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African-American Jews

{{Short description|People who are both African American and Jewish}}

{{distinguish|Black Hebrew Israelites}}

{{merge from|Black Jews in New York City|discuss=Talk:African-American Jews#New merge proposal|date=April 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2016}}

{{Jews}}

{{African American topics sidebar}}

African-American Jews are people who are both African American and Jewish, whether by mixed ancestry or conversion. African-American Jews may be either Jewish from birth or converts to Judaism. Many African-American Jews are of mixed heritage, having both non-Jewish African-American and non-Black Jewish ancestors. Many African-American Jews identify as Jews of color, but some do not. Black American Jews from Africa, such as the Beta Israel from Ethiopia, may or may not identify as African-American Jews.

History

=Early history=

File:Black German Jews.png article mentioning German-speaking Black Jews in Pennsylvania and New York.]]

Jews with African ancestry have lived in the Americas since the colonial era. Black Jews during the colonial era were often enslaved people or their descendants. Before the 1820s, the largest Jewish communities in the Americas were in the Caribbean, as were the largest communities of Jews with ancestral ties to Africa.{{Cite book|last1=Hoberman|first1=Michael|last2=Leibman|first2=Laura Arnold|author-link2=Laura Arnold Leibman|last3=Surowitz-Israel|first3=Hilit|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/993959117|title=Jews in the Americas, 1776-1826|isbn=978-1-315-47257-7|edition=First|location=London|oclc=993959117}}

Some early African-American Jews came to the United States from Jamaica{{Cite book|last=Landing|first=James E.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36877310|title=Black Judaism: story of an American movement|date=2001|publisher=Carolina Academic Press|isbn=0-89089-820-0|location=Durham, N.C.|oclc=36877310}} and Barbados.{{Cite book|last=Leibman|first=Laura Arnold|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1158017660|title=The art of the Jewish family: a history of women in early New York in five objects|date=February 11, 2024 |isbn=978-1-941792-21-6|location=New York City|publisher=Bard Graduate Center|oclc=1158017660}} The portraits of Sarah Brandon Moses and Isaac Lopez Brandon, both born enslaved in Barbados, are the oldest known paintings of Jews with African ancestry. Caribbean Jews both became members of white-run Jewish synagogues in the United States and helped form early African-American synagogues in Harlem in the first part of the 20th century.{{Citation needed|reason=Unclear if these synagogues were Jewish or Black Hebrew Israelite|date=September 2023}}

Several historic Jewish congregations in the United States mention early African-American worshippers.{{Cite book|last=Haynes |first=Bruce D.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1006531808|title=The soul of Judaism : Jews of African descent in America|date=August 14, 2018|isbn=978-1-4798-1123-6|location=New York|oclc=1006531808 |publisher=New York University Press}} Lucy Marks (?-1838), who lived with and worked for the Marks family of Philadelphia, was known as a "devout observer of the precepts of Judaism" and sat in the women's section of Mikveh Israel during services. Upon her death, the Marks family successfully petitioned to have her buried in the Spruce Street Cemetery, where today she rests in an unmarked grave next to Haym Salomon.{{Cite book|last1=Pickard|first1=Kate E. R.|last2=Whiteman|first2=Maxwell|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/32738920|title=The kidnapped and the ransomed: the narrative of Peter and Vina Still after forty years of slavery|date=1995|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|isbn=0-8032-9233-3|location=Lincoln|oclc=32738920}} Billy Simmons (?-1860) attended services at Beth Elohim in Charleston, South Carolina, even though its constitution forbade converts with African ancestry from being members.{{Cite book|last=O'Brien, Michael|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57759012|title=Conjectures of order: intellectual life and the American South, 1810-1860|date=2004|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|isbn=0-8078-6373-4|location=Chapel Hill|oclc=57759012}}

By the first part of the 20th century, at least eight different African-American run religious organizations self-identified as Jewish. Most traced or claimed connections either to the Caribbean or Ethiopia. Today African-American Jews worship both in predominantly African-American congregations and predominantly mixed congregations.

=Contemporary African-American Jews=

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| image1 = Lenny Kravitz by Gage Skidmore.jpg

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| caption1 = Musician Lenny Kravitz (whose father was of Ukrainian-Jewish ancestry)Multiple sources:

  • {{cite web|url=http://www.blackbookmag.com/music/lenny-kravitz-considers-the-unforgettable-people-whove-helped-color-his-wor-1.24443|title=Lenny Kravitz Considers the Unforgettable People Who've Helped Color His World|quote=Lenny Kravitz: Later my mother told me, "Look, I'm African-American and your father is a Ukrainian Jew, and you should be proud of both sides, neither more than the other."|work=BlackBook|date=August 29, 2011|access-date=January 19, 2019|archive-date=November 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121123153641/http://www.blackbookmag.com/music/lenny-kravitz-considers-the-unforgettable-people-whove-helped-color-his-wor-1.24443|url-status=live}}
  • {{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=640288231|title=Lenny Kravitz On Race, 'Raise Vibration' And Duetting With Aretha Franklin|date=August 22, 2018|website=NPR|access-date=January 18, 2019|quote=[Lenny] Kravitz: "Well, Brooklyn was just - I had Jewish grandparents - Ukrainian Jews that were in Sheepshead Bay."|archive-date=August 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823052402/https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=640288231|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite web|last=Samuels|first=Allison|url=https://www.newsweek.com/crossing-over-143567|title=CROSSING OVER|work=Newsweek|date=January 9, 2002|access-date=January 19, 2019|archive-date=January 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119230830/https://www.newsweek.com/crossing-over-143567|url-status=live}} refers to himself as being "half-Jewish"{{cite news|url=http://www.lenny-kravitz.com/interviewdeepjoy.html|access-date=November 29, 2007|website=Lenny-kravitz.com|year=1998|first=Tracey|last=Pepper|title=Lenny's 5|archive-date=January 3, 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103154906/http://www.lenny-kravitz.com/interviewdeepjoy.html|url-status=live}}

| image2 = Sammy Davis Jr. 1972.jpg

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| caption2 = Singer, actor, and comedian Sammy Davis Jr., who was a convert to Judaism

| image3 = Eric Andre (7440656420) (1).jpg

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| caption3 = Comedian Eric Andre,Multiple sources:

  • {{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/article/eric-andre-says-bunch-bullshit-211396|title=Eric André says a bunch of bullshit|work=avclub.com|date=November 5, 2014 }}
  • {{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8a6nODpeUA|title=In Bed With Joan – Episode 33: Eric Andre|date=October 22, 2013|via=YouTube}} the son of an Ashkenazi Jewish mother and an Afro-Haitian father{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalpodcast.com/items/1315494|title=EPISODE 59 – Mixed Chicks Chat with Eric Andre|work=digitalpodcast.com}}Multiple sources:
  • {{cite web|url=http://grantland.com/features/eric-andre-adult-swim-eric-andre-show-hannibal-buress/|title=The Peaceful Madness of Eric André|author=Carrie Battan|work=Grantland|date=October 22, 2014}}
  • {{Citation|last=substuff|title=Eric Andre on Larry King Now|date=October 14, 2016|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7XR4Ml8FijM|access-date=7 December 2018}}

}}

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| caption1 = Actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish, who converted to Judaism after learning that her late father had been African Jewish{{cite web |last1=Diseko |first1=Lebo |title=Tiffany Haddish's Black Mitzvah and her journey of Jewish discovery |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50686266 |website=BBC |access-date=10 July 2024 |date=16 December 2019}}

| image2 = Drake July 2016.jpg

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| caption2 = Rapper Drake{{cite web | url=https://thecjn.ca/perspectives/opinions/jew-from-6ix-drakes-complicated-relationship-judaism/ | title=He's arguably the most famous black Jew of our age, and he's Canadian. So is Drake 'good for (Canadian) Jews?' | date=March 16, 2017 }} (a dual-citizen of Canada and the United States), born to an African-American fatherMultiple sources:

  • {{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/people/drake-596834|title=Drake|website=Biography|access-date=June 29, 2018|archive-date=March 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328081015/https://www.biography.com/people/drake-596834|url-status=live}}
  • {{Cite news|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/drake-father-dennis-graham-interview-7670063/|title=Drake's Competition in 2017 Might Just Be His Father|magazine=Billboard|access-date=March 5, 2022|archive-date=March 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306015217/https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/drake-father-dennis-graham-interview-7670063/|url-status=live}} and a Canadian Ashkenazi Jewish motherMultiple sources:
  • {{cite web|first=Tatiana|last=Siegel|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/drakes-hotline-hollywood-inside-an-ambitious-push-film-tv-1055765/|title=Drake's Hotline to Hollywood: Inside an Ambitious Push Into Film and TV|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=November 8, 2017|access-date=March 5, 2022|archive-date=March 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305025059/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/drakes-hotline-hollywood-inside-an-ambitious-push-film-tv-1055765/|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite web|first=Rosa|last=Doherty|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/the-diary/drake-1.434528|title=Double helpings of Drake|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=March 20, 2017|access-date=May 4, 2018|archive-date=June 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603105814/https://www.thejc.com/news/the-diary/drake-1.434528|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite web|url=https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a2465/drake-looks-for-love-608879/|title=Drake Looks for Love|last=Rapkin|first=Mickey|date=October 13, 2011|work=Elle|access-date=May 4, 2018|archive-date=January 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130030425/https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a2465/drake-looks-for-love-608879/|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/06/drakes-progress-the-making-of-a-modern-superstar|title=Drake's progress: the making of a modern superstar|last=Beaumont-Thomas|first=Ben|date=April 6, 2018|website=The Guardian|access-date=May 27, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510163724/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/06/drakes-progress-the-making-of-a-modern-superstar|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/2015/05/13/news-opinion/the-telegraph/drake-named-his-new-toronto-club-after-his-jewish-grandparents|title=Drake named his new Toronto club after his Jewish grandparents|last=Friedman|first=Gabe|date=May 13, 2015|publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=May 27, 2018|archive-date=November 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116062656/https://www.jta.org/2015/05/13/news-opinion/the-telegraph/drake-named-his-new-toronto-club-after-his-jewish-grandparents|url-status=live}} and an adherent of the Jewish faith since youthMultiple sources:
  • {{cite web|url=https://jewishjournal.com/culture/special_sections/celebrations_simchas/227226/rapper-drake-throws-a-re-bar-mitzvah-party-on-his-31st-birthday/|title=Rapper Drake Throws a Re-Bar Mitzvah Party on His 31st Birthday|last=Bandler|first=Aaron|date=November 9, 2017|work=Jewish Journal|access-date=March 5, 2022|archive-date=March 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306015201/https://jewishjournal.com/culture/special_sections/celebrations_simchas/227226/rapper-drake-throws-a-re-bar-mitzvah-party-on-his-31st-birthday/|url-status=live}}
  • {{Cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1683290/drake-hyfr-video-set/|title=Drake Proclaims 'I'm A Proud Young Jewish Boy' On 'HYFR' Set|last=Markman|first=Rob|date=April 17, 2012|publisher=MTV News|access-date=May 27, 2018|archive-date=June 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603135748/http://www.mtv.com/news/1683290/drake-hyfr-video-set/|url-status=dead}}

| image3 = Rashida Jones at 2017 MIFF (cropped).jpg

| caption3 = Actress and filmmaker Rashida Jones is the daughter of an African-American father (Quincy Jones) and an Ashkenazi Jewish mother (Peggy Lipton),Multiple sources

  • {{cite web|last=Riley|first=Shay|url=http://www.bookerrising.net/2010/09/did-you-know-ancestry-of-quincy-jones.html|title=DID YOU KNOW? The Ancestry Of Quincy Jones|publisher=Booker Rising|date=September 19, 2010|access-date=August 3, 2012|archive-date=October 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002012758/http://www.bookerrising.net/2010/09/did-you-know-ancestry-of-quincy-jones.html|url-status=usurped}}
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/jon0int-1 |title=Quincy Jones Interview - |publisher=Academy of Achievement |access-date=March 31, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320232820/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/jon0int-1 |archive-date=March 20, 2012 }}
  • {{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8132889.stm |title=Quincy Jones on his Welsh roots |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=July 4, 2009 |access-date=April 27, 2012 |archive-date=July 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707055959/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8132889.stm |url-status=live }}
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.visitzambia.co.zm/eng/news/news/zambia_tourism_news_archives/new_dna_test_results_trace_oprah_winfrey_s_ancestry_to_liberia_zambia |title=New DNA test results trace Oprah Winfrey's ancestry to Liberia / Zambia : Zambia News |publisher=Zambia News |date=February 6, 2006 |access-date=October 14, 2013 |archive-date=October 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025021746/http://visitzambia.co.zm/eng/news/news/zambia_tourism_news_archives/new_dna_test_results_trace_oprah_winfrey_s_ancestry_to_liberia_zambia |url-status=live }}
  • {{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-balfour/actors-rashida-jones-and_b_834788.html|title=Actors Rashida Jones and Chris Messina Entangle in Monogamy|last=Balfour|first=Brad|date=March 11, 2011|work=HuffPost|access-date=May 25, 2018|quote=Rashida Jones: "I'm proud to be black. I'm proud to be Jewish."|archive-date=May 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140501205729/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-balfour/actors-rashida-jones-and_b_834788.html|url-status=live}}
  • {{Cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2812592/rashida-jones-celeste-and-jesse-forever-interview/|title=Q&A: Rashida Jones on Writing, Ron Swanson and Irrationality Over Her Race| last=Polowy|first=Kevin|date=August 2, 2012|work=MTV News|access-date=May 24, 2018|archive-date=May 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525062738/http://www.mtv.com/news/2812592/rashida-jones-celeste-and-jesse-forever-interview/|url-status=dead}}
  • Who Do You Think You Are?, air date May 4, 2012
  • {{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/03/19/archives/-bored-creatively-im-bored-but-.html|title='Bored? Creatively I'm Bored, But ... '|last=Demist|first=Robert|date=March 19, 1972|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 24, 2018|archive-date=May 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513114320/http://www.nytimes.com/1972/03/19/archives/-bored-creatively-im-bored-but-.html|url-status=live}}
  • {{Cite news|url=https://www.vulture.com/2016/01/rashida-jones-angie-tribeca-silly-serious-comedy.html|title=Rashida Jones on How Angie Tribeca Is Bringing Back the Silly-Serious Comedy|last=Fernandez|first=Maria Elena|date=January 14, 2016|work=Vulture|access-date=May 24, 2018|archive-date=May 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525063459/http://www.vulture.com/2016/01/rashida-jones-angie-tribeca-silly-serious-comedy.html|url-status=live}}
  • {{Cite news|url=http://www.newshub.co.nz/entertainment/rashida-jones-discovers-her-familys-holocaust-secret-2012050712|title=Rashida Jones discovers her family's holocaust secret|date=May 6, 2012|work=Newshub|access-date=May 25, 2018|archive-date=May 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525204406/https://www.newshub.co.nz/entertainment/rashida-jones-discovers-her-familys-holocaust-secret-2012050712|url-status=dead}}
  • {{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/feb/14/rashida-jones-quincy-parks-recreation|title=Rashida Jones: 'There's more than one way to be a woman and be sexy'|last=Freeman|first=Hadley|date=February 14, 2014|website=The Guardian|access-date=May 24, 2018|archive-date=December 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221215358/https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/feb/14/rashida-jones-quincy-parks-recreation|url-status=live}}
  • {{Cite news|url=https://www.net-a-porter.com/gb/en/porter/article-063c4861a5b3c294/cover-stories/cover-stories/rashida-jones|title=Rashida Jones Talks Comedy, Parents|date=May 18, 2018|work=Porter Edit / NET-A-PORTER.COM|access-date=May 25, 2018|quote=Rashida Jones: "I am a product of slaves. I am also a product of Jewish immigrants and Holocaust survivors."|archive-date=May 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525204543/https://www.net-a-porter.com/gb/en/porter/article-063c4861a5b3c294/cover-stories/cover-stories/rashida-jones|url-status=live}} and was raised in the tradition of Reform JudaismMultiple sources:
  • {{cite web|url=http://www.ajlmagazine.com/content/012007/rashidajones.html |title=The Daughter of Q |access-date=November 1, 2007 |last=Miller |first=Gerri |year=2007 |work=American Jewish Life Magazine |publisher=Genco Media LLC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516015442/http://www.ajlmagazine.com/content/012007/rashidajones.html |archive-date=May 16, 2008 }}
  • {{Cite web|url=https://www.interfaithfamily.com/arts_and_entertainment/popular_culture/rashida_jones_new_title_executive_producer/|title=Rashida Jones' New Title: Executive Producer|last=Miller|first=Gerri|date=October 2, 2014|website=InterfaithFamily.com|access-date=May 24, 2018|archive-date=May 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525062644/https://www.interfaithfamily.com/arts_and_entertainment/popular_culture/rashida_jones_new_title_executive_producer/|url-status=live}}
  • {{Cite news|url=http://atlantajewishtimes.timesofisrael.com/jews-making-news-rashida-jones-isla-fisher/|title=Jews Making News: Rashida Jones, Isla Fisher|date=July 1, 2013|work=Atlanta Jewish Times|access-date=May 24, 2018|archive-date=May 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524223838/http://atlantajewishtimes.timesofisrael.com/jews-making-news-rashida-jones-isla-fisher/|url-status=live}}

| image4 = Maya Rudolph (portrait cropped).jpg

| caption4 = Actress and comedian Maya Rudolph is the daughter of a Jewish father (Richard Rudolph) and an African American mother (Minnie Riperton)

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| caption1 = Ice hockey player Jordan Harris is the son of an African-American Jewish father and was raised Jewish{{cite web |last1=Gurvis |first1=Jacob |title=The Jewish Sport Report: Meet Jordan Harris, the Black Jewish NHL player on a mission to change hockey |url=https://www.jta.org/2024/03/08/sports/the-jewish-sport-report-meet-jordan-harris-the-black-jewish-nhl-player-on-a-mission-to-change-hockey |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |access-date=10 July 2024 |date=8 March 2024}}

| image2 = Rebeccawalker.jpg

| caption2 = Feminist activist Rebecca Walker,{{Cite book|last=Walker|first=Rebecca|title=Black, White, and Jewish: Autiobiography of a Shifting Self|publisher=Riverhead Books|year=2000|isbn=9781573221696}} the daughter of an African-American mother (Alice Walker) and Jewish father (Melvyn R. Leventhal){{cite news|last=Ross|first=Ross|title=Rebecca Walker bringing message to Expo|work=Pensacola News Journal|date=April 8, 2007|url=http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070408/NEWS01/704080331/1005|access-date=April 8, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705223230/http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20070408%2FNEWS01%2F704080331%2F1005|archive-date=July 5, 2007}}

| image3 = Oona King crop.jpg

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| caption3 = British politician Oona King, the daughter of an African-American father (Preston King) and British Jewish mother{{cite web |last1=Lewis |first1=Roz |title=Oona King: My Family Values |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/apr/19/oona-king-my-family-values |website=The Guardian |date=19 April 2013}}

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The American Jewish community includes Jews with African-American backgrounds. African-American Jews belong to each of the major American Jewish denominations—Orthodox, Conservative, Reform—and the smaller movements as well, such as Reconstructionist or Humanistic.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Like their other Jewish counterparts, there are African-American Jewish secularists and African-American Jews who may rarely or never take part in religious practices.{{cite book |last=Wolfson |first=Bernard J. |editor1-last=Chireau |editor1-first=Yvonne |editor2-last=Deutsch |editor2-first=Nathaniel |editor2-link=Nathaniel Deutsch |title=Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism |year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-511257-1 |chapter=African American Jews |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195112580/page/33 33–34] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195112580/page/33 }}

In 1963, the Central Conference of American Rabbis issued a responsa written by Rabbi Solomon Freehof titled "Miscegenation and Conversion of Negroes", stating that there was no prohibition in Reform Judaism against interracial marriage, citing the marriage of Moses to Zipporah, an Ethiopian woman. The responsa describes the conversion of African-Americans to Judaism as a "troublesome situation", because a "Negro becoming a Jew subjects himself to double difficulties." Freehof wrote that he would discourage an African-American man who wanted to marry a Jewish woman "For the sake of their happiness", but would not refuse.{{cite web|url=https://www.ccarnet.org/ccar-responsa/rrr-83-87/ |title=Miscegenation and Conversion of Negroes |publisher=Central Conference of American Rabbis |accessdate=2023-09-16}}

Robin Washington, an American journalist and filmmaker, became one of three founders of the National Conference of Black Jews, later called the Alliance of Black Jews. It was conceived to build bridges among all African-American Jews, who are affiliated with many different groups. Estimates of the number of black Jews in the United States range from 20,000{{cite magazine |url=http://philanthropy.com/jobs/2003/05/15/20030515-359473.htm |title=A Fledgling Grant Maker Nurtures Young Jewish 'Social Entrepreneurs' |access-date=February 8, 2009 |author=David Whelan |date=May 8, 2003 |magazine=The Chronicle of Philanthropy }} to 200,000.{{cite news |url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/8029/organization-for-black-jews-claims-200-000-in-u-s/ |title=Organization for black Jews claims 200,000 in U.S. |access-date=August 2, 2010 |author=Michael Gelbwasser |date=April 10, 1998 |work=J. The Jewish News of Northern California }}

There are several predominantly African-American Jewish or Black Hebrew Israelite congregations in the United States, most of which are affiliated with the Black Hebrew Israelite movement. Most notably, Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation is a Black Hebrew Israelite synagogue in Chicago, Illinois. The congregation leader of Beth Shalom is Conservative Rabbi Capers Funnye, a Black Hebrew Israelite leader. Its assistant rabbis are Avraham Ben Israel and Joshua V. Salter.{{cite news |title=Divine Law or Sexism? |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11918123 |work=National Public Radio|date=July 12, 2007|access-date = April 5, 2009}} The congregation, which has about 200 members, is mostly African-American.{{cite book |last=Chireau |first=Yvonne |editor=Yvonne Patricia Chireau |editor2=Nathaniel Deutsch |editor2-link=Nathaniel Deutsch |title=Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism |year=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-511257-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195112580/page/48 48] |chapter=Black Culture and Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism, 1790–1930, an Overview |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195112580/page/48 }}{{cite journal|last=Angell |first=Stephen W. |date=Spring 2001 |title=Yvonne Chireau and Nathaniel Deutsch, eds, Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism |journal=The North Star: A Journal of African American Religious History |volume=4 |issue=2 |url=https://www.princeton.edu/~jweisenf/northstar/volume4/chireau_deutsch.html |access-date=October 6, 2016 }} The congregation was started by Rabbi Horace Hasan from Bombay (now Mumbai), India, in 1918 as the Ethiopian Hebrew Settlement Workers Association,Koppel, Niko (March 16, 2008). [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/us/16rabbi.html "Black Rabbi Reaches Out to Mainstream of His Faith"]. The New York Times. and it was influenced by Wentworth Arthur Matthew's Commandment Keepers.

Shais Rishon, a Black Orthodox Jewish writer and activist, has stated that the "mainstream normative Black Jewish community" is distinct from the Black Hebrew Israelite movement and that Black Hebrew Israelites do not share the same identity, community, or issues as Black Jews. Rishon objects to the erasure of Black Jews, saying that Black Hebrew Israelites are not a denomination of Judaism and that the two communities are commonly confused or conflated.{{cite web|url=https://tribeherald.com/a-case-of-mistaken-identity-black-jews-hebrew-israelites/ |title=A Case of Mistaken Identity: Black Jews & Hebrew Israelites |publisher=TribeHerald.com |accessdate=2023-09-17}}

See also

{{portal|Africa|Judaism|United States|Religion}}

References

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

Further reading

  • {{cite book |editor1-last=Chireau |editor1-first=Yvonne |editor2-last=Deutsch |editor2-first=Nathaniel |editor2-link=Nathaniel Deutsch |title=Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism |year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-511257-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195112580 }}
  • {{cite book |last=Kaye/Kantrowitz |first=Melanie |author-link=Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz |title=The Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism |year=2007 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=978-0-253-34902-6 }}
  • {{cite book |last1=Khanga |first1=Yelena |author-link1=Yelena Khanga |last2=Jacoby |first2=Susan |author-link2=Susan Jacoby |title=Soul to Soul: A Black Russian Jewish Woman's Search for Her Roots |year=1994 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |location=New York |isbn=0-393-31155-4 }}
  • {{cite book |last=Lester |first=Julius |author-link=Julius Lester |title=Lovesong: Becoming a Jew |orig-year=1988 |year=1995 |publisher=Arcade Publishing |location=New York |isbn=1-55970-316-4 }}
  • {{cite book |last=Parfitt |first=Tudor |title=Black Jews in Africa and the Americas |year=2013 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=978-0-674-06698-4 }}
  • {{cite book |last1=Tobin |first1=Diane |last2=Tobin |first2=Gary A. |author-link2=Gary Tobin |last3=Rubin |first3=Scott |title=In Every Tongue: The Racial and Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish People |year=2005 |publisher=Institute for Jewish & Community Research |location=San Francisco |isbn=1-893671-01-1 }}
  • {{cite book |last=Walker |first=Rebecca |author-link=Rebecca Walker |title=Black, White & Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self |year=2000 |publisher=Riverhead Books |location=New York |isbn=1-57322-169-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/blackwhitejewish0000walk }}

External links

{{Commons category}}

  • {{cite web|url=http://www.blackandjewish.com/bajpages/bajindex.html |title=Black & Jewish, A Community for Jews of Color |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611183645/http://www.blackandjewish.com/bajpages/bajindex.html |archive-date=June 11, 2007 }}, a site for "Black American Jews and their friends to communicate".
  • {{cite web|url=http://www.temple.edu/isrst/Affiliates/CAJS.asp |title=Center for Afro-Jewish Studies |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911051706/http://www.temple.edu/isrst/Affiliates/CAJS.asp |archive-date=September 11, 2007 }} at Temple University, a "research and learning institution dedicated to scholarship on Afro-Jewish peoples and developing awareness of the historical, political, religious, and philosophical issues that arise from the convergence of the African and Jewish diasporas".
  • {{cite web |url=http://jewishmultiracialnetwork.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312215457/http://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=March 12, 2008 |title=Jewish Multiracial Network }}, a group whose mission is "to build a community of Jews of color and multiracial Jewish families".
  • {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gfjezn0mjA&t=1s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/_gfjezn0mjA |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|title=On Being a (Black) Jew in America: Conversation with MaNishtana |date=October 26, 2018 |publisher=Chicago Jewish Cafe with Alexander Gendler }}{{cbignore}}

=News and articles=

  • {{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/black-and-jewish-10-celeb_n_1408357.html |title=Black and Jewish: 10 Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Jewish |access-date=April 7, 2012 |date=April 6, 2012 |work=The Huffington Post }}
  • {{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771958,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080103121030/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771958,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 3, 2008 |title=Black Jews |access-date=August 31, 2010 |date=September 27, 1937 |magazine=Time }}
  • {{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/us/13religion.html |title=Prayer, and Bug Juice, at a Summer Camp for Jews of Color |access-date=August 12, 2011 |last=Freedman |first=Samuel G. |author-link=Samuel G. Freedman |date=August 12, 2011 |work=The New York Times }}
  • {{cite encyclopedia |url=http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/blackjews.html |title=Black Jews |access-date=August 31, 2010 |last=Holzinger |first=Kay |year=1998 |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions |publisher=Religious Movements Homepage Project at the University of Virginia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060408152951/http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/blackjews.html |archive-date=April 8, 2006 }}
  • {{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/28/nyregion/28blackjews.html |title=Black and Jewish, and Seeing No Contradiction |access-date=August 31, 2010 |last=Lee |first=Trymaine |date=August 27, 2010 |work=The New York Times }}
  • {{cite web |url=http://forward.com/articles/159587/black-jews-gain-wider-acceptance/ |title=Black Jews Gain Wider Acceptance |access-date=July 25, 2012 |last=Lyons |first=Len |date=July 23, 2012 |work=The Forward }}
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2008/06/18/black_jewish_faith.html |title=Judaism Drawing More Black Americans |access-date=August 31, 2010 |last=Pomerance |first=Rachel |date=June 18, 2008 |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution }}
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/Minority_within_a_Minority.asp |title=Minority Within a Minority |access-date=August 31, 2010 |last=Yankovich |first=Ita |date=January 13, 2008 |publisher=Aish HaTorah |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726202841/https://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/Minority_within_a_Minority.asp |url-status=dead }}

{{African diaspora}}

{{Jews and Judaism}}

{{Afro-American Religions}}