Black Jews in New York City

Black Jews in New York City are 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 communities emerging during the early 20th century. Black Jewish communities have historically been centered in Harlem, Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Queens. The Black Orthodox Jewish community is centered in Brooklyn. A small Beta Israel (Ethiopian-Jewish) community also exists in New York City, many of whom emigrated from Israel.

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.

20th century

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."

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."

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. 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.

By 2009, at least 500 Ethiopian Jews lived in New York City. 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. There are no specifically Black synagogues in New York City as there are with various Christian denominations.

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."

In 2018, Jews of Color Caucus of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice hosted a "Juneteenth seder" that combined Passover traditions with the Juneteenth celebration. Black Jewish activist Koach Frazier read from a "Juneteenth haggadah" and stated that "We memorialize the ending of chattel slavery in the way we remember our liberation from Egypt because ritual is a form of collective, embodied memory...We embody our experiences as both slaves and people on a journey towards liberation."

In 2022, the Jews of Color Initiative helped launch a New York City chapter of Kamochah, an organization for Black Orthodox Jews.

In Harlem, the Tsion Cafe serves non-kosher Ethiopian-Jewish/Ethiopian-Israeli inspired cuisine. 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.

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

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.

Notable Black Jews from New York City

• Koby Altman, the President of Basketball Operations of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
• Mykki Blanco, a rapper, performance artist, poet and activist.
• Lisa Bonet, an actress known throughout the late 1980s and 1990s.
• Janicza Bravo, a film director, film producer, and screenwriter.
• Benjamin Bronfman, an entrepreneur and musician.
• Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, an American-Nigerian sports broadcaster.
• Kali Hawk, an actress, comedian, model and jewelry designer.
• Yaphet Kotto, an actor best known for starring in the NBC television series Homicide: Life on the Street.
• Jenny Lumet, an actress and screenwriter.
• Saoul Mamby, a professional boxer.
• James McBride, a writer and musician.
• Shais Rishon, also known by the pen name MaNishtana, is an African-American Orthodox rabbi, activist, and writer.
• Jake Smollett, an actor and cooking personality.
• Jurnee Smollett, an actress.
• Jussie Smollett, an actor and singer.
• Rachel True, a film and television actress and former fashion model.
• Jamila Wideman, a lawyer, activist, and former professional basketball player.

See also

• African-American Jews
• The Color of Water

External links

• Why I’m no longer avoiding synagogues as a Black Jew for the High Holy Days, NBC News
• The Beta Israel of North America (BINA) Cultural Foundation, Inc.
• New Ways of Growth: Kamochah’s New York Chapter for Black Orthodox Jews, Jews of Color Initiative