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Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism
This volume explores the myriad ways in which African American religions have encountered Jewish traditions, beliefs, and spaces. In contrast to previous works, which have typically focused on the social and political relationship between blacks and Jews, Black Zion places religion at the center of its discussion, thereby illuminating a critically important but little explored aspect of black-Jewish relations in America. The essays gathered here examine groups such as the Nation of Islam and the Hebrew Israelites, individuals such as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Abraham Joshua Heschel, and topics such as the transformation of synagogue space into African American churches and the symbolic role of the Jew in the Haitian religious imagination. This collection draws on sacred texts, interviews, and ethnographic and archival research to discuss the shared elements in black and Jewish sacred life, as well as the development and elaboration of new religious identities by African
Americans.
Featuring contributions from a group of renowned scholars and writers, this groundbreaking volume reveals a great deal about both African American religions and the meaning of Judaism in the contemporary world. It is essential reading for students of religion, history, cultural studies, black studies, and American studies.
Americans.
Featuring contributions from a group of renowned scholars and writers, this groundbreaking volume reveals a great deal about both African American religions and the meaning of Judaism in the contemporary world. It is essential reading for students of religion, history, cultural studies, black studies, and American studies.
256 pages, Paperback
First published December 16, 1999
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104 people want to read
About the author
Yvonne Patricia Chireau
3 books12 followersYvonne Chireau is a Professor of Religion at Swarthmore College.
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August 3, 2020
This was like life changing amazing. It took me forever to get through because it is a tough read, but it is so worth reading, especially for the last three essays (Heschel and King, Cleveland synagogues, and Haiti.) And so relevant right now (even if I borrowed it long before a lot of this came to the forefront of the national conversation.)
August 8, 2024
AN EXCELLENT COLLECTION OF ESSAYS ABOUT VARIOUS GROUPS, ETC.
In the Introduction to this 2000 book, the editors explain, “[This book] grows out of a joint interest in religious diversity and a deep concern over the absence of religion in conversations involving blacks and Jews in American society. This book addresses shared elements in black and Jewish sacred life, as well as the development and elaboration of new religious identities by African Americans. These essays explore the creative ways that African Americans have interacted with Jewish beliefs, Jewish traditions, and Jewish institutions. Black religious encounters with Judaism… have produced a spectrum of forms that are as varied and complex as the religious experience itself. [This book] does not purport to be a book on ‘black-Jewish relations’ as social scientists, academics, and politicians currently use that phrase. Nor is it particularly concerned with African American and Jewish ‘dialogues’ or ‘alliances,’ which, in our opinion, are paradigms with limited use for comprehending the interactions between the two groups… we seek to explore the critical role of religion in defining and shaping the relationship between the two peoples.” (Pg. 3)
They add, “The essays in this collection illustrate the fluid nature of cultural categories as well as the shifting meanings of race and ethnicity in the historical experiences of the African American people. By exploring the ways in which blacks have identified with and as Jews RELIGIOUSLY, this book problematizes the very category of ‘black-Jewish relations’ insofar as this term implies a dichotomous relationship. As the essays in this volume dramatically indicate ‘black’ and ‘Jewish’ are not mutually exclusive. Many individuals and communities in the United States have embraced both identities.” (Pg. 6)
Co-editor Yvonne Chireau observes, “With regard to the variety of religious encounters between African Americans and Judaism, we must consider two recurring themes. The first is analogies in the experiences of blacks and of the Jewish people, including their common histories of dispersion, bondage, persecution, and emancipation. These analogies facilitated the various adaptations of Judaism within black religion, including the adoption of the language and symbols of the Hebrew Scriptures, and the unique formulations of ritual within Afro-Jewish practices. The second theme concerns the self-delineation of black people as Jews, either by an inherited bicultural heritage or by its appropriation of Jewish accoutrements, underscoring the significance of Judaism as a viable source of black American identity. Although these themes may not represent all manifestations of the historical relationship between black religion and Judaism, they do acknowledge the convergence of these traditions, often occurring in experiences that are more complex and multifaceted than is suggested by the designation ‘black Jews.’” (Pg. 16)
She notes, “Rabbi Mordecai Herman, a member of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and organizer of the Moorish Zionist Temple of New York, was one of the first African Americans to endorse the establishment of a share homeland for black Jews and others in Palestine. Another African American rabbi, Arnold Josiah Ford was particularly active in the Garvey movement … Both Herman and Ford recruited Garveyites into their respective congregations, which included a sizeable contingent of West Indian immigrants. Racial exclusivism, informed by Garvey’s brand of black nationalism and the older ideas of Ethiopian destiny, came to be a dominant feature of African American Judaism during this formative period.” (Pg. 23)
Bernard J. Wolfson points out, “According to the Council of Jewish Federations’ 1990 National Jewish Population Survey, 2.4% of self-identified Jews, approximately 132,000, listed their race as black. A broader measure in the survey turned up 239,000 blacks who had some personal connection to Judaism… Still, many white Ashkenazi Jews resisted the idea that blacks could be Jewish. Virtually every member of the alliance complained of having been treated disrespectfully by white Jews who found it hard to accept the idea of a black face in synagogue or, worse yet, in the family. They had all been questioned at one time or another about their Jewishness.” (Pg. 38-39)
Merrill Singer explains, “Among the most distinctive African American sects that have claimed a Judaic identity is a group called the Black Hebrew Israelites. The uniqueness of this group lies in several factors, including its prominence in the mass media… its position at the nexus of African American/Jewish relations within the United States and between the United States and Israel, and its attempt to merge black Jewish identity and religious symbolism with the Return-to-Africa ideology that has been a major theme in African American culture since its inception… the Black Hebrew Israelite group migrated to Liberia in 1967 and then to Israel (which they define as part of Africa) several years later.” (Pg. 55)
He outlines, “The first efforts to organize distinct black Jewish congregations began just before or after the turn of the twentieth century… Although there is record of a number of African American members of southern Jewish congregations prior to and after the Civil War, there is no historic record that any of these individuals attempted to organize distinct black Jewish groups. Instead, the earliest black Jewish sects … who, as far as is known, lacked a clear-cut involvement with white Jewish congregations. The oldest known black Jewish sect was called the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations. Organized by … F.S. Cherry, the sect weas founded … in 1886… Cherry taught his followers that, in a vision, God called him to establish a church and bring to the world the message that the true descendants of the biblical Hebrews were African Americans… Cherry preached that white Jews were interlopers and frauds. What is probably the second oldest black Jewish group was called the Church of God and Saints of Christ. William S. Crowdy… was the founder… Crowdy proclaimed that he was called by God to lead his people back to their historic religion and identity… African Americans were described as heirs of the ten lost tribes of Israel, while white Jews were seen as the offspring of miscegenation with white Christians.” (Pg. 57-59)
He continues, “The early 1960s was a period of significant upsurge in attempts to reshape African American identity and culture, as well as a time of widespread expansion of alternative African-American religious orientations, nationalist sentiments, and African identification. It was also a period when a number of often competing black Jewish groups were active in the … African American neighborhoods of Chicago. Among these… was a group called the Abeta Hebrew Israel Cultural Center… Central to the ideology of the group … was a belief in African repatriation. To achieve this aim, the elders sought to acquire land grants in Africa for the eventual relocation of the group.” (Pg. 60)
He points out, “The ideology of the Black Hebrews offers a set of powerful symbols concerning the ‘true’ identity and divine mission of African Americans, conceptions that stand in sharp contrast to the damaging messages… that are incorporated into racist diatribe and conveyed more subtly… in a society the devalues, distrusts, and demeans African Americans.” (Pg. 63) He notes, “Ironically, while the ideology of the group affirms the legitimacy of internal inequality, Black Hebrew beliefs express profound rejection of the gross, racially biased disparities of U.S. society… While providing motivation to make dramatic life changes… Black Hebrew symbols offer a sense of personal salvation, a coherent explanation for painfully oppressive realities, and unfettered hope of future redemption.” (Pg. 69-70)
Ethan Michaeli observes, “The distinct identity forged by the Hebrew Israelites---visible in their beliefs, rituals, and lifestyle---fuses their particular interpretation of biblical religion with aspects of African American culture. Hebrew Israelite clothing, for example, combines West African styles with biblical traditions… The community considers its leader, Ben Ammi, to be the messiah and view themselves as locked in an apocalyptic struggle with the forces of evil. In this struggle the Hebrew Israelites play a biblically ordained, redemptive role and will eventually gather in the righteous to Jerusalem.” (Pg. 75)
Nathaniel Deutsch comments on Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, “Muhammad’s assertion that Orthodox Jews and Muslims may share food is not insignificant. Historically, the ability or inability to eat with members of another group had been one of the chief ways of establishing intergroup likeness or difference… By declaring that Orthodox Jews and Muslims are allowed to eat together while demonizing the eating habits of Christians, Muhammad suggests that the former groups are alike in a profound way while placing the latter group outside the pale.” (Pg. 98) Later, he suggests, “Muhammad’s position may have been influenced by practical considerations. In the late 1960s and early 1970s… finding meat that satisfied Muslim dietary considerations was not easy in many of America’s communities… The necessity of buying food from Orthodox Jews may have influenced Muhammed to adopt a positive attitude concerning their religious observance and character.” (Pg. 100-101)
Kathleen Malone O’Connor explains, “The Nubian Islamic Hebrews (NIH), also known as the Ansaaru Allah Community and currently as the Holy Tabernacle Ministries (HTM) is one of a number of African American Muslim movements that have generated new and indigenous forms of Islam in America. This community can best be understood within the black prophetic, millennial, and messianic traditions of the Moorish Science Temple (begun in 1915), the Nation of Islam (arising in the 1930s), and the Five Percent Nation of Gods and Earths (a youth group branching off from the Nation of Islam in the late 1960s).” (Pg. 118)
Susannah Heschel wrote, “The photograph of Abraham Joshua Heschel walking arm in arm with Martin Luther King, Jr., in the front row of the marchers at Selma has become an icon of American Jewish life, and of black-Jewish relations… The relationship between the two men began in January 1963 and was a genuine friendship of affection as well as a relationship of two colleagues working together in political causes.” (Pg. 168) Later, she adds, “Theologically as well as politically, King and Heschel recognized their own strong kinship. For each there was an emphatic stress on the dependence of the political on the spiritual, God on human society, the moral life on economic well-being… Their common understanding of the prophets and of the connections between faith and political engagement was the motivation that brought both men to speak out against the war in Vietnam, despite the political consequences.” (Pg. 181)
This very informative book will be “must reading” for those studying such Jewish/Hebrew groups within the African American community, as well as Black/Jewish relations.
In the Introduction to this 2000 book, the editors explain, “[This book] grows out of a joint interest in religious diversity and a deep concern over the absence of religion in conversations involving blacks and Jews in American society. This book addresses shared elements in black and Jewish sacred life, as well as the development and elaboration of new religious identities by African Americans. These essays explore the creative ways that African Americans have interacted with Jewish beliefs, Jewish traditions, and Jewish institutions. Black religious encounters with Judaism… have produced a spectrum of forms that are as varied and complex as the religious experience itself. [This book] does not purport to be a book on ‘black-Jewish relations’ as social scientists, academics, and politicians currently use that phrase. Nor is it particularly concerned with African American and Jewish ‘dialogues’ or ‘alliances,’ which, in our opinion, are paradigms with limited use for comprehending the interactions between the two groups… we seek to explore the critical role of religion in defining and shaping the relationship between the two peoples.” (Pg. 3)
They add, “The essays in this collection illustrate the fluid nature of cultural categories as well as the shifting meanings of race and ethnicity in the historical experiences of the African American people. By exploring the ways in which blacks have identified with and as Jews RELIGIOUSLY, this book problematizes the very category of ‘black-Jewish relations’ insofar as this term implies a dichotomous relationship. As the essays in this volume dramatically indicate ‘black’ and ‘Jewish’ are not mutually exclusive. Many individuals and communities in the United States have embraced both identities.” (Pg. 6)
Co-editor Yvonne Chireau observes, “With regard to the variety of religious encounters between African Americans and Judaism, we must consider two recurring themes. The first is analogies in the experiences of blacks and of the Jewish people, including their common histories of dispersion, bondage, persecution, and emancipation. These analogies facilitated the various adaptations of Judaism within black religion, including the adoption of the language and symbols of the Hebrew Scriptures, and the unique formulations of ritual within Afro-Jewish practices. The second theme concerns the self-delineation of black people as Jews, either by an inherited bicultural heritage or by its appropriation of Jewish accoutrements, underscoring the significance of Judaism as a viable source of black American identity. Although these themes may not represent all manifestations of the historical relationship between black religion and Judaism, they do acknowledge the convergence of these traditions, often occurring in experiences that are more complex and multifaceted than is suggested by the designation ‘black Jews.’” (Pg. 16)
She notes, “Rabbi Mordecai Herman, a member of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and organizer of the Moorish Zionist Temple of New York, was one of the first African Americans to endorse the establishment of a share homeland for black Jews and others in Palestine. Another African American rabbi, Arnold Josiah Ford was particularly active in the Garvey movement … Both Herman and Ford recruited Garveyites into their respective congregations, which included a sizeable contingent of West Indian immigrants. Racial exclusivism, informed by Garvey’s brand of black nationalism and the older ideas of Ethiopian destiny, came to be a dominant feature of African American Judaism during this formative period.” (Pg. 23)
Bernard J. Wolfson points out, “According to the Council of Jewish Federations’ 1990 National Jewish Population Survey, 2.4% of self-identified Jews, approximately 132,000, listed their race as black. A broader measure in the survey turned up 239,000 blacks who had some personal connection to Judaism… Still, many white Ashkenazi Jews resisted the idea that blacks could be Jewish. Virtually every member of the alliance complained of having been treated disrespectfully by white Jews who found it hard to accept the idea of a black face in synagogue or, worse yet, in the family. They had all been questioned at one time or another about their Jewishness.” (Pg. 38-39)
Merrill Singer explains, “Among the most distinctive African American sects that have claimed a Judaic identity is a group called the Black Hebrew Israelites. The uniqueness of this group lies in several factors, including its prominence in the mass media… its position at the nexus of African American/Jewish relations within the United States and between the United States and Israel, and its attempt to merge black Jewish identity and religious symbolism with the Return-to-Africa ideology that has been a major theme in African American culture since its inception… the Black Hebrew Israelite group migrated to Liberia in 1967 and then to Israel (which they define as part of Africa) several years later.” (Pg. 55)
He outlines, “The first efforts to organize distinct black Jewish congregations began just before or after the turn of the twentieth century… Although there is record of a number of African American members of southern Jewish congregations prior to and after the Civil War, there is no historic record that any of these individuals attempted to organize distinct black Jewish groups. Instead, the earliest black Jewish sects … who, as far as is known, lacked a clear-cut involvement with white Jewish congregations. The oldest known black Jewish sect was called the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations. Organized by … F.S. Cherry, the sect weas founded … in 1886… Cherry taught his followers that, in a vision, God called him to establish a church and bring to the world the message that the true descendants of the biblical Hebrews were African Americans… Cherry preached that white Jews were interlopers and frauds. What is probably the second oldest black Jewish group was called the Church of God and Saints of Christ. William S. Crowdy… was the founder… Crowdy proclaimed that he was called by God to lead his people back to their historic religion and identity… African Americans were described as heirs of the ten lost tribes of Israel, while white Jews were seen as the offspring of miscegenation with white Christians.” (Pg. 57-59)
He continues, “The early 1960s was a period of significant upsurge in attempts to reshape African American identity and culture, as well as a time of widespread expansion of alternative African-American religious orientations, nationalist sentiments, and African identification. It was also a period when a number of often competing black Jewish groups were active in the … African American neighborhoods of Chicago. Among these… was a group called the Abeta Hebrew Israel Cultural Center… Central to the ideology of the group … was a belief in African repatriation. To achieve this aim, the elders sought to acquire land grants in Africa for the eventual relocation of the group.” (Pg. 60)
He points out, “The ideology of the Black Hebrews offers a set of powerful symbols concerning the ‘true’ identity and divine mission of African Americans, conceptions that stand in sharp contrast to the damaging messages… that are incorporated into racist diatribe and conveyed more subtly… in a society the devalues, distrusts, and demeans African Americans.” (Pg. 63) He notes, “Ironically, while the ideology of the group affirms the legitimacy of internal inequality, Black Hebrew beliefs express profound rejection of the gross, racially biased disparities of U.S. society… While providing motivation to make dramatic life changes… Black Hebrew symbols offer a sense of personal salvation, a coherent explanation for painfully oppressive realities, and unfettered hope of future redemption.” (Pg. 69-70)
Ethan Michaeli observes, “The distinct identity forged by the Hebrew Israelites---visible in their beliefs, rituals, and lifestyle---fuses their particular interpretation of biblical religion with aspects of African American culture. Hebrew Israelite clothing, for example, combines West African styles with biblical traditions… The community considers its leader, Ben Ammi, to be the messiah and view themselves as locked in an apocalyptic struggle with the forces of evil. In this struggle the Hebrew Israelites play a biblically ordained, redemptive role and will eventually gather in the righteous to Jerusalem.” (Pg. 75)
Nathaniel Deutsch comments on Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, “Muhammad’s assertion that Orthodox Jews and Muslims may share food is not insignificant. Historically, the ability or inability to eat with members of another group had been one of the chief ways of establishing intergroup likeness or difference… By declaring that Orthodox Jews and Muslims are allowed to eat together while demonizing the eating habits of Christians, Muhammad suggests that the former groups are alike in a profound way while placing the latter group outside the pale.” (Pg. 98) Later, he suggests, “Muhammad’s position may have been influenced by practical considerations. In the late 1960s and early 1970s… finding meat that satisfied Muslim dietary considerations was not easy in many of America’s communities… The necessity of buying food from Orthodox Jews may have influenced Muhammed to adopt a positive attitude concerning their religious observance and character.” (Pg. 100-101)
Kathleen Malone O’Connor explains, “The Nubian Islamic Hebrews (NIH), also known as the Ansaaru Allah Community and currently as the Holy Tabernacle Ministries (HTM) is one of a number of African American Muslim movements that have generated new and indigenous forms of Islam in America. This community can best be understood within the black prophetic, millennial, and messianic traditions of the Moorish Science Temple (begun in 1915), the Nation of Islam (arising in the 1930s), and the Five Percent Nation of Gods and Earths (a youth group branching off from the Nation of Islam in the late 1960s).” (Pg. 118)
Susannah Heschel wrote, “The photograph of Abraham Joshua Heschel walking arm in arm with Martin Luther King, Jr., in the front row of the marchers at Selma has become an icon of American Jewish life, and of black-Jewish relations… The relationship between the two men began in January 1963 and was a genuine friendship of affection as well as a relationship of two colleagues working together in political causes.” (Pg. 168) Later, she adds, “Theologically as well as politically, King and Heschel recognized their own strong kinship. For each there was an emphatic stress on the dependence of the political on the spiritual, God on human society, the moral life on economic well-being… Their common understanding of the prophets and of the connections between faith and political engagement was the motivation that brought both men to speak out against the war in Vietnam, despite the political consequences.” (Pg. 181)
This very informative book will be “must reading” for those studying such Jewish/Hebrew groups within the African American community, as well as Black/Jewish relations.
October 19, 2022
The story of how a group of Chicago African Americans began to worship as Jews, then up and moved to a bunch of tents in the woods in Liberia before settling in the Negev in Israel, and how that worked out for them, is the jaw-dropping page-turner that takes up most of part one. Part two takes a refreshingly sympathetic view of the NOI’s Elijah Muhammad and his biblical exegesis, drawing parallels to Gnosis, before tackling Farrakhan. This is a well-worn source of discomfort for me. I even read “the secret history...” back when that came out. Part two concludes with the best overview of Malachi Z. York and the Nuwaubians that I have ever seen, although a lot has happened to those cats since this book came out. After a look at the shortest person in the bible, knee-high Meier, Part three moves in to the relatively friendly waters that MLK parted, revealing how he and rabbi Heschel influenced each other. I enjoyed that a great deal. The very last article is about Haiti and it gave me nightmares.
What an absolutely amazing treasure of a book! Read it immediately!
What an absolutely amazing treasure of a book! Read it immediately!
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