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African-American Jews

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Black Hebrew Israelites.

African-American Jews
Total population
c. 100,000 - 200,000
Regions with significant populations
United States
Languages
English, Hebrew, Yiddish, French, Portuguese, Amharic, Tigrinya, Sefwi, Igbo, Venda, IsiNdebele, Karanga, Pedi and other African languages
Religion
Judaism
Related ethnic groups
African American, African-American Muslims, American Jews, African Jews, African Muslims

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

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Early history

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An 1899 Baltimore Sun article mentioning German-speaking Black Jews in Pennsylvania and New York.

Caribbean Jews became members of Ashkenazi Jewish synagogues in the United States and also contributed to the formation of early Black Hebrew Israelite congregations in Harlem during the early 20th century.[1][2]

Several historic Jewish congregations in the United States mention early African-American worshippers.[3] Lucy Marks (1778-1838), 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.[4] Billy Simmons (1780-1860) attended services at Beth Elohim in Charleston, South Carolina, even though its constitution forbade converts with African ancestry from being members.[5][3]

20th century

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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.[3] Today African-American Jews worship both in predominantly African-American congregations and predominantly mixed congregations.

In New York City, African-American Jews have been present since colonial times, with many having Caribbean Sephardi roots. The portraits of Sarah Brandon Moses and Isaac Lopez Brandon, both born enslaved in Barbados and later living in New York City, are the oldest known paintings of Jews with African ancestry.[6][7]

A Black Sephardi community existed in Harlem during the 1970s; it descended from Black Southerner slaves who had been owned by white Sephardi slave owners. In accordance with Deutoronomy Chapter 15, which implies that "bondsmen" in Jewish households should also be Jewish, Sephardi slave owners converted their slaves to Judaism. Many of the freed Sephardi slaves passed their religion on to their children and grandchildren. Birmingham wrote that "Black Sephardim are as fiercely proud of their ancient religion as white Sephardim, and consider themselves among the elite of Jewry."[8]

Contemporary African-American Jews

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Musician Lenny Kravitz (whose father was of Ashkenazi ancestry and Ukrainian-Jewish background)[9] refers to himself as being "half-Jewish"[10][11]
Singer, actor, and comedian Sammy Davis Jr., who was a convert to Judaism
Comedian Eric André,[12][13] the son of an Ashkenazi Jewish mother and an Afro-Haitian father[12][14]
Actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish, who converted to Judaism after learning that her late father had been African Jewish[15]
Rapper Drake[16] (a dual-citizen of Canada and the United States), born to an African-American father[17] and a Canadian Ashkenazi Jewish mother[18] and an adherent of the Jewish faith since youth[19]
Actress and filmmaker Rashida Jones is the daughter of an African-American father (Quincy Jones) and an Ashkenazi Jewish mother (Peggy Lipton),[20] and was raised in the tradition of Reform Judaism[21]
Actress and comedian Maya Rudolph is the daughter of a Jewish father (Richard Rudolph) and an African American mother (Minnie Riperton)
Ice hockey player Jordan Harris is the son of an African-American Jewish father and was raised Jewish[22]
Feminist activist Rebecca Walker,[23] the daughter of an African-American mother (Alice Walker) and Jewish father (Melvyn R. Leventhal)[24]
British politician Oona King, the daughter of an African-American father (Preston King) and British Jewish mother[25]
Actress Zoë Kravitz's (whose father is Lenny Kravitz and mother is Lisa Bonet) has Ashkenazi Jewish heritage through both maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather and African-American heritage through both her maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother. Kravitz, who does not practice the Jewish faith, considers herself "mixed" and having Jewish heritage[11][26]

The American Jewish community includes Jews with African-American backgrounds. 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.[27]

A Black Orthodox Jewish and Black Hasidic community exists in Brooklyn, with deep roots going back many generations.[28] There is no specific documentation of the exact number of Black Orthodox Jews in New York City, but the numbers are small yet growing. Black Orthodox Jews have struggled to form a minyan in Crown Heights.[29]

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.[30]

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[31] to 200,000.[32]

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.[33] The congregation, which has about 200 members, is mostly African-American.[34][35] The congregation was started by Rabbi Horace Hasan from Bombay (now Mumbai), India, in 1918 as the Ethiopian Hebrew Settlement Workers Association,[36] and it was influenced by Wentworth Arthur Matthew's Commandment Keepers.[34][35]

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.[37]

Black Jewish communities, such as those founded by Rabbi Wentworth Matthew in the 1920s, have existed in cities like New York since the late 19th/early 20th century.[38] A 2021 Pew Research Center survey indicated that 8% of American Jews identify as non-White, with studies noting this population is growing, despite historically being undercounted.[39]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ GHERT-ZAND, RENEE (November 2020). "Yiddisher Black cantors from 100 years ago rediscovered thanks to rare recording". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  2. ^ Dorman, Jacob (January 11, 2013). "Chosen People: The Rise of American Black Israelite Religions". Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on April 19, 2026. Retrieved April 2, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ a b c Haynes, Bruce D. (August 14, 2018). The soul of Judaism : Jews of African descent in America. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-1-4798-1123-6. OCLC 1006531808.
  4. ^ Pickard, Kate E. R.; Whiteman, Maxwell (1995). The kidnapped and the ransomed: the narrative of Peter and Vina Still after forty years of slavery. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-9233-3. OCLC 32738920.
  5. ^ O'Brien, Michael (2004). Conjectures of order: intellectual life and the American South, 1810-1860. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-6373-4. OCLC 57759012.
  6. ^ Leibman, Laura Arnold (2020). The art of the Jewish family: a history of women in early New York in five objects. New York City. ISBN 978-1-941792-21-6. OCLC 1158017660.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ^ "Sarah Rodrigues Brandon". Jewish Women's Archive. June 23, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  8. ^ Birmingham, Stephen (1977). Certain People: America's Black Elite. Open Road Media. ISBN 9781504041027.
  9. ^ Multiple sources:
  10. ^ Pepper, Tracey (1998). "Lenny's 5". Lenny-kravitz.com. Retrieved November 29, 2007.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  11. ^ a b "Is Zoë Kravitz, daughter of rockstar Lenny Kravitz, Jewish?". The Jerusalem Post. September 4, 2024. Archived from the original on October 16, 2025. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
  12. ^ a b "EPISODE 59 – Mixed Chicks Chat with Eric Andre". digitalpodcast.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  13. ^ Multiple sources:
  14. ^ Multiple sources:
  15. ^ Diseko, Lebo (December 16, 2019). "Tiffany Haddish's Black Mitzvah and her journey of Jewish discovery". BBC. Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
  16. ^ "He's arguably the most famous black Jew of our age, and he's Canadian. So is Drake 'good for (Canadian) Jews?'". March 16, 2017. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  17. ^ Multiple sources:
  18. ^ Multiple sources:
  19. ^ Multiple sources:
  20. ^ Multiple sources
  21. ^ Multiple sources:
  22. ^ Gurvis, Jacob (March 8, 2024). "The Jewish Sport Report: Meet Jordan Harris, the Black Jewish NHL player on a mission to change hockey". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on May 3, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
  23. ^ Walker, Rebecca (2000). Black, White, and Jewish: Autiobiography of a Shifting Self. Riverhead Books. ISBN 9781573221696.
  24. ^ Ross, Ross (April 8, 2007). "Rebecca Walker bringing message to Expo". Pensacola News Journal. Archived from the original on July 5, 2007. Retrieved April 8, 2007.
  25. ^ Lewis, Roz (April 19, 2013). "Oona King: My Family Values". The Guardian.
  26. ^ "Lisa Bonet on family, husband Jason Momoa & working with Bill Cosby". Porter Edit / NET-A-PORTER.COM. March 9, 2018. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018. Bonet was born in the heart of the hippie movement, in November 1967 in San Francisco, to a white Jewish schoolteacher mother and a black opera-singing father.
  27. ^ Wolfson, Bernard J. (1999). "African American Jews". In Chireau, Yvonne; Deutsch, Nathaniel (eds.). Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 33–34. ISBN 0-19-511257-1.
  28. ^ "The Black Orthodox". New York Magazine. December 21, 2012. Archived from the original on August 17, 2025. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  29. ^ Lee, Trymaine (August 28, 2010). "Black and Jewish, and Seeing No Contradiction". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  30. ^ "Miscegenation and Conversion of Negroes". Central Conference of American Rabbis. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  31. ^ David Whelan (May 8, 2003). "A Fledgling Grant Maker Nurtures Young Jewish 'Social Entrepreneurs'". The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2009.
  32. ^ Michael Gelbwasser (April 10, 1998). "Organization for black Jews claims 200,000 in U.S." J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
  33. ^ "Divine Law or Sexism?". National Public Radio. July 12, 2007. Archived from the original on April 14, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
  34. ^ a b Chireau, Yvonne (2000). "Black Culture and Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism, 1790–1930, an Overview". In Yvonne Patricia Chireau; Nathaniel Deutsch (eds.). Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 48. ISBN 0-19-511257-1.
  35. ^ a b Angell, Stephen W. (Spring 2001). "Yvonne Chireau and Nathaniel Deutsch, eds, Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism". The North Star: A Journal of African American Religious History. 4 (2). Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  36. ^ Koppel, Niko (March 16, 2008). "Black Rabbi Reaches Out to Mainstream of His Faith" Archived July 25, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. The New York Times.
  37. ^ "A Case of Mistaken Identity: Black Jews & Hebrew Israelites". TribeHerald.com. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  38. ^ "The History of Black Jews in America". The Jewish Educator Portal. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  39. ^ "Race, ethnicity, heritage and immigration among U.S. Jews". Pew Research. May 11, 2021. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2023.

Further reading

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