Black and Jewish in Newark
Newark’s Congregation Ahavas Sholom marked the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday with a keynote address Sunday on King and Heschel by Rabbi Capers Funnye, who has become the nation’s most prominent African-American rabbi in part thanks to the fact that he’s Michelle Obama’s first cousin, once-removed.
But it’s not just the Obama connection that distinguishes Funnye: Among the black Jewish leaders of the Hebrew Israelite movement, Funnye has been the most prominent in building a bridge between his movement and Judaism’s white mainstream.
Sunday’s event stood at the juncture between two worlds, and maybe more. Ahavas Sholom is Newark’s last functioning synagogue, after its one mighty Jewish population migrated and then fled west from the 1950s on.
Congregants, nearly all of whom commute from the suburbs, are driven to keep at least one small ember of the city’s fabled Jewish community burning, and to build connections between two communities – black and Jewish — strictly segregated by geography and socio-economics.
All of which makes for fascinating optics: A bimah at which sat Newark’s black power-brokers, including City Council President Donald Payne Jr., former council presdient Mildred Crump, and the veteran lawyer and civil rights activist Junius Williams. The big crowd, meanwhile, which spilled over into the Clinton Memorial AME Zion Church next door, was a mix of older white suburbanites, Ahavas Sholom’s own diverse congregation, and black church-goers from the city.
Funnye himself preached in the cadences of the black church, quoting both Heschel and King, working himself into a sweat and allowing his voice to swing from a low quiet baritone to a shout. At the climax, he repeated the phrase “What would Martin say,” and listed contemporary evils like anti-Semitism, Islamic terror, Islamophobia, the suffering in Haiti.
”We must become one people for truth, for justice, for righteousness, for all people,” he said, before reciting the Priestly Blessing in Hebrew and English.
Blacks in the audience responded with “Yes,” and “Amen,” and emphatic “Uh-huhs.” The Jews applauded politely. Folks sitting behind me were themselves black Jews, reciting the Hebrew along with Rabbi Funnye.
It was beautiful stuff, and world’s removed from the typical sermon in the typical synagogue, and an easy mixing of black and Jews you’ll see in no other house of worship or — well, almost anywhere, actually. Just like the Ahavas Sholom project itself, it was beautiful and a little sad, highlighting the absence of the very thing it sought to celebrate.
Yes, the Jewish community is becoming more diverse, thanks to conversion, adoptions, and mixed marriages, among other things. Funnye himself is a principal at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research in San Francisco, the late Gary Tobin’s effort to promote diversity within Jewish life. And there are a number of Jews who remain deeply invested in Newark, working in the schools, at the universities, in politics, and community organizing.
But many at the event acknowledged the deep divide between city and suburb. In the panel discussion that followed Funnye’s remarks, Cornell Brooks of the NJ Institute for Social Justice noted that NJ is among the most segregated states in the country, and spoke of the social costs when people “don’t live near one another, don’t shop at the same grocery stores, or send their kids to the same schools.” Absent these interactions, he said, “opportunities for ethical and moral dialogue are diminished.” We forget “the degree to which we are indebted to one another.”
Rutgers historian Clement Price also spoke about the “racially Balkanized” state, and “the policies intended to separate us. We’re paying dearly for that now.”
Sunday wasn’t a day for discussing political solutions, but Price did speak of one way blacks and Jews can reach across the chasm. Earlier in the program, Payne talked about swimming at the High Street YMHA as a kid. “We need to keep our memories alive. Earlier Donald Payne spoke about swimming in a Jewish space,” said Price. “We need to remember a time when this city was cross-fertilized in it public schools , when its communities were remarkably safe and sound.” He remembered Newark as a “strivers’ row, where everybody was trying to move up.” Price proposed the appointment of a Deputy Mayor of Memory, who would be in charge of recalling this “cacophony of people “and fight the “amnesia.”
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JustASC is written by Andrew Silow-Carroll, Editor-in-Chief of the 
January 18th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Thank you, Andy, for this piece, which really captures the feel and significance of the event. Rabbi Funnye, Clem Price and Cornell Brooks were energizing and inspiring, and I hope they’ve inspired all those present at the event to become more actively committed to tikkun olam and tzedakah.
January 18th, 2011 at 10:20 pm
Thank you, Andy, for capturing and publicizing the essences of this event. It feels like an insightful and accurate depiction of Sunday’s event. I especially like your phrase, “preached in the cadences of the black church,” which Rabbi Funnye definitely did, and did well. It was very strengthening to hear a ‘gehenna, fire & brimstone’ rabbi who authentically loves and respects Judaism.
I’d also just note how ingrained the view of Jews as not-black is: even in your writing you noted that “Blacks in the audience responded with “Yes,” and “Amen,” and emphatic “Uh-huhs.” The Jews applauded politely.” Then you mentioned the Black Jews as if that was a third category, the category that is neither “Black” nor “Jewish” but rather more a subset of both. It’s a journey, indeed, and your piece is eloquently compassionate. Please visit us at Ahavas Sholom again soon!
January 19th, 2011 at 12:06 am
It was a truly emotional event, recapturing the lost community of Blacks & Jews who fought together during the early days of the civil rights movement.
Somehow, we lost that sense of community along the way.
Ahavas Sholom, led by Eric Freedman, is becoming a leading voice in recapturing that spirit.
January 19th, 2011 at 10:27 am
I believe you’ve captured the uniqueness, the greatness and significance of this historic event when you wrote, “Sunday’s event stood at the juncture between two worlds, and maybe more…. an easy mixing of black and Jews you’ll see in no other house of worship or — well, almost anywhere, actually…. Folks sitting behind me were themselves black Jews, reciting the Hebrew along with Rabbi Funnye.”
You’ve made clear that this event, shed a whole new light regarding the progressive relationships between ‘Blacks’ and Jews; which is more than apropos considering modern isms and stereotypes. Wonderful stuff Andy!
January 19th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
It was indeed an honor to be at Ahavas Sholom to see and hear Rabbi Funnye. As an African American cleric here in the city of Newark it is important that we continue to build bridges of reconciliation and understanding. Together we need to knock down the walls of bigotry and ignorance. This will only take place when we are willing to work together throughout the year and not just for one day in January. I stand ready to do that, we await your reply
January 19th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
This kehillah kedosha (holy congregation) is a dugma (example) for all of us. Instead of folding and closing their doors when the face of the community changed, they opened their doors even wider to all and are stronger for it. I am proud to be counted as one of their friends.
January 25th, 2011 at 12:36 am
I had the good fortune to attend this event and hear Rabbi Funnye’s powerful speech. It was a joy to be, for once, in a diverse audience of Jews of all colors. I think that Mr. Silow-Carroll means well with this piece, but he can’t help but keep trotting out the same old racial profiles no matter how hard he tries.
Rabbi Funnye’s affiliation, the Ethiopian Hebrews (E.H.) are marginalized, compared to “white mainstream Judaism.” Really? If you’re “mainstream,” it naturally follows that you’re White? Further down, Silow-Carroll refers to “Blacks in the audience responding with Amens, while the Jews applauded politely.” Can we get more stereotypical? All that’s missing here is a little minstrel dance.
He does allow that there were some Black Jews in the audience and that the “Jewish community is becoming more diverse through conversion, adoptions and mixed marriages.” Once again there’s the assumption that “original” Judaism is White Judaism, and the Brown Jews are the converted or adopted ones. I imagine the Sephardic community may have something to say about that — never mind the B’nai Menashe Jews of India, the Falasha of Ethiopia, the Igbo of Nigeria or the Sefi-Wiawso of Ghana.
Or the Ethiopian Hebrews themselves. Up in the balcony — standing in the gallery because the synagogue was full and they wouldn’t sit in the church next door — were the most ultra-orthodox Jews at the event. These kosher-keeping, Hebrew-speaking, Torah-quoting, all-day-Shabbat praying people — most have been Jews for generations — would put most “white mainstream” Jews to shame when it comes to serious observance. But, here in New York, they’re still not recognized as Jews by the “official” arbiters of Judaism, the Board of Rabbis.
Or, apparently, by most American Ashkenazim, who, even in this day, still seem to feel that “Jewish” equals “White.” (Do we need a reminder that Jews themselves weren’t considered White by the Christian community until just a few decades ago? And many of them still have doubts.)
Perhaps, when we talk about honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, we need to put our own house in order first.