My name is Ronald Shabtaev. I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at Bar-Ilan University and Haifa University, and a research fellow at The Institute for Immigration and Social Integration at Ruppin Academic Center. I have a PhD in Linguistics from Bar-Ilan University (2024). My dissertation, “Heritage Language Attitudes and Ethnic Identities among Mountain Jewish Immigrants from the Caucasus in Israel and the US” was completed under the supervision of Prof. Sharon Armon-Lotem and Prof. Joel Walters. I was honored to receive the PhD Excellence Award in Memory of Prof. Bernard Spolsky for my doctoral studies. My publications include a study of cross- generational differences in language use and code-switching among Mountain Jews in Israel, as well as cross-generational studies on the use of heritage languages among Mountain Jews in two countries. I am interested in language contact, shift and maintenance, particularly in the context of immigration. My preferred research inquiries involve the exploration of heritage languages at the intersection of culture, society and the mind.