Longing

Saudades the next 500 years is to honor our Portuguese Sephardic ancestors & culture, taking pride in our history that took knowledge to 3/4 of the world; making Portugal the first great modern civilization.

I was told , and always believed that there was no one word for Saudades.
There is a Hebrew word for SAUDADE - it is ERGAH (ayin resh gimel he). This is exactly what it means : SAUDADE
Another link to the mystery of our Portuguese-Jewish past sent to me by a friend - Inacio Steinhardt

Who Has Saudades ?

by Ada Jill Schneider

Os Lusiadas

Sons of Portugal who sailed caravels
through history and high seas for glory.
Discoverers who ventured beyond their world,
revising maps with colonies.
Lusiadas, in foreign lands, never returning.
Their yearning for home is saudades.

As Mulheres

Wives and mothers who longed for these men,
who waited months, years, sometimes in vein.
Women who tended their daily routines,
answered children's questions with heavy sighs,
then went to bed alone with memories.
Their intense longing is saudades.

Os Imigrantes

Immigrants and their American children
in Fall River, New Bedford, Rhode Island.
Friends who listen to Portuguese TV,
introduce us to sweet-bread and Chourico,
speak of tropical flowers and herbs "back home."
Their blend of pride and nostalgia is saudades.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes

Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Righteous Gentile,
Portuguese Consul, man of conscience,
who disobeyed orders, stood with G-d against
government, sacrificed his stature, his future,
to save thirty thousand lives.
The anguish of Sousa Mendes was saudades

Os Judeus

Portuguese em 1497
Anusim forced to abandon the religion of their ancestors
Crypto Judeos who honoured their G-d in
daily terror of Inquisition
Every Judeo who fled Sepharad.
The sadness of Jews is saudades.

Todas Nos

All of us, who search for common roots,
who are endowed with a primordial
spirit that harkens back to our lost innocence
and beckons us to reach out to one another.
When the spirit calls, we feel saudades.
Temos saudades. We have saudades.

Rufina