Cuatro muchachicas muy hermosas
en un buquieto de rosas,
si mosotros esposamos,
una dota kale dado.
Mi papá es un empiegado,
de familia es cargado,
si a mi hermana casa:
no mantiene la su casa.
A las cuatro de la noche
un bruido se sintía:
era novia que pasaba,
era novia y sin dota.
Four very beautiful girls.
like a bouquet of roses,
If we marry them off
a dowry must be given
My father is a busy man,
he is burdened with family,
if he houses my sister (in marriage):
He cannot maintain his own house.
At four at night
A noise was heard
It was the passing bride
She was a bride without a dowry.
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: YCD2980/6
Referenced and notated in: La Boda Sefardí, Música, texto y contexto, Editorial Alpuerto S.A. 2007, Susana Weich-Shahak
This concern for the financial burden of the dowry was expressed in the Sephardic poetic creation in the 20th century, in the repertoire composed by two musician artists from Thessaloniki, Guerson Sadik and Mose Cazes, who performed under the pseudonym of Sadik and Gazoz.
This website was created by Orit Perlman with the collaboration and blessings of Dr. Susana Weich-Shahak in 2025