Rivkush

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.