Description of Other American Communities

        In the first essay, Who are we?, I essentially described my community so that you would know who is providing this information. However, I would not want you to get the impression that we are the only group of black Jews, Hebrews, or Israelites. In this essay, I attempt to give brief descriptions of other communities within our world. I do not purport to be the spokesperson or representative of these other groups. In fact, whenever possible I will direct you to an address or web site where you can contact people who are affiliated with them. Similarly, if you are aware of communities or congregations not mentioned here, please forward that information to me so that this service can be as complete and accurate as possible. None of the beliefs or practices described in this section necessarily reflect those of congregations and groups associated with the Israelite Board of Rabbis.

        Cultural differences transcend most theological lines in our world. The most visible of these is the various styles of dress preferred by different congregations. While garb can be a good predictor of beliefs, often it just reflects individual tastes and sensibilities. Generally, those who prefer some form of African or eastern attire do so because they wish to accentuate and express their African heritage through the clothes they wear. Sometimes this can be subtle, such as the choice of a knitted or colorful head covering,; at other times the insistence or avoidance of African attire becomes an absolute and emphatic statement about belief. In the latter cases, some groups deprecate the wearing of western clothing as a desire of such individuals to be white and to imitate white Jew in particular. Conversely, some black Jews are afraid to identity with anything that reminds them that they have African ancestry. At its worst, African and western attire become the equivalent of gang colors, superficially dividing one group from another.

        Both forms of dress are found within my denomination where they coexist peacefully and proudly. Frequently the same person may vary her attire between these cultural opposites. While western attire predominates, we respect and appreciate our own internal diversity and those of others as well. For us it is a matter of personal choice rather than a litmus test of allegiances. The great African-American intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois wrote in a book entitled The Souls of Black Folk  that there is usually a tension or what he called a “twoness” between ones black identity and ones American (white) identity which made for a complicated and uneasy existence. Du Bois’s analysis is as apt today as it was a century ago. Moreover, the feelings of “twoness” that he described  are often felt by us with even greater intensity; where only the most tenacious commitment to preserving all the elements of ones identity allows for the best of each to survive.

    Theologically our communities can be divided into three main groups. The first I will call Rabbinic, those who place a high value on Talmudic literature and tradition. This is my denomination. The second I will call Karaites or Torah Only groups that are very similar to that sect of Israelites in ancient times who rejected equating the Talmud (oral lore) with the Torah (the five books of Moses from Genesis to Deuteronomy.) In the eighth century these people became know as Karaim, literally “people of the scripture” because they only accepted the Hebrew Bible (TaNaK) as the sole basis for defining law. Such groups are common within our community today. They do not refer to themselves as Karaim because most are unaware of this precedence and would believe it to be unnecessary even if they were. For them, they are simply Israelites obeying the Torah as closely as they can. They tend to interpret scripture literally and attempt to  revive and perform as many biblical practices as possible. For this reason their leaders are usually addressed as Kohanim (priests) rather than rabbis and they tend to reject summarily things that are based solely on rabbinic law or European custom. Some go so far as to avoid European tradition even when they don’t conflict with Torah law. Not surprisingly, for people of this elk, African attire is an expected uniform.

        The third denomination of black Jews / Israelites is what I will call Messianic. The distinguishing characteristics of members of this group is that they believe that Jesus is their messiah and they include the New Testament in their religious canon. Beyond this they may dress in African or western attire and they may practice certain rabbinic traditions or reject them all, but everything centers around their essentially Christian orientation.  Like the fist Christians, they are Jews / Israelites. However, some take offense at being called Christians because unlike most Christians, they believe that the law is still binding upon them and they observe the Sabbath, eschew pork, celebrate the Passover, and the like. Leaders in this denomination may refer to themselves as ministers, reverends, or kohanim, and a few have the honorary title rabbi.

        Thus you have an overview of our constituency. Of course, none of this includes the thousands of African-Americans or mixed race individuals who do not belong to any of our communities and may not belong to any “organized” community at all. Nor does it include a large number of groups on the African continent, Caribbean, South America, and in Israel. Furthermore, I have painted with a rather broad brush.  There are many more nuances that continue down to the congregational level. And, since these groups are not stagnant and because there is a degree of interaction among them and between other groups, they are constantly changing.

Brief Profiles of the Better Known Groups

        There are many congregations and individuals who consider themselves Jew, Hebrews, or Israelites even though they use the New Testament and believe in Jesus. I include some of them in this study because it attempts to be the first comprehensive examination of Judaism among black people in the United States. Jewish-Christians are one part of this puzzle. And, since this study is also about the process of identity formation with regard to race and religion, it is appropriate that these groups be represented. I recognize that there are valid objections to this, but since Black Jews as a whole have suffered from marginalization, exclusion, and being made invisible by the larger society, I have decided not to consciously exclude any groups from at least a brief discussion here. In the end, the reader will draw his /her own conclusion about all of these sects.

  See a short presentation about these other groups