Heritage Words

Dementia Summons Dad’s Childhood Language: Preserving Kashi with Sabrina Hakim

Sabrina Hakim, an Iranian Jewish real estate administrator in Los Angeles, discusses her upbringing in Tehran and her family’s roots in Kashan. Sabrina describes migratin

From Taylor Swift to Tehillim: Ashkenazi Identity and Modern Songwriting with Shep Rosenman

Shep Rosenman, an entertainment lawyer and songwriter, discusses his roots as an Ashkenazi Jew from Far Rockaway, New York. Shep details the origins of his names, explain

Polish Jewish Life Today with Marek Jezowski and Dominika Zakrzewska-Olędzka

Marek Jezowski and Dominika Zakrzewska-Olędzka, members of Warsaw's progressive Jewish community, discuss their experiences reclaiming their Jewish identity in today’s Po

Jewish Unity Through Diversity: A Shabbat Conversation

How do you talk about Shabbat? Do you say Hamotsi or Nöten? Kiddush or ‘Adus? Attend knis, kenisa, kal, or shul? This episode features American Jews from various backgrou

Mediterranean Recipes and Rhythms: with Ariel Lazarus, Nissimmi Naim-Naor, and Samuel Torjman Thomas

Ariel Lazarus, Nissimmi Naim-Naor, and Samuel Torjman Thomas discuss their diverse Mediterranean Jewish roots spanning Morocco, Gibraltar, and Libya. The guests detail ho

"Will They Taste What We Taste?": Cooking Up Ladino with Benny Ginsberg-Margo

Growing up in a polyglot household, Benny Ginsberg-Margo developed a deep fascination with the intersection of language and identity. With mixed Sephardi and Ashkenazi ro

The Secret Language of Cattle Dealers: German-Jewish Roots with Ken and Hannelore Krug

Hannelore Krug, a German-Jewish immigrant, and her son Ken, a genealogy enthusiast, discuss their family's roots in Hesse-Nassau, Germany. They detail the family's histor

Bon Siman and Oy Vey: Jewish Papiamentu and Curaçao Yiddish with Michèle Russel-Capriles and Phyllis Meit

Michèle Russel-Capriles and Phyllis Meit of the Jewish Cultural Historical Museum in Curaçao discuss their roots as Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews on the island. Michèle d

Dancing on the Same Page: Multilingual Calligraphy and Bridge-Building with Ruben Shimonov

Ruben Shimonov, a multilingual educator and artist, discusses his roots as a Bukharian Jew from Uzbekistan. Ruben details the etymology of his names, explaining how the R

From Baghdad to London: Losing and Keeping Judeo-Iraqi Arabic with Samantha Ellis

Memoirist Samantha Ellis discusses her background as the daughter of Iraqi Jewish refugees and her memoir about losing her ancestral tongue, Judeo-Iraqi Arabic. Samantha

Singing from the Fragments: Iraqi-Ashkenazi Music with Yoni Avi Battat

Sarah Bunin Benor interviews musician Yoni Avi Battat, who discusses his background studying classical violin and his journey to bringing Arab music into the American Jew

The Rabbi Who Rejected Yiddish: Mordecai Kaplan’s Vision with Jenna Weissman Joselit

Jenna Weissman Joselit discusses Restless Soul, her biography of Mordecai M. Kaplan. Jenna begins by exploring her own family’s linguistic history, including the myth of

Chicken-Footed Demons and Synagogue Shouting: Venezuelan Sephardic Life with Joseph Bendahan

Meet Joseph Bendahan, a nuclear physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who grew up in Caracas, Venezuela. Joseph details his family’s Sephardic roots in the

Bonus Episode: Ayuni: Foods of our Middle Eastern and North African Jewish Grandmothers

Today we want to introduce you to another podcast that we think you’ll like, Ayuni: Voices of our Jewish Grandmothers. On Heritage Words we discuss Jewish culture that's

Opera and Film: Christian and Jewish Neo-Aramaic with Nora Lacey and Alan Niku

Sarah Bunin Benor interviews Nora Lacey, founder of the Assyrian Arts Institute, and Alan Niku, a filmmaker and scholar of Mizrahi culture. Together, they explore the con

How an 11-Year-Old Learned a Dying Language: Lishan Didan with Sam Miller

Sarah Bunin Benor interviews Sam Miller, a computational linguist of mixed Ashkenazi and Nash-Didan heritage. Sam details his maternal roots in the cosmopolitan city of U

The Teenager Who Accidentally Documented an Endangered Language: Judeo-Tuyserkani with Ashton Kahen

Sarah Bunin Benor interviews Ashton Kahen, a Baruch College student and researcher dedicated to Iranian Jewish history and endangered languages. Ashton details his family

The Secret Jews of Mashhad: On Jewish Persian Languages with Lauren Hakimi

Sarah Bunin Benor interviews writer and journalist Lauren Hakimi, whose family roots trace back to Mashhad, Iran, via Tehran. Lauren recounts the unique history of Mashha

The Jewish Ambassador of Kentucky: Sephardi/Ashkenazi Comedian Ariel Elias

Sarah Bunin Benor interviews comedian Ariel Elias, who discusses her unique background as a Jew growing up in Kentucky and her move to the Jewish comedy scene in New York

Tsures, Shnook, and Overlapping Dialogue: The Language of Long Story Short with Raphael Bob-Waksberg

This Heritage Words episode features Raphael Bob-Waksberg, creator of the new Netflix series Long Story Short. Bob-Waksberg discusses his Ashkenazi roots, noting that his