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 backgrounds – including Syrian, Bukharian, Persian, Iraqi, and Ashkenazi – discussing their Shabbat traditions, with a focus on the unique words from other languages present in their English.

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.