Rekindle Fellowship looks to reconnect Jewish and Black communities
“We really need to stick together. A lot of the roots of antisemitism are also applied toward racism and other forms of bigotry.”

The Rekindle Fellowship, Matt Fieldman said, was created for people who are interested in nuance.
“It’s a lot easier to be in your little bubble and only see the world in black and white,” he said. “For people who want to see the world in gray, this is your place. These are your people.”
Rekindle works to connect Black and Jewish communities, which once shared a rich connection. Its mission is to create meaningful social change by bringing emerging leaders from the two communities together for thoughtful, challenging and face-to-face conversations that break down barriers and build new relationships, according to officials of the organization.
Fieldman, who is Jewish and lives in Cleveland, is the executive director of the Fellowship. He co-created it with fellow Clevelander Charmaine Rice, who is Black.
“We really wanted to connect communities,” Fieldman said. “The two communities live right next to each other but don’t really interact. We work in parallel, rather than partnership.”
Fieldman and Rice wanted to find a way to promote civil dialogue between the two communities and after researching what was available, decided to create their own program.
The first Rekindle Fellowship cohort consisted of 12 of the pair’s friends, half of whom were Jewish and half Black. They spent 10 hours meeting, reading, learning and creating relationships. The second cohort expanded to 12 hours. The curriculum is now 15 hours over 10 weeks. The program has expanded far beyond Cleveland to 20 communities across the country including Los Angeles, Omaha, New Orleans and Detroit, and has engaged 130 people in nine cohorts.
Pittsburgh is joining the Fellowship this year for the first time.
In addition to texts and videos, Fieldman said cohorts are required to get together in groups of four called RISE (Rekindle Intercultural Sharing and Exchange) projects. The groups, which consist of two Jewish members and two Black members, host cultural events for one another.
“It might be going to an ethnic restaurant or going to a Shabbat or church service,” Fieldman said. “That level of intercultural, interpersonal sharing is really, really powerful and it’s been one of the parts the Rekindle fellows love.”
The diversity on display in the RISE projects has been one of the reasons for the success of the program, he added.
“I bring my ‘Conservative Jew from Orlando, Florida,’ perspective and someone might bring a totally unaffiliated Jewish perspective, and someone might bring an Orthodox perspective, and amongst the Black folks, there’s Black Muslims and Black Christians and Black unaffiliated,” he said. “Everybody brings their own life experience to the table and there’s no judgment.”
Kelly Fishman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League for Cleveland (which includes Pittsburgh as part of its region) said that the ADL is partnering with Rekindle to bring its first cohort to Pittsburgh.
The two communities, she noted, share so much history, including during the Civil Rights era when Blacks and Jews marched arm-in-arm, and both have experienced generational trauma.
“People used to see signs that said, ‘No Blacks, No Jews,’ when they would enter different buildings or stores,” she said. “I think that idea of a shared history really resonated with me.”
Since Oct. 7, she’s seen what she calls “the desperate need for conversation across identity groups.”
Fishman said that people are siloed and there’s an epidemic of loneliness. Rekindle combats that and helps to build bridges — “something that feels relevant to Pittsburgh considering how many bridges you have,” she said.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh is partnering with Rekindle, as well.
Laura Cherner, director of Federation’s Community Relations Council, said she’ll be part of the Pittsburgh cohort.
At a time when the Jewish community is facing an increase in antisemitism and the Black community is also struggling with challenging issues, Cherner said, the mission of the Fellowship feels timely and relevant.
“It’s always important to build bridges and lean on one another and build alliance and allyship,” she said. “We really need to stick together. A lot of the roots of antisemitism are also applied toward racism and other forms of bigotry.”
Zoe Bluffestone, assistant regional director at the ADL’s Cleveland office, was a member of the Fellowship’s ninth cohort. She will co-moderate the Pittsburgh cohort with Rekindle fellow and ADL Education Facilitator Harriette Watford Lowenthal.
“Community relations is really important,” Bluffestone said. “I knew joining this group was something that would be special and impactful. It’s been a really great way to show support and learn about another community without it being on a surface level.”
Bluffestone said she learned a lot during her time at the Fellowship, especially during one-on-one dialogue.
She recalled a conversation she had with another fellow about how generational trauma and being white “can sometimes butt heads,” she said. “So what does it mean to be white and Jewish, and what does it mean to maybe have some privilege as a white person but also maybe not have some as a Jewish person, and what that looks like through the lens of a Black man?” she said.
Watford Lowenthal’s experience has differed from other cohort members; as a Black Jewish woman she is a member of both groups.
“I learned things about both communities,” she said. “My parents are African American, but I didn’t grow up in an African American community. And then I converted to Judaism in 1987. We raised our children Jewish — they’re biracial and Jewish. So, I brought both perspectives to that space.”
She said that grassroot programs like Rekindle are important in doing the hard work of creating unity between communities, especially when there might not be much conversation between organizations that support and lobby for each — like the ADL, Federations, the Urban League or the NAACP.
The proof of the program’s success, Watford Lowenthal said, is in the relationships formed during her time as a cohort.
“There’s an effort to continue those practices, as friends supporting each other,” she said.
While the work is hard, Watford Lowenthal added, the end results are worth it and the relationships continue long after the program ends.
“You choose to get together with people, one-on-one or in small groups, to continue the conversation and support each other’s community projects,” she said.
The deadline to apply to be a part of the initial Pittsburgh cohort is March 7. More information can be found at rekindlefellowship.org/pittsburgh. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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