Rivka Campbell recording Rivkush at the Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto, June 2023
Who is Rivkush? Meet the woman changing perceptions of Jewish identity one podcast at a time A Jew of Jamaican descent, born and raised in Toronto, Rivka “Rivkush” Campbell is among the country’s foremost appreciated as leaders within the Jewish community; a world where our identities as people of colour are supported by curator of Toronto’s Luminato festival and a past director of public programming at the Art Gallery of Ontario; lawyer and would-
be leadership candidate for the federal Conservatives Joel Etienne; and J-Rob, a punk rocker, poet and video game streamer in Montreal. However, her show also has an inter- national mandate. She’s interviewed Susan- nah Heschel, a professor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College and the daughter of acclaimed civil rights activist Rabbi Abra- ham Joshua Heschel, in a live podcast taping at Limmud Toronto. Other guests have included award-winning chef Michael Twitty, comedian Rain Pryor (daughter of Richard), and controversial Israeli columnist Hen Mazzig. n —Michael Fraiman, director, The CJN Podcast Network Listen to the archive at thecjn.ca/rivkush
Jewish communities that are committed to fighting racism, supporting inclusion and promoting Jewish diversity.” Rivka is also the sole Canadian recipient of the inaugural JewV’Nation Fellowship from the Union for Reform Judaism, and is cur- rently the executive director at Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto. Her podcast with The CJN, Rivkush , now in its third season, and sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, is the world’s only podcast dedicated to highlight- ing the stories of fascinating JOCs: activists, artists, rule-breakers and change-makers. Over the years, Rivka has sat down for deep dives with prominent Canadian JOCs such as Devyani Saltzman, the founding
community builders for Jews of Colour (JOCs). As the founder of the organization Jews of Colour Canada, as well as the direc- tor of a documentary on the same subject, she has been a candid and vocal activist for Jewish diversity and inclusion, appearing in the media, synagogues, and events as a sought-after expert and speaker. Part of her mandate includes opening new avenues for dialogue with the mainstream Jewish com- munity, sharing stories and perspectives to illuminate the broader Jewish public on what life is like as a JOC trying to fit into predomin- antly white Jewish spaces. “We want to live in a world in which our Jewishness thrives,” Rivka says of her work, “a world where we can be
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