Why are these Passover ads different from all other ads? Sephardim, Ashkenazim, and the American Jewish consumer identity

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study uses advertisements for matzah from two prominent American Jewish language newspapers – Forverts in Yiddish, La Vara in Ladino – to demonstrate that matzah was a common cultural and religious symbol among Sephardim and Ashkenazim. For that reason, it was a way for Sephardim to begin fashioning a unique consumer identity that would resonate with the Ashkenazi majority on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. But first, Ashkenazim had to recognize Sephardim as fellow Jewish American consumers by marketing their Ashkenazi-owned matzah brands on the pages of La Vara. Sephardim then used this opportunity to engage in a process of translation, interpretation, and redesigning of Yiddish matzah advertisements into Ladino to assert their place within the broader American Jewish community.