Who are we? Where did we come from?
How many of us are there?
The above picture of a black kid eating a
slice of Levy’s Jewish Rye was a popular advisement that attempted to convey the
message that one does not have to be Jewish to enjoy Levy Jewish Rye. It did
this by showing a black person—who everyone knew could not be Jewish—eating a
sandwich made with this well-known Jewish bread. I don’t know how successful
this advertising campaign was at increasing sales for the sponsoring company,
but I do know that it had the effect of further embedding the stereotype that
black people are not Jewish; if fact, the very idea that they could be
contributed to the advertisement’s irony and subtle humor. Since I was a black
Jewish child whose name happened to be Levy, I understood this and similar
messages to mean that I did not exist or that my identity was not acknowledged.
Like Ralph Ellison’s classic novel Invisible Man, we became Invisible
Jews.
My story is typical and I invite others to
share their experiences of living in a world of complex identity with us on
various pages of this site. However, this essay is intended to bear witness to
true racial diversity that exists within the Jewish world. Though the focus is
necessarily on those communities that I am most familiar with, I attempt to give
a broader insight and offer some analysis of the unique dynamics that are at
work. It is also important to remember that not all of the groups mentioned here
accept the terms used to describe them. Some, in fact, reject the term "Jew"
precisely because it connotes, in the minds of most people, a white ethnic
group. Therefore, the use of this appellation could be misinterpreted as a
desire to be white or a denial of African heritage. In either case, its use here
could be regarded as an insult by some. The groups who feel this way prefer the
term Hebrew or Israelite because they believe it avoids a connection with
"whiteness," or conversely, implies a connection with "blackness." It is with
these two caveats concerning "race" that I use the term Jew as a de-racialized
description of people who are neither Christian nor Muslim but who profess to
worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. No offense is intended by my
choice of terms and I hope that none will be taken. Those who wish to register
their opinions about terminology and other matters may do so in the appropriate
discussion room on this site. I offer a fuller exploration of the page entitled
"The Racial Question" which can be found on the Hot Topics page.
Estimates for the total number of Black Jews in
America range from 40,000, reported by the Encyclopedia of Black America,
to 500,000 as stated in a feature story about Black Jews in Ascent
magazine. Unfortunately, none of the sources reveal how they arrived at their
figures.
The problem of determining a reliable estimate
of the number of Black Jews in America is made more complicated by the
difficulty of determining who is a "Black Jew." For instance, Arthur Huff Fauset
in his pioneering study, Black Gods of the Metropolis, used a
Philadelphia-based group called the "Church of
God" as the basis for a
chapter about "Black Jews." If one simply took an affinity with the Old
Testament and the observance of a few customs as a definition of being Jewish,
as do Fauset and others, then one's figures could be quite high; though very
inaccurate because they would count as Black Jews segments of what is usually
considered the Black Church.
On the other hand, if one used Orthodox Jewish
Law, called "Halackah," as the basis for defining who is a Jew, one would have
to know the religion of the mother of each person; because, by this law, one
cannot decide to be a Jew unless one's mother is a Jew. If the person or group
claimed to have converted to Judaism, then one would have to know if they
underwent certain rituals that involve the taking of special baths, (mikvot) and
in the case of a man, the symbolic pricking of his penis.
Halakhic Law offers a very precise definition
of who is a Jew. However, since fewer than ten percent of the 5.3 million white
Jews in America observe Orthodox Jewish Law, this standard cannot be applied to
Black Jews unequivocally, nor could I verify baths or pricked penises if I
wanted to. Yet, I am aware of a number of prominent African Americans and one
New Jersey congregation that have undergone formal conversion. This, too, is a
controversial issue about which there is much debate. We have created a page for
the free flow of opinions on this topic. In general, however, I believe that the
majority of our communities believe in a doctrine the Torah refers to as Shuvah,
the return of lost Jews to their original heritage. Recently, several leaders
within our community have advocated undergoing Halakhic conversion (as they
have) even though they believe in Shuvah. Their strongest argument seems to be
that it makes getting along with white Jews easier if you have such a
certificate rather than that it makes them feel more Jewish or brings them close
to Hashem (G-d).
My experience and the example of the Ethiopian
Jews now living in Israel—many of whom have been coerced into taking a
pseudo-conversion euphemistically referred to as “renewal”—reveals that the
legitimacy of these Halakhic conversions are frequently questioned depending on
which rabbi performed and most importantly depending on the race of the person
being converted; i.e. black converts are always more suspect than the
traditionally suspected white convert.
Since the particular Halakhic conversion
ceremony in use today is not found in the Torah, nor is it referred to in any of
the biblical instances where people joined the Hebrew faith, (Ruth for example),
we do not believe that it has the same legal weight as Torah law. Also, we feel
that it denies the concept of divine intervention and selection referred to in
Isaiah 11:11-12 and Jeremiah 3:14. In these passages the Hebrew prophets state
that God will be responsible for the gathering of His people which He shall
choose from the "four corners of the earth" and the from "islands of the sea."
This process is described as a selection of individuals rather than of groups,
"I will take you one from a city, and two from a family, I will bring you to
Zion." The fact that Orthodox rabbis hold that they are the sole arbiters of
deciding who is a Jew negates the existence or exercise of a divine will that is
not channeled through them first. In contrast, the ceremony we use serves as a
public acknowledgment of a spiritual transformation that has already taken place
within the individual.
Beyond this type of problem, however, there are
a number of political reservations that we hold regarding the way that people
are "accepted" into Judaism. The Halakhic procedures require recognition of and
acquiescence to Orthodox authority. Further, the Halakhic standard conflates
membership in a religion (a belief system or way of life accepted on faith) with
acceptance or approval of a particular religious body. An appropriate analogy,
that comes very close to describing our situation, is that the Pope or Catholic
Church can decide who is a Catholic but, he can not decide who is a Christian.
[The fact that some have tried notwithstanding.] Similarly, various boards or
councils may decide who is an "Orthodox Jew" for instance but they can not
presume to act as God in judging the content of a person's heart or the
sincerity of one's faith.
Judaism, as many of us understand and practice
it, is not a race. If it were, then no one could join it or leave it
without being genetically altered. Judaism is a creed; a living culture with an
ancient history. Those who practice it belong to communities that often have
unique traditions. Though it may not appear as such, most Jews belong to
definable communities which have traditions that come out of their own
histories. Sadly, some of the more influential communities attempt to exercise a
hegemony over the others. Black Jews generally reject the presumptive authority
of such groups—though they accept many of their traditions and interpretations
on other matters. Because of this, Black Jews exist on the margins of Jewish
society though well within the pale of principled disagreement.
Rather than inventing an arbitrary definition
or imposing a contested definition of Judaism onto the Black Jewish community, I
have chosen instead to discuss those groups that describe themselves as either
Black Jews, Hebrews, or Israelites. This approach will allow the reader to
understand how we. In this regard, I have found that a variety of very
interesting, complex, and still evolving notions of Judaism exist. It is my goal
to analyze the major theological, cultural, and political views that circulate
within these congregations in order to understand how they are informed by
issues of race, religion, and historical circumstances.
Rabbi W.A.
Matthew -- The Black Jews of Harlem
My background and most of my information comes from working with those
congregations that derive from the late Chief Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew
(1892-1973). Rabbi Matthew founded the Commandment Keepers Congregation in
Harlem, New York in 1919. He trained
and ordained many of the rabbis who later founded synagogues in various places
of the United States and the Caribbean. Rabbi Matthew, it
turns out, was a close associate of Rabbi Arnold J. Ford who was the musical
director of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) which was
organized by Marcus Garvey in 1911.
The emergence of Judaism among people of African descent in the first half of
this century was made possible by a combination of the following factors: (1) A
strong religious tradition in the background of the person who became Jewish
that embodied Jewish practices from an early but unclear source. When
interviewed, many of the older members of this community recall memories of
their parents observing certain dietary laws, such as abstaining from pork or
salting their meat. Others recall traditions related to observing the Sabbath or
festivals such as Passover and Sukkot. In most cases these practices were
fragmentary and observed by people who simultaneously practiced Christianity.
The possible origins of these Hebraic
traditions could be traced to West Africa were a number of tribes have customs
so similar to Judaism that an ancient connection or maybe even descent from one
of the "ten lost tribes" is believed. Other possibilities for these
well-documented practices are through association with Jewish slave owners and
merchants in the Caribbean and North America. In this case,
the number of Jewish slave owners is known to have been small, yet it has been
shown that Jewish masters, particularly in the Caribbean, attempted to proselytize their slaves just as their Christian
counterparts had.. Therefore, the three main sources of Judaism for African
Africans today are: (1) Indigenous African Ancestry, (2) Conversion during or
after slavery, (3) Intermarriage between white Jews and people of African
descent, and (4) Shuvah, the conscious reclaiming of Judaism by people of
African descent whose ancestors were forced into Christianity.
Many African Americans who practice Judaism
today maintain that they have always had a close affinity with the Hebrews of
the Old Testament. This is true whether or not they recall particular rites that
remind them of the Jewish traditions they now follow. Scholars such as Albert
Raboteau have described in books such as Slave Religion that the biblical
struggles of the Hebrew people—particularly their slavery and exodus from
Egypt—bore a strong similarity to the conditions of African slaves and was
therefore of special importance to them. This close identification with the
biblical Hebrews is clearly seen in the lyrics of gospel songs such as "Go Down
Moses" and remains a favorite theme in the sermons of black clergy today.
What all this proves is that there was a foundation, be it psychological
, spiritual, or historical, that made some black people receptive to the direct
appeal to Judaism that Rabbi Matthew and others made to them in this century. If
black people were fertile ground for the harbingers of Judaism, then the
philosophy of Marcus Garvey was the seed that helped to bring it to fruition.
Put most simply, Garvey's message was one of Black Nationalism and Pan
Africanism. His goal was to instill pride in a people who were being humiliated
through institutionalized racism and cultural bigotry. Garvey and Matthew
attempted to challenge old stereotypes that either minimized a black presence in
history or the bible, or, that completely excised black people from these texts.
They argued that such distortions and omissions were harmful to the self-image
that many black people had of themselves. They debunked these myths by extolling the
contributions that black people made to the development of human civilization. To some extent this meant
focusing on the achievements of African societies such as Egypt and
Ethiopia in highly rhetorical and
romantic way. It also meant attacking the
false image that all the people in the
bible looked like Europeans. They
pointed out that by normative standards the dark hues of the ancient Hebrews
would cause them to be classified as black in today's world. This was
a revelation to thousands of black people who had previously accepted the all
white depictions without question.
Rabbi Ford and Rabbi Matthew took Garvey's
philosophy one step further. They reasoned that if many of the ancient Hebrews
were black, then Judaism was as much a part of their cultural and religious
heritage as is Christianity. In their hearts and minds they were not
converting to Judaism, they were reclaiming part of their legacy. This fit very
neatly with the biblical prophecies that spoke of the Israelites being scattered
all over the world, being carried in
slave ships to distant lands, and of being forced to worship alien Gods. (Deut
28)
Rabbi Matthew found himself in the peculiar
position of having to both justify his small following of black Jews in
Harlem, and also to explain the
presence of so many white Jews. His position on this subject went through
various stages. He always maintained that the "original Jews" were black
people-or at least not European; however, he did not deny the existence or
legitimacy of white Jews. In fact, as his services, synagogues, and attire show,
he deferred to orthodox conventions on many matters. For example, he maintained
separate setting for men and women, he used a standard Orthodox siddur (prayer
book) to conduct his services, worshippers wore tallitzim and kippot (prayer
shawls and yarmulkes), they affixed mezuzot, wore tefillin, used standard texts
in their Hebrew and rabbinic schools and read from a Sefer Torah.
Rabbi Matthew believed that although the
"original Jews" were black people, white Jews had kept and preserved Judaism
over the centuries. Since we, black Jews, were just "returning" to Judaism it
was necessary for us to look to white Jews on certain matters—particularly on
post-biblical and rabbinic holidays such as Hanukkah which could not be found in
the Torah. However, it is important to note that Rabbi Matthew felt free to
disagree on matters where he had a strong objection. He also recognized that
since many customs, songs, and foods were of European origin, that he had the
right to introduce some African, Caribbean, and American traditions into his
community. Of course, his right to do this was often challenged, sometimes by
Jews who had “Europeanized” Judaism in the past or who were "Americanizing"
Judaism in the present. Rabbi Matthew was constantly aware of apparent double
standards within Judaism. After decades of trying to find common ground with
white Jews by speaking at white synagogues around the county and at B'nai Brith
lodges internationally, and after repeated attempts to join the New York Board
of Rabbis, Rabbi Matthew concluded that black Jews would never be fully accepted
by white Jews and certainly not if they insisted on maintaining a black identity
and independent congregations. Since his death in 1973, there has been very
little dialog between white and black Jews in America.
The following diagram is a picture of how the
Black Jewish or Hebrew Israelite community is arranged. It shows the major
branches of thought, the largest denominations, and the particular breakdown of
the community founded by Rabbi Matthew.
Learn about other Black Jewish / Israelite
Communities in:
|
Israelite Board of Rabbis
Rabbi S. B. Levy, President
189-31 Linden Blvd.
Saint Albans, New York 11412
(718) 712-4646
info@blackjews.org
|
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