The Israelite Community Welcomes a New Rabbi

The Israelite Community Welcomes a New Rabbi

By Dr. André E. Key

 

On January 16^th, 2016 the Jewish Spiritual Leadership Institute ordained its 100^th rabbi, Walter R. Isaac.  Isaac holds a doctorate in Religion from Temple University and a masters in Religion from Yale Divinity School.  After serving as a graduate research fellow at the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies, he sought to obtain rabbinic ordination at the behest of Chief Rabbi Jehu A. Crowdy, Jr. of Temple Beth El, who encouraged him to continue his studies and complete his Jewish education.

Rabbi Isaac described his experience at JSLI as “wonderful” and commented that the classes at JSLI were “the highlight” of his week.  Isaac, whose ancestry includes Mizrachi immigrants from Palestine, Native Americans, and African American Jews from the antebellum era, grew up in a home self-aware of his Jewishness.  Although Jewish, Isaac did not have any connection to an Israelite community outside of his own family- that is, until he came in contact in high school with members of the Nuwaubian Nation led by Malachi Z. York.  He also at this time read the monumental text We the Black Jews by Yosef ben-Jochanan.   While attending Bethune Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida he was introduced to Professor Mary Eaves, a woman who was a member of an Israelite congregation in Jacksonville.  And this began his long relationship with formal Hebrew-Israelite organizations.

Speaking of his classmates’ reaction to his “different” Jewish background, Isaac commented, “[My] classmates were very receptive. They took seriously that I came from a different Jewish experience. They did not use my background against me as a handicap or a deficiency.  They were interested in hearing more about Hebrew Israelites.”

Dr. Rabbi Isaac says he plans to use his education to “compose religious texts that are of value to people in the Afro-Jewish diaspora. It has been hard to find written materials that synthesize the customs we see in the Israelite community with rabbinic interpretations of Torah. I would like to help move that project forward in terms of institution building and the creation of Afro-Jewish religious texts.”

A sample of Isaac’s exegetical skill is on display in the d’var Torah “On Terror and Grain”, which discusses Joseph’s ordeal in Mitzrayim.

Mazal Tov Dr. Rabbi Walter R. Isaac!