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. Reflecting on the endangerment of his ancestral language, Haketia, he describes how the mix of Spanish, Hebrew, and Arabic thrived in Venezuela’s unique social environment. Joseph highlights vivid folklore like the chicken-footed dembajos and expressive phrases like se te caiga el mazzal, illustrating how even his Ashkenazi friends adopted these colorful Sephardic words on the playground.

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

Host and producer: Sarah Bunin Benor

Assistant producer: Kyle Elbaz Fingerhut

Editor: Avishay Artsy

Video editor: Talia Ehrenberg

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.

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 homes of Jewish families from the Middle East and North Africa. Dalya Arussy Di Veroli, Sarah Sassoon, and Dr. Drora Arussy have delightful conversations around rituals, holidays, food, and, yes, heritage words. Even their title is a heritage word. As their description says, "Ayuni, a term of endearment meaning “my eyes,” passes from grandmother to granddaughter, carrying worlds of memory, longing, and love." Check out Ayuni on YouTube and wherever you listen to your podcasts. As a taste, here's a sample episode we think you'll like: Food As Memory. The hosts share the foods they grew up on and the stories surrounding them. Enjoy this bonus episode!

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

Host and producer: Sarah Bunin Benor

Assistant producer: Kyle Elbaz Fingerhut

Editor: Avishay Artsy

Video editor: Talia Ehrenberg

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.

• 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 Assyrian and Alan’s Jewish Hulaulá from Sanandaj. Nora details her work revitalizing the language through the arts, including the first Assyrian opera, Gilgamesh, while Alan discusses documenting his heritage through his Dreamy Kalimi video series. The guests test their mutual intelligibility and share heritage words.

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

  Host and producer: Sarah Bunin Benor

  Assistant producer: Kyle Elbaz Fingerhut

  Editor: Avishay Artsy

  Video editor: Talia Ehrenberg

  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.