Jews and Judaism in the African diaspora
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The Jewish people have had a long history in Africa, dating to the Biblical era. As the African diaspora grew, because of the movement of Africans and their descendants throughout the world, African Jews were part of that diaspora. In addition, Judaism has spread through the African diaspora, largely through conversion. While many adhere to traditional Jewish movements, there are a number of Jewish organizations unique to the African diaspora.
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[edit] Jews and Judaism in Africa
Since Biblical times, the Jewish people have had close ties with Africa, beginning with Abraham's sojourns in Ancient Egypt and later the Israelite captivity under the Pharaohs. Some Jewish communities in Africa are among the oldest in the world, dating back more than 2,700 years. African Jews have ethnic and religious diversity and richness. African Jewish communities include:
- Scattered African groups who have not maintained contact with the wider Jewish community since ancient times, but who assert descent from the ancient Israelites or other connections to Judaism. These include:
- Groups who observe Jewish rituals, or rituals bearing recognizable resemblance to Judaism. Although there are a number of such groups, the majority of the world's Jews recognize only the Beta Israel of Ethiopia as historically Jewish.
- Groups who do not observe Jewish rituals (such as the Lemba, who practice Christianity), but who exhibit genetic traits regarded as linking them to the main body of the Jewish people.
- Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews living in North Africa, including Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt. Many have emigrated, chiefly to Israel and France, with substantial numbers also emigrating to Brazil, Canada, and the United States. Small communities remain in Morocco and Tunisia.
- The South African Jews, who are mostly Ashkenazi Jews, descended chiefly from pre- and post-Holocaust Lithuanian Jewish immigrants.
[edit] Definitions of Jews and Judaism
[edit] Mainstream Judaism
Judaism shares some of the characteristics of a nation, an ethnicity, a religion, and a culture, making the definition of who is a Jew vary slightly depending on whether a religious or national approach to identity is used. While there is much debate about the details, by most definitions, Jews include those who have a Jewish ethnic background and those without Jewish parents who have converted to Judaism.
[edit] Other Jewish groups
Some Jewish groups in the African diaspora with no connection to mainstream Judaism consider themselves the true descendants of the Israelites of the Torah and do not consider Semitic Jews to be true Jews.
[edit] North America
[edit] Mainstream Judaism
The American Jewish community includes African-American Jews and other Jews of African descent. Black Jews belong to each of the major American Jewish denominations — Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist — and to the smaller movements as well. Like their white Jewish counterparts, there are also Black Jewish atheists and Black ethnic Jews who may rarely or never take part in religious practices.
Estimates of the number of Black Jews in the United States range from 20,000[1] to 200,000.[2]
[edit] Black Hebrews and Black Hebrew Israelites
- See also: Nation of Yahweh
The term "Black Jews" is sometimes used by those who do not consider Jews of European descent to be true Jews, and who claim to be the true descendants of the Israelites of the Torah. Although cordial relationships exist between some of these groups and the mainstream Jewish community, they are generally not considered to be members of that community, since they have not formally converted nor do they have Jewish parents. However, The African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem is one group that was granted permanent residency status in Israel.
The term "Black Hebrews" or "Black Jews" is also sometimes used to refer to African American religious movements started in the 1800s; the first being the Church of God and Saints of Christ, which was started by William Saunders Crowdy in 1896. To many of these groups, claiming a Jewish identity was a way to reject one of the most influential social institutions of their white oppressors, Christianity (similar to the later Faradian Islam movement). Black Hebrews generally do not practice mainstream Judaism, but rather a religion incorporating elements of different religious traditions.
[edit] Latin America
[edit] Europe
[edit] Asia
[edit] Israel
The emergence of the Zionist movement in the late 19th century led growing numbers of European Jews to make aliyah (immigrate) to the Land of Israel, the traditional homeland of the Jewish people. In the 20th century, the rise of Nazism, the Second World War, and the Holocaust accelerated the trend.
[edit] Jews from Arab states in North Africa
The creation of the modern State of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent expulsion and emigration of Jews from the neighboring Arab states led to growing numbers of non-European Jews settling in Israel, among them Jews from North Africa — chiefly Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. For these African Jews, emigration to Israel was the end of the Jewish diaspora and the beginning of the African diaspora. A noticeable part of these Jews emigrated to Europe, utilizing citizenship granted in the colonial period, thus some Libyan Jews immigrated to Italy while some Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan Jews immigrated to France.
Subsequent events, such as the Algerian War for Independence, the 1956 Suez Crisis, and the Six-Day War in 1967, led to the almost complete emigration of the Jews still remaining in Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco.
Today the only viable Jewish communities in north Africa are in the island of Djerba and in Morocco.
[edit] Beta Israel
During the 1970s, members of the Beta Israel, a community of Ethiopian Jews, began to immigrate to Israel after Ovadia Yosef, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, ruled that they were descendents of the Biblical Israelites and that they should be eligible for citizenship under Israel's Law of Return. As famine gripped Ethiopia during the 1980s, several thousand Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel, but political instability in Ethiopia and Sudan made further immigration impossible. In 1991, when circumstances changed, more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews were flown to Israel.
Absorption of the Ethiopian Jews into Israeli society has been difficult. During the 1980s, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate initially required the new arrivals to undergo certain conversion procedures, which many of the Ethiopian Jews considered an insult. In 1996, the Magen David Adom destroyed all blood that had been donated by Ethiopian Jews.
A 2006 study found that unemployment among Ethiopian Jews in Israel is nearly twice that of the general Israeli population. The poverty rate among Ethiopian Jewish families is 51.7%, compared with 15.8% among all Israeli families.
[edit] Notable Jews in the African diaspora
| Name | Nationality | Occupation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah Barrable-Tishauer[3] | born 1988 |  Canada |
actress |
| Linda Bellos[4] | born 1950 |  Great Britain |
politician |
| Nell Carter[5] | 1948–2003 |  United States |
singer and actress |
| Sammy Davis, Jr.[6] | 1925–1990 | United States |
dancer and singer |
| Laïka Fatien[7] | born 1968 |  France |
jazz singer |
| Jordan Farmar[8] | born 1986 | United States |
basketball player |
| Aaron Freeman[9] | born 1956 | United States |
comedian |
| Capers C. Funnye Jr.[10] | United States |
rabbi | |
| Aubrey Graham[3] | born 1986 | Canada |
actor and rapper |
| Reuben Greenberg[11] | born 1943 | United States |
criminologist |
| Zab Judah[12] | born 1977 | United States |
boxer |
| Oona King[13] | born 1967 | Great Britain |
politician |
| Yaphet Kotto[2] | born 1937 | United States |
actor |
| Lenny Kravitz[2] | born 1964 | United States |
musician |
| Julius Lester[14] | born 1939 | United States |
author |
| Esti Mamo[15] | born 1983 |  Israel |
fashion model |
| Adisu Massala[16] | born 1961 | Israel |
politician |
| Adah Isaacs Menken[17] | 1835–1868 | United States |
actress and poet |
| Walter Mosley[2] | born 1952 | United States |
novelist |
| Joshua Nelson[18] | United States |
gospel singer | |
| Sophie Okonedo[8] | born 1969 | Great Britain |
actress |
| Sirak M. Sabahat[19] | born 1981 | Israel |
actor |
| Meskie Shibru-Sivan[20] | born 1967 | Israel |
actress and singer |
| Shyne[21] | born 1981 |  Belize |
rapper |
| Michelle Stein-Evers[22] | United States  Australia |
historian and political analyst | |
| Willie "The Lion" Smith[23][24] | 1897–1973 | United States |
jazz pianist |
| Rebecca Walker[25] | born 1969 | United States |
feminist and writer |
| Robin Washington[26] | born 1956 | United States |
journalist and filmmaker |
- See also: Category:Black Jews
[edit] See also
- Alliance of Black Jews
- Commandment Keepers
- Groups claiming an affiliation with the ancient Israelites
- Jewish diaspora
- Jewish ethnic divisions
- Lewis Gordon
- Islam in the African diaspora
[edit] References
- ^ David Whelan (2003-05-08). A Fledgling Grant Maker Nurtures Young Jewish 'Social Entrepreneurs'. The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ a b c d Michael Gelbwasser (1998-04-10). Organization for black Jews claims 200,000 in U.S.. j.. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ a b Jen Jones (December 2006). School's In for Degrassi. JV!be. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Katharine Hibbert (2007-02-25). Best of Times, Worst of Times: Linda Bellos. The Times. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ Naomi Pfefferman (2003-01-31). 'Pop-soul belter' Nell Carter, 54, devoted convert to Judaism, dies. j.. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ Beth Weiss. Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990). Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Biography. Laïka Fatien. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ a b Nate Bloom (2007-01-16). Interfaith Celebrities: The Jewish Mermaid. InterfaithFamily.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Gil Zohar (2007-01-31). The joke is on all of us. The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ Niko Koppel (2008-03-16). Black Rabbi Reaches Out to Mainstream of His Faith. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
- ^ Michael Ledeen (2005-08-18). Hail to the Chief. National Review Online. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
- ^ Adam Gershenson (1996-12-28). If He Can Take a Punch, Judah Could Have It All. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
- ^ Richard Alleyne (2005-11-04). Jewish MP pelted with eggs at war memorial. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Natalie Weinstein (1996-02-16). Julius Lester: There's `no magic formula' for blacks and Jews. j.. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
- ^ Bradford R. Pilcher (March/April 2006). The Next Top (Jewish) Model. American Jewish Life. Retrieved on 2007-10-18.
- ^ Brianne Korn (2000-03-10). Black-Skinned Dolls Shipped to Israelis. j.. Retrieved on 2007-10-18.
- ^ Adah Isaacs Menken (1835-1868). Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Karen Campbell (2004-11-07). Gospel according to Joshua Nelson. The Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ Steve Rosen (2006-12-19). Inland Empire and Volver Keep Top Spots; Live and Become Opens Big. indieWIRE. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Yetziat Mitzraim P'ratim (Hebrew). Yedioth Ahronoth (2003-04-21). Retrieved on 2007-12-30.
- ^ Gil Kaufman (2006-05-07). Shyne Becomes Moses, Challenges New York's 'Son Of Sam' Law. MTV.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ Miriam Rinn (Summer 1995). Black Jews: Changing the Face of American Jewry (PDF). The Reporter pp. 11-13. Women's American ORT. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
- ^ Willie the Lion. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Timeline for Willie the Lion Smith. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Jennifer Frey (2001-01-12). The Parent Trap. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Robin Washington. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
[edit] Further reading
- Chireau, Yvonne; Nathaniel Deutsch (eds.) (1999). Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195112571.
- Kaye/Kantrowitz, Melanie (2007). The Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253349028.
- Khanga, Yelena; Susan Jacoby (1994). Soul to Soul: A Black Russian Jewish Woman's Search for Her Roots. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393311554.
- Lester, Julius [1988] (1995). Lovesong: Becoming a Jew. New York: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 1559703164.
- Tobin, Diane; Gary A. Tobin, Scott Rubin (2005). In Every Tongue: The Racial and Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish People. San Francisco: Institute for Jewish & Community Research. ISBN 1893671011.
- Walker, Rebecca (2000). Black, White & Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self. New York: Riverhead Books. ISBN 1573221694.
[edit] External links
[edit] News and articles
- Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation (Video). Chicago Tonight. WTTW (2007-03-29). Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
- Black Jews. Time (1937-09-27). Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
- Kay Holzinger (1998). Black Jews. The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Religious Movements Homepage Project at the University of Virginia. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
- Minority with a Minority The unique challenges facing Jews of color.
[edit] Other sites
- 12 Tribes of Israel., a site "teaching all those whose forefathers are of so-called Negro, Native American Indian, and Hispanic descent ... their true Biblical heritage as the children of Israel".
- Ayecha Resource Organization., an organization whose mission is to "increase awareness of Jewish Diversity through training, curricula, and programming" and to "support, strengthen, and advocate for Jews of Color and multi-racial families in the U.S."
- Black & Jewish, A Community for Jews of Color., a site for "Black American Jews and their friends to communicate".
- Black and Jewish Web Page., a site for people "interested in learning about the diversity which exists within Judaism".
- BlackJews.org, a Project of the International Israelite Board of Rabbis., a site maintained by the Commandment Keepers.
- Center for Afro-Jewish Studies. at Temple University, a "research and learning institution dedicated to scholarship on Afro-Jewish peoples and developing awareness of the historical, political, religious, and philosophical issues that arise from the convergence of the African and Jewish diasporas".
- Frum & Brown., an online forum for "people who want to discuss or learn about Jews-of-Color in the Orthodox Jewish context".
- Judaism and Race., a documentary film, scheduled for completion in 2007, "that challenges the stereotype that all Jews are white by presenting personal stories of people struggling to reconcile multiple identities as Jews of color".
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