ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how thanks to the disruptive affordances of the videotelephony software program Zoom, the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–23) crystallised into a ‘Ladino Zoom Boom.’ This phenomenon had momentous repercussions within Zuckermann’s ‘Talknological Revolution,’ such as (i) the thriving of Ladino as a cyber-(post)vernacular of the 21st century, so that (ii) the global diaspora of Ladino speakers nowadays meets first and foremost, on the Internet, which (iii) has also become the default option for Ladino teaching and learning. To discuss these points, the chapter draws upon original interviews to establish a dialogue with three prominent initiatives within the ‘Ladino Zoom Boom’: the Sephardic Digital Academy, Enkontros de Alhad, and the Oxford School of Rare Jewish Languages. The chapter further compares these initiatives with parallel ones in the case of Yiddish, where there has not been an equivalent Zoom Boom. It concludes that the ‘Ladino Zoom Boom’ marks a before and after in the nature of Ladino within Sepharad 4, and warrants a renewed critique of Ladino’s endangerment degree as pertains to key factors featured in UNESCO’s diagnosis on language vitality and endangerment, namely: intergenerational transmission and response to new domains and media.
