'Black, Jewish, Interracial - a contradiction ?'

I.Introduction

During the semester we read a lot of texts by different authors. There were a lot of questions that we raised in class about race, gender, identity and religion. We found out that there was a lot of prejudice on both the Black and the Jewish side. It was important for me to know whether it is possible to unite both black and Jewish parts of one’s identity or one has to give up one part of his or her heritage in favour of the other.

In my paper I would like to try to find out if there is a contradiction in being both black and Jewish from the point of view of Jewish religion. I want to try to show that there is no contradiction to be found and that the prejudice against people of colour does not come from the Jewish tradition.

As a Jew it is important to me to try to understand why many partners in interracial relationships were rejected by their families, what played the most important role – the race or the religion, and why many of them felt compelled to throw away their Judaism. Why could not they be both black and Jewish? Is it only the race issue that made them abandon their Judaism, or was it only a kind of justification or excuse? When parents refused to keep contact with their children was it because of race or because they were marrying a Gentile person? Would there be any difference if the non Jewish person were white? Would it hurt less? Or maybe it would be easier to hide?

On the other hand, there are plenty of examples of Black converts to Judaism. It is very hard to convert and for a black person even harder – so what makes them do it?

I do not hope to answer all the questions that I have raised but I would like at least to touch some of the points in this sensitive issue.

II. Defining an identity.

Identity designates something like a person’s understanding of who they are, of their fundamental defining characteristics as human being. (Taylor, 1992, p.25)

According to Katya Azoulay (p. 178), in the United States the possibility of a Jewish or Black identity has been suppressed on the one hand and cultivated on the other. Whereas the Black identity is visible, the Jewish one is invisible. One can get rid of the traditional markers of Jewish identity like names, dress and language more easily, apart for the visible mark of the circumcision. Today even the most secular Jews circumcise their sons to show that they belong to the Jewish people. Discrimination against Jews and against Blacks was not the same because one group was always visible by skin colour and the other could conceal its background if needed. (Azoulay, p. 65) Sartre said: “ a Jew, white among men, can deny that he is a Jew, but from black skin there is no escape” (p.47).The fear of assimilation makes many Jews seek partners for marriage inside of their community. Many immigrants to America wanted to discard their old identities. Intermarriage was a way to discard the Jewish identity(p.73). Not incidentally, the reaction of Black or Jewish community to individuals who marry out of the community is a charge of disloyalty (p.74)

The percent of intermarriages among the Jews in Diaspora is so high that there is a serious danger of disappearance. The children of such marriages are much more likely not to be raised as Jews. (p.80)

II.1 Who is Jewish

According to http://www.jewfaq.org/whoisjew.htm

‚A Jew is any person whose mother was a Jew or any person who has gone through the formal process of conversion to Judaism. ’ If a person has a Jewish mother he or she is considered Jewish no matter who the father is. Once a person has converted to Judaism, he is as much a Jew as anyone born Jewish. A Jew can be defined by religion, by nationality (as it was done in the Soviet Union), by culture, by customs or by Nürnberg laws.

According to Linda Shires, Jews do not constitute a race. They do not share genetic characteristics of skin colour or facial features (p.29). There are also many ways to observe Judaism, but all of them agree that a Jew believes in one G-d, Creator of the Universe, who made a Covenant with the people of Israel and gave them commandments.

There are differences in definition between different religious groups. Also, Judaism is a unique religion being both a religion and a nation.

From the religious point of view one has no choice:

a born Jew who is not religious always remains a Jew. Also a convert who stopped observing the tradition remains Jewish forever. A huge emphasis is put on the line of tradition coming from father to son. As rabbi Adin Schteinsalz put it : ‚A Jew is someone whose grandchildren are Jewish‘. Being Jewish means belonging to a minority, being different.

II.2 Who is ‘black’

In America one cannot choose if he or she wants to be black. As we see in K. Azoulay’s article in Bridges the Supreme Court stated in 1968 that having even one distant Black ancestor automatically makes one Black, while having a white ancestor doesn’t make one White. Even a person who has one drop of Black blood (whatever that means) has legal racial status as coloured.

From the racist point of view a Jew is not considered white and is as racially ‘contaminated’ as Black. ( see http://www.pbs.org/itvs/fromswastikatojimcrow/racism.html) Dr Martin Luther King Jr. said that the Racists make no difference between a Black and a Jew.

II.3 Choosing an identity – Elena Khanga, Rebecca Walker and Ruth BcBride.

According to the Jewish religious laws Elena Khanga is Jewish and Rebecca Walker is not. But for Rebecca it is a half of her identity because her father is Jewish. Elena Khanga does not even think about writing Jewish in her Soviet passport. She does not give much thought about her Jewish roots until one day she brings an Anti-Semitic remark from her kindergarten and her grandmother Bertha slaps her. She tells her that she is Jewish but does not explain further. Elena knew that her grandmother was born into a Jewish family but she thought of her simply as an American. Soviet Anti-Semitism was a forbidden topic for her grandmother. Because Elena was so unique she did not have to make the choice to identify with one part of her. For Rebecca it was more like living between two worlds, constantly struggling for acceptance. She was not ”black“ enough for the blacks, too black for the Jews, she was simply Other. In the end both Elena and Rebecca feel closer to their Black identity. I wondered why most of the people we read about felt much closer to “black”. Hetti Jones does not “go back to Jews,” Rebecca changes her last name from Leventhal to Walker. Her father thinks it is a sigh of her inner Anti-Semitism. For her it is a bond to her mother. James McBride’s mother hid the truth about her Jewish origins. She converted to Christianity and raised her twelve children as Christians. Her story was especially difficult. She wanted to escape her tyrant father who had molested her when she was a child. She never found love and understanding in her family. They lived in a small Southern town. Her mother was very unhappy and the kids had to work in their father’s store. It seems she found no meaning whatsoever in Judaism. The way she describes the rituals like Shabbat and Kashrut, which are the main pillars of Judaism, sometimes verges on Anti-Semitism (p. 17) She is marginalized in school for being a Jew. She changes her name to make it sound more American, from Rachel to Ruth, although both names are actually biblical Jewish names. She has only one friend, Frances, in whose house she cannot it because they don’t eat kosher. She never starved for food until she got married, but she was starving for love and affection. ( see James McBride, p.83)

And she falls in love with a black boy, and has to undergo an abortion. Only love changed her life for the better. She never saw her mother after she had left and she felt terrible guilt and pain after her mother’s death. Her family sat shivah for her, she was officially dead for them. It is amazing how easy it was for an Orthodox Jewish girl to give up her religion and become an Christian apostate in Jewish eyes. It seems there was no other way for her to survive. She left her Jewish identity completely behind and shut the door tight.

On the other hand, there are examples of people who had no ethnic Jewish roots, but found deep emotional and spiritual bounds to Judaism. Those people made conscious choice to become Jewish and to face not only the „regular“ difficulties of sharing the destiny of people of Israel. Being black they put upon themselves a double burden.

III Antisemitism: Black and white.

Ironically, it comes both from black and white people. There are many kinds of anti-Semitism: Christian, Arab, racist etc. According to http://www.jafi.org.il/education/antisemitism/nf/overview.html the "new" anti-Semitism today emanates from three major sources : the left wing, the far right wing ,the Muslim and Arab world. One of the examples of White anti-Semitism and racism is The White Order of Thule. It is a group influenced by Odinism, paganism, pantheism, Greek mythology, and Celtic lore, and is mirrored on German Nazi celebration of Nordic myths of the heroic warrior. Another is „The World Church of the Creator“ It teaches that „the natural destiny of the White Race is to rule the world and thus fulfill the purpose of the universe. To attain this destiny, it is necessary to destroy the enemies and race traitors who prevent this from happening. The primary enemies are Jews, Blacks and other "mud people," and White race traitors, including most Christians.“

( see http://www.publiceye.org/racism/white-supremacy.html)

Black Anti-Semitism comes from traditional Christian belief that Jews are Christ killers (see http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/3618)

Another source is Muslim Anti-Semitism which has its roots in the Middle East conflict. According to http://www.jafi.org.il/education/antisemitism/nf/islam1.html the Nation of Islam, the Black Muslim movement in the U.S., claims that Jews control America. Its leader, Louis Farrakhan, has combined Islamic anti-Semitism with black pride. He accuses Jews of financial control, profit-making, wealth and power, as well as conspiracy and murderous malpractice, while calling Muslims to unity and religious hegemony. Towards the close of his 1996 Friendship Tour in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he called for the Muslims of the world to unite and form a "superpower." "Those who fear Islam fear that Islam is going to replace the Western hegemony in the world, and they are right…" he said. "Farrakhan has caused problems for the Jews of America... Farrakhan calls Jews 'bloodsuckers,' … "In the past, Farrakhan has … accused Jewish doctors of injecting the AIDS virus into black babies, and in a January 24 speech at a Harlem armory he said, 'We know that the Jews are the most organized, rich and powerful people, not only in America, but in the world. They're plotting against us as we speak.' " Unfortunately, the prejudice against Jews does not disappear but takes new forms instead.

IV Your people – my people?

Lena Romanoff tells amazing stories of people – both men and women, young and old, who became Jewish by choice. The particular problem of Black converts is that they cannot hide their Non-Jewish past even if they want to, they do not look like most other Jews. They face the “dual challenge of transcending racial as well as religious barriers.” (Romanoff, p. 212). They encounter prejudices from both black and white people. They sometimes encounter hostility from other Jews and are seen as traitors by their families, who “interpret their conversion as an outright rejection of their black roots.” ( Romanoff, p.215) It is extremely difficult to find a partner and some couples decide not to have children because they feel that the world is not ready for their children. They also have problems choosing a place to live because they are not easily accepted by communities. And still these people want to become and remain Jewish, whereas many ethnic Jews leave their heritage behind and don’t want to hear about Judaism in any form. They are repelled by a mere mention of their Jewish ancestors.

Do those who become Jews want to be victims? Isn’t choosing to be a Jew even more admirable than staying one? Especially if a person who undergoes this long and painful process is black?

V. Conversion in Judaism.

V.1 Definition.

According to Gary Porton, “The word conversion is derived from the Latin convertere, a “spiritual reorientation.” Gentiles who recognised G-d of Israel could become members of the people of Israel. The Rabbis teach that Israelites should not remind converts of their gentile ancestry. (Porton, p.3) In rabbinic texts converts are compared to newborn children. They severed all ties to their family, all their misdeeds do not count anymore and they are required to follow the Israelite laws. To be an Israelite meant to accept G-d as the sole deity and object of worship. The rabbinic ideal is that gentiles should join the Israelite community “for the sake of Heaven”. The earliest rabbies accepted the possibility of joining in order to marry. Other reasons are material advantage, fear of G-d’s punishment, conversations with Israelites or being impressed by the ways G-d or Israelites acted.

V.2.Historical overview.

There were different approaches to conversion and proselytising during different periods of time.

Mishna is the foundation document of Rabbinic literature edited in the first quarter of the second century of the common era. Its conceptions of converts are complex and sometimes contradictory. It treats converts as native Israelites but sometimes differentiates. It does not describe the ritual of conversion and contains no discussion on encouraging or discouraging gentiles from converting. Conversion marks a radical change in person’s status. (Porton,pp.16-32)

In Palestinian Talmud, which reached its final form in the fifth century of the common era, discusses the ritual of circumcision and immersion in ritual bath. It also discusses the motives of those who wished to convert. Conversion effects a major change in status, the person severs all ties with the gentile family. (see Porton, pp.71-90)

The Babylonian Talmud, which was finished by the end of the 8th century is the most extensive document of rabbinic Judaism, emphasizes that conversion is a free choice. Israelites are warned not to oppress converts or to remind them of their gentile past. The convert had to fully observe the totality of Israelite law and custom. (see Porton,pp. 90-132) There is no difference between black or white converts.

VI Ethiopian Jewry

VI.1. History

Another very important group are the Jews of Ethiopia. http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Judaism/ejhist.html tells us that they called themselves Beta Israel, but the neighbours called them Falashas – the alien ones, the invaders. They enjoyed relative independence through the Middle Ages. In 1624, the Beta Israel fought their last battle for independent autonomy against Portuguese-backed Ethiopians. Those captured were made slaves, or baptised by force. James Bruce, a Scottish explorer discovered them by accident in 1769. In 20th century in Ethiopia they encountered Anti-Semitism and discrimination as Jews

In the early 1980's, Ethiopia forbade the practice of Judaism and the teaching of Hebrew. Numerous members of the Beta Israel were imprisoned on fabricated charges of being “Zionist spies,” and Jewish religious leaders, Kesim, (sing. Kes) were harassed and monitored by the government.

Forced conscription at age 12 took many Jewish boys away from their parents, just like in Tsarist Russia. There was a constant threat of war, bad health conditions, famine.

Over 8,000 Beta Israel came to Israel between 1977 and 1984.

On November 18, 1984, during Operation Moses almost 8,000 Jews were rescued and brought to Israel.

During Operation Solomon a total of 14,324 Ethiopian Jews were rescued and resettled in Israel. There are 36,000 Ethiopian Jews now living in Israel

VI.2. The origin

Because much of the Beta Israel's history is passed orally from generation to generation, we may never truly know their origins. Four main theories exist concerning the beginnings of the Beta Israel community:

1) The Beta Israel may be the lost Israelite tribe of Dan.
2) They may be descendants of Menelik I, son of King Solomon and Queen Sheba.
3) They may be descendants of Ethiopian Christians and pagans who converted to Judaism centuries ago.
4) They may be descendants of Jews who fled Israel for Egypt after the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and eventually settled in Ethiopia.

(Excerpted from “Reunify Ethiopian Jewry,” World Union of Jewish Students)

As early as the 16th century, Egypt's Chief Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Avi Zimra (Radbaz) declared that in Jewish legal issues, the Beta Israel were indeed Jews. In 1855, Daniel ben Hamdya, a member of the Beta Israel, was the first Ethiopian Jew to visit Israel. He met with a council of rabbis in Jerusalem. By 1864, almost all leading Jewish authorities, most notably Rabbi Azriel Hildsheimer of Eisenstadt, Germany, accepted the Beta Israel as true Jews. In 1908 the chief rabbis of forty-five countries had heeded Rabbi Hildsheimer's call and officially recognized the Beta Israel as fellow Jews.

In 1975 the Israeli Interministerial Commission officially recognized the Beta Israel as Jews under Israel's Law of Return, a law designed to aid in Jewish immigration to Israel.

The Beta Israel were strictly observant in pre-Talmudic Jewish traditions.

VII. “Juden aller Länder- vereinigt euch!“

The question of whether anybody can be Jewish’ concerns not only the black and Jewish relationship. Gish Jen tells a story of a Chinese girl who becomes Jewish in her funny and touching novel ’Mona in the promised Land’. Mona lives in a Jewish neighbourhood and her family is called ‘the New Jews’. She has many Jewish friends and she decides to convert to Judaism, which does not make her parents happy. Her mother says :’How can you be Jewish? Chinese people don’t do such things’. Mona’s reaction to that is ‘I guess I must not be Chinese, then’ (Jen, p.46) She becomes ‘more or less genuine Catholic Chinese Jew’. She is in fact so good that she teaches ethnic Jewish grownups the basics of their religion.

For Mona being Jewish means being American. She can choose to be whatever she wants to be in her life. She wants to be accepted just as she is by others. Her mother does not speak to her for years but in the end she reconciles with her. I think that the most important thing is to accept each other as we are. It is not a handicap when a person belongs to many cultures, races or languages. It can only make us richer and our life more interesting. The more people are bridges between worlds the less gaps will remain. And maybe someday people will accept each other just as they are and the human race will be just “human.”

VI Bibliography.

Azoulay, Katya Gibel. 1997. Black, Jewish and Interracial Durham and London: Duke University Press,

Jen, Gish. 1997. Mona in the promised Land. New York: Vintage Books.

McBride, James.1996. The Colour of Water. New York: Riverhead Books.

Porton, Gary G. 1994. The Stranger within Your Gates Chicago London:The University of Chicago Press.

Romanoff Lena, with Lisa Hostein. 5750/1990. Your people, my people :finding acceptance and fulfillment as a Jew by choice. Philadelphia New York: The Jewish Publication Society.

Shires, Linda M. 2003. Coming Home. Westview Press

Taylor, Charles. 1992. Multiculturalism and “the Politics of Recognition”. Princeton: Princeton University Press

http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Judaism/ejhist.html 20.02.04

http://www.jewfaq.org/whoisjew.htm/20.02.2004#

http://www.pbs.org/itvs/fromswastikatojimcrow/racism.htm (15.03.04)

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/3618 Excerpt from Antisemitism in America by Leonard Dinnerstein (Oxford University Press, 1995). (15.03.04)

http://www.publiceye.org/racism/white-supremacy.html (15. 03.04)

http://www.jafi.org.il/education/antisemitism/nf/islam1.html (15.03.04)