Diaspora Playbook | The Jewish Wealth Covenant – A Study in Systems, Not Secrets

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I spent my Christmas holiday studying a question that had been haunting me for years.

How did a community lose their homeland, their political power, everything—and still build networks of wealth and influence that survived centuries of displacement?

Not conspiracy theories. Not secrets. Systems.

In this episode of Nohémie & Co.The Diaspora Playbook, I reverse‑engineer the Jewish diaspora's economic operating system—and the uncomfortable parallels to our own African diaspora journey.

We cover:

• The guilt ceiling. I realized I'd been self‑sabotaging at the edge of success because somewhere, I absorbed the idea that wealth is dirty. That poverty is somehow more spiritual. A rabbi I studied put it bluntly: "Poverty is not a virtue—it's a deficiency to be remedied."
• Survival mode vs. sovereignty thinking. For generations, both communities optimized for portability, not permanence. We buy cars, not companies. Houses, not institutions. We're still operating like everything can be taken tomorrow—even when the conditions have changed.
• Reactive giving vs. strategic institutions. Our remittances are generous but they evaporate. Tzedakah—their systematic giving—builds permanent infrastructure. Hospitals, schools, loan funds. Institutions that serve generations and create centers of influence.
• The mindset shift that changed everything for me. When I stopped seeing profit as "my money" and started seeing it as covenant capital flowing through me to my community, the guilt dissolved. The business grew.

This is not about religion. It's about studying a 5,000‑year‑old system of capital preservation and multiplication that has thrived in every diaspora condition imaginable. There are profound, respectful lessons here for communities seeking to build intergenerational wealth against the odds.

If you've ever felt guilty about wanting to build—or wondered why we don't own the institutions that serve us—this episode is for you.

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you get your podcasts.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, No Amy here in Vietnam. I know. Ladies and gentlemen, the back rice field. But as much as I would love to talk about Vietnam and how amazing this trip is, today we are gonna talk about the Jewish playback. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is not a political rant. I don't do this on my show. We are talking about business, and so the Jewish culture, full story, and the reason why I'm holding this because I move a lot and I don't want my mic to not be focused. But, anyways, what I'm trying to talk about is okay, and I had to do some notes because if your girl doesn't do notes, your girl gets distracted and she falls out of topic. And oh my god, there's so many notes on my book. Okay, found it, found it. Found it. Okay, let me put this aside. Anyways, so the reason why I want to talk about the Jewish playbook is because, yes, right now there's some tension going on with Israel and Palestine. I don't think all Jewish people are for what's happening. That's I'm gonna say out of it, I definitely don't think it's okay what's happening there, but this is not the point of the show. Today, I love how I call my podcast a show, but today I want to talk about four main points of how the Jewish wealth confident, as I like to call them, this is a nation that for over, I believe, is it 2,000 years that they've struggled and have gone through persecution? And I really believe that there's a lot of things that as Africans we can actually learn from the Jewish community, okay? So let's get started because if we don't, your girl's gonna go on random tantrum. And the whole point of today's episode, I want to reverse engineer what have the Jewish people done throughout history that have allowed them to build the wealth that they have today. Are all Jewish people wealthy? No, but we can conclude as a people percentage quite high, and reverse engineering it, what can we learn as fellow Africans? So let's get started. Welcome to the Noemi and Co. podcast. This is the diaspora playbook. Greetings from Hanoi, Vietnam. Okay, so one thing with the Jewish Well Covenant. So I just want to give a bit of a background story. I am Christian, born Catholic, originally Congolese, immigrated to Canada, and then last year I hit burnout, and so mid-year to the end of the year, I really focused on the second part of the Bible, which is the second testament, Jesus Christ, as a Christian. It was great, and then after that, I was like, okay, this is great, but like comes December, I spent the entire month of December just studying the first testament, which the first four books of the Bible, Genesis to Deuteronomy, is a Torah, and then some other Jewish sect believe in the later part of the first testament, and it's been really eye-opening the difference between the two. I feel, and I may get a lot of hate for this. I feel like the first part of the Bible, God was very harsh, but I can see why that would play to the advantage of why Jewish people have a certain level of rigor and their relationship with wealth. Because the first part of the Bible is when man was created and then God is giving direct instruction, but he's also very harsh in how he corrects people and how he rebukes them. But most importantly, he's very clear on your job is to build the tabernacle, your job is to take acassia, honey, clay, do this. Like if you read the book of Exodus, and I don't know, I just it got me thinking. I was like, Was Jesus too soft on us Christians? I don't know. And then, if you look at today's Christian community, there's too much feel-good gospel and not enough rebuking, anyways. That was Pastor Noemi's opinion. Let's get to the podcast, okay. Why what are the four things about the Jewish culture that I think as a fellow Africans we can learn from? Number one, I wrote it down, circulation of money stays in the community. You guys, I this is true. Okay, so let me just give a bit of background. So my friend told me the story of this Jewish person in Toronto that said something to him was like, This is a hundred dollar bill. This hundred dollar bill will circulate in my community four times before it lands in your hand. What does that this mean? This is so powerful. So, how does it work? The Jewish community said that knowing me, Jewish person one. I want to build a condo building. What am I gonna need? I'm gonna need money for material, land, and all that jazz. Number two, I'm gonna need materials. Number three, I'm gonna need labor, and then I'm gonna have to find tenants and then in turn commercialize each apartment unit. Each part of that I just described in the Jewish community is owned by a Jewish person. Knowing me, person one, if I need a loan, the community has a Jewish loan system which has no interest. That loan is allowed by a Jewish bank, and then number two for the material, who owns the company that imports material for me to use for my building? A Jewish construction company who is the lawyer that's gonna help me with the paperwork in order to get the paperwork done for the apartment building and the condo ownership. A Jewish person, so each part of the value chain is owned by a Jewish person, which means that money is made at each point by a Jewish person. Whereas, not to generalize, but a lot of us fellow black Africans, it's not the same thing, we're not conscientious of how our money does not circle in the community. Very simple example in Kinshasa, most apartment buildings, as a Congolese person, I have the capital. When I go to build the building, who builds it for me? In Congo, mostly Indians, Chinese, or Lebanese, Kenya, Indians or Chinese. The meteor, and then you go to the Indian companies. The Indian companies, it's an entire family chain similar to the Jewish model that owns the importation from Mombasa, that owns this, that owns that. So the problem, I think, with us black Africans, money leaves the community too fast. That's not how it's done in most powerful nations, including the Jewish community. And I think that's how it should be. Like I'm just saying, I think that's how it should be. Money should not leave that quickly, it should circulate within the community. Point number two. So this one I thought was super, this was so fascinating. It's called rabification. So, rabbis, for those of you who don't know, these are think of them as teachers, preachers in the synagogue, which is a Jewish temple, and there's something called the Talmudik, the Talmudic dispute. So, how does this work? I didn't know that in the Jewish community, rabbis are actually mitigators between business disputes. So, what does this mean? You and I are part of the same Jewish community, you and I go into business together, and we are we have a disagreement, which happens? We're human, we went into business together. The way we will dispute our issues, a rabbi will mitigate that rather than us going to a courtroom, rather than us wasting money on like legal cases. No, the rabbi will sit both of us down, you two resolve it. This is his point of view, that point of view, no, okay, done. And why this is so powerful, you guys, the amount of money and cost that goes into legal dispute is insane. Literally mitigating an issue internally, it's like a divorce versus you mitigating it via the elders in the community or a court of law. It's way cheaper, it's less timely in terms of time conceptual because legal battles, the legal field in any economy, lawyers don't care about you and your business partner, they want to make money, so they're gonna drag it on as much as they can so they can bail you longer. Whereas the ramification model allows the member of the community to come back in together, resolve it informal, quicker. And I just admire the fact that rabbis are mitigating this because these are seen as respected elders in the community from the lens of faith and knowledge, and they're respected. I think for us fellow Africans, a good model would be the elders. I think we need to bring back the family elders. Back in the days, I know for Bantu tribe, it used to be marriage was disputed by elders in the community or an elder in the family. We need to do the same for businesses, and I also think in churches, like, why don't Christian churches use their elders in the church as people that can also mitigate business dispute? Christian churches love to make money, but the one that makes the most money is always the pastor. Why is it that we have more church members that are affluent going to business deals together, and the elders of the church are the pastors that are older in age and wiser, mitigate the issue instead of us ending up in court? I'm just saying. Alright, another point that I wrote, this is point number three. You guys, I wrote education in strategic sectors, not just for prestige. So this is this is quite insane. So, what I notice is with the Jewish community, and again, the Jewish community that I'm referring to, that the only example that I've really had Toronto, New York, a bit in Belgium, and when I travel throughout East Europe, areas where after the Holocaust the Jewish people had to escape, you'll see more like Jewish monumental and museums. And what you will notice in terms of Jewish education, a lot of Jewish people are actually very educated. And what I noticed with their education, they don't just go into random sectors, and there is this rabbi, by the way. Um, going back to me reading my Bible during the holidays, when I got into the first testament, I became obsessed with like Jewish teachings. So these are rabbis on YouTube. You guys, the best ones are the AI ones. There's literally all these like AI rabbis that have the best advice on wealth, but all these rabbis teach this concept of education needs to be strategic. So one rabbi gave a really good example that I thought was really admirable. He was like, he was talking to a member of the community who is a high school teacher, and she was complaining that she fears that she's destined for poverty because she can't seem to make ends meet, and she's Jewish and wealthy, whereas everybody else in the community seems to be thriving economically. And the rabbi was kind of like, no offense, being a teacher is admirable, but what did you expect? Like, you took a sector where there's a lot more supply than there's demand. What does that mean? There's way too many teachers than there are needed in school sectors. More importantly, like in terms of the barrier to entry, like how hard is it? It is hard to become a teacher, but let's be honest, like, it takes way longer to become a surgeon. So, what did you expect? In any sector that there's more supply that there is demand, the like pay is gonna be lower because there's more option in the marketplace. It's the same thing, I think, with the content creator, it's like love content creation, branding is important, but there's too many people that can do it, so it's very hard for you to justify getting paid higher when there's other people in the marketplace that can be high for cheaper. And I think with that, education I noticed in the Jewish community is very strategic. I feel, and again, I don't want to generalize. I feel as a francophone Africa, especially Francophone, and the reason I mentioned the francophone economy, the English economy is really different. Francophone culture, especially Francophone Africa and members of the diaspora, we have been raised that education is a status symbol. We have been raised to brag about you being a lawyer, you being a doctor, which is fair, but I don't think it should be for bragging. I think it should be fair in the sense of like if you're using the degree in a strategic way in the economy. And what I noticed in the Jewish community, they pick sectors that have a very high barrier to entry, and those kind of sectors are actually like recession proof. And you guys, let's be honest here. This is something that nobody wants to say out loud that I'm gonna say, and I hope to not get cancelled. Those sectors is where money like moves the dial. What I mean by that, you should not pick to be a lawyer because being a lawyer in Congo means that you get to work with some minister and be a crook. No, you should be wanting to be a lawyer because being a lawyer allows you to get into the legal system and have influence and power. With that, you then help your community build wealth. And let's be honest, the legal system with talking judges, lawyers, those guys are the ones that own most economies and policies. Let's go into I don't know, um, even like pharmaceuticals. You get to have a degree, high degree in pharmaceuticals, it means that you get to influence policies in terms of health care. And I've noticed that that's what the Jewish community does, they pick education strategically and make sure that each generation in each family unit, you always have one or two family members in those key sectors where they can have influence to pull the community back in. They're not just doing it for some prestigious symbol. I think as Africans and members of the diaspora, each of us in our families respectively, be strategic. Like in my family, do we have a project manager that once it gets into a company like I don't know, Deloitte or Accenture, can move the DAO in those sort of roles and pull people in the community together. And even another thing I was actually thinking about like protesting with everything going on right now around the world, let alone Israel, where people don't realize the education roles that move the DAO or those that are that are done quietly, marching is very important, and I've always said left movements and like advocacy is needed because those are like the left, the extreme left are the folks that push the government to be like, hey, pay attention. But when people don't mention and talk about enough, the reality is marching is great, but unless you have people sitting in seats of like policy think tanks, what writing like white papers to influence policies, the marching goes honestly, no one cares. Like, and I think this is a sad truth that people don't want to hear, and the education that a lot of Jewish people get moves quietly. I just wish, like, even with everything going on in Goma right now in Congo, I was thinking about it. I was like, a lot of Congolese people were marching in Washington because we know the mining industry, AI, needs Congolese chips and cobalt and copper. Um, but how many of fellow Africans or Congolese are sitting in policy-making scenes in tick tanks to really push the dial of like the top 1% of the oligarchy of the United States to be more diligent and fair and equitable in how they extract minerals in Congo? I don't think so. But many people were marching, anyways. Alright, so the fourth point that I made in terms of the Jewish wealth confidence that was super blown away, um, is philanthropy. So this one, I'm gonna butcher this word. The Jewish community calls it Sedaka? Sedaka. Okay, so the whole concept of Sedaka is that philanthropy is seen as like a community institution rather than some emotional spending. What did I what do I mean by that? So you will see a lot of if you go on YouTube, go online, you look at a lot of Jewish teaching rabbis, they always talk about like giving back, they always talk about hello, they always talk about philanthropy, and I'm like, why? Like, I I always say as a Christian to who much is given, much is expected, and like all that, but I'm like, no, this is like a pattern. Why is that? And then I thought about it actually. Whenever I go to New York, when I'm in Toronto, when I look at some of the top hospitals, like even Toronto General Hospital, where I've been before, sick kids hospital, incredible institutions. You would literally notice like a plaque, and it always has like a Jewish name donation by a Jewish name, you can always recognize Hebrew names, and I'm like, this is interesting. And so, what I notice a lot of times, the Jewish community, and a lot of rabbis are very honest about this. They're like, How can you be generous if you don't have any money? So, first make the money, um, and then you can go to the generosity, but the two have to go hand to hand, and what I found the most amazing about the Jewish community, what they do is philanthropy is used as a lever to pull the community upwards. So, a great example was Um, there's a private school in New York. This is a private elementary school. If your kids get into that school, they have a higher chance later on in getting into Ivy League, they get into Ivy League, doors open for them. We notice that there's members of the community in New York, Brooklyn area that are Jewish but don't have as much money to afford paying the tuition fee of this private school. So, us, the wealthiest ones of the Brooklyn community that are the biggest donors of this school, we're gonna create a fund. This fund will allow every year two Jewish kids of the lower Brooklyn income gap to be part of the school at a reduced tuition fee that their parents can afford. Why is that powerful, ladies and gentlemen? Proximity matters. You are from a low income, all of a sudden you go to this private school is less. I mean, kids for your children, for yourself as parents, the network, the leverage blows up your income bracket. It's just the truth. It's one of the best ways to get out of poverty, actually. And I just found that amazing that they do that. And another sector that I thought was really cool is healthcare. A lot of hospitals, the pharmaceutical industry, you'll see a lot of Jewish people donating. And why is this important? Think of policy, think of this way: if you're doing philanthropy in healthcare, you're more likely to influence pharmaceutical patent, pharmaceutical laws, you're more likely to influence hospitals' treatments, which then benefits your community. And I just find that very smart. I I think it's admirable, and I know some people feel that oh no, they should also donate to other cultures. I don't know, guys. Like, yes, as someone that grew up in Toronto, I'm all about diversity and inclusion, but I also just feel like I wish as black Africans, I even wrote this down, we would use charity as strategy, not reactive. Because I really have to say, as black Africans, like Congolese, I can say we're very generous people. Actually, I actually think I always say even dating the men, African men are the most generous, it's money. But I just feel like as black Africans, we need charity to move from being reactive, oh my god, I need money, I need money, to like, okay, I know my community in Congo, a lot of people in the family have health issues. How about I find a key hospital and a creative fund where I donate, which means that ex-members of my family or community that can't really afford it can have some kind of like insurance scheme exemption and cost, and then that also pulls other Congolese members into the healthcare costs. Why don't we do the same thing in Ivory Coast? Um, why don't we do the same thing in agriculture? We know that agriculture is one of the most powerful tools in Africa. We create an NGO for agriculture farmers that allows them to have tools of production and what they produce that should be sold in the domestic market at a reduced cost. Vietnam does the same thing with rice. So I just wish we would use philanthropy as a strategic tool. And I'm just gonna say the obvious another philanthropy, and you guys, this one I am manifesting it and I'm seeing it here that we in a couple years you're gonna hold me accountable. I would love to create a fellowship program for like an Ivy League school, like a school like Harvard, a school like Stanford, or heck, even like British schools like Cambridge and Oxford, where I have this fund that pays for fellowship. If you are someone of sub-Saharan African heritage, you are at the master's or PhD level for research, you are in the field of like global trades, anything to do with anything that Luke Bembo is doing and producing, we will give you a fellowship stipend. You get to do kind of like a think tank policy research model based on our businesses and our data, and then you get to push and move the dial in strategy and influence globally for Africa. I'm manifesting it, anyways. There's coil being oof lord. Alright, so I think for me, all I'm saying is I wrote this down. There's so many ways in which the Sadaka of the Jewish community in Philanthropy Zen that I think is so admirable. Even another one that I heard that I was like, this is genius. I didn't know the Jewish community, the community comes together, it does loans. This allows you to buy a house, real estate, and these loans have no interest because the whole thing it's kind of like uh the Islam model, like Islamic um loans don't have any interest. It's a way to pull the community out and access what I call cheap cash. Amazing. So, all of this to say, in closing, I think the Jewish wealth model, again, I just think there's so much that we can learn from this, and I think what I love again with the Jewish model is that this is a nation of people that for 2,000 plus years were displaced, were taken away from their their home, many homes, and that's very political right now. But everywhere the Jewish community goes, it's diaspora seems to come together, build wealth wherever they are, and it's this closed community net that I just think is so admirable, blows me out of the water. And I wrote this this one point down where I think, in terms of faith, some. How Judaism, I think, has done a really good job of seeing wealth as a tool, not as a sin. Whereas I feel like Christianity, I'm not sure if this was like the American gospel, I'm not sure where this got lost in translation. We have been sold or told or taught that being wealthy, being rich is sinful, and so you need to just be complacent or be content. Or I also feel like the level of ambition sometimes with black African Christians is just not the highest, and we justify that with religion. And I'm just like, that's that's funny because the pastors they seem to be building a lot of wealth, but the followers of the church seem to be broke all the time. So I'm confused by that. And I just really think that the Jewish model is one that, as fellow Africans of the diaspora, we can learn from, anyways. Be sure to subscribe. Greetings from Vietnam. Thank you.