctuary until 1921.
As the years passed, our Sephardic community grew to the extent that we required our own place of worship. Property at SW 3rd and Sherman was purchased in 1921 and it would take the next seven years to collect sufficient funds for construction. On October 13, 1929, the Honorable Ben Selling broke ground for the new building and on August 31, 1930, our first synagogue was dedicated in the presence of our Sephardic members and friends in the Portland Jewish community. For the next 30 years the Congregation enjoyed varied and interesting religious, social, educational and cultural programs on that site.
In 1961, the Urban Renewal Commission of Portland requested that we remove the
synagogue building to make way for a freeway project. Rather than construct a new
building, the decision was made to move the existing building. During the move however, the building collapsed and was later condemned. “Ah Dio”. Fortunately, the building was insured and with the insurance proceeds, the congregation began construction in July 1965 at a site on Barbur Blvd. It was completed and dedicated in 1966. That same year Rabbi Michel Albagali was hired as our Rabbi, but due to poor health, he served only one year through October of 1967, and as Rabbi Emeritus until his death in 1988. From 1933 to 1983, Mr. Jack Maimon of Seattle acted as our Hazzan for High Holyday and Purim services in the Sephardic tradition or 50 continuous years. Mashalah! Hazzan Sam Nechemia z''l, followed him from 1986 to 1989. Between 1989 and 1994, we had no formal Hazzan and relied upon the able members of our congregation to perform services. Weekly Friday evening and Shabbat services were conducted by Sol Varon, Yossi Malka, and David Boussi, as well as others. In the fall of 1995, the Board contracted with Hazzan Nechemia z''l to return to Portland and lead services with his beautiful voice and Sephardic Hazzanut. He retired in 2015 and passed in 2021.
In 2005, Rabbi Truzman was retained as our religious leader and served four years in that position. Then, in 2012, Rabbi Michael Kaplan was retained as our spiritual leader and he served with distinction until 2018. Rabbi Kaplan and his family made Aliyah, and Rabbi Gadi & Eve Levy joing as the Rabbi and Program director from 2018 - 2020. Currently, Rabbi Sholom Skolnik is our congregational Rabbi and is at the helm of a great resurgence of both religious and social activity.
In 2014, the Congregation celebrated its 100 year anniversary with a gala dinner event, photographic show, exhibit at the Oregon Jewish Museum and a year of other celebratory events. A historical book was published and a DVD was produced to mark the milestone achievement. One hundred years of continuous operation as Oregon’s authentic Sephardic community has created renewed interest in our little Kahal and practices of Sephardic rituals.
We at Congregation Ahavath Achim are extremely proud of our Sephardic heritage, realizing we are a minority within a minority, and invite Jews of all backgrounds and ethnicity to join us, because we Sephardim have a big tent that welcomes all Jews.
(HISTORICAL COMPILATION BY VICTOR FERRERA Z’L AND MARK ABOLOFIA)
Contact Us
Hillsdale Prayer Location:
6686 SW Capitol Hwy.
Portland, OR 97219
Event Center Building:
3225 SW Barbur Blvd.
Portland, OR 97239
Mailing Address
C/O Ahavath Achim
5150 SW 85th Ave.
Portland, OR 97225
(503) 227-0010
info@ahavathachim.com
