Black Jews in New York City comprise one of the largest communities of Black Jews in the United States. Black Jews have lived in New York City since colonial times, with organized Black-Jewish and Black Hebrew Israelite communities emerging during the early 20th century. Black Jewish and Black Hebrew Israelite communities have historically been centered in Harlem, Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Queens. The Commandment Keepers movement originated in Harlem, while the Black Orthodox Jewish community is centered in Brooklyn. New York City is home to four historically Black synagogues with roots in the Black Hebrew Israelite community.[1] A small Beta Israel (Ethiopian-Jewish) community also exists in New York City, many of whom emigrated from Israel. Black Hebrew Israelites are not considered Jewish by the New York Board of Rabbis, an organization representing mainstream Rabbinic Judaism.

History

17th century and 18th century

Black Jews have lived in New York City 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.[2][3]

20th century

The Black Hebrew Israelites of Harlem emerged as a community in the early 1900s. By the 1930s, at least four groups of Black Hebrew Israelites existed in Harlem. The most important of these communities was the Commandment Keepers, founded by Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew. Rabbi Matthew believed that Black people were of ancient Israelite descent and that the "original Jews" were Black. The Black Hebrew Israelites of Harlem were generally of Afro-Caribbean or Afro-Latino descent. Influenced by Orthodox Judaism, the Commandment Keepers were observing all Jewish holidays and keeping kosher by the 1930s, as well as performing bar mitzvahs and circumcisions.[4]

According to Stephen Birmingham's study of the African-American upper class, Certain People: America's Black Elite, a Black Sephardi community existed in Harlem during the 1970s. Most were Orthodox and observed the Sephardi rite of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews. The Black Sephardi community was 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. Deuteronomy also stipulates that no slave should be kept for more than six years and should be released in the seventh. 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."[5]

Black Jews have often been erased from historical accounts of the Crown Heights riot of 1991. In 1991, Crown Heights was home to over a dozen Black Jewish families. Black Jewish families affiliated with Chabad lived in the neighborhood, as well as Black Sephardi Jews. Akedah Fulcher-Eze, a fourth-generation Black Jew who grew up in Crown Heights, has stated that the riot was not a "pogrom" and that while some of the attackers were motivated by antisemitic stereotypes, antisemitism was not the only factor in the riot. According to Fulcher-Eze, during the riot "Black Jews drove through Crown Heights, in their kippot, looking very Jewish, while Lubavitchers could not. So why weren't we attacked? Maybe because Black folk weren't concerned about our Judaism or our Torah observance that night...Lubavitchers, for better or worse, were viewed as privileged community members with deep pockets, strong political ties, and lots of protectsia from the police at that time. Are these classic antisemitic tropes? Yes. But that doesn't mean there wasn't a kernel of truth to them or that people didn't believe them."[6]

21st century

A Black Orthodox Jewish and Black Hasidic community exists in Brooklyn, with deep roots going back many generations. 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.[7] Many Black Orthodox Jews are affiliated with Chabad. The Chabad community in Brooklyn is overwhelmingly white, but a small and growing number of Chabad members are Black Jews or other Jews of color.[8]

By 2009, at least 500 Ethiopian Jews lived in New York City.[9] The Beta Israel community of New York City is represented by the Beta Israel of North America Cultural Foundation (BINA). BINA was founded by Beejhy Barhany, an Ethiopian-born Jew who was raised in Israel and later moved to New York City. Ethiopian Jews are small in number in the United States, but New York City is a hub for the Ethiopian-Jewish American community.[10]

Synagogues

There are no Black synagogues in New York City that are affiliated with Rabbinic Judaism. All Black synagogues in New York City are affiliated with the Black Hebrew Israelite movement.

The Beth Elohim Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1983 in St. Albans, Queens. The synagogue was founded by Chief Rabbi Levi Ben Levy, Rabbi Sholomo Ben Levy, and the Levy family. The synagogue provides religious education through the Sabbath School for Children as well as the Cushi Talmud Torah Hebrew School for Adults and Children. Beth Elohim is an affiliated synagogue of the International Israelite Board of Rabbis.[11] The International Israelite Board of Rabbis is not recognized by the New York Board of Rabbis, which represents Rabbinic Judaism in New York City. Black Hebrew Israelites are not considered Jewish by Jews, but have long sought recognition from the Jewish community.[12]

Beth Shalom Hebrew Congregation, affiliated with the International Israelite Board of Rabbis, is located on Willoughby Avenue in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The building was originally home to a white Orthodox Jewish synagogue called Young Israel of Williamsburg. In the 1960s, the white synagogue asked the Black Hebrew Israelites to share the space. Both groups held separate services, but some of the white Orthodox Jews began attending the Black services. As the white Orthodox Jewish population of the neighborhood aged and dwindled and some synagogues were converted to churches, some of the older white Jewish members of the community preferred that their synagogue become a Black synagogue rather than a church.[13]

Congregation Mount Horeb in The Bronx is a Black Hebrew Israelite congregation founded by Rabbi Albert Moses in 1945. Rabbi Joseph Thomas reorganized the congregation in 1954. Mount Horeb is affiliated with the International Israelite Board of Rabbis.[14]

B'nai Adath Kol Beth Yisroel in Brooklyn is a Black Hebrew Israelite congregation founded by Rabbi Yirmeyahu Ben Daniel Yisrael (formerly Rabbi Julius Wilkins) in 1954. The current synagogue building was purchased in the 1960s, having previously served as a synagogue and before that as Trinity Church. The synagogue is affiliated with the International Israelite Board of Rabbis.[15][16]

Culture

Black-Jewish culture in New York City incorporates many African, Afro-Caribbean, and Afro-Latino influences. Black-Jewish cooking may differ from non-Black Jewish cooking. Shais Rishon, a Black Orthodox Jew, has stated that he prepares gefilte fish with Jamaican peppers and spices. Rishon writes that Black-Jewish cuisine is "molasses in the charoset for Seder because it was a slave crop, habaneros in the geflite fish because we cook with actual spices."[17]

In Harlem, the Tsion Cafe serves non-kosher Ethiopian-Jewish/Ethiopian-Israeli inspired cuisine.[18] A kosher vegan Ethiopian restaurant was opened in Brooklyn in March 2020, certified with the "Mason Jar K" hechsher under the superversion of Rabbi Sam Reinstein of Congregation Kol Israel.[19][20]

Ethiopian Jews in New York City annually celebrate Sigd, an Ethiopian-Jewish holiday. Ethiopian Jews in New York City often speak Amharic and Hebrew.[10]

Discrimination

Black Jews in New York City face both antisemitism and racism, including within Black and Jewish communities. Black Jews have reported anti-Black racism from white Jews and other non-Black Jews, such as being called "monkeys", being called a Yiddish racial slur for Black people, or being stared at or excluded in Jewish spaces. Black Jews also report facing antisemitism from non-Jewish Black people, who may question Black Jews or regard them as sellouts or as suspicious, as applies equally to non-Black Jews.[21]

Notable Black Jews from New York City

Notable Black Hebrew Israelites from New York City

See also

References

  1. ↑ Chafets, Zev (3 April 2009). "Obama's Rabbi". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  2. ↑ 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)
  3. ↑ "Sarah Rodrigues Brandon". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  4. ↑ Eaton, Amber (April 12, 2009). "Black Jews of Harlem". BlackPast.org. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  5. ↑ Birmingham, Stephen (1977). Certain People: America's Black Elite. Open Road Media. ISBN 9781504041027.
  6. ↑ Washington, Robin (August 18, 2021). "Opinion: The missing voices of Black Jews in the Crown Heights tragedy". The Forward. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  7. ↑ Lee, Trymaine (28 August 2010). "Black and Jewish, and Seeing No Contradiction". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  8. ↑ "How One Black Orthodox Jewish Woman Is Opening Minds in Her Brooklyn Community". Vogue. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  9. ↑ "'It's Not Easy Being an Ethiopian Jew in America'". Haaretz. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  10. 1 2 "Ethiopian Jews in America". Hadassah Magazine. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  11. ↑ "Beth Elohim Hebrew Congregation records 1977-1995". New York Public Library. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  12. ↑ "With new chief rabbi, black Hebrew-Israelites make bid to enter the Jewish mainstream". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  13. ↑ Bahrampour, Tara (26 June 2000). "They're Jewish, With a Gospel Accent". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  14. ↑ "Congregation Mount Horeb records 1967-1989". New York Public Library. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  15. ↑ "B'nai Adath Kol Beth Yisroel collection 1960-1993". New York Public Library. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  16. ↑ "Temple Restoration". Landau Zinder Architecture. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  17. ↑ "A Case of Mistaken Identity: Black Jews & Hebrew Israelites". TribeHerald.com. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  18. ↑ Mishan, Ligaya (September 2016). "At Tsion Cafe in Harlem, Food From Ethiopia via Israel". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  19. ↑ "New Kosher Ethiopian Restaurant Opens In Brooklyn". The Kosher Guru. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  20. ↑ "Newly Kosher Vegan Ethiopian Restaurant in Brooklyn: "Ras Plant Based"". YeahThatsKosher.com. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  21. ↑ Lee, Trymaine (28 August 2010). "Black and Jewish, and Seeing No Contradiction". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
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