Rephonic
Artwork for Heritage Words
Ladino
Jewish Language Project
Yiddish
Hebrew
Judeo-Arabic
Heritage Words
Sephardic Culture
Mexico City
Spanish
Music
Jewish Linguistic Diversity
North Macedonia
Rosov Consulting
Ashkenazi Jews
Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic
Cultural Heritage
Children's Literature
Jewish Diversity
Community Identity
Sephardic Jews

Heritage Words features interviews about the words we've inherited and the meaning they bring to our lives. Heritage Words is produced by the HUC Jewish Language Project, which raises awareness about Jewish ancestral diversity through the lens of language, in partnership with HUC Connect. Sarah Bunin Benor is the host.

PublishesTwice monthlyEpisodes29Founded2 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
Religion & SpiritualityJudaism

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Artwork for Heritage Words

Latest Episodes

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 Moroccan cities of Tetouan and Ouezzane before their migration to South America.... more

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 passed down through the generations. Ayuni does that too, taking us into the hom... more

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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 connections between their endangered Neo-Aramaic dialects: Nora’s Christian Ass... more

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 Urmia, Iran, where his family navigated a multilingual world of Aramaic, Farsi, a... more

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Recent Guests

Joseph Bendahan
Los Angeles Bay Area-based linguist and Sephardic heritage enthusiast sharing his family's HaKetia story
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Episode: Chicken-Footed Demons and Synagogue Shouting: Venezuelan Sephardic Life with Joseph Bendahan
Drora Arussy
A guest on Heritage Words, Ayuni co-host
Ayuni: Voices of Our Jewish Grandmothers
Episode: Bonus Episode: Ayuni: Foods of our Middle Eastern and North African Jewish Grandmothers
Dalya Arussy Di Veroli
A guest on Heritage Words, Ayuni co-host
Ayuni: Voices of Our Jewish Grandmothers
Episode: Bonus Episode: Ayuni: Foods of our Middle Eastern and North African Jewish Grandmothers
Sarah Sassoon
A guest on Heritage Words, Ayuni co-host
Ayuni: Voices of Our Jewish Grandmothers
Episode: Bonus Episode: Ayuni: Foods of our Middle Eastern and North African Jewish Grandmothers
Nora Lacey
Founder of the Assyrian Arts Institute
Assyrian Arts Institute
Episode: Opera and Film: Christian and Jewish Neo-Aramaic with Nora Lacey and Alan Niku
Alan Niku
Filmmaker, writer and scholar of Mizrahi culture
Independent/Assyrian arts circles
Episode: Opera and Film: Christian and Jewish Neo-Aramaic with Nora Lacey and Alan Niku
Sam Miller
A computational linguist and one of the last speakers of Lishan Didan
Jewish Language Project
Episode: How an 11-Year-Old Learned a Dying Language: Lishan Didan with Sam Miller
Stephanie Ives
Head of school at Beit Raban in New York, with a background in law and Jewish education.
Beit Raban
Episode: Language Therapy: Iraqi, Tunisian, and Libyan Jewish Heritage with Stephanie Ives
Karen EH. Skinazi
Professor of Modern Jewish Literature and Culture at Hebrew Union College and Director of the Lachheim School for Judaic Studies at University of Southern California.
Hebrew Union College
Episode: Yiddish, Arabic, and the Search for Ancestral Voices with Karen Skinazi

Host

Sarah Bunin Benor
Host of Heritage Words

Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars from 11 ratings
  • Learn and enjoy

    Consistently good yet wide-ranging, takes me outside my usual silos. Jack interviewing his mother (my generation) is the most delightful thing you'll hear online

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Feivel Yek
    United States8 months ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Many enjoy the blend of humor and serious reflection on cultural topics, making the content engaging and relatable.
Listeners appreciate the thoughtful and diverse nature of discussions, often highlighting personal stories that connect them to Jewish heritage and identity.

Chart Rankings

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Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Chicken-Footed Demons and Synagogue Shouting: Venezuelan Sephardic Life with Joseph Bendahan
Q: What steps could help preserve HaKetia for future generations?
Suggestions include recording fluent speakers, building a Living Dictionary with example sentences, creating mentor-learner programs, and engaging communities in active language transmission.
Chicken-Footed Demons and Synagogue Shouting: Venezuelan Sephardic Life with Joseph Bendahan
Q: What is HaKetia and how did it develop in your family and community?
The guest describes HaKetia as a blending of Hebrew, Spanish, and Arabic, used in Morocco's Jewish ghettos alongside other languages, with words adapted into Spanish, and notes it as a living but endangered linguistic practice.
Chicken-Footed Demons and Synagogue Shouting: Venezuelan Sephardic Life with Joseph Bendahan
Q: Where do your names come from and what do they mean to you?
Joseph Bendahan explains that Bendahan is a Moroccan surname connected to his paternal line, possibly meaning painter in some Arabic dialect, while his maternal surname Seruja traces to a biblical origin.
Opera and Film: Christian and Jewish Neo-Aramaic with Nora Lacey and Alan Niku
Q: What role does activism and the arts play in language preservation for you?
Nora highlights using art and the Assyrian Arts Institute to keep the language alive in diaspora, while Alan ties filmmaking and storytelling to document and enrich the language's presence in contemporary culture.
Opera and Film: Christian and Jewish Neo-Aramaic with Nora Lacey and Alan Niku
Q: How did you learn Jewish Neo-Aramaic or Aramaic-related languages, and what sparked your interest?
Alan describes learning from family members and scholarly resources like Jeffrey Kahn's linguistic descriptions, while Nora discusses growing up with exposure to Assyrian and Persian through family and diaspora networks, both recognizing the language as a bridge to heritage.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About Heritage Words

What is Heritage Words about and what kind of topics does it cover?

This podcast showcases conversations that explore the deep connections between language, identity, and heritage within the Jewish community. By engaging with a diverse range of guests, the content frequently addresses topics such as cultural traditions, the context of Jewish languages like Yiddish and Ladino, and personal anecdotes that reveal how language shapes individual and collective identities. The episodes reflect on the nuances of being part of varied Jewish lineages, including Ashkenazi and Sephardic backgrounds, while emphasizing the importance of preserving their languages and cultures for future generations. Additionally, the approach taken here is uniquely inclusive, as it seeks to connect listeners with the various linguistic ... more

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Which podcasts are similar to Heritage Words?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Heritage Words:

1. Chutzpod!
2. This American Life
3. On the Nose
4. The Moth
5. Radiolab

How many episodes of Heritage Words are there?

Heritage Words launched 2 years ago and published 29 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on Heritage Words?

Recent guests on Heritage Words include:

1. Joseph Bendahan
2. Drora Arussy
3. Dalya Arussy Di Veroli
4. Sarah Sassoon
5. Nora Lacey
6. Alan Niku
7. Sam Miller
8. Stephanie Ives

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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