Sarah Bunin Benor, Ph.D.

Authored Academic Books
Benor, Sarah Bunin, Jonathan Krasner, and Sharon Avni. 2020. Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Winner of National Jewish Book Award in Education and Jewish Identity.

Reviewed/profiled in many venues, including Language in Society, Journal of Jewish Education, Contemporary Jewry, Times of Israel, Tablet, Jewschool, Mosaic.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2012. Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox Judaism. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Winner of the Sami Rohr Choice Award for Jewish Literature.

Reviewed/profiled in many venues, including Language in Society, Jewish Culture and History, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Journal of Jewish Languages, Jewish Review of Books, Jewish Week, Forward, Jewish Press.

Books, Journals, and Journal Issues Edited

Benor, Sarah Bunin, and Ofra Tirosh-Becker. 2013-. Co-editors-in-chief, Journal of Jewish Languages, published twice a year by Brill.

Hary, Benjamin, and Sarah Bunin Benor, eds. 2018. Languages in Jewish Communities, Past and Present. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Tom Fields-Meyer. 2017. We the Resilient: Wisdom for America from Women Born Before Suffrage. Eugene, Oregon: Luminare Press. (Non-academic)

Doron, Edit, in cooperation with Ofra Tirosh-Becker and Sarah Bunin Benor. 2016. Language Contact and the Development of Modern Hebrew. Leiden: Brill.

Benor, Sarah Bunin, and Tsvi Sadan, eds. 2011. Special issue of Language and Communication: “Jewish Languages in the Age of the Internet.” 31/2.

Benor, Sarah, Mary Rose, Devyani Sharma, Julie Sweetland, and Qing Zhang, eds. 2002. Gendered Practices in Language. Stanford: CSLI Press.

Articles in Peer Reviewed Journals

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2026. “Ethnolinguistic Infusion: Community Language Socialization and Reclamation Without Proficiency.” Language in Society 55/3: 407-431. Open access.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-in-society/article/ethnolinguistic-infusion-community-language-socialization-and-reclamation-without-proficiency/1B45FE69446CCF3149B4CD1777C33E92

Benor, Sarah Bunin, and Alicia B. Chandler. 2025. “From Susan and Robert to Talia and Ezra: Change in American Jewish Personal Names, 1950-2019.” American Jewish History 108/3 (2024): 211-245.

Benor, Sarah Bunin, and Alicia B. Chandler. 2024. “Categorizing Personal Names Among Jews in the Contemporary United States.” Onoma 59: 49-72.

Benor, Sarah Bunin, Netta Avineri, and Nicki Greninger. 2024. “Hebrew in Part-Time Jewish Education: Misalignment of Rationales and Goals.” Journal of Jewish Education 90/1. 6-35.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2020. “Bivalent Writing: Hebrew and English Alphabets in Jewish English.” Journal of Jewish Languages 8/1-2: 108-157.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2019. “L’anglais juif : une variété contemporaine de langue juive [Jewish English: A contemporary Jewish language variety] (in French).” La linguistique fonctionelle 55, thematic issue on Jewish languages. 278-288.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2016. “On Jewish Languages, Names, and Distinctiveness.” Jewish Quarterly Review 106/4 (forum on the 50th anniversary of Gerson Cohen’s “The Blessing of Assimilation in Jewish History”). 440-449.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2016. “Black and Jewish: Language and Multiple Strategies for Self-Presentation.” American Jewish History 100/1. 51-71.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Ofra Tirosh-Becker. 2013. “A New Venue for Research on Jewish Languages.” Journal of Jewish Languages 1/1. 3-7.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2012. “Response to Steven M. Cohen’s Marshall Sklare lecture, AJS 2010.” Contemporary Jewry 32/1. 99-102.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2011. “Mensch, Bentsh, and Balagan: Variation in the American Jewish Linguistic Repertoire.” Language and Communication 31/2. 141-154.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2011. “Jewish Languages in the Age of the Internet: An Introduction.” Language and Communication 31/2. 95-98.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2010. “Ethnolinguistic Repertoire: Shifting the Analytic Focus in Language and Ethnicity.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 14/2. 159-183.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2009. “Do American Jews Speak a ‘Jewish Language’? A Model of Jewish Linguistic Distinctiveness.” Jewish Quarterly Review 99/2. 230-269.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2008. “Towards a New Understanding of Jewish Language in the 21st Century.” Religion Compass 2/6. 1062-1080.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Roger Levy. 2006. “The Chicken or the Egg? A Probabilistic Analysis of English Binomials.” Language 82/2, June 2006. 233-278.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2004. “Talmid Chachams and Tsedeykeses: Language, Learnedness, and Masculinity Among Orthodox Jews.” Jewish Social Studies 11/1. 147-170.

Other Academic Articles

Benor, Sarah Bunin. Forthcoming, 2026. “Longstanding Jewish Languages in 2025: Endangerment and Postvernacular Engagement.” In Broadening the Scope of Language Policy: Insights Inspired by the Legacy of Bernard Spolsky. Elana Shohamy, Michal Tannenbaum, and Ofra Lourie-Inbar, eds. Cambridge University Press.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2025. “What Languages Do Jews Speak?” In Judaism in 5 Minutes. Sarah Imhoff, ed. Sheffield: Equinox. 74-76.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2025. “Language.” In Princeton Companion to Jewish Studies. Leora Batnitzky, Eve Krakowski, and Steven Weitzman, eds. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 331-349.

Benor, Sarah Bunin, and Ofra Tirosh-Becker. 2024. “Practices and Challenges in Documenting Endangered Jewish Languages: A Researchers’ Forum.” Journal of Jewish Languages 12/2: 201-211.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2024. “From Oy to Hineni: Language and Transition in Transparent.” In Blessings Beyond the Binary: Transparent and the Queer Jewish Family. Nora Rubel and Brett Krutzsch, eds. Rutgers University Press. 98-113.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2023. “Proposal for a Database of Hebrew and Aramaic Loanwords in Jewish Languages and its Associated Corpus.” In Mizmor leDavid: Studies in Jewish Languages Presented to David M. Bunis. Estudios Sefardíes in the collection Estudios Bíblicos, Hebraicos y Sefardíes. Madrid: Editorial CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas). 59-78.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2023. “Hebrew and Jewish Diaspora Languages.” In The Routledge Handbook of Judaism in the Twenty-First Century. Dean Bell and Karen Fraiman, eds. New York: Routledge. 89-110.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2022. “Pastrami, Verklempt, and Tshootspa: Non-Jews’ Use of Jewish Language in the United States.” American Jewish Year Book 2020. Arnold Dashefsky and Ira M. Sheskin, eds. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. 3-69.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Netta Avineri. 2022. “Hebrew and Yiddish in Greater Los Angeles: Bilingualism, Metalinguistic Communities, and Ethnolinguistic Infusion.” In Multilingual La La Land: Language Use in Sixteen Greater Los Angeles Communities. Claire Hitchens Chik, ed. New York: Routledge. 129-150.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2022. “Pastrami, Verklempt, and Tshootspa: Non-Jews’ Use of Jewish Language in the US.” American Jewish Year Book 2020. Arnold Dashefsky and Ira M. Sheskin, eds. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. 3-69.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Netta Avineri. 2022. “Hebrew and Yiddish in Greater Los Angeles: Bilingualism, Metalinguistic Communities, and Ethnolinguistic Infusion.” In Multilingual La La Land: Language Use in Sixteen Greater Los Angeles Communities. Claire Hitchens Chik, ed. New York: Routledge. 129-150.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2021. “Written Jewish English.” In Jewish Languages: Text Specimens, Grammatical, Lexical, and Cultural Sketches, ed. Lutz Edzard and Ofra Tirosh-Becker. In Porta Linguarum Orientalium series. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. 368-391.

Avineri, Netta, Sarah Bunin Benor, and Nicki Greninger. 2021. “Contested Hebrew: Ethnolinguistic Infusion and Metalinguistic Communities in U.S. Jewish Complementary Schools.” In Reconceptualizing Language Affiliation, Use, and Proficiency Across Communities. Netta Avineri and Jesse Harasta, eds. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 27-50.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2021. “Jewish Englishes in the United States and Beyond: An Ethnolinguistic Repertoire Approach.” In World Englishes: Paradigms, Ideologies, Pedagogies. Mario Saraceni, ed. London: Bloomsbury Press. Part 3, Chapter 11.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2019. “Ethnolinguistic Infusion at Sephardic Adventure Camp.” In The Routledge Companion to the Work of John Rickford, edited by Renée Blake and Isabelle Buchstaller. New York: Routledge. 142-152.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Netta Avineri. 2019. “Beyond Language Proficiency: Fostering Metalinguistic Communities in Jewish Educational Settings.” In Beyond Jewish Identity: Rethinking Concepts and Imagining Alternatives. Jon Levisohn and Ari Y. Kelman, eds. New York: Academic Studies Press. 167-192.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Benjamin Hary. 2018. “A Research Agenda for Comparative Jewish Linguistic Studies.” In Languages in Jewish Communities, Past and Present, ed. Benjamin Hary and Sarah Bunin Benor, Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 672-694.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2018. “Jewish English in the United States.” In Languages in Jewish Communities, Past and Present, ed. Benjamin Hary and Sarah Bunin Benor, Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 414-430.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2018. “Hebrew Infusion in American Jewish Life: Tensions and the Role of Israeli Hebrew.” In What We Talk About When We Talk About Hebrew (And Why It Matters to Americans). Naomi Sokoloff and Nancy Berg, eds. Seattle: University of Washington Press. 124-138.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Bernard Spolsky. 2018. “The Sociolinguistic Ecology of Jewish Communities: The Changing State of Jewish Language Varieties.” In The Changing World Language Map, Stanley D. Brunn, ed. New York: Springer. 1-10.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2016. “Jews of Color: Performing Black Jewishness through the Creative Use of Two Ethnolinguistic Repertoires.” In Raciolinguistics: How Language Shapes Our Ideas About Race. H. Samy Alim, John R. Rickford, and Arnetha F. Ball, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 171-184.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2016. “Jewish English.” In Handbook of Jewish Languages. Lily Kahn and Aaron Rubin, eds. Leiden: Brill. 130-137.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2015. “How Synagogues Became Shuls: The Boomerang Effect in Yiddish-Influenced English, 1895-2010.” In Germanic Heritage Languages in North America. Janne Bondi Johannessen and Joseph Salmons, eds. Series: Studies in Language Variation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 217-233.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2014. “Rhetoric About the Diverse Jewish Community.” American Jewish Year Book 2014. Ed., Arnold Dashefsky and Ira Sheskin. New York: Springer. 23-26.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2013. “From Sabbath to Shabbat: Changing Language of Reform Sisterhood Leaders, 1913-2012.” In Sisterhood: A Centennial History of Women of Reform Judaism, ed. Carole B. Balin, Dana Herman, Jonathan D. Sarna, and Gary P. Zola. Cincinnati: American Jewish Archives. 314-337.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2013. “Hebrew Component in Jewish English.” In Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics, ed. Geoffrey Khan. Leiden: Brill. Vol. 2, 384-385.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2012. “Echoes of Yiddish in the Speech of Twenty-First-Century American Jews.” In Choosing Yiddish: Studies on Yiddish Literature, Culture, and History, ed. Lara Rabinovitch, Shiri Goren, and Hannah Pressman. Detroit: Wayne State Press. 319-337.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2012. “Jewish Languages.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Jewish Studies, ed. David Biale. New York: Oxford University Press.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2011. “Hummus, Challah, and Gefilte Fish: Israel in Diaspora Jewish Culture.” Response to section on “Jewries Meet: Negotiating US – Israel Relations” in Dynamic Belonging: Contemporary Jewish Collective Identities, ed. Harvey Goldberg, Steven M. Cohen, and Ezra Kopelowitz. Oxford: Berghahn Books. 219-222.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2011. “Young Jewish Leaders in Los Angeles: Strengthening the Jewish People in Conventional and Unconventional Ways.” In The New Jewish Leaders: Reshaping the American Jewish Landscape, ed., Jack Wertheimer. Hanover, NH: Brandeis University Press. 112-158.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2011. “Hameyvin Yavin: Language and Super Jews.” Association for Jewish Studies Perspectives. Fall 2011. 36-37. https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/sara/Sarah%20Bunin%20Benor%20Language%20Orthodox%20AJS%20Perspectives.pdf.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Steven M. Cohen. 2011. “Talking Jewish: The ‘Ethnic English’ of American Jews.” In Ethnicity and Beyond: Theories and Dilemmas of Jewish Group Demarcation. Studies in Contemporary Jewry, vol. 25. Eli Lederhendler, ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 62-78.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2009. “Lexical Othering in Judezmo: How Ottoman Sephardim Refer to Non-Jews.” In Languages and Literatures of Sephardic and Oriental Jews: Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress. David M. Bunis, ed. Jerusalem: The Bialik Institute and Misgav Yerushalayim. 65-85.
Spolsky, Bernard and Sarah Bunin Benor. 2006. “Jewish Languages.” In Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Keith Brown, ed. 2^nd edition. Vol. 6. Oxford: Elsevier. 120-124.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2004. Second Style Acquisition: The Linguistic Socialization of Newly Orthodox Jews. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Stanford University. (Committee: Penelope Eckert (chair), Eve Clark, Arnold Eisen, John Rickford.)

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2001. “The Learned /t/: Phonological Variation in Orthodox Jewish English.” Penn Working Papers in Linguistics: Selected Papers from NWAV 29. Tara Sanchez and Daniel Ezra Johnson, eds. Philadelphia: Univ. of Penn. Linguistics. 1-16.

Benor, Sarah. 2000. “Loan Words in the English of Modern Orthodox Jews: Yiddish or Hebrew?” Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistic Society’s 25^th Annual Meeting, 1999. Steve S. Chang, Lily Liaw, and Josef Ruppenhofer, eds. Berkeley: Berkeley Linguistic Society. 287-298.

Benor, Sarah. 1998. “Yavnish: A Linguistic Analysis of Columbia’s Orthodox Jewish Community.” ’Iggrot ha’Ari: Columbia University Student Journal of Jewish Scholarship 1/2. 8-50.

Benor, Sarah. 1997. “A Wedding in the Jewish Autonomous Region: Itsik Fefer’s Yiddish Poem A Khasene in Birobidzhan.” ’Iggrot ha’Ari 1/1. 36-49.

Applied Research Reports and Articles

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2026. “Preventing the Loss of Jewish Traditions.” Prophecy 3, July 2026. 73-84. https://seekprophecy.substack.com/p/preventing-the-loss-of-jewish-traditions and https://seekprophecy.substack.com/p/get-issue-1.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2025. “Assessment of Sephardic Inclusion in Los Angeles Jewish Schools and Camps.” JIMENA, October 2025. https://www.jimena.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LA-Day-School-and-Camp-Report.pdf.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2025. “When you invite your ancestors into your sukkah, consider bringing their Jewish languages in, too.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, October 6, 2025. https://www.jta.org/2025/10/06/religion/when-you-invite-your-ancestors-into-your-sukkah-consider-bringing-their-jewish-languages-in-too.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2025. “Love Trump or Hate Him, All Jews Should Object to his Appropriation of ‘Shalom.’” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 14, 2025. https://www.jta.org/2025/03/14/ideas/love-trump-or-hate-him-all-jews-should-object-to-his-appropriation-of-shalom.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2024. “I’m a Jewish Linguist, and Unlike Some in Congress, I Think ‘Ashkenormativity’ is a Perfectly Fine Word.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, May 2, 2024. https://www.jta.org/2024/05/02/ideas/im-a-jewish-linguist-and-unlike-some-in-congress-i-think-ashkenormativity-is-a-perfectly-fine-word.

Benor, Sarah Bunin, and Abby Graham. 2022. “A Millennium of Jewish Women’s Voices.” Genizah Fragments: Blog of the Genizah Research Unit, Cambridge University, November 2, 2022. https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/genizah-fragments/posts/millennium-jewish-womens-voices.

Benor, Sarah Bunin, and Abby Graham. 2022. “A Millennium of Jewish Women’s Voices.” Jewish Women’s Archive Blog, October 27, 2022. https://jwa.org/blog/millennium-jewish-womens-voices.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2021. “Pastrami, Verklempt, and Tshoot-spa: Non-Jews’ Use of Jewish Language in the United States.” eJewishPhilanthropy, October 14, 2021. https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/pastrami-verklempt-and-tshoot-spa-non-jews-use-of-jewish-language-in-the-united-states/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2021. “The Communities that Live Captioning Leaves Behind.” Slate, April 14, 2021. https://slate.com/technology/2021/04/live-captions-language-mixing.html.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2021. “We’re Running Out of Time to Preserve Endangered Jewish Languages. Here’s How We Can Stop Them from Being Lost Forever.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, February 8, 2021. https://www.jta.org/2021/02/08/opinion/were-running-out-of-time-to-preserve-endangered-jewish-languages-heres-how-we-can-stop-them-from-being-lost-forever. Picked up in many venues, including Forward and Times of Israel.

Greninger, Nicki, Netta Avineri, and Sarah Bunin Benor. 2020. “Let’s Stop Calling It ‘Hebrew School’: New Study Debunks Myths about Part-time Jewish Education.” eJewish Philanthropy, July 29, 2020. https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/lets-stop-calling-it-hebrew-schoolnew-study-debunks-myths-about-part-time-jewish-education/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin, Netta Avineri, and Nicki Greninger. 2020. “Let’s Stop Calling It ‘Hebrew School’: Rationales, Goals, and Practices of Hebrew Education in Part-Time Jewish Schools.” Washington, DC: Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education. https://www.casje.org/HebrewEdPartTime.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2020. “Hebrew Infusion and the Camp Experience for Parents.” eJewishPhilanthropy, July 20, 2020. https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/hebrew-infusion-and-the-camp-experience-for-parents/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2020. “The Scripps Spelling Bee is Off This Year, But the Controversy Over Including Foreign Words is Still On.” The Conversation, 5/21/20. https://theconversation.com/the-scripps-spelling-bee-is-off-this-year-but-the-controversy-over-including-foreign-words-is-still-on-138900.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2020. “Passover Around the World: A Haggadah Supplement from the Jewish Language Project.” Jewish Language Website. https://www.jewishlanguages.org/haggadah-supplement.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2020. “How Many Speakers Are There? Ethnologue Statistics on Jewish Language Vitality.” Jewish Language Website. https://www.jewishlanguages.org/stats.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2019. “Students’ Open Letters to Disney.” Society for Linguistic Anthropology Blog. http://linguisticanthropology.org/sla-blog/sarah-benor/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Steven M. Cohen. 2017. “From Academic Scholarship to Popular Op-Ed.” eJewishPhilanthropy, 1/31/17. http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/from-academic-scholarship-to-popular-op-ed/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2016. “American Jews Speak a ‘Jewish Language.’” In More Than Managing (volume in honor of Leslie Wexner), edited by Lawrence A. Hoffman. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights. 179-182.

Benor, Sarah Bunin, Jonathan Krasner, and Sharon Avni. 2016. “Survey of Hebrew at North American Jewish Summer Camps.” Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education. http://www.brandeis.edu/mandel/pdfs/2016-Hebrew-in-camp-survey-report.pdf.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2016. “Hebrew Infusion at American Jewish Summer Camps.” Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education. http://www.casje.org/news/hebrew-infusion-american-jewish-summer-camps.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2016. “Hebrew Infusion in My American Life Connects Me to Jews Around the World.” University of Washington Stroum Center Blog. http://jewishstudies.washington.edu/global-judaism/sarah-benor-hebrew-infusion/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2016. “Mikvah Imagery in ‘Transparent’: A Symbol of Transitions and Femininity.” Lilith. http://lilith.org/blog/2016/02/have-you-noticed-these-images-in-transparent/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2016. “Ted Cruz’s Linguistic Chutzpah.” The Conversation, February 12, 2016. https://theconversation.com/ted-cruzs-linguistic-chutzpah-54621. Picked up by Houston Chronicle (http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/Ted-Cruz-s-linguistic-chutzpah-6831661.php?t=4458e24f45438d9cbb&cmpid=twitter-premium).

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2015. “Wet, Hot, Hebrew-Infused American Summer.” Learning About Learning: Brandeis Mandel Center Blog, 10/21/15. https://blogs.brandeis.edu/mandeljewished/?p=1926.

Benor, Sarah Bunin, and Jonathan Krasner. 2015. “Meltzing, Marps, and Shabboptions: Hebrew at North American Jewish Summer Camps.” Wexner Foundation Blog, 8/10/15. http://www.wexnerfoundation.org/blog/meltzing-marps-and-shabboptions-hebrew-at-north-american-jewish-summer-camps.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2015. “Delicious Linguistics: Review of Dan Jurafsky’s The Language of Food.” Jewish Journal. http://www.jewishjournal.com/food/article/delicious_linguistics_the_language_of_food.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2015. Review of The Languages of the Jews, Bernard Spolsky, Cambridge University Press, 2014. Marginalia Review of Books. http://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/sociolinguistic-history-jews/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2014. “Engaging the Public Through Jewish Languages.” Learning About Learning: Brandeis Mandel Center Blog, 9/18/14. https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/outputs/blog/Blog-Post-Engaging-the-Public-Through/9924103202601921.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2014. “Foster Relationships, Build Bridges.” Contact: The Journal of the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life 16/1. p. 5. http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/foster-relationships-build-bridges/.

Dean-Olmsted, Evelyn, Sarah Bunin Benor, and Jim Gerstein. 2014. “Connected to Give: Community Circles.” Los Angeles: Jumpstart. https://jumpstartlabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ConnectedToGive5_CommunityCircles_Jumpstart2014_v1.1.pdf.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2014. “Introduction to How I Understand Judaism.” The Introduction to Judaism Course: Three Perspectives. Association for Jewish Studies. http://ajsnet.org/ajsnews-introduction-to-judaism.htm#benor.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2013. “Multiplex Networks: The Ties That Bind.” Sh’ma: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, November 2013. https://www.bjpa.org/search-results/publication/18442.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2013. “Pew Study Finds a Vibrant Jewish Community.” Jewish Journal, 10/10/13. http://www.jewishjournal.com/cover_story/article/pew_study_finds_a_vibrant_jewish_community.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2013. “Increasing Diversity Means There Is No Such Thing as a Typical Jew.” Forward, 10/5/13. http://forward.com/articles/184984/increasing-diversity-means-there-is-no-such-thing/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2013. “A Linguist’s Take on the Knaidel/Kneydl Controversy.” Jewish Journal. https://jewishjournal.com/culture/229899/linguists-take-knaidel-kneydl-controversy/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2012. “Shtus Jews Say: Jewish Memes, Jewish Identities.” Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture. http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117657/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2012. “Lingo of the Sarah Silverman Controversy.” Forward, 10/26/12. https://forward.com/opinion/164996/lingo-of-the-sarah-silverman-controversy/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2012. “Of Midos and Mensches: Language and the Diverse American Jewish Community.” HUC Chronicle, Fall 2012. p. 13.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2012. “Matisyahu’s Beard and the ‘Bungee Effect’,” “Reflections on the New York Jewish Population Study,” “Frumspeak,” “Non-Orthodox Jews should get to know Haredim, not undermine their way of life,” “My Fair Lady – in (Postvernacular) Yiddish.” Becoming Frum blog. https://becomingfrum.weebly.com/discussion-forum.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2011. “Hameyvin Yavin: Language and Super Jews.” Association for Jewish Studies Perspectives. Fall 2011. 36-37. https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/sara/Sarah%20Bunin%20Benor%20Language%20Orthodox%20AJS%20Perspectives.pdf.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2011. “‘Mainstream’ vs. ‘Innovative’ Jewish Organizations: How Different Are They? A Study of Young Jewish Leaders in Los Angeles.” Journal of Jewish Communal Service 86/1-2. 65-71. http://www.bjpa.org/Publications/details.cfm?PublicationID=13785.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2010. “The Sounds of Becoming Frum.” Sh’ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility, November 2010. http://www.shma.com/2010/11/the-sounds-of-becoming-frum/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2010. “Establishment and Non-establishment Spheres Serve Diverse Jews.” Jewish Journal. http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/establishment_and_non-establishment_spheres_serve_diverse_jews_20101015.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Steven M. Cohen. 2009. “Survey of American Jewish Language and Identity.” Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (summary of survey results for general audience) http://www.bjpa.org/Publications/details.cfm?PublicationID=3874.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Bruce A. Phillips. 2009. “Pedagogy and Impact: The SJCS Master’s Thesis.” Journal of Jewish Communal Service 84/3-4, special issue on “The HUC-JIR School of Jewish Communal Service: Celebrating the Past, Shaping the Future.” 228-231. http://www.bjpa.org/Publications/details.cfm?PublicationID=4433.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2009. “You say SUK-kiss, I say soo-COAT: Language and Identity among American Jews.” Torah at the Center (Union for Reform Judaism). 13/1. 28.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2002. “Introduction” and “Jewish English.” Jewish Language Research Website. (http://www.jewish-languages.org/jewish-english.html).

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2000. “Everyone’s Using Yiddish But Joe Lieberman.” Generation J (Jewish culture website – http://www.generationj.com/), October 2000. Republished, 2016, at http://becomingfrum.weebly.com/discussion-forum/february-10th-2016.

Benor, Sarah. 1998. “Yidishe Lingvistik,” (‘Jewish Linguistics’). Forverts, 9/98.
Articles for Non-Academic Audiences
Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2024. “The Amen Effect in Action: Israel Solidarity Missions.” The Times of Israel, January 25, 2024. https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-amen-effect-in-action-israel-solidarity-missions/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2021. “Creating My Own Ritual.” Tablet, August 23. 2021. https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/creating-my-own-ritual-cancer-haircutting.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2021. “A COVID Silver Lining: Shul Hopping Has Never Been So Easy.” Scriptions: Jewish Thoughts and Responses to COVID-19, March 2021. https://scriptions.huc.edu/scriptions/a-covid-silver-lining-shul-hopping-has-never-been-so-easy.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2020. “Camp is Not Cancelled; It Has Moved Online: Jewish Summer Camps Should Announce Online Programming Now, and Funders Should Help.” eJewishPhilanthropy, May 8, 2020. https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/camp-is-not-cancelled-it-has-moved-online-jewish-summer-camps-should-announce-online-programming-now-and-funders-should-help/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2020. “How to Host a Socially Distanced, International Passover Seder.” Forward. https://forward.com/life/442288/how-to-host-a-socially-distanced-international-passover-seder/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2020. “Born Before Suffrage, These Women are Still Waiting to Elect a Female President.” I Waited 96 Years. https://www.iwaited96years.com/2020-follow-up.

Benor, Sarah Bunin and Tom Fields-Meyer. 2017. “Life Has Improved for Women, Ninety-Somethings Remind Us.” Grok Nation (Mayim Bialik’s blog). http://groknation.com/women/life-improved-women-ninety-somethings-remind-us/.

Fields-Meyer, Tom, and Sarah Bunin Benor. 2017. “These Women Who Have Seen It All Just Might Have the Best Advice for Surviving Trump.” Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/592d8adfe4b07d848fdc0685.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2017. “‘We The Resilient’ Offers Glimpse At Unseen Women’s History.” Forward. http://forward.com/sisterhood/371296/we-the-resilient-offers-glimpse-at-unseen-womens-history/.

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2011. “Fostering International Jewish Connections Through Travel.” eJewishPhilanthropy, September 2011. http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/fostering-international-jewish-connections-through-travel/.

Benor, Sarah. 2008. “An Old-School Birthday: Pairing Kids and Seniors Can Yield a Great Party.” L.A. Parent Magazine, October 2008. 26.

Several others, including in JSpot, The Washington Jewish Week, Columbia Spectator, Columbia Hillel Perspectives, The Fallser (Philadelphia neighborhood monthly).

Dr. Sarah Bunin Benor has presented interactive, engaging lectures to synagogues and other Jewish groups for over two decades. The lectures below can be offered individually or in sequences of three or more as part of a scholar-in-residence weekend or online class. Presentations can include projected images and videos or can be adapted for technology-free Shabbat environments. Some can be adapted as divrei torah. All talks draw from Dr. Benor’s academic research and are presented in ways that are accessible and interesting to the general public.

Jewish Languages Today: Endangered, Surviving, and Thriving
Over the past two centuries, migrations and other historical events have led to major changes in the linguistic profile of Jewish communities around the world. Yiddish is thriving in Hasidic communities, even as its use is diminishing elsewhere. Several longstanding Jewish language varieties have become endangered, as they are spoken primarily by older people, including Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, Jewish Neo-Aramaic (Iraq-Iran), and Jewish Malayalam (Southern India). At the same time, Jews are engaging with these languages in post-vernacular ways, such as through song and food, and new Jewish language varieties are developing, including Jewish English, Jewish Latin American Spanish, and Jewish Russian. This talk explains these developments and makes the case for the urgent need for documentation and reclamation.

Jewish Heritage Words: Connecting to Our Ancestors and Communities
Most Jews today do not speak the native languages of their great-grandparents, but they maintain some “heritage words” – words from ancestral Jewish languages that have been passed down the generations. In this talk, Dr. Benor explains the historical events that led to this situation and describes the phenomenon, based on interviews from the Heritage Words Podcast. Heritage words may relate to food, family, endearment, and curses, and they are often emotionally charged, allowing individuals to connect with their living and deceased relatives and express their multifaceted identities. This talk includes an interactive portion where participants discuss their own heritage words.

Jewish Languages: Commonality and Diversity
From Yiddish and Ladino to Bukharian and Judeo-Greek, Jews around the world have spoken distinctly from their non-Jewish neighbors. This session explores the linguistic diversity of the Jewish people with an emphasis on shared traits. While speaking varieties of their local language, Jews have incorporated elements of Hebrew and Aramaic, influences from other ancestral languages, archaisms, and innovations. Through texts and music videos, this engaging talk explains how Jews have simultaneously been a part of and apart from their surrounding society. The session ends with information about the endangered status of many longstanding Jewish languages and the emergence of new ones, like Jewish English and Jewish French.

Jewish Names Around the World
What makes a family name Jewish? How do Jews around the world select names for their babies? Did immigrants change their names at Ellis Island? This session answers these and many more questions about Jewish first and last names. Participants will learn about patronymic (father-based) surnames like Abramovitch, Isaacs, and Yaghoubian; geographic names like Ashkenazi, Dardashti, and Shapiro; and profession names like Hakim, Melamed, and Fingerhut. They will also be introduced to changes in American Jewish baby names throughout the 20th century and beyond. And they will hear about names Jews select for their dogs, cats, and other pets.

Hebrew in Jewish Communities, Past and Present
How have Jews around the world used Hebrew? While ancient and modern communities have used it as their primary language, diaspora Jews in the last two millennia have maintained it for sacred and secret functions, in conjunction with their primary languages –Judeo-Arabic, Yiddish, Jewish Malayalam, Jewish Swedish, etc. This talk offers a brief history of Textual Hebrew and the revival (technically, “revernacularization”) that resulted in Modern Israeli Hebrew. Then it focuses on Hebrew influences on diaspora Jewish languages and contemporary American Jews’ use of Hebrew in summer camps, religious schools, and baby names.

From Rachel and David to Maya and Ezra: Trends in American Jewish Personal Names
Which names do Jews and non-Jews associate most with Jews? How do Jews of different ages, ancestries, and religious orientations vary in the names they select for their children and their pets? How have American Jews’ names changed over time? Who names their children after deceased and living relatives, and who has a “Starbucks name”? This lecture answers these questions using the results of a new study of American Jewish Personal Names, based on a survey with over 11,000 responses. The results are discussed in the context of American Jewish society and historical Jewish naming practices around the world.

Do American Jews Speak a Jewish Language?
Yiddish, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, and – Jewish English? Is it possible that Jews today continue the centuries-old tradition of speaking distinctly from their non-Jewish neighbors? This talk looks at several features common among Jewish languages of the past and discusses whether American Jews use them. From the tradition of translating biblical and rabbinic texts to the incorporation of Hebrew words, most of these features are common among religiously engaged American Jews. A major exception is the use of Hebrew letters to write the vernacular. Through analysis of language, we can gain a better understanding of contemporary American Jews and how they compare to Jewish communities of the past.

Mazel Tov, It’s a Dog! Pet Names and Jewish Identities
While most American Jews give their pets unremarkable names like Daisy and Pepper, a growing percentage of Jews select pet names that are identifiably Jewish. Based on survey data – accompanied by adorable animal photos – this talk analyzes this phenomenon. The most common type of name is personal names, sometimes after a human or pet honoree (such as Abby and Max). Other sources include Jewish texts and observance (Akiva, Afikomen), characteristics (Gingy, Shmutzik), foods (Bamba, Farfel), names of animals (Ketzel, Tuki), and historical figures (Bar-Kochba, Bernie). We also learn how Jews use these names to align with like-minded Jews and teach outsiders about aspects of Judaism that are important to them. What may seem like a fluff topic sheds light on the identities, communities, and values of American Jews today.

Beyond Bagels and Burekas: American Jewish Language and Identity
Using quotes and images, this talk highlights the diversity of American Jews by focusing on the diverse uses of “Jewish American English” – enriched by Yiddish, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ladino, Russian, Farsi, Arabic, and other influences. Jews of various stripes use subtle variation in language to signal their textual knowledge, religious denomination, generation from immigration, ancestral origin, and orientation toward Israel. In short, “Jewish language” serves not only to distinguish Jews from non-Jews but also to distinguish Jews from Jews.

Mameloshn: Yiddish Past and Present
Yiddish, the historical language of Ashkenazi Jews, offers a window into medieval migrations and modern cultural production. How did this rich language come about? How has it been written and spoken differently in different regions and communities? How are contemporary American Jews engaging with Yiddish in new ways? Through images, videos, and fun facts, this presentation offers a unique linguistic window into the past and present of mameloshn (mother tongue).

Minhag America: Responses to Jewish Ancestral Diversity
Since the early 20th century, Ashkenazi Jews have dominated American Jewish communities. In the past few decades, an influx of Sephardi/Mizrahi immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa has diversified our synagogues, schools, and other institutions. How are these institutions responding? How should they respond? This talk offers concrete steps, including mapping the ancestry of community members, adding curricular content about family history and ancestral diversity, and infusing prayers and traditions from various groups. And it calls for a new hybrid tradition: Minhag America.

Pastrami, Verklempt, and Tshoot-spa: Non-Jews’ Use of Jewish Language in the United States
Jews in the United States use many Hebrew and Yiddish words in their English conversation. To what extent do non-Jews pick up these linguistic markers? This multimedia talk explains how words like klutz, shpiel, and kibbitz have become part of the broader American lexicon, sometimes popularized by comedians. Politicians use Hebrew and Yiddish words in diverse ways, from Bill Clinton’s “Shalom, chaver” to Michele Bachmann’s mispronunciation of chutzpah. A much more sinister use of Jewish language is white nationalists mocking Jews with words like Goyim and Shoah. Several video clips are shown, from James Cagney as a Yiddish-speaking Irish taxi driver to Barack Obama “getting all verklempt” while honoring Barbra Streisand.

Jewish Languages Around the World: Spotlight on Iran
Many Jews have heard of Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ladino, but few have heard of Kashi and Hulaula. These are just two of the many languages spoken by Persian Jews in the 20th century. In the past several decades, Jews have shifted to standard Persian in Iran and to English and Hebrew in the US and Israel, leaving the longstanding Jewish Iranian languages endangered. In this multimedia lecture, Dr. Benor explains how the languages of Jews compared to those of their Muslim, Christian, and Zoroastrian neighbors, why they became endangered, and what activists are doing to preserve them today.

Diversity in Jewish English Writing
Jewish English writing uses multiple combinations of alphabets, such as English words written in Hebrew letters and letters that combine visual elements of Hebrew and English letters. This engaging lecture demonstrates those uses, giving examples from Yiddish and Ladino newspapers, pedagogical materials, organizations’ and restaurants’ logos, and regalia advertising sports teams, universities, and political candidates. The analysis demonstrates that hybrid combinations of Hebrew and English writing serve four functions: 1) Translanguaging (mixing languages); 2) Symbolism; 3) Code; and 4) Pedagogy.

Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox Judaism
There is more to becoming Orthodox than observing religious laws. Newly Orthodox Jews, or ba’alei teshuva (lit. ‘those who return’), encounter a very different culture, including new ways of talking, dressing, and acting. Focusing on the Yiddish and Hebrew words used by English-speaking Orthodox Jews, this lecture explores how “BTs” integrate into the community partly by taking on these new practices. Based on Benor’s first book, Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox Judaism, this book is appropriate for all audiences, regardless of prior exposure to Orthodox Judaism.

Chutzpah to Chidush: A Century of Yiddish-Influenced English in America
In this talk, Dr. Benor shows how Yiddish has influenced the English of Jews (and non-Jews) in the U.S. In addition to words like shlep, klutz, and maven, Yiddish also affects English grammar and phrases like “be well” and “enough already.” Yiddish has an impact both on the “Yinglish” of the Ashkenazic immigrant generation and on the “Yeshivish” English spoken by Orthodox Jews today. Songs by Mickey Katz, Seymour Rechtzeit, and more recent Orthodox bands demonstrate how Yiddish has had similar but different influences in various spheres of American Jewish life.

Ruach in the Chadar Ochel: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps
At most American Jewish summer camps, programs are conducted primarily in English, but the environment is infused with Hebrew words, signs, songs, and activities. Hebrew-English sentences are common: “Madrichim [counselors], please bring your chanichim [campers] to the teatron [theater] immediately after Birkat Hamazon [Grace After Meals].” Why do some camps infuse Hebrew in these unusual ways? How do participants feel about this language mixing? This talk draws from Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps, Dr. Benor’s most recent book.

Speak Yiddish So Your Grandparents Won’t Understand! (for teens and pre-teens in predominantly Ashkenazic settings)
This one-time class gives a glimpse into the exciting language and culture of Ashkenazic Jews. Kids know more Yiddish than they think! Yiddish words like klutz, pastrami, and shmooze have made their way into general American English. But Yiddish has also influenced our use of Hebrew words for specifically Jewish things, like tallis, kiddush, and bar mitzvah. And many Ashkenazi family names are based on Yiddish words, such as “Goldman,” “Steinberg,” “Katz,” and “Abramson.” After this fun session, participants will be able to speak a bit of the language that their great(-great)-grandparents may have spoken when they didn’t want their kids to understand.

Hebrew Infusion in Jewish Education (geared toward educators)
How is Hebrew currently used and taught in synagogues, religious schools, and summer camps? To what extent do pedagogical practices match pedagogical goals? This session, geared toward rabbis and educators, presents an innovative approach to language education. “Hebrew infusion” involves the incorporation of Hebrew words into English sentences with the goal of fostering connection to Hebrew and, through Hebrew, to Jews in Israel and around the world. Dr. Benor explains how this approach is currently used in some educational settings and how it maintains the longtime practices of Diaspora Jewish communities. Comparisons are made to other communities, including those attempting to maintain indigenous and immigrant languages.

Jewish Language in the 21st Century (USC)
Judaism (USC)

Jewish Names and Naming

Jewish Social Research: Trends and Analysis

Structure and Evolution of the American Jewish Community

Applied Jewish Wisdom

Introduction to Yiddish Language and Culture

American Jewish Language and Identity

Language, Race, and Identity in the United States Today (USC)

Identity, Community, Service: Jews and Other Americans (USC)

Jewish Names: People, Families, Pets, and Organizations (USC)

Stanford University: Ph.D.: Linguistics, 2004; M.A.: Linguistics

Columbia College of Columbia University, New York City: B.A., Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa: Comparative Literature, Linguistics, 1997

Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2026. Digital Curriculum Module: Jewish Culture Around the World. Posen Library. https://www.posenlibrary.com/course/jewish-culture-around-world.

Jewish Language Project. 2025. Beyond the Family Tree: Jewish History and Diversity Through Family Languages and Names. https://www.sepharditoolkit.org/jewish-language-project/, curated by Sarah Bunin Benor and Janine Okmin.

Jewish Language Project and ANU: Museum of the Jewish People. 2025. “Jewish Languages: A Cultural Dialogue,” curated by Sarah Bunin Benor and Janine Okmin. https://www.jewishlanguages.org/samples.

Jewish Language Website: https://www.jewishlanguages.org/, founded 2000.

Jewish English Lexicon: https://jel.jewish-languages.org/, founded 2012.

Jewish Names Website: https://www.jewish-names.org/, founded 2021.

Jewish Latin American Lexicon: https://ljl.jewish-languages.org/, founded 2013, with Evelyn Dean-Olmsted and Anayeli Hernandez Cruz.

Jewish Swedish Lexicon: https://lojs.jewish-languages.org/, founded 2015, with Joshua Lebenswerd.

Jewish French Lexicon: https://gdfj.jewish-languages.org/, founded 2016, with Cyril Aslanov.

Jewish Russian Lexicon: https://jrl.jewish-languages.org/, founded 2017, with Adrien Smith.

Jewish Brazilian Portuguese Lexicon: https://ljb.jewish-languages.org/, founded 2022, with Karin Zingerevitz.

Jewish German Lexicon: https://jdw.jewish-languages.org/, founded 2022, with Esther Jahns.

I Waited 96 Years: http://www.iwaited96years.com/, founded 2016, with Tom Fields-Meyer, Shawn Fields-Meyer, and Roberta Benor.