Episode 126: In Memory of My Mother

In this special Mother’s Day episode, Nahanni interviews her mother, Emma Rous, who died this winter. They talk about how Emma’s teenage activism in a Protestant youth group influenced her politics, her conversion to Judaism in 1971, memories of her first Yom Kippur, what it was like to invent her own Jewish identity, and how Judaism eventually became her home.

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Released May 6, 2025
  • Emma and Walter Rous under the chuppah at their wedding on the Mount Holyoke campus, South Hadley, MA, June 13, 1971.

  • Emma and Walter Rous on their wedding day with their mothers, Filomena, left, and Vivian, second from right. 

  • Emma Rous sporting her JWA t-shirt in 2017. 

  • Rous family seder, circa 1999.

  • Nahanni Rous & Emma Rous, summer 2024. 

  • Emma & Walter Rous under chuppah
  • Emma & Walter Rous at their wedding
  • Emma and Walter Rous with their mothers at their wedding
  • Emma Rous in Emma Goldman t-shirt
  • Rous family seder, circa 1999
  • Nahanni & Emma Rous, summer 2024

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Episode 126: In Memory of My Mother." (Viewed on September 11, 2025) <https://qa.jwa.org/podcasts/canwetalk/episode-126-memory-my-mother>.