Congregation Mikveh Israel is hosting award-winning singer Nani Vazana in its social hall for a Ladino Sephardi Concert on Feb. 17.
The night will include refreshments and appetizers to enjoy while watching Vazana perform. Hosting a concert isn’t new to Mikveh Israel. Rabbi Yosef Zarnighian said that in the past, many of the congregants started singing, and spontaneous duets happened with the performers.
“We expect very good turnout,” said Zarnighian.
Vazana is a Ladino songwriter and Sephardic Jew. Her story, according to her bio, started when her grandmother would sing Ladino songs in the kitchen when Vazana was 4 years old.
After releasing her first album, the Amsterdam Roots Festival commissioned her to write a new program about Ladino heritage in 2018. She spent six months reading texts and conversing with teachers and rabbis. Then, in 2024, Vazana won the Liet International competition, often referred to as Eurovision for minority languages.
“It happens to be that Nani was already in the area for other events, and when we learned about that, we jumped on the opportunity, and we reached out,” Zarnighian said. “We said, ‘We have a great opportunity to make this a wonderful event, bring people in to reconnect with our Sephardic roots and to promote Sephardic heritage here in a way that normally is not possible.”
The idea to have Vazana perform at Mikveh Israel came from a congregant who knew she would be in the area.
“[The congregation is] always a partnership between myself, our board and the congregants,” Zarnighian added. “We are very much a grassroots synagogue in that sense, because who better than the entirety of the congregation planning these things? It’s always an amazing thing to see the rabbi, the board and the congregants all working together to make these projects possible.”
Zarnighian explained that Orthodox synagogues are often focused on the liturgy and ritual aspects that make up the foundation for a synagogue. While these are at the core of Mikveh Israel, Zarnighian said, “You don’t serve a birthday cake without icing.”
“We want to make sure that we also have delicious icing on the cake, and to do so, we host events that are in accordance with our traditions and heritage to bring out the beautiful flavor that is Mikveh Israel,” he explained. “So, sometimes we host concerts here. This is not our first concert. We’ve had concerts from time to time that have brought in some very large crowds here, and we host fellowship dinners and galas. So these events, I believe, are not only in accordance with that tradition, but they’re the icing on the cake to complete the full presentation of Mikveh Israel.”
Zarnighian said that he expects to see people from all over the greater Philadelphia area, including New Jersey, New York and Delaware, not just Old City Philadelphia.
“I am most excited to see the faces that are new and people who are coming in from so many different areas and walks of life, but also to be able to reconnect with our regular attendees, our everyday congregants who are now coming for something else other than the services on Shabbat, or weekdays or holidays. It’s a different feel [and] a different way to connect with your congregants when you are in a more lively and musical environment.”
