This is an English translation of a note published originally in Diario Judio about the Spanish language in S&P communities:THE LOYALTY TO THE SPANISH LANGUAGE OF THR SEPHARDI JEWS IN THE ENGLISH AND DUTCH COLONIAL AMERICAIn August of last year, Dr. Mario Eduardo Cohen, President of CIDICSEF, delivered a highly innovative presentation at the II CIES held in Rio de Janeiro.Dr. Cohen emphasized that the Jews settled in the Dutch and English colonies continued to use modern Spanish language in their prayers, sermons, and even in their epitaphs, at least until the 18th century. It should be noted that in all of these colonies, Spanish was not spoken in everyday life.In the introduction, Dr. Cohen pointed out the deep connection of the Spanish language with the Jewish people from their very origins. While during the Middle Ages, Muslims insisted on writing in Arabic, and Christians in Latin, it was the Jews who promoted their writing in the early centuries.Diving into the topic, he noted that the Jews in the colonial communities of the Americas felt a common bond due to their shared origins and were part of the "Hispanic-Portuguese nation." Their cultural metropolises were in Amsterdam, London, Hamburg, and Livorno. As an interesting fact, he informed that to this day, the Hispanic-Portuguese Community of New York continues to thank, in their prayers, the communities of Curaçao, London, Amsterdam, and Surinam for their support in building the synagogue in New York in 1730.In his lecture, he provided dozens of examples of the use of the Spanish and Portuguese languages by Jews in New York, Jamaica, Curaçao, Barbados, St. Thomas, etc.The speaker stated that - well into the 18th century - the Iberian languages were still being used in New York. In fact, in 1766, Isaac Pinto published "Oraciones para el Shabat, el Principio del Año y el Día de las Expiaciones de acuerdo con la Orden de los españoles y portugueses."To conclude, the following question was posed: Why did Jews use the Spanish and Portuguese languages in colonies where these languages were no longer in use? Dr. Cohen offered some hypotheses in response:1. The strong attachment of Sephardic Jews to their ancestral language and the inability to use Hebrew, a sacred language.2. The ease of communication with other Sephardic communities.3. The Iberian languages facilitated commercial transactions with Spanish colonies.4. We must not forget the prestige of these languages, which had spread to all known continents. (Let's remember that Sephardic Jews were the ones who introduced Spanish to Africa and Asia, where they founded the first printing presses.)In summary, the conference generated significant interest, and the speaker subsequently answered questions from researchers from different parts of the world.The complete conference video can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPBF31YTpnA.Dr. Mario Eduardo Cohen - President of CIDICSEFOriginal note: https://diariojudio.com/opinion/la-lealtad-al-idioma-espanol-de-los-sefardies-de-la-america-colonial-inglesa-y-holandesa/449075/