Rabbi Mira Rivera is the first Filipina-American woman to receive rabbinic ordination at The Jewish Theological Seminary. She is Rabbi-in-Residence nationally with The LUNAR Collective, a Gen-Z founded organization by and for Asian American Jews.  She also serves as Rabbi-In-Residence at JCC Harlem with a mission of growing an in-person Shabbat community of learners, daveners, and organizers that is truly welcoming to those who have been on the margins.  Among numerous accolades, Rabbi Rivera was named by the New York Jewish Week in 2023 as one of “36 to Watch” for contributions in the arts, religion, culture, business, politics, and philanthropy.  She was a recipient of the 2023 Rabbinic Human Rights Hero Award from T’ruah.

Rabbi Rivera is a Board Certified Chaplain and a member of Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains.

Additional Resources: 

Chai Chats with Rabbi Mira Rivera 

"The Torah of Jews of Color"--Rabbi Mira Rivera and her daughter Arielle Korman on Judaism Unbound Podcast

The Jewish-Asian Film Project of The Lunar Collective

What Is a Microaggression?

Racism in the Jewish Community: The Uncomfortable Truth, Ilana Kaufman ELI Talk

The Largest Study Ever of Jews of Color. What Did It Find?

What Makes This Jew Different Than All Other Jews? Race, Difference and Safety in Jewish Spaces, MaNishtana ELI Talk

About our host:

Rabbi Edward Bernstein, BCC, is the executive producer and host of NeshamaCast. He serves as Chaplain at Boca Raton Regional Hospital of Baptist Health South Florida. He is a member of the Board of Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains. Prior to his chaplain career, he served as a pulpit rabbi in congregations in New Rochelle, NY; Beachwood, OH; and Boynton Beach, FL. He is also the host and producer of My Teacher Podcast: A Celebration of the People Who Shape Our Lives.

NeshamaCast contributor Chaplain David Balto is a volunteer chaplain at Washington Hospital Center  in Washington, D.C. and Western Correctional Insitution, Maryland’s maximum security prison. He coordinated the annual National Jewish Healing Conference. 

Support NeshamaCast and NAJC with a tax deductible donation to NAJC. For sponsorship opportunities as either an individual or institution, please write to Rabbi Ed Bernstein at NeshamaCast@gmail.com

Thank you to Steve Lubetkin and Lubetkin Media Companies for producing this episode.

Transcripts for this episode and other episodes of NeshamaCast are available at NeshamaCast.simplecast.com and are typically posted one week after an episode first airs.