Chicken-Footed Demons and Synagogue Shouting: Venezuelan Sephardic Life with Joseph Bendahan
Meet Joseph Bendahan, a nuclear physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who grew up in Caracas, Venezuela. Joseph details his family’s Sephardic roots in the Moroccan cities of Tetouan and Ouezzane before their migration to South America. Reflecting on the endangerment of his ancestral language, Haketia, he describes how the mix of Spanish, Hebrew, and Arabic thrived in Venezuela’s unique social environment. Joseph highlights vivid folklore like the chicken-footed dembajos and expressive phrases like se te caiga el mazzal, illustrating how even his Ashkenazi friends adopted these colorful Sephardic words on the playground.
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Born in Caracas, Venezuela to a Venezuelan father and a Moroccan mother. I am a proud parent of four children. I got a Bachelor of Science in Venezuela, followed PhD in Israel in nuclear physics. I work at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where I continue to pursue my passion for scientific discovery.
I enjoy traveling, hiking, biking, reading, and learning Kabbalah. Giving back to the community is important to me, and I volunteer by visiting elderly and sick patients at Stanford Hospital. My next personal challenge is to learn French, adding another layer to my lifelong love of learning.
