“She Did Convert (Don’t They All?)”

Update: Ruth Zafrin was found dead in her apartment on 29 March 2011.

As an Orthodox Jewish Convert who arrived at my religious and spiritual home through a singularly unique path I find comments such as the one made by “BettyBotox” so stereotypical.  I am speaking of the recent mayhem surrounding Sunda Croonquist Zafrin’s comedic routine about her New Jersey Jewish in-laws. This commentary is written neither to defend nor criticize how Sunda Croonquist-Zafrin makes her living.

I recently became acquainted with Sunda through the media exposure of the lawsuit brought against her by her in-laws.  She subsequently reached out to thank me for addressing this topic in my blog, and to inform me that she did not convert for marriage. She was a Jew long before she met and married her husband, and now like so many of us; she is balancing her family obligations, a demanding career, her responsibilities as a Jewish woman, as well as the burden that many of us have to carry regarding our faith.

There are several blogs and groups devoted to the discussion of what it means to be a Jew of Color (JOC) in the United States.  I follow Aliza Hausman’s Memoirs of a Jewminicana, because she is an Orthodox JOC, and I find her perspective on the Orthodox Jewish religious experience more closely aligned to mine. However, as with many issues regarding race, ethnicity, and cultural identity; I consciously choose to embrace my multi-ethnic, multi-national, and multi-religious identity and background; which means that I am cognizant of these concerns, but choose not to be exclusively defined by them.

It is exactly because of my varied experiences, and in particular, my unique history of being born into one religion, forcibly converted into another, and then choosing to be an Orthodox Jew, that I am able to skim along the surface of the cauldron of emotions that entrap most people trying to process, catalogue and pigeon-hole the individuals whom they encounter or read about.  I have come to learn that it is less about the individuals being assessed, than the assessor attempting to bring order to their internal landscape by defining how the world should operate.

One of the questions that I often get from Jews and non-Jews alike, is why I would choose to adopt a religious identity whose adherents are often persecuted and reviled, especially since I am a person of color.

Implicit in the question, is the unspoken statement, “isn’t being black hard enough?!”

I am not a religious authority, nor knowledgeable about arcane points of Halachah (the legal part of Talmudic literature, and the interpretation of the laws of the Scriptures) beyond what is required for me to maintain a proper, Kosher Jewish home for myself and my son; and to live correctly within my chosen community of Orthodox Jewry.  With regard to religious matters, I refer to my Orthodox Rabbi, or my mother who is an ordained Baptist minister, or to my knowledge of growing up in Africa as a Muslim.

I am not concerned with the “Jewishness” of other converts i.e. what stream they converted under, or whether they are “real” Jews.  I leave that battle to my Rabbi, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, and the individuals who choose to marry us.  As my best friend Shlomit wisely told me, “you are not a black Jew, a divorced Jew, a woman Jew, you are a JEW!  When you come to recognize yourself as a remarkable human being who happens to be Jewish, then the world will open to you.”

The world is open to all human beings, if we will just embrace ourselves, our unique journeys and stories, and come to terms with the fact that as my mother said, “we are all living on this little, blue marble suspended in space, and for the moment we have no other place to go, so we might as well get up and get along.”

As I continue to blog and write my memoir, this will probably be the last time that I visit this issue in such a direct manner.  However, for those who are interested, I have provided a brief, though not exhaustive list of “African/African-American/Black/Colored” Jews.  I hope that it will encourage my readers to learn more about Judaism, and in the process, promote greater tolerance; because not every Jew converts for marriage.  I certainly did NOT!

List of Black Jews [1]

There are a number of traditional Black African communities that practice Judaism, the most prominent of which are the Beta Israel of Ethiopia. Furthermore, the often overlapping histories of Blacks and Jews in the 20th century (e.g. in the Civil Rights Movement and the development of popular music) have led to a significant number of Black Jews in North America and Europe, mostly of mixed-race heritage or converts. Estimates of the American Black Jewish population range from 40,000 (according to the Encyclopedia of Black America) to 500,000 (according to an article in Ascent Magazine).

On 18 May 2010 The Jerusalem Post published an article titled “Following their true paths” and “South African Beauty Queen’s conversion mirrors Ruth’s.“  Both articles feature women of African descent, who like the Biblical Ruth, undertook the arduous process of conversion.

These women’s stories, though each unique, relate a common theme of racism against Jews of Color living in Israel and the Diaspora.  Another interesting perspective of this issue can be read on the Jewish Federation of North America’s website in an article titled, “Black Jews:  A Minority Within a Minority“.

Click on the link Who is a Jew to read about the determinant factors for who is and who is not considered a Jew.

Click on this link to read about the proposed bill by the Israeli Knesset that would narrowly define Judaism according to a specific ultra-Orthodox strand.

Read more: http://life.nationalpost.com/2010/07/23/critics-fear-proposed-israeli-bill-would-end-law-of-return/#ixzz0uu06YZqO

The following is a list of some prominent Black Jews.

• Sunda Croonquist-Zafrin , comedian (converted)

• Goapele, vocalist (Jewish mother)

• Darrin Bell, cartoonist (Jewish mother)

• Lisa Bonet, actress (Jewish mother)

• Nell Carter, actress & singer (converted)

• Sammy Davis Jr., entertainer (converted)

• Anthony Ervin, Olympic swimming champion (Jewish mother)

• La-ka Fatien, jazz singer (Jewish mother)

• Aneesa Ferreira, reality tv contestant (Jewish mother)

• Aaron Freeman, journalist & comedian (converted)

• Lani Guinier, law professor (Jewish mother)

• Ben Harper, guitarist (Jewish mother) Listen to Music

• Rashida Jones, actress (Jewish mother)

• Yaphet Kotto, actor (Jewish mother)

• Jamaica Kincaid, author (converted)

• Oona King, British MP (Jewish mother)

• Julius Lester, children’s writer and academic (converted)

• James McBride, writer & composer (Jewish mother)

• Elliott Maddox, baseball player (converted)

• Walter Mosley, author (Jewish mother)

• Marvin Pontiac, R&B singer (Jewish mother)

• Rain Pryor, actress (Jewish mother)

• Joshua Redman, saxophonist (Jewish mother)

• Rowetta Satchell, singer (Jewish mother)

• Khleo Thomas, actor (Jewish mother)

• Robin Washington, Journalist (Jewish mother)

• Jamila Wideman, basketball player (Jewish mother)

• Jackie Wilson, soul singer (converted)

Source: The Indological Knowledgebase