The Kibitz Podcast

SEASON 2 Episode 22: Immigration & Refugees

When Donald Trump issued his first executive order to curb immigration from majority Muslim countries, it seemed to strike a chord of eerie and disturbing familiarity with Jews everywhere. To put this in perspective, we’ll hear a story about Jewish immigrants fleeing Germany in 1939 trying to come to the US, and we have some stories of Jews on the front lines of our current battle over immigrants and refugees. Last, we’ll make the case that there are ways we can all help, including, perhaps surprisingly, with our stomachs. Featuring Rabbi Susan Goldberg of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, Talia Inlender of Public Counsel and author/journalist David Sax. 

Rabbi Susan Goldberg (@therabbisusan) came to Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Koreatown in 2013. A fourth-generation Angeleno, she is thrilled to continue her focus on renewing LA’s east-side Jewish community to help it once again be an active part of the multicultural beauty of these neighborhoods. Rabbi Susan revitalized Temple Beth Israel of Highland Park and Eagle Rock and served as rabbi in residence for East Side Jews a project of the Silverlake Independent JCC. Her leadership has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Lilith Magazine, Pasadena Magazine, the Jewish Journal, and on Southern Calif Public Radio KPCC and KCRW.

Talia Inlender (@tweets4talia) is a Senior Staff Attorney covering Immigrants' Rights for Public Counsel in Los Angeles, the largest pro bono law firm in the nation. Founded in 1970, Public Counsel is the public interest law firm of the Los Angeles County and Beverly Hills Bar Associations as well as the Southern California affiliate of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Public Counsel's activities are far-ranging and impact a wide spectrum of people who live at or below the poverty level.  Volunteer attorneys have the opportunity to work on a variety of different projects-large and small, litigation and transactional matters.  Our staff provides training, model pleadings and forms and consultations to volunteers. 

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti – in his 2017 State of the City address – recognized Talia for her efforts to defend the rights of immigrants and refugees: “For Talia — whose own grandparents fled Poland, and whose father was born in a refugee camp in Austria — it was a heartbreaking, but inspiring, weekend. She talked to so many worried families … worked to get a young woman with a student visa off a plane stuck on the runway … and saw the power in Angelenos unified around a common cause.” 

David Sax (@saxdavid) is a freelance writer specializing in business and food. His writing appears regularly in the New Yorker, New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, Saveur, The Grid Toronto, and other publications. He is the author, most recently, of Revenge of Analog, as well as Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen and has won a James Beard Award for writing and literature. He lives in Toronto, Canada. 

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