Rivkush (Rivka "Rivkush" Campbell)

When Susannah Heschel was growing up, discussions about civil rights were part of her daily life. They were, in fact, unavoidable—her father, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, was one of the leading Jewish figures of the movement, who walked beside Martin Luther King Jr. on his famous Selma march.

But a lot has changed since then. Heschel, now a professor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College, understands better than most how those deep connections between Black and Jewish communities in North America have shifted over the decades. Jews today cannot take for granted the actions of their community 50 years ago. She joins to discuss these ideas, as well as her father's legacy, the role of religion in civil rights and the evolution of German-Jewish thinking.

This episode was recorded live on Nov. 21, 2021, as part of Limmud Toronto.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

The ongoing debate over what Jews "are"—a religion? A nationality? An ethnicity?—inevitably gets more complicated when considering the hundreds of thousands of Jews of colour living around the world. Nowhere is this question trickier than in Israel, where a plurality of Jews identify as Mizrahi or Sephardi.

Hen Mazzig, an acclaimed Israeli writer of Mizrahi descent, has thought often about how the perception of Jews shapes up against the reality. Jews have been persecuted for thousands of years for not being the right "race"—yet Jews are not a race, not when Jews of colour live at the intersection of Judaism and various other identities.

Mazzig joins today for an extensive interview about these ideas, how he came out as gay while serving in the Israeli army, and what the political situation for Mizrahi people is like in Israel. Follow him on Twitter @HenMazzig.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

As this chapter of my podcast journey comes to a close, I want to express my deepest gratitude to The CJN for the incredible opportunity to share these stories and conversations. With their support, I was able to highlight voices in our community that are not often heard. Thank you to my producer Michael Fraiman. Michael took a complete and sometimes challenging beginner and guided me on this journey. To my listeners—thank you for tuning in, sharing, and engaging in these discussions. Your support has meant everything.

But this isn't goodbye! Stay tuned for the next chapter of Rivkush, coming soon wherever you get your podcasts. I can't wait to continue this journey with you.

Until then, take care and keep the conversations going!

As the descendent of Holocaust and residential school survivors, Tamara Podemski understands generational trauma better than most. She grew up hearing those stories and internalizing those struggles, and now carries these themes in her work as an actress and singer—along with her personal experiences living in ethnic societies that didn't always accept her, including Jewish spaces.

Podemski joins Rivkush, our podcast featuring Jews of colour sitting down for in-depth conversations, to discuss her rocky upbringing in Jewish Toronto, her connection to traditional First Nations territories and her upcoming role in the second season of the hit FX series Reservation Dogs.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

There's a fact Zilka Joseph likes to toss out to prove how old the Bene Israel culture is: the community, native to the Indian subcontinent, spent centuries unaware of what Hanukkah was. That's because the first Bene Israel people arrived on the shores of modern-day India in 175 BCE, according to some estimates—almost a full decade before the Maccabees fought back against King Antiochus. Blending into the local culture, the Bene Israel people built their unique community without contacting outside Jews until centuries later.

Joseph tells this story, and others, in her new book of poetry, Sweet Malida: Memories of a Bene Israel Woman, published by Mayapple Press. A blend of historical lessons, personal stories and beautiful poems, Joseph weaves together a tapestry of life in India, connecting past and present, examining how her culture has stayed alive despite waves of migration, assimilation and an exodus to Israel shortly after the state's establishment.

Joseph discusses all this on the latest episode of Rivkush, The CJN's podcast spotlighting remarkable Jews of colour, hosted by Rivka Campbell.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and producer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

In North America, Brandy Shufutinsky might be called a Black Jewish woman, or a Jew of colour. But in Israel, she's just a Jew. It might sound counterintuitive to feel safer in Israel, under threat of geopolitcal tension and terrorism, than in the United States, but that's the truth. Feeling comfortable walking down the street makes a big difference when you were born in a country where anti-Black racism is significantly more pronounced.

A social worker and activist with two master's degrees, Shufutinsky joins the show to discuss her life in both countries, her thoughts on the Palestinian conflict and how she raised proudly Jewish Black family. Follow her on Twitter @76brandy76.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

Even though Galeet Dardashti grew up in an Ashkenazi household, she knew she was different. Her family's culture, background and music didn't feel or sound like that of other Ashkenazi Jews. But it wasn't until she took a trip to Israel in college that she realized what it meant to be Mizrachi. Not only did she have roots in Iran, but her grandfather was the most famous Jewish singer in Iranian history, known as the "Nightingale of Iran".

That revelation led Dardashti, a singer and anthrolpologist, to learn more about Middle Eastern and North African Jewish culture. She became the first woman in her family to carry on a legacy of distinguished Persian musicianship, and created a six-episode documentary podcast with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and PRX about her grandfather's journey.

On today's episode of Rivkush, The CJN's podcast spotlighting noteworthy Jews of colour, Dardashti—who will be the artist-in-residence at Beth Tzedec in Toronto, hosting mulitple performances this month—emphasizes the need to recognize diversity within Jewish identities, especially in North America, where Ashkenazi culture often dominates the narrative.

Credits

• Host: Rivka Campbell
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Westside Gravy

Support The CJN

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to Rivkush (Not sure how? Click here)

When Sarah Kolker returned to her hometown neighbourhood in Philadelphia as a young adult, she noticed a run-down park that she grew up around. She remembered how her mom wouldn't let her go to the park at all. But now, the artist and social justice advocate was inspired to help reimagine the public space entirely.

She joined in starting petitions, holding community gatherings, and meeting with politicians and block captains—and ultimately wound up painting a large, colourful mural in the park with her friend and neighbour. Today, with improved lighting and funding from the city, the park hosts festivals regularly and has become a renewed space for children and adults.

Kolker doesn't pretend like her art transformed the place on its own—but it was a key compotent to help galvanize, inspire and unite her hometown community.

It's similar to the work she does as the director of jkid4all, a program for Jewish families of colour in Philadelphia, which aims to foster a cohesive, welcoming, diverse Jewish community in the city. Kolker joins Rivkush, The CJN's podcast about inspiring Jews of colour, to discuss her work both inside and beyond her Jewish community.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

When the University of Windsor recently conceded to the demands of its pro-Palestinian encampment protesters, officials signed an agreement that stated, among other anti-Israel sentiments, the post-secondary institution would affirm "its commitment towards principles of decolonization... in the context of the occupation of Palestine."

The narrative of Israel as a colonizing force is synonymous with the modern-day pro-Palestinian movement. But it's a narrative thrust upon Jews and Israelis by non-Jewish actors—a fact that Ysabella Hazan is keen to point out.

The young law school graduate, backed by 40,000 Instagram followers, is a rising star in the Jewish activist space, working out of Montreal to promote a movement and clothing line she calls "Decolonized Judean". It's not just about Israel: Hazan rejects numerous facets of Judaism that seem imposed by non-Jews, as well, such as the Christian concept of God.

Hazan, whose roots are Moroccan, recently joined Rivka Campbell for a live taping of The CJN podcast Rivkush, about noteworthy Jews of colour, at Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and producer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

How should Jews think about race? Some prefer not to think about it at all—but ignoring problems in our community won't make them disappear. Jews of colour routinely fight for visibility and push for white Jews to think twice before making assumptions, especially in Jewish spaces.

Tyler Samuels has felt this personally. As a Jew of Jamaican descent, a recent graduate from the University of Toronto, a summer intern at B'nai Brith Canada and the vice president of engagement at Jews of Colour Canada, Tyler has been a vocal presence in Canada's Jewish community, speaking out against implicit antisemitism and racism from both sides of the political spectrum.

In the first episode of Rivkush, Tyler joins to discuss his experiences with campus activists, his reaction to the recent emergency summit on antisemitism and the lesser-known connections between Jamaicans and Jews.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the producer and editor. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We are a proud member of The CJN Podcast Network—find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

How many times have you heard claims that Israel is an imperialist country? That Israelis are settlers on Arab land? That Israel is an apartheid state? As a black, gay Jewish man, Dmitri Shufutinsky has heard it all. He spent years on American campuses before flying to the Middle East and joining the Israel Defense Forces, giving him a full view of what the common anti-Israel arguments are. Too much time and energy, he felt, was being spent focusing on right-wing antisemitism. He wanted to look at the left.

After the conflict that erupted between Israel and Hamas in May 2021, Shufutinsky decided to start writing a book to counter the common talking points. He finished the entire manuscript before Oct. 7, 2023—and now, one year after the Hamas attack that saw 1,200 Israelis killed or kidnapped, he's finally publishing it under the title of Jew Jitsu: Turning Our Enemies’ Arguments Against Them.

Shufutinsky joins to discuss his book and some of the themes behind it on Rivkush, The CJN's podcast spotlighting notable Jews of colour.

Credits

• Host: Rivka Campbell
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Westside Gravy

Support The CJN

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to Rivkush (Not sure how? Click here)

Loolwa Khazzoom has been advocating for the acknowledgement of Jewish multiculturalism since the 1990s. It's what led her to start the Jewish Multicultural Project, which works with Jewish institutions to provide resources for raising awareness about diverse Jews, as well as numerous other organizations that spotlight Jews from the Middle East and North Africa.

Despite all her years doing this work, she still encounters confusion, resistance and even denial that Jewish diversity is an issue. And when community leaders decide to do the work, they feel they have to construct artificial bridges to connect Azhkenazim with Jews of colour—instead of simply asking the diverse members of their own community.

In this wide-ranging interview, Khazzoom dives into her history of Jewish multicultural activism, as well as her experiences with self-healing, Iraqi Jewish music and educating people about what a diverse global Jewish community really looks like.

Learn more about her work, including her books, albums and articles, at khazzoom.com.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

When Tamás Wormser, a documentary filmmaker from Montreal, first heard about a small community of Jewish Ugandans who live in a rural village, he knew he had to visit. He was struck by the poverty: no running water, no electricity, no cutlery. And of course, without television for entertainment, they turn to each other. They sing and dance.

Wormser was taken aback: this community, which he'd considered "poor" by Western standards, was in fact much richer than any other he'd witnessed in Europe or North America, with tighter social cohesion and a true dedication to the Jewish faith. Thus began the seven-year process of filming Shalom Putti, a documentary that screened at this year's Toronto Jewish Film Festival.

The film follows the community's journey to being officially recognized as Jews by the State of Israel. An Orthodox rabbi visits, agreeing to help them, leading to a process that takes years, scrutinizes their faith, exposes prejudices and examines the postcolonial effects of who decides what a "Jew" really is. Wormser joins the podcast to discuss.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

Last week, Joel Etienne made headlines following his clash with the Conservative Party of Canada. Etienne, who was running to lead the party, claimed he raised the requisite $300,000 and garnered 500 signatures, but was rejected by the party regardless. After initially filing for an appeal, he dropped it and resolved the matter privately, broadly throwing his support behind the party.

In this wide-ranging interview, Etienne talks about his political ambitions, as well as his careers in the media and law; his upbringing in Moncton as the son of a refugee; and his beliefs and thoughts about the future of Judaism in Canada.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

During the infamous Sixties Scoop, the Canadian government forcibly relocated tens of thousands of Indigenous children, separating them from their families and placing them in foster homes or adoptive households. Little Bird, a new show by Crave and APTN, which premiered May 26, follows one young woman who was taken from her reserve in Saskatchewan at age five and raised in a Jewish home in Montreal, having her name changed from Bezhig Little Bird to Esther Rosenblum. In her 20s, Bezhig returns to the Prairies to find the family she lost and discover the secrets of her past.

When the idea for Little Bird was pitched to filmmaker Jennifer Podemski, who has First Nations and Jewish heritage, she quickly agreed to take on the project. She joined The CJN podcast Rivkush for an in-depth conversation about the historical realities and lingering trauma that still affect Indigenous Canadians today, as well as the complicit role that some Jewish families played—and what we can do moving forward.

This episode was recorded live at Holy Blossom Temple on May 28, in partnership with the podcast's sponsor, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. Read more about the partnership here.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

Rain Pryor is many things: an actress, singer, performer, comedian, mother, one-time city council candidate in the City of Baltimore... and, yes, daughter of Richard Pryor, the famous comedian. Her mother, Shelley Bonus, a former go-go-dancer turned astronomer, was Jewish; Rain grew up studying torah with her grandfather and learning to make latkes with her bubbe.

Rain has been outspoken about her upbringing and cultural identity, which featured prominently in her acclaimed autobiographical one-woman show, Fried Chicken & Latkes. Yet despite her activism, plainspoken personality and deep appreciation of her Jewish identity, like many Jews of colour, she's still questioned in Jewish spaces.

Relevant links

• Watch a clip from Fried Chicken & Latkes on YouTube
• Follow Rain on Twitter @RainPryor

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

When Chaya Lev converted to Judaism, she was determined to move to Israel. Later on, after surviving breast cancer, she decided to transform her dream into reality, making aliyah in 2016 and starting an Afro-inspired dance movement in the Middle East.

But after Hamas launched a lethal terror attack on Oct. 7, it changed her life. With rockets being fired and Israeli sirens blaring, she and her synagogue congregants grabbed their building's Torah scrolls and started running through the streets on Simchat Torah to safety—a scene she says she will never forget.

Now, weeks into a war with Hamas, and with Israel's image in the West shifting for the worse, Lev is speaking out to her thousands of social media followers, challenging the argument that Palestinians are "people of colour" in a fight against colonial Israel. She joins Rivkush, The CJN's podcast about Jews of colour, to describe what life has been like on the ground during this conflict.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

When Matthew Fernandez Konigsberg isn't working his day job as an in-house attorney at a large international law firm, he's actively working within the Puerto Rican and Jewish communities, fighting for the rights of Puerto Ricans and against antisemitism. Over his storied career, which included years as a special counsel for ethics, risk and compliance in the New York State Governor's Office, he's held a number of leadership and educator roles within the Jewish and Latino communities, aiming to bridge the divide and support both minority populations in and around New York.

But he still has big dreams. Among the biggest: creating a Birthright-style trip for Puerto Ricans living in the diaspora. Inspired by what Israel has done for young Jews around the world, he envisions a program that would give Puerto Ricans in New York and elsewhere, who've never had the chance to visit their homeland, an opportunity to travel, connect with locals and get engaged with the community. Hopefully, that could galvanize political movement among young Puerto Ricans, who could fight for the decolonization of the island.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

Rivka "Rivkush" Campbell, a Jew of Jamaican descent, has been one of Canada's most vocal Jews of colour. In this new podcast by The CJN Podcast Network, she interviews fascinating Jews of colour and activists from all over the world, opening a dialogue with the mainstream Jewish community about the diversity of their views, perspectives and experiences.

Rivkush is created and hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and producer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. Learn more about Rivka's work at jewsofcolour.ca

With the third largest Jewish Diaspora in the world, Canada has no shortage of communal organizations: B'nai Brith, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, plenty of Federations, cross-country campus Hillels—the list goes on. All of them, in some way, claim they are combatting antisemitism.

So do we really need another one?

Daniel Koren thinks so. After working at The CJN, B'nai Brith Canada and Hasbara Canada over the past decade, this May he founded Allied Voices for Israel, a campus organization that promotes Zionism by bringing together Jewish and non-Jewish students for trips to Israel, media fellowships and summer retreats. And, as he shares on this episode of Rivkush, the origin for the idea can be traced to his heritage as a Bukharan Jew whose own family traditions are a medley of Middle Eastern and Central Asian customs—nothing like the Ashkenormative standards that have come to define Jews, and to an extent Israel, in mainstream North American culture.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

As an Orthodox Jewish woman of colour, Leah Finkelstein knows what it's like to feel like an outsider. Unfortunately, her kids know, too—like when one of them scored a record-breaking triple double for his yeshiva's basketball team, resulting in the school proudly celebrating the box score on an image on social media... with a photo of a different, white teammate. (She complained; they ended up taking it down—not even reposting it with her son's own face.)

Incidents like these, and those endured by her fellow Jews of colour, inspired her to create a new organization in 2023, Am Echad Inclusive Alliance. Based out of New Jersey, the group embraces diversity within the Orthodox community; as the founder, Finkelstein herself is the driving force, engaging new members by hosting communal Shabbat meals and even offering to accompany them to shul.

To discuss her goals and her views on how racism permeates the Orthodox world, Finkelstein joins Rivkush, The CJN's podcast about Jews of colour, for an in-depth conversation.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

One of Israel's most exciting rappers is Nissim Black, the Seattle-born Hasidic musician whose conversion story is as fascinating—and heartfelt—as his art. Born in Seattle to parents who themselves helped pioneer rap music, Black was always asking big questions and seeking genuine answers, but never found a meaningful connection until he found Judaism.

Now living in Israel with his wife and seven children, Black is on a mission to blend rap with his religion, and has emerged as one of the most successful in the scene. He's the subject of an upcoming HBO comedy series about his life, the face behind a whisky brand and an active podcaster. On Sept. 7, 2023, he will be headlining the campaign launch for the UJA of Greater Toronto—and in the lead-up, he sat down with Rivkush for an extensive interview about his journey and his music.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

Michael Twitty is a multiple award–winning chef, author and food historian who is proudly Black, gay and Jewish. His star has been rising for years, from his 2010 blog Afroculinaria to his James Beard Award–winning book The Cooking Gene to his latest work, Kosher Soul.

But his success hasn't helped him evade judgment or presumptions—mostly because of his Jewish identity. In this personal interview, Twitty sat down with Rivkush for a deep hour-long conversation about race, religion, politics and food, just days after a white nationalist killed 10 Black people and injured three others in a supermarket in Buffalo in May 2022.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

J-Rob is a Montreal-based musician, poet, video game streamer and Black Jew. He doesn't fit into any single box—even his music, from track to track, sounds radically different. Balancing these multiple identities fuels his art, some of which he shares with us today.

Follow J-Rob on Instagram at @halfwhitefullblack.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

Noah Shufutinsky, a.k.a. Westside Gravy, might be the most adamantly Zionist hip hop artist working right now. Raised in California, Shufutinsky is best known for fiery tracks like "Diaspora" and "Angry Black Man"; his music blends identity politics with global politics, calls out double standards and challenges conventional assumptions about what it means to be Black and Jewish. Plus, he recorded the theme song to this podcast, so you know he's a good guy.

Relevant links

• Follow Westside Gravy on Instagram @westsidegravy
• Listen to the full Rivkush theme song on YouTube

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

Sara Braun grew up as a Black Jewish woman in a small town in the Netherlands, which was, she says, exactly what most North Americans imagine: windmills stretching up from fields of tulips and delicious smells wafting from rustic kitchens. But that's where the picturesque scenes end. While her Blackness was more or less accepted—treated as exotic, though not demeaned—her Judaism was not. She downplayed her religious identity all through her school years... until she turned 18 and moved to New York City with just $400 in her pocket.

From there, she found herself embracing the Hasidic lifestyle, marrying a Jewish man and intuitively speaking Yiddish to her newborn children. She has since become a singer, motivational speaker and mother of five children, offering her story as one of inspiration for women looking to chase their dreams—even if that means taking leaps and making sacrifices.

She recounts her journeys, both geographical and spiritual, in a book released earlier this year, That Black Hasidic Lady. She sat down with Rivka Campbell for an extended interview on The CJN's podcast about fascinating Jews of colour, Rivkush.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

Devyani Saltzman was born into the arts and culture world, the daughter of two filmmakers—one Jewish, one Indian. Raised on production sets, she went on to write dozens of articles for newspapers and magazines, become the founding curator at Toronto's Luminato festival and work at numerous arts institutions, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, where she was the director of public programming from 2018 to 2021.

Her current goal is to change the behind-the-scenes makeup of the arts world. Despite how diverse the industry seems from audiences' perspectives, she says, boards are still largely white and many institutions run in an old-fashioned, top-down way. Even when people of colour are included, it's easy to feel like a token gesture.

In this episode of Rivkush, The CJN's podcast featuring Jews of colour, Saltzman sits down with Rivkush for an in-depth conversation about her career, the state of the arts industry and how things can change for the better.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

If you ask Jared Jackson, founder of the American organization Jews in All Hues, he'll tell you white supremacy has seeped into mainstream North American Judaism. Jackson doesn't use "white supremacy" to refer to swastikas and white hoods, but rather how Jewish spaces are often uncomfortable for Jews of colour, with so much of the community discourse being steered by white-skinned Ashkenazi people.

Jackson joins today to discuss these ideas and explain how his organization is helping to change how race plays into the question of Jewish identity.

Relevant links

• Learn about Jackson's organization at jewsinallhues.org
• Read "An opportunity to confront white supremacy and create a Jewish, intersectional future" at forward.com

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

Charly Wai Feldman is a woman of the world. Born in Montreal to a Jewish father and mother from Hong Kong, she lived in Jamaica and Vietnam before settling in the United Kingdom with her husband, himself of Indian descent (but grew up in Germany and Singapore). But while her nationality is an evolution, a central underpinning has always been her Jewish faith.

As she puts it in this episode of Rivkush, "The whole principle of learning how to exist as a diaspora and being able to exist as a diaspora really hit home for me, at a time when I was looking for that sense of belonging."

Today, Wai Feldman is a documentary filmmaker whose most recent work, Long Distance Swimmer: Sara Mardini, profiles the prominent Syrian refugee as found herself propelled to international stardom as an Olympic athlete and global ambassador for refugees. She spoke to Rivkush shortly after her film debuted at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

Adiel Cohen remembers Oct. 7 like it was yesterday. He was at his sister's house in Northern Israel when he woke up to hear his phone buzzing with rocket alerts and notifications. His first-ever panic attack washed over him as he realized he would quickly be called back into the army—which happened immediately after Shabbat. That night, Cohen filled a backpack with a few essentials and travelled south on the eerily quiet roads.

After his time fighting in the south, he returned to his studies at Tel Aviv University, but didn't stop fighting for his country. Instead of prepping rocket launchers near Gaza, he took to TikTok and Instagram to argue against anti-Zionists describing his home country as a land of colonizing Europeans. For Cohen, this line of attack is particularly egregious, as one of his biggest inspirations is his grandmother, who came to Israel from Yemen decades ago.

Cohen joins Rivkush, The CJN's podcast about Jews of colour, to talk about the history of Yemeni Jews, share his war stories and explain why watermelon is actually a very Israeli fruit.

Credits

• Host: Rivka Campbell
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Westside Gravy

Support The CJN

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to Rivkush (Not sure how? Click here)

At one point during David Ben Moshe's two years in prison, he saw a fellow inmate reading a strange religious book in a foreign language—which he later learned was Hebrew. At that moment, he discovered Judaism, beginning a process that would lead him to an Orthodox conversion, marrying an Israeli woman and raising kids in Israel.

At least, that was the plan. But when Ben Moshe tried to become an Israeli citizen, he was slowed down by one bureaucratic hurdle after another, sending him into an endless kafkaesque purgatory of paperwork, deadlines and outright racism.

Relevant links

• Follow David on Twitter @realdbenmoshe
• Read about his story on tabletmag.com

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

Gad Saad, the Canadian professor and social media icon with well over a million followers online, grew up in Lebanon as one of a rapidly decreasing number of Jews in the 1970s and '80s. He routinely faced genuine, unabashed Jew hatred, hearing "Death to the Jews" chants in the streets—and witnessing his own school friends talk about killing Jews.

Fast-forward to this week, and Israel is preparing a probable ground invasion of southern Lebanon, shortly following their remarkable pager attack on Hezbollah members and assassination of longtime organization leader Hassan Nasrallah. As Lebanon makes headlines around the world, Saad sat down with Rivka Campbell, host of The CJN's podcast about Jews of colour, to share stories of the Lebanon he remembers before his family fled for a safer life in Canada. He explains why he always felt close to his Lebanese roots and how he hopes the country can return to a pluralistic, accepting state.

In 2024-2025, Saad is a visiting professor and global ambassador at Northwood University. He joins us from his home city of Montreal.

Credits

• Host: Rivka Campbell
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Westside Gravy

Support The CJN

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to Rivkush (Not sure how? Click here)

Growing up, Liz Kleinrock never felt like she fit into her Jewish community in Washington, D.C. Born in Korea and adopted into an Ashkenazi family, she constantly felt pressure to justify her Judaism—whether at Hebrew school, summer camp or synagogue. Years later, after becoming a professional antibias and antiracist educator, she met author Caroline Kusin Pritchard, and the two clicked. One day, they got an idea: to create an educational, illustrated, family-friendly book that redefines the face of Judaism—literally.

The result is What Jewish Looks Like, released September 2024, which profiles unconventional Jewish icons. The collection includes British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor, historic Ethiopian community leader Uri Ben Baruch and American trans activist Jazz Jennings—about as varied a scope as one could imagine that crosses skin colour, religious affiliation and cultural identity.

The book's launch has been met warmly in Jewish spaces. And yet, as Kleinrock and Kusin Pritchard tell Rivka Campbell on The CJN's podcast about Jews of colour, even on their book tour, they face microaggressions in every city. For them, it's a constant reminder of why this kind of content is needed—not just to educate younger Jewish generations, but older ones as well.

Credits

• Host: Rivka Campbell
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Westside Gravy

Support The CJN

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to Rivkush (Not sure how? Click here)