In this episode, Sarah Bunin Benor interviews Genevieve Okada Goldstone, who has a rich multiracial heritage, including Portuguese, Japanese, and Chamorro. Genevieve shares her long, personal journey of converting to Judaism and discusses her efforts to imbue her children with a strong Jewish identity. She explains how she has prioritized Hebrew heritage words, while still infusing elements of her diverse cultural background.

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

Editorial consultant: Hannah Pressman

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.