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january / february 2007:
A
letter from the editor
By Benyamin Cohen | Photo by Sam Norval
Yesterday, my wife and I were dining at a kosher restaurant here in Atlanta and in walked a Chasidic man. With his long black coat, curly sidelocks, long beard, and black hat, he looked like your typical Chasid. Except for one thing: He was African American.
“Darn it,” I said, turning to my wife. “Had I met this guy a month ago, we could’ve included him in our special black issue.”
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) that type of occurrence happened time and again as we were preparing our first ever issue devoted to celebrating black Jewry. During the planning stages of this issue, as word spread about the nature of our story lineup, our inboxes filled with suggestions of black Jews to cover. The long list, which started with the handful of black Jews who belong to the two synagogues I attend, was growing rapidly. And all of them were interesting. Indeed the beauty of a black Jew, from a narrative perspective, is that they all, almost without failure, have intriguing stories to tell. We encountered so many that we couldn’t fit them all into this one issue.
So please don’t think of this, by any stretch of the imagination, as the comprehensive guide to black Jews. Merely consider this issue (which coincides with black history month) as a kickoff of many black Jewish stories to come. (So stay tuned for our upcoming fascinating feature on the Thanksgiving we spent with the prince of the polygamous cult of the African Hebrew Israelites which ended up being way too long for the pages allotted to it this month.) And many of our devoted readers will note that we have already been covering black Jews — doing previous stories on black Jewish supermodel Esti Mamo, black Jewish rapper Y-Love, and featuring a photo essay on Ethiopian Jews making aliyah to Israel — since the inception of the magazine.
Perhaps more than any other subgroup of Jews, black members of the tribe know what it’s like to be a minority within a minority. They usually only get treated as oddities. But that’s a shame since they are such a vibrant part of the tapestry of American Jewry. I myself first encountered them at my Jewish high school. This particular black Jewish family were actually kohanim (from the priestly caste), a true rarity in Jewish circles. As naïve teenagers we first saw them as oddities, but soon realized and welcomed the rich diversity they — and other black Jews — bring to our community. Their dual identities, and the way they balance them, is inspiring.
Ever since, I’ve made a point to surround myself with black Jews. I had the pleasure firsthand to witness Joshua Nelson (page 50), the prince of kosher gospel, transform Hebrew prayers into a melodic adventure that would awaken even the most die-hard atheist. And I’ve struck up a friendship with fellow magazine editor Ray Roker (page 30), who helped conceive of the idea for this issue over a meal we shared at a Manhattan eatery. And since meeting former Dutch soap star turned Orthodox Jewess Mischa Van Schet, I’ve been going through my Rolodex trying to set her up with a nice Jewish boy. Maybe JDate needs to add a category for black Jews.
After lunch, I handed my business card to the black Chasid and told him to expect a call. His 15 minutes of fame are coming soon.
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