The Jews of Color Initiative, in partnership with the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, is supporting several new projects by and for Jews of Color in Los Angeles. This impressive set of nine grants will foster connection, learning, leadership, and healing for Jews of Color in Greater Los Angeles through arts, research, and Jewish life. Read below to learn more about each project and how you can get involved.
Correlate JoC
Correlate JOC is a project to equip the Los Angeles Jews of Color community with tools for embodied connection, belonging, and bridge-building through the practices of Authentic Relating (AR) and embodiment. Authentic Relating is an emerging practice that enriches, enlivens, and nourishes relationships in all social domains of life, providing practices to show up authentically, navigate conflict in connection, expand emotional awareness, and combat loneliness and isolation. Correlate JOC will support at least 25 LA-based JoC through both drop-in and cohort experiences that teach embodied and relational skills. JoCs who participate will strengthen authentic self expression, improve their relationship skills, and learn tools to build bridges among and between JoC and greater Jewish communities.
Hillel at UCLA
Jews of Color (JoC) at UCLA face a multi-dimensional challenge of belonging. Some non-white Jewish students report being fearful to reveal their Jewish identity and are seeking support to reclaim their sense of safety as they own, explore and celebrate their Jewish identity as Jews of Color. By creating a climate at Hillel that brings Jews of Color together, in the Hillel building and beyond, Hillel at UCLA is taking a crucial step toward better understanding the obstacles that limit access to Jewish life for JoC and to make data-informed shifts to lower barriers to belonging. In the 2024–2025 school year, Hillel at UCLA will support a JoC student leader who, in his fourth and final year, will lead the establishment and growth of a Jews of Color affinity group at Hillel.
Jewtina y. Co
This project is an in-depth secondary analysis of the 2021 Study of Jewish LA, led with a focus on experiences and insights related to Latin Jews. Through this analytical journey, Jewtina y. Co hopes to illuminate the vibrant diversity of the Latin Jewish lived experience in Los Angeles, as well as spearhead the creation of interventions that resonate with the community’s unique cultural context in a unique geographic area. Building on the findings in the study, the researchers found that there is a significantly large population of Latine Jews in LA, yet the Latine community in the region is not as connected. Through this secondary analysis of the data, Jewtina y. Co will develop responsive community programming for the LA Latine Jewish Community and will share their findings to increase awareness and understanding of the Latino-Jewish community in Los Angeles.
Kamochah: JoC B’nei Mitzvah Program
Kamochah is launching an in-person B’nei Mitzvah BootCamp and Sunday school program in Los Angeles—a city with a vibrant Kamochah community. The program will develop a JoC-centered curriculum that equips participants with a deep understanding of Jewish prayers, holidays, and the seamless integration of their racial identity into their religious life.
Malchut: Mizrahi/Arab-Jewish Retreat
The Mizrahi/Arab Jewish Retreat is an immersive five-day experience aimed at addressing the multifaceted challenges faced by Mizrahi and Arab-Jews of Color communities in Los Angeles. The communities face issues related to identity, belonging, and visibility in broader societal contexts. This retreat will be a transformative space for participants to engage in meaningful dialogue, explore their cultural heritage, and forge connections with fellow community members through curated workshops, discussions and activities.
Seasons of Our Joy, fiscally sponsored by Nefesh
Seasons of Our Joy is an 8-episode docuseries featuring Jews of Color in Los Angeles and how they live Jewishly. The docuseries challenges viewers to reconsider what Jewish looks like in LA, and how JoC express their Jewishness in meaningful ways. The series will address challenges JoC face in the community, and the impact of those challenges on Jewish life and the narrative of their presence and contributions to Judaism. The cast will share cultural stories, traditions, and practices that reflect the reality and tapestry of Judaism’s multicultural heritage, and also relay the difficulties and discrimination they face as Jews of Color in Jewish spaces.
Shades of Belonging
Shades of Belonging is a research project dedicated to better understanding the perspectives and lived experiences of Jewish Adoptees of Color. This research has demonstrated the need for community-building efforts that create intentional spaces to lift up and celebrate the voices and experiences of JoCs, particularly JoC adoptees. The findings of this research project were shared at a community gathering at the Skirball Cultural Center. The celebration included fine art exhibits from three different JoC/JoC adoptee artists, a film screening of an animated short created by a JoC director, a theater performance grounded in a JoC adoptee narrative, live performances by JoC musicians, kids activities facilitated by JoC-led organizations, and a presentation of findings from the Shades of Belonging study.
Recustom: JoC Makers Cohort
Recustom is a pioneering organization that leverages technology, art, and new media to empower individuals with accessible digital design tools for creating and sharing meaningful moments through Jewish rituals. With the guidance of a JoC facilitator, Recustom seeks to empower a cohort of 10 Los Angeles-based Jews of Color, over a 6-week period, to collaboratively create rituals for the High Holidays, fostering a transformative experience for both the participants and the broader community. Together, the participants will each build their own rituals relating to different themes such as renewal and remembrance, and create a guide to distribute the collection of created rituals to their communities and nationally.
Tzedek America
Tzedek America‘s “Building Bridges: A Cohort Program for Jews of Color” seeks to provide a nurturing environment for Jews of Color, particularly in Los Angeles, to explore their unique identities, discuss challenges they face regarding acceptance and belonging, and celebrate the richness of JoC cultural contributions to the Jewish community. The project confronts the problem of underrepresentation and marginalization of Jews of Color within Jewish communal spaces, aiming to empower JoC while enhancing the broader community’s understanding and acceptance of diversity among the Jewish People.