In this episode, the guest is Mayim Bialik, who discusses Yiddish in American English.

Mayim Bialik is best known for her lead role as Blossom Russo in the early-1990s NBC television sitcom Blossom. She played the role of Amy Farrah Fowler on the critically acclaimed CBS comedy, The Big Bang Theory, a role for which she received 2 Critics’ Choice Award wins, 4 Emmy nominations and a SAG Award nomination. She served as host of Jeopardy! for 2 seasons, earning her fifth Emmy nomination for her contributions to the iconic show which won its first primetime Emmy the year she hosted. In 2021, Bialik wrote and directed the feature film As They Made Us, starring Dustin Hoffman, Candice Bergen, Dianna Agron and Simon Helberg. She hosts a popular mental health podcast, Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown, with over 26 million downloads. Bialik holds a BS and PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA and she has authored four books, two of which are on the New York Times Best Seller list (Girling Up: How to be Strong, Smart and Spectacular and Boying Up: How to be Brave, Bold and Brilliant). She lives in Los Angeles with her two teenage sons and three cats.

Heritage Words is produced by the HUC-JIR Jewish Language Project and HUC Connect: conversations about the words we inherit and the meaning they bring to our lives.

Host and executive producer: Sarah Bunin Benor

Producer and editor: Avishay Artsy

Video editor: Annabel Noar

Editorial consultants: Kyle Fingerhut, Annabel Noar, Hannah Pressman

Theme music: Maurice El Medioni’s French and Algerian Judeo-Arabic album “Cafe Oran,” featuring the Klezmatics’ David Krakauer and Frank London, courtesy of Piranha Records.

In this episode, the guest is Sarah Sassoon, who discusses Judeo-Baghdadi Arabic in Australian English.

Sarah Sasoon is an Australian born, Iraqi Jewish writer, poet, and educator. She is the author of the award winning picture book Shoham’s Bangle and This is Not a Cholent. Her poetry micro chapbook, This is Why We Don’t Look Back was awarded the Harbor Review Jewish Women’s Poetry prize. She is an editorial advisor for Distinctions: A Sephardi and Mizrahi Journal. She is also the joint author of The In-Between, a literary dialogue about identity and belonging. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband and four boys.

Heritage Words is produced by the HUC-JIR Jewish Language Project and HUC Connect: conversations about the words we inherit and the meaning they bring to our lives.

Host and executive producer: Sarah Bunin Benor

Producer and editor: Avishay Artsy

Video editor: Annabel Noar

Editorial consultants: Kyle Fingerhut, Annabel Noar, Hannah Pressman

Theme music: Maurice El Medioni’s French and Algerian Judeo-Arabic album “Cafe Oran,” featuring the Klezmatics’ David Krakauer and Frank London, courtesy of Piranha Records.

Thanks also to Yoni Avi Battat for allowing us to use his song “What would you say?” from the album “Fragments.”

In this episode, the guest is Ilana Mansharov, who discusses Juhuri in Modern Hebrew and Canadian English.

Ilana Mansharov began her career as a Jewish educator over 21 years ago in Toronto and the greater Toronto area. She comes in with a diverse experience teaching, guiding, developing and leading staff and programs for students of all abilities in Jewish elementary day schools and students of all ages programs in Jewish communal settings.

Ilana is a native Israeli and a descendant of Mountain Jews who speaks Judeo-Tat, an endangered Jewish language spoken by Juhuro. Ilana fully supports diversity in Jewish education and Hebrew learning programs. Ilana advocates for neurodiversity and the incorporation of the arts into Jewish and Israel learning programs. She has expertise in leading Jewish text study, as well as history, literature, arts and culture and current events in Israel education.

Ilana Mansharov obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from York University, Judaic and Hebrew Teacher Certificate from Board of Jewish Education, Special Education certification from York University and Masters of Arts in Leadership in Jewish Education and Religious Education from Hebrew Union College.

Heritage Words is produced by the HUC-JIR Jewish Language Project and HUC Connect: conversations about the words we inherit and the meaning they bring to our lives.

Host and executive producer: Sarah Bunin Benor

Producer and editor: Avishay Artsy

Video editor: Annabel Noar

Editorial consultants: Kyle Fingerhut, Annabel Noar, Hannah Pressman

Theme music: Maurice El Medioni’s French and Algerian Judeo-Arabic album “Cafe Oran,” featuring the Klezmatics’ David Krakauer and Frank London, courtesy of Piranha Records.

In this episode, the guest is Danny Jassen, who discusses Ladino in American English.

Danny Jassen is a Seward Park, Seattle native who grew up in the Sephardic community. His maternal great-grandparents were Ladino-speaking Jewish emigrants from Turkey and the island of Rhodes. He currently serves as a board member for Sephardic Adventure Camp, North America’s only overnight Jewish camp that is a unique Sephardic experience. Having lived in Seattle, New York and Israel, you might hear him incorporate English, Hebrew and Ladino words or phrases all in the same sentence.

Heritage Words is produced by the HUC-JIR Jewish Language Project and HUC Connect: conversations about the words we inherit and the meaning they bring to our lives.

Host and executive producer: Sarah Bunin Benor

Producer and editor: Avishay Artsy

Video editor: Annabel Noar

Editorial consultants: Kyle Fingerhut, Annabel Noar, Hannah Pressman

Theme music: Maurice El Medioni’s French and Algerian Judeo-Arabic album “Cafe Oran,” featuring the Klezmatics’ David Krakauer and Frank London, courtesy of Piranha Records.

In this episode, the guest is Rozeeta Mavashev, whose heritage language is Bukharian.

A graduate of CUNY with a Master's in Clinical Social Work from Hunter College and a BA in Education and English Literature from the College of Staten Island, Rozeeta Mavashev is deeply committed to education, which has driven her volunteerism and career path in the Jewish professional sector. Currently, she serves as the North American Executive Director at Masa Israel Journey. Rozeeta is also a fervent advocate for amplifying diverse Jewish voices, particularly those of Mizrahi and Sephardi descent. Recognized by Jewish Week as one of the 36 Under 36 in 2021 for her leadership in this area, she sits on the Board of Directors at SAMi Global, a nonprofit she helped establish to support Mizrahi and Sephardi college students and young professionals through leadership, professional, and personal development. In 2021, Rozeeta became the first Bukharian to receive the Wexner Davidson Scholarship Fellowship. As a first-generation American whose parents migrated from Uzbekistan, she credits her success to their unwavering support and love. Rozeeta currently resides in NYC and spends her time reading, painting, and biking.

Heritage Words is produced by the HUC-JIR Jewish Language Project and HUC Connect: conversations about the words we inherit and the meaning they bring to our lives.

Jewish Language Project's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@jewishlanguageproject

Host and executive producer: Sarah Bunin Benor

Producer and editor: Avishay Artsy

Video editor: Annabel Noar

Editorial consultants: Kyle Fingerhut, Annabel Noar, Hannah Pressman

Theme music: Maurice El Medioni’s French and Algerian Arabic album “Cafe Oran,” featuring the Klezmatics’ David Krakauer and Frank London, courtesy of Piranha Records.

In this episode, the guest is Dr. Evelyn Maria Dean-Olmsted, who discusses the concept of heritage words.

Evelyn Dean-Olmsted is an anthropologist whose academic research focuses on Jewish Latin America. Her book, provisionally entitled The Pragmatics of Diaspora: Language, identity, and religiosity among young Syrian Jewish Mexicans is forthcoming with Brill. She currently serves as Project Lead at Rosov Consulting, where she contributes to community studies, program evaluation, and other research services for Jewish nonprofits. Dean-Olmsted also serves on the editorial board of the journal Latin American Jewish Studies; the advisory board of the Jewish Language Project; and the advisory board of Olamim, a grassroots organization of Latinx Jewish families in the Bay Area.

Heritage Words is produced by the HUC-JIR Jewish Language Project and HUC Connect: conversations about the words we inherit and the meaning they bring to our lives.

Host and executive producer: Sarah Bunin Benor

Producer and editor: Avishay Artsy

Video editor: Annabel Noar

Editorial consultants: Kyle Fingerhut, Annabel Noar, Hannah Pressman

Theme music: Maurice El Medioni’s French and Algerian Judeo-Arabic album “Cafe Oran,” featuring the Klezmatics’ David Krakauer and Frank London, courtesy of Piranha Records.

Heritage Words is a podcast about how we engage with our ancestral languages in new and creative ways. Heritage Words is produced by the HUC-JIR Jewish Language Project, which raises awareness about Jewish ancestral diversity through the lens of language.

The song used in this trailer is "Sheikhat Al​-​Hara / شيخةالحارة" from Fragments by Yoni Avi Battat, used with permission.

Host and executive producer: Sarah Bunin Benor

Producer and editor: Avishay Artsy

Video editor: Annabel Noar

Editorial consultants: Kyle Fingerhut, Annabel Noar, Hannah Pressman