Joseph Chetrit (linguist)

At Haifa University, he served as director of the language and French literature, dean of the Faculty of Humanities, vice-rector and member of the management.

[7] At the University of Haifa, he was the director of the Center for the Study on Jewish Culture in Spain and Islamic countries and the interdisciplinary project “Mediterranean Civilizations and their significance for our time.” He is also the editor of the book series "MIQQEDEM UMIYYAM" which publishes collections of essays on history and cultural heritage of Jewish communities in Islamic countries and in the Sephardic world.

The workshop included the audio documentation of oral poetry, proverbs, and tales of the Jewish life in the communities from which Shlomi's residents originated.

These proverbs were spoken mostly by older women, and in part by men, and were published along with their linguistic and cultural status in several collections.

Another field of research illuminates various issues in the history of Moroccan Jews through special poems written by poets who experienced the historical events and described them through the perspective of their community members.

Chetrit established an academic unit in the Faculty of Humanities, University of Haifa, dedicated to the legacy of Sephardic and Eastern Jews.

As part of this unit, he established new courses in various university departments, with partial funding from the Centre for Sephardic and Eastern Heritage.

In addition, In 1998, he established in the University of Haifa's Research Authority the Centre for the Study of Jewish Culture in Spain and Muslim Countries and was its head until December 2018.

Chetrit initiated and edited the monograph Miqqedem U-Miyyam (Hebrew), which its nine volumes were all dedicated to the study of various aspects in the history and cultural heritage of Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa.

The ensemble's material originates in Chetrit's research about the literary creation and linguistic and musical traditions of North-African Jews.

The concerts include presentations of the Jewish life in Morocco in sayings, sounds, acting, dancing, singing, and music, as well as sets of liturgical poems and Andalusi music and poetry The band is the only one in Israel and abroad to integrate women in the performance of the liturgic poetry of Moroccan Jews.