The Jewish Language Project, Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages and Wikitongues are teaming up to bring you this unique online event on Sunday, October 17th, 2021, celebrating ongoing efforts to document and safeguard Jewish languages around the world.
In 2,000 years, there have been at least thirty Jewish languages, each reflecting unique histories of migration and resilience. However, Jewish linguistic diversity was nearly destroyed by migrations and violence in the 20th century, as ancient communities across Europe, Africa, and Asia were displaced. Today, with the exception of Yiddish, Ladino, and revitalized Hebrew, long-standing Jewish languages are under-documented, under-resourced, and spoken by aging populations, with few public resources to keep these languages alive. In other words, Jewish linguistic diversity—and all the history it represents—is critically endangered, with little time to safeguard it for the next generation. If not now, when?
This gala event on October 17th will show how current grassroots efforts are making a huge difference in protecting Jewish languages for future generations. The gala will include a panel of speakers of endangered Jewish languages, a presentation of oral history videos compiled by Wikitongues, a showcase of Living Dictionaries for endangered Jewish languages, as well as a brief introduction to Jewish languages by Professor Sarah Bunin Benor.
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