Rekindle Fellows just wrapped up its second year, bringing Jewish and Black leaders together through dialogue to strengthen the Baltimore community. 

Held in collaboration with The Associated, Na’aleh: The Hub for Leadership Learning, Associated Black Charities, the Baltimore Jewish Council and the Elijah Cummings Youth Program, the fellowship uses small group discussions to ignite a new era of cooperation and understanding.

Fellows engage in facilitated conversations about history, identity and lived experience, with an emphasis on listening, trust and relationship building that can lead to meaningful social change.

Rabbi Alex Salzberg and Shemiah Dickens met recently to talk about why they joined the program and what stayed with them after it ended.

“Professionally, it felt like it was the right thing for me to do,” said Alex, executive director of Towson University Hillel. His work focuses on helping students build bridges across differences and Rekindle offered an opportunity to apply those same values beyond campus. Living in Baltimore City, in a predominantly Black neighborhood, made the experience especially personal. “Thinking about these relationships and working on these relationships felt important for me personally too,” he said.

For Shemiah, coordinator of student leadership at Towson University, the fellowship came at a moment of intentional connection to the city. After living in Baltimore for five years, she was looking for ways to better understand its history and community dynamics. “I needed to be more ingratiated in Baltimore,” she said. “I had heard murmurings of the dynamic between the Black and Jewish community, and I wanted to immerse myself in a way to actually find out more about that.”

Early sessions of the fellowship invited participants to recognize assumptions and stereotypes they brought into the room. Shemiah described how conversations around historical trauma surfaced quickly. “There’s this sound that kind of echoes in the Black community,” she said, referring to comparisons between Jewish and Black experiences of oppression. Rekindle provided space to explore those perceptions within the specific context of Baltimore.

She also pointed to the influence of Ms. Diane, a respected Black community leader who shared memories of growing up around Jewish neighbors and business owners and spoke about relationships that felt respectful. For Shemiah, hearing about positive, lived experiences of connection helped guide her initial impressions.

Alex and Shemiah also discussed the meaningful exercise they did that asked fellows to bring an object representing their culture or family history. Alex shared a Jewish star he purchased while abroad in Egypt. “It’s a reminder of the diversity of the Jewish world and a really pivotal moment in my life.”

Shemiah said she brought a church fan from the Reginald F. Lewis Museum. “It represents community,” she said, pointing to how symbolism is often created through shared experiences rather than inherited artifacts.

By the end of the fellowship, both Alex and Shemiah emphasized that Rekindle was not about arriving at answers, but about building relationships that continue beyond the program. The conversations, they said, were just a starting point.

Watch the full Rekindle interview below to hear their conversation in their own words.