In Atlanta - African Americans Are Digging Judaism
Last night I stumbled across an interesting article from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution website about what appears to be a surge in African American Converts to Judaism in the Atlanta area. I know we have several African American readers, who are either JBC’s, in the process of converting or are interested in learning more about Judaism, so I thought I would do a quick post to let people know about it.
Here is a snippet
"For a black male to put on a kipah and go wandering around in a predominantly black community, you get the strangest looks," said Pamela Harris, referring to the traditional Jewish head covering.
Soon the Harrises, former Christian evangelicals, will complete their conversion to Judaism. If their choice seems unusual, it’s apparently becoming less so.
At Congregation Shearith Israel, a conservative synagogue in Virginia-Highland, where Pamela Harris works as the senior nonclerical staff member, at least eight of the roughly 20 people learning about Judaism with Rabbi Hillel Norry are black.
At the Marcus Jewish Community Center in Dunwoody, roughly 20 percent of the nearly two dozen people enrolled in Steven Chervin’s introduction to Judaism classes are black.
Although there are no sound statistics on the subject, anecdotal evidence suggests that, in the past 15 years, increasing numbers of black Americans are exploring Judaism, said Gary Tobin, president of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research in San Francisco.
You can read the entire story here and as always feel free to share any thoughts in the comments section below.
There was also a story in the NYT about a Hasidic African-American family living in Crown Heights. Interestingly, they’re from Omaha (Nebraska, my home state), and I had to send them a correction because there are more Hasidic Jews in Omaha than this family
Story is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/nyregion/16bigcity.html
Thanks for the linakge Chavi
“I was on a quest for a relationship with God,” she said. “That search has nothing to do with race or creed or color or even your religious preference. It has to do with fulfilling a deep need.”
I always enjoy hearing what drives others to become converts. The search for God, a relationship with Him, is so powerful. It’s interesting to hear so many stories of people who are rediscovering Judaism which was buried in their past, as well. I have a friend who recently found she is descended from Sephardi Jews from Portugal who were forced to convert to Catholicism. She is now in the process of returning to the Jewish faith. I’ll have to show this article to her, the part about Sivan Ariel and her grandmother might strike a chord with her.
Thanks for posting, Avi.
Glad you liked it Rivkah and Shabbat Shalom.
This was such an interesting article. I was reminded while reading it of something my six-year-old daughter said to me the other day. “We’re white,” she said. “We’re what?” I asked. “We’re white,” she repeated. “You mean, our skin is white?” I asked. “Yes,” she answered. And she proceeded to name the other kids in her gan (kindergarten) and what shade of white or brown they are. (She also tells me she wants to dye her hair black, make it curly, and have brown skin like so many of her friends here in Israel.)
I realized after she said that that before I made aliyah, I was forever answering questions about my race. (In England, where I lived for a short time, I wasn’t allowed to put down “European” for my race, even though that accounts for my origins; as an American, I was instructed to answer, “Other.”) Here in Israel, I haven’t once been asked about my race. No one here cares. There’s “Jewish” and “not Jewish,” but nothing else to account for. It’s rather refreshing. To me, that’s Judaism in its ideal state: You’re Jewish? Cool. That’s all I need to know.
Avi, I am Sivan Ariel, one of the interviewees.
My journey commenced when I met with a young orthodox rabbi whose serious deficiency in practical wisdom damaged me mentally; Nonetheless, I made comprehensive inquiries into Judaism, for I felt my soul was leading me home.
In the face of opposition, I ventured on this daring journey incognizant of the Jewish religion and its practices. After four years of being trapped in the incubator of confusion (Christianity), I carefully and diligently searched the Internet for information on the different sects of Judaism. Though my views mirrored the orthodox, my experience with the young orthodox rabbi was instrumental in my decision to go the way of the conservative.
Hank Israel, at the Temple, told me that I was doing the right thing by converting to Judaism, even when many consider Black and Jewish as two negatives. Hank made it clear, “Two negatives make a positive.â€
Being Black and Jewish are organic ingredients in the melting pot of humanity. I am Black and I am Jewish. I am Specially Jewish.
-Sivan Ariel