The AJC says the number is at 150,000 in the U.S. alone -- and rising. The paper profiles a former evangelical couple who are making the conversion. "For a black male to put on a kipah and go wandering around in a predominately black community, you get the strangest looks," said Pamela Harris.
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.The numbers here seem a little large. I've been to dozens of synaogues in the last few years and I can count the number of black Jews I've seen on one hand. Am I missing something?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.
"Ten years ago, it was almost unheard of that a black person would come in and want to convert," said Rabbi Ilan Feldman, who is working with the Harrises and two other black people pursuing conversion.

Add to Newsvine
Add to StumbleUpon



Yes, the Blacks are being awaken, here is another website of black history.
www.authenticjews.com
authenticjews is not a jewish site. That is a Messianic site. Those who are jewish do not believe that Jesus or Yeshua is the messiah. This is a Christian site posing as a jewish one.
Why do you permit lies to be posted on your page? We are not Christians, and it is utterly insulting for one to make such accusations.
I'm a little confused. This article seems to be written from an Ashkenazic perspective? There are Ethiopian Jews in Israel (a category that doesn't fit so neatly into the Ashkenazic/Sephardic distinction). The three great waves of migration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel happened with Operation Moses, Solomon and Elijah. I've read about some of the cultural clashes Ethiopian Jews face in Israel, since the majority speak Amharic, not Hebrew....
concerning theMt DNa.. she should not have to convert speaking from a purely scientific perspective. Mt-DNA is from the woman passed down from woman to woman to woman virtually unchanged in some aspects. this is the most authentic of tracer anyone can get to prove their lineage.
it s so funny that the ashkenazim are the ones trying to call the shots and say who is and who is not jewish. even the first known jew Abraham .. was a convert in essence. so where the ashkenazim. to become a jew is adopting a way of life and set of beliefs different from your neighbors, taking on the yoke of heaven being a light onto the world. etc etc etc
. I come from a long line of jewish people as far as we know more than 11 generations. some are still observant some have converted to catholicism, seventh day adventist, and other from of christian worship because society deemed that they should be christians as they could not possibly be jews.
according to halacha i am jewish and surprise BLACK. black and Jewish should not be regarded as mutually exclusive but mutually inclusive very possible and taken upon seriously.
. do not fool yourselves ashkenazim your Jewish ancestors were not white they were on the opposite end.. and definitely a different hue than what the world / society has been told what jews are supposed to look like all together.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.