Herbert C. Dobrinsky

This is the best reference book I know of for Sephardi Jewish customs. The book is divided up by event (say, the birth of a child or Passover), and then within each section the author discusses the customs of various strains of Sephardi Jews. (Spanish-Portuguese, Syrian, Moroccan, etc.) The book covers lifecycle events (birth, bar mitzvah, marriage, death), calendrical events (holidays, the sabbath, etc.), and daily occurrences (dietary laws, family life, etc.)

Dobrinski is an academic, so you can expect his book to be well researched and thorough. Perhaps one of the greatest indications of it's value is the fact that it has letters of approbation (haskamot) from two of the greatest rabbinic leaders of Sephardic Judaism when the book was published - Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu.… (altro)