People

Founding Director: Sarah Bunin Benor

Dr. Sarah Bunin Benor is Vice Provost and Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (Los Angeles campus) and Adjunct Professor (by courtesy) in the University of Southern California Linguistics Department. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford University in Linguistics in 2004. She has published and lectured widely about Jewish languages, linguistics, Yiddish, American Jews, and Orthodox Jews. Her books include Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox Judaism (Rutgers, 2012) and Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps (Rutgers, 2020). Dr. Benor is founding co-editor of the Journal of Jewish Languages (Brill) and co-editor of Languages in Jewish Communities, Past and Present (De Gruyter Mouton, 2018).

Assistant Director: Janine Okmin

Janine Okmin is a museum educator and arts administrator. She has developed museum content as Director of Learning and Museum Experience at the Bay Area Discovery Museum, Associate Director of Education at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and Associate Manager of Learning Through Art at the Guggenheim Museum. Janine is currently the Program Director for the Jewish Writers’ Initiative’s Digital Storytellers Lab, a fellowship for digital media creatives. She holds a BA in Drama from Northwestern University and an MA in Arts Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Director of Education and Engagement: Hannah S. Pressman

Dr. Hannah S. Pressman is a scholar of Jewish languages and literatures. She received her Ph.D. in modern Hebrew literature from New York University, where she focused on translation studies, Jewish philosophies of language, and the genre of self-writing. Dr. Pressman is affiliated faculty with the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Washington. She is co-editor of Choosing Yiddish: New Frontiers of Language and Culture (Wayne State, 2013). Her writing has appeared in several academic and popular venues such as Tablet, Lilith, eSefarad, and JTA. Dr. Pressman is currently working on a memoir entitled Galante’s Daughter: A Sephardic Family Journey, studying Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), and practicing her Solitreo script.

Curator & Documentation Manager: Eden Moyal

Eden Moyal is a UCLA graduate with a degree in linguistics and anthropology, and is especially fascinated with the intersections between language, society, and identity. Her particular academic interests revolve around sociolinguistics within Judaism and the LGBTQ+ community. She grew up between Israel and Los Angeles and is fluent in Modern Israeli Hebrew, and is always looking for ways to expand her knowledge of the languages spoken by her ancestors.

Highlights:
• Multilingual Omer Counter
• JArts Kolture Exhibits
• Algerian Jewish Sign Language
• Fun Fact Writing

Graphic Designers

Documentation

Jewish Lexicon Project

Interns and Volunteers

Advisory Board

Our Advisory Board is drawn from the fields of linguistics, education, technology, the arts, and community leadership. These individuals bring their expertise to discussions of the Jewish Language Project's strategic and programmatic development.

Past Employees, Interns, and Volunteers

Thank you to the many people whose efforts have helped us to develop this website and related resources over the years, including:

Communications, Content, and Web Design:

Molly Cutler

Alyssa Feigelson

Shawn Fields-Meyer

Lizzie Frankel

Julia Hananel

Eleanor Harris

Eden Glaser

Miryam Greenwood

Lewis Lenard

Elaine Miller

Gabe Miner

Ishaq Nana Adjei Ofori-Solomon

Phyllis Pawa

Sofia Rubio

Lael Sacho-Tanzer

Tsvi Sadan (Tsuguya Sasaki)

Jewish English Lexicon:

Isaac Bleaman

Alexandra Casser

Noam Fields-Meyer

Hannah Kober

Eliran Sobel

Matan Kruskal

Interested in getting involved with the Jewish Language Project as a volunteer or intern? We're looking for help in the following areas:

Design
Fundraising
Social media
TikTok specialist
Content development
Curriculum development
Interviewing speakers of endangered Jewish languages
Creating Living Dictionaries for endangered Jewish languages
Recording entries for the Jewish English Lexicon
Creating or working on a Jewish lexicon for another language

Please let us know you're interested in helping out by filling out this form. Thank you for your interest!