No SJS, soaking is not a sephardic thing regarding vegetables. It is supposedly to loosen the bugs hold on the vegetables. I use romaine lettuce hearts, they are fairly clean. I usually check each leaf first, (the water droplets make it harder to check and I like the leaves dry. If I find then, I will wash the leaf under running water and gently brush the area where the bug is found. I would then re-check the leaf in the light.
regarding the use of strawberries, even soaking will not remove the bugs. I read somewhere, that a mashigaich, bought those big large first quality strawberrys (the Driscoll type) and they had soaked these beautiful strawberries and supposedly cleaned them very well. Bugs were found even after. It is understood that the bugs(thrips) maybe hiding under the seeds and are near impossible to remove. The only way to use strawberries is to peel them.
Regarding raspberries, I have not had fresh raspberries in ages. My mother had a raspberry bush in her backyard, one day while checking, I noticed tiny brown bugs(thrips) throughout the sections, unless you take each little tiny segment apart(therebye destroying the berry in the process) there is no possible way to eat them.
I have stopped buying and eating strawberries and have never purchased raspberries, because of my first hand account of finding the near impossible to remove bugs on them.