This episode features Stephanie Ives, who shares her experience growing up in Los Angeles with a diverse Middle Eastern Jewish heritage, tracing ancestors from Tunisia, Libya, and Iraq. She discusses the various languages and cultural practices that shaped her and her journey to rediscover and transmit her family's Arabic and French heritage words to her children, emphasizing the importance of preserving this cultural depth for future generations.

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.