In February–May 2021, ILARA organized a series of conferences devoted to Jewish languages, i.e. intra-community languages associated with a specific Jewish population and originally limited to the region of its distribution. The series, comprising 16 lectures by internationally renowned specialists, was coordinated by Judith Olszowy-Schlanger (EPHE-PSL / Oxford).
A partner institution of ILARA, the Oxford School of Rare Jewish Languages (OSRJL) of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (OCHJS) at the University of Oxford is offering from October 2021 a range of free online courses in 18 vernacular Jewish languages, written and/or spoken in medieval and modern times. Some courses are offered at multiple levels.
Constituting extremely important examples of intangible Jewish heritage, some of these Jewish languages are on the verge of extinction while others are already extinct. The OSRJL therefore responds to a real need: European universities offer very few learning opportunities for most of these rare Jewish languages, while new research programs highlight their fragility and their immense role in the life and Jewish cultures.
Auditors must register with OSRJL (and not ILARA!). Course schedules, registration forms and deadlines are available on the OSRJL website.
The language of instruction is English. Languages taught include:
- Baghdadi Judaeo-Arabic: levels 1, 2 and 3 (Assaf Bar Moshe, Free University of Berlin)
- Classical Judaeo-Arabic: levels 1 and 2 (Friederike Schmidt, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)
- Haketia : level 1 (Carlos Yebra López, California State University at Fullerton)
- Judaeo-French: level 2 (to be confirmed)
- Judaeo-Greek: levels 1 and 2 (Julia Krivorutchko, University of Cambridge)
- Judaeo-Hamadani: level 1 (Donald Stilo)
- Judaeo-Italian: levels 1 and 2 (Marilena Colasuonno, University of Naples)
- Judaeo-Moroccan: level 1 (Haviva Fenton)
- Judaeo-Neo-Aramaic: level 1 (Dorota Molin, University of Oxford / University of Cambridge)
- Judaeo-Persian: levels 1 and 2 (Ilan Moradi, Beijing Normal University)
- Judaeo-Provençal: level 2 (Peter Nahon, French National Centre for Scientific Research)
- Judaeo-Tat: level 1 (Murad Suleymanov, National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations), level 2 (Gilles Authier, École Pratique des Hautes Études – Université Paris Sciences et Lettres)
- Judaeo-Turkish: level 2 (Laurent Mignon, University of Oxford)
- Karaim: level 1 (Henryk Jankowski, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań)
- Kivruli: levels 1 and 2 (Hélène Gérardin, University of Strasbourg)
- Ladino: levels 1 and 2 (Carlos Yebra López, California State University at Fullerton)
- Old Yiddish: levels 1 and 2 (Diana Matut)
- Yiddish: levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Beruriah Wiegand, University of Oxford)
