These Are My Names

Ethiopian Jews’ multiple names reflect the richness, wisdom and beauty of their culture — and every name tells a story. In the film, young Ethiopian Israelis share their journeys toward their names: stories of love and connection, survival and loss, anger and pride. The characters’ original names – changed without their consent upon arrival in Israel – take them back to their childhoods in mountain villages, to the hunger and fear in Sudan, to longing for loved ones who died or disappeared on the journey to Israel, to denial of their identity…and reclamation of their roots.

Black Over White

The concert in Addis Ababa is not just another performance by the Idan Raichel Project, but a journey back to the homeland of two of the Project’s lead singers, Cabra Casay and Avi Vograss Vesa.

The film raises questions about identity and seeks to reawaken the pain of immigration, which is still there even after so many years, rekindling the authenticity and bond to the place that will exist forever in their minds and hearts.

Caravan 841

Moshe, an 11 year-old Ethipian boy, lives in dwindling “Atidim” caravan site in the Wester Galilee and is awaiting the arrival of his mother from Ethiopia. She will not arrive and he is torn between Aharon, a 60-year-old repentant Jew who teaches him Torah, and Walter – an impulsive African American saxsophone player who has a jazz club at the edge of the site. Aharon gives Moshe a magic box and promises him that it will bring his mother to Israel. Walter gives Moshe the strength to believe only in himself.

The Name My Mother Gave Me

“The Name My Mother Gave Me” is a film about growth and self discovery. We follow Ethiopian and Russian Israelis who meet at a leadership training program in Israel. Their year of learning culminates in a journey to Ethiopia where the Ethiopian born participants return to their native villages and confront their roots. Though, back home in Israel, all the participants would consider themselves members of the fringes of Israeli society, in the highlands of the Ethiopian landscape they discover the universality of their experiences and their shared commitment to their new home in Israel. How will this journey transform them?

I Had a Dream

As a young boy, born into a closed and isolated community in Ethiopia, far from the centers of the Jewish world, Yona Bugale was brought to Europe, where he discovered his common heritage with the Jewish people. Yona Bugale himself did not live to see the realization of his dream and life’s work, yet he worked ceaselessly as a teacher and community leader, promoting connections with the State of Israel and with Jewish organizations, in order to prevent the possible destruction of Ethiopian Jewry.

Based on rare archival material, the film’s aim is to expose and preserve not only an extraordinary life story, but also, to give expression to the complexity of the Ethiopian aliyah and of their absorption in Israel .

All movies and documentaries can be purchased at: Ruth Diskin Films:

Ruth Diskin Films continues to offer a wide, in depth view, of one of the most compelling places on earth – a kaleidoscope of Israeli society, as well as films with strong Jewish content, made by leading documentary filmmakers world-wide.

Queen Esther ~ Painting by John Cox

Click to hear: She said NO to the King (A gift of song in celebration of Purim from Rabbi Rayzel & MIRAJ)

by Rita Golden Gelman, Brilliantly Illustrated by Frané Lessac

Long, long ago, a poor young Jewish woman named Esther is chosen, Cinderella-style, to be the Queen of Persia. But while her new husband, King Ahasuerus, drinks, eats, and plays, his dastardly prime minister, Hamen, schemes.

Infuriated by Esther’s cousin Mordecai’s refusal to bow down before him (“I am a Jew,” said Mordecai, “and Jews do not bow down to human beings”), Hamen vows that Mordecai, along with every Jew in Persia, will be killed. Ahasuerus is too distracted by his card games to pay much attention to Hamen’s decree, so it is up to Esther to save her people. Risking all, she approaches her hot-tempered husband (who did not know until now that Esther herself is Jewish) to see what can be done. Luckily, Esther’s courage and cleverness prevail.

Twenty-five hundred years later, Jews all over the world still celebrate Purim, a noisy, lighthearted holiday to commemorate the days when sorrow turned into joy.

Happy Purim!

It is customary to prepare and enjoy a festive meal on Purim, complete with wine, challah, and dessert. The traditional Ashkenazi pastry for Purim is Hamantashen. Queen Esther foiled Haman’s plans to murder the kingdom’s Jews. The pastries look like either pockets or the hat of of Haman and symbolizes his deceitfulness. As you eat the pastry, you “destroy” Haman’s secret deceit.

Hamantaschen

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1 1/3 cups plus 4 teaspoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Various jams (raspberry, blackberry, apricot, or prepared fillings such as poppy seed or prune pastry filing)

Cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add sugar and mix for one minute longer, then egg, vanilla extract, orange zest and salt, mixing until combined. Finally, add the flour. The mixture should come together and be a tad sticky. If it feels too wet, add an additional tablespoon of flour.

Form dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

To form the hamantaschen, roll out the dough on a well-floured surface until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter (3 inches is traditional, but very large; I used one that was 2 1/2 inches), cut the dough into circles. Spoon a teaspoon of you filling of choice in the center. Fold the dough in from three sides and firmly crimp the corners and give them a little twist to ensure they stay closed. Leave the filling mostly open in the center. Bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool on racks. Resist the urge to try a still-hot one unless a jam-burnt tongue is as much of your Purim tradition as are these cookies. Enjoy! Freilichen Purim!

Purim Customs From Around the World

Germany
On Purim eve, torches containing gunpowder would be ignited. During the Megillah reading, the gunpowder exploded with a deafening noise. In one town in Germany, on the eve of Purim, two candles would be lit in the synagogue. One was called “Haman” and the other “Zeresh” (Haman’s wife). The candles were allowed to burn down completely, and were not extinguished. Thus should the haters of Israel be burnt. Doll-shaped cakes, called “Haman”, were also prepared. The children would cut off the doll’s head and eat it with great glee.

Italy
The youngsters would divide into two camps and throw nuts at each other. The adults rode through the streets of the town on horseback, with cypress branches in their hands. They also placed an effigy of Haman in a high place, and encircled it, to the sound of trumpets.

France
Children used to take smooth stones, write or engrave Haman’s name on them, and strike them together during the Megillah reading whenever Haman’s name was mentioned, in order to erase it, in compliance with the verse: “I shall surely wipe out the memory of Amalek”.

Salonika
“Haman-shaped” cakes were baked on the eve of “Shabbat Zachor”, and placed on the window ledges until the festive Purim meal. During the meal, the cakes were sliced so that participants could fulfill the precept “And they shall devour Haman with open mouth”.

Algeria
Many wax candles were lit for the Purim meal; children were invited to light the candles as on Hanukkah.

Egypt
The young men rode through the Jewish street on horsebacks, camels and asses, in memory of the verse “and they brought him on horseback through the street of the city”.

Persia
The children prepared a large effigy of Haman, and filled its clothes with gunpowder. In the middle of the courtyard, they set up a large stick, from which they “hung” Haman. They then threw oil over the effigy and set it alight.

Rhodes
The men also participated in the great tumult, stamping their feet loudly during the Megillah reading.

Tunisia
All the schoolchildren participated in burning an effigy of Haman. The younger children made small “Hamans” out of paper, and the older children made a large “Haman” out of rags, old clothes and straw. All the townspeople gathered by the school. A large bonfire was prepared and everyone stood round it. By turn, all the children went up and threw the “Hamans” they had made into the fire. They then beat the burning “Haman” with special sticks that they had prepared in honor of Purim. After all the “Hamans” had been thrown on the fire, salt and sulfur were added. All the participants stood round the fire, hitting the burning Haman with sticks and shouting “Long live Mordechai, cursed be Haman, blessed be Esther, cursed be Zeresh”.

Libya
The youngsters threw an effigy of Haman into the fire and jumped over the fire, competing to see who could jump highest.

In Bukhara
The ground would usually be covered with snow at Purim time. A large snow-Haman was built next to the synagogue. This Haman had a funny-shaped torso, long thick legs, like an elephant’s, a large head, eyes of charcoal, a carrot for a nose, and a piece of beetroot for the mouth. A “gold chain” made out of water melon peels was hung over the stomach as a symbol of office, and a broken pot was placed on the head.

After the meal, the whole community gathered round the Haman. A large fire was made around it of wood, rags and paper, and they stood and watched until Haman melted in the heat and disappeared, singing until it was completely melted.

Caucasus
The women prepared blackened wood by the kitchen fire. When the men came home after the Megillah reading, they would ask, what’s this, and the women would reply: Haman. The men then said: “burn him”, and the wood was immediately thrown into the fire.

Afghanistan
The children drew pictures of Haman on planks or cardboard. During the Megillah reading, the planks were thrown to the ground and trampled on, making a lot of noise. Wooden gloves (a kind of wooden sandals) were held in the hands and clapped together, also making a loud noise.

The synagogue carpets were taken up and the congregants trampled underneath them, in case Haman was hiding there.

Yemen
Even before Purim, the children of the “Heder” would set up two sticks “lengthwise and crosswise”, like a kind of cross, cover them and declare in a loud voice: “Haman the wicked.” This is the source of the Yemenite Jewish saying: “In Adar – we put up Haman crosses”.

In the Yemenite town of Asaddeh, it was customary to make a large effigy of Haman out of rags. This Haman was placed on a donkey and led by the children from house to house. Each householder gave the children sweetmeats, and beat, spat or even threw dirty water over the Haman on the donkey.

In some places in Yemen, the children used to put a kind of scarecrow in a wooden cart with a horse. Two beads were stuck into its head for eyes, a beard was attached, and it was dressed in colorful tattered clothes, and adorned with a kind of absurd decoration. The children placed the scarecrow on a wooden horse and preceded it, calling out: “thus shall be done to the wicked Haman”.

On the eve of Purim, they dragged the cart through the streets shouting: “Haman”, and dancing and singing: Here comes Haman Riding a lame horse He burst and exploded, woe to his mother, Here she comes.

The “Haman” was then hung from a high tree in the courtyard of the synagogue, where it was “abused” and taunted. Stones and “arrows” were hurled at it until it was torn to shreds. In some places Haman’s cross was left until the end of Purim, and then taken down and burnt. It was covered with kerosene and set alight. The participants departed only when nothing was left but dust and ashes.

Compiled from:
“Purim”, a manual edited by the Center for Fostering Jewish Awareness;
“Purim”, teaching material edited by Y. Frishman;
“Hag ve-Moed”, Rivka Tzadik;
“Festivals and Holidays in Education”, Dr. Yehuda Bergman

Hatikva initiative is seeking to unite the Jewish people and strengthen the ties between all Jews, whoever and wherever they are, thereby strengthening Herzl’s vision. The mission of Live Hatikva is to bridge gaps of language and distance between the Jewish people by celebrating together, in real time. The Hatikva initiative was launched by Galia Albin, with the aims of encouraging Schools, synagogues, youth groups, friends, families and individuals young and old around the world to learn the words and significance of the anthem, thus strengthening their connection with Israel and the Jewish people.

January 27 marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated this day as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD), an annual day of commemoration to honor the victims of the Nazi era. Every member nation of the U.N. has an obligation to honor the memory of Holocaust victims and develop educational programs as part of an international resolve to help prevent future acts of genocide. The U.N. resolution that created IHRD rejects denial of the Holocaust, and condemns discrimination and violence based on religion or ethnicity.

Rejecting any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, the General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution (A/RES/60/7) condemning “without reserve” all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, whenever they occur.

It decided that the United Nations would designate 27 January -– the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp — as an annual International Day of Commemoration to honour the victims of the Holocaust, and urged Member States to develop educational programmes to instil the memory of the tragedy in future generations to prevent genocide from occurring again, and requested the United Nations Secretary-General to establish an outreach programme on the “Holocaust and the United Nations”, as well as measures to mobilize civil society for Holocaust remembrance and education, in order to help prevent future acts of genocide.

The Holocaust was a turning point in history, which prompted the world to say “never again”". The significance of resolution A/RES/60/7 is that it calls for a remembrance of past crimes with an eye towards preventing them in the future.

Jewish Museum Berlin - Shalechet (“Fallen Leaves”) installation by Menashe Kadishman of Tel Aviv. Occupying a corner space called the “Memory Void”, it consists of 10,000 iron faces strewn thickly across the floor. The faces are coarsely stamped but full of expression, with mouths open in suffering. Visitors are permitted to walk on the work. Doing so creates a loud, “industrial” noise and is quite a unique and moving experience.

Personal Photo - Shalechet (“Fallen Leaves”) Jewish Museum Berlin 2007

If you are like most people, you simply have never heard the unbelievable story of Black victims of the Holocaust. You are invited to read about the human spirit’s triump over events that occurred during this horrible piece of hidden history.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

At the rising of the sun and at its going down
We remember them.
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter
We remember them.
At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring
We remember them.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer
We remember them.
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn
We remember them.
At the beginning of the year and when it ends
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us
as we remember them.

In 1948 nearly one million Jews lived in Arab lands.  But In barely twenty years, they have become forgotten fugitives, expelled from their native lands, forgotten by history and where the victims themselves have hidden their fate under a cloak of silence.A people whom legend have always associated with “wandering” many of these Jews from Arab lands had lived there for thousands of years and accepted their fate, through good times and bad times. For Related Posts go HERE:

The Silent Exodus by Pierre Rehov
Purchase documentary HERE

1922: King Abdulla Ibn Hussein of Transjordan sits under the watchful eyes of his Jewish bodyguards, Habanni Yemenite brothers Sayeed, Salaah, and Saadia Sofer.

“I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
~Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

From left, front row: Rabbi Abraham Heschel, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath (carrying the Torah), and Rabbi Everett Gendler.

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Dr. King’s Legacy and American Jewish Segregation: A Moment of Honesty
by Walter Isaac

Jews in Cuba (from the Encyclopedia Judaica)

“The first Jewish group to settle in Havana after Cuban independence (1902) came from the United States. They founded the United Hebrew Congregation in 1906. They were followed by Sephardim, mainly from Turkey, whose communal congregation, Shevet Ahim, was founded in 1914. In the 1920s thousands of Jews from Eastern Europe arrived in Cuba, hoping to use it as a stepping stone to the U.S. Many of them settled in Havana, where they founded the Centro Israelita (Jewish Center) in 1925, together with a large number of social, religious, cultural, and political organizations. In the late 1930s and during World War II Havana became a temporary haven for thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, using loopholes in Cuba’s immigration laws. In May 1939, however, Havana was the scene of the tragic episode of the S.S. *St. Louis, whose passengers were refused landing and were compelled to return to Europe, where many of them perished in extermination camps.

Following World War II the Havana community prospered both economically and socially. In 1951 the Ashkenazi community laid the cornerstone for the Patronato, a magnificent building that symbolized the social mobility and prosperity of Havana Jews. When the Sephardim inaugurated their Sephardi Center, Fidel Castro was already in power.

The Cuban revolution of 1959 marked the decline of Havana Jews. Following the nationalization of private business, around 90% of them emigrated from Cuba, most of them to the United States. The government respected the right of the Jewish community to continue its religious life, but the demographic decline, the emigration of lay and religious leaders, and the influence of the atheistic policy of the state had a growing impact on Jewish life. In 1973 Cuba severed its diplomatic relations with Israel, and the isolation of Havana Jews increased.”

Adio Kerida (Goodbye Dear Love)
A Film by Ruth Behar

Distinguished Anthropologist Ruth Behar returns to her native Cuba to profile the island’s remaining Sephardic Jews and chronicle her family’s journey to the U.S. as Cuban-Jewish exiles. Highlighting themes of expulsion and departure that are at the crux of the Sephardic legacy. If you want to purchase this documentary go to the following link: Women Make Movies (films by and about women)

For additional information on the Jews of Cuba see:

The Cuba-America Jewish Mission (The CAJM)

Cuba – The Virtual Jewish History Tour

B’nai B’rith International Cuban Jewish Relief Project

The Jews of Cuba

Mission to Cuba: The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Southeast Region

Frituras de Malanga

2 medium malanga or taro root, about 1 pound (available in Spanish markets)
1 small onion
1 teaspoon white or apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 egg
1 Tablespoon finely chopped parsley (optional in Cuba)
Freshly ground black pepper (optional in Cuba)
Vegetable oil for frying

1. Peel the malanga. Grate, using the finest grating disk on your processor. Grate the onion in the same way. Replace the grating disk with the steel blade and pulse on about 20 times until the pieces are quite small but not mushy. Transfer to a bowl. Alternatively, grate the malanga and onion on the fine side of a grater and place in a bowl.
2. Add the remaining ingredients except the oil and mix well.
3. Heat about 1 inch of oil in a frying pan until very hot, about 375°F.
4. Using a teaspoon, drop the mixture into the hot oil. Fry until golden on each side.
5. Drain on paper towels.
6. Serve with Mojo sauce, sour cream, apple sauce, or salsa. Yield: approximately 40 small fritters.

Mojo Sauce
The ubiquitous orange trees in Andalusia are not the sweet variety we associate with Valencia; they were probably brought to this region with the Spanish conquistadores. Sour orange juice is now a common ingredient in Cuba, confirming its roots in Spanish and possibly Jewish cooking (the first Spaniard to set foot on Cuba was a Jew–Columbus’ scout).

Mojo Sauce

1/4 cup olive oil
6 large cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup sour orange juice or 1/4 cup orange juice and 1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat a 1-quart saucepan for 15 seconds. Add the olive oil and heat for 10 seconds.
2. Add the garlic and cook for 20 seconds or until it just starts to get lightly golden. Do not let the garlic brown or the sauce will become bitter.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a rolling boil. Cook for three minutes.
4. Remove the sauce from the heat. Adjust the seasonings if necessary and chill until ready to serve with the fritters or on top of vegetables, meats, or fish. Yield: approximately 1 cup of sauce. Recipe courtesy of Reform Judaism Magazine

We Are Experiencing A New Global Judaism That Reflects Our True History & Emerging Future ~ Be’chol Lashon

Directors, Counselors, & Workshop Facilitators at the Jewish Multiracial Network Retreat.

10 Tips Toward Racial & Cultural Sensitivity in the Jewish Community

1 ~ Reach out to other Jews across difference because you will find our commonalities exceed our differences by far.

2 ~ Do not assume that Jewish history and the current Jewish population is comprised most significantly of Jews of European culture ancestry.

3 ~ Consider that within the customs and traditions of the Jewish people, there is a great diversity of language, culture, custom and color. Be willing to reach for and stay connected to the diversity of the Jewish people.

4 ~ Do not assume that because a person has dark skin that they must be a convert. This is not necessarily true or fair to individuals that have been Jewish all of their lives.

5 ~ Learn to value the “inner” Jew in yourself so that you can better appreciate it in others.

6 ~ Get to know the customs and traditions of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa and welcome this knowledge as a necessary component of your Jewish education.

7 ~ If you find a person’s journey around difference to be inspiring, be it their color, background, abilities, culture, traditions, etc., try not to limit your praise of them to their being “inspiring”.Tell them what about them inspires you specifically.

8 ~ Remember that it’s o.k. to be curious, but to become fascinated with a person because of an aspect of their physicality ALONE, is to turn that person into an object in your regard. Make efforts to make your relationships with people who are different than you, more than skin deep.

9 ~ Keep in mind that Jews of Color have a lot to offer the Jewish community, both in experience and perspective and should be welcomed to participate in all levels of Jewish social interaction, including leadership.

10 ~ Remember that denial is not just a river in Egypt (smile), it can also be an obstacle toward finding lasting solutions. When we sit with the things inside us that make us the most uncomfortable, we often find deeper truth and growth on the other side. ~Courtesy of Ayecha

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

If I am not for others, what am I?

And if not now, when?

~ Rabbi Hillel ~

Jewish Voices Of Color Must Be Heard by David Love

As we enter this holiday season, Jews around the world will celebrate Hanukah. And the global Jewish community is a diverse one, a multicultural and multiracial assemblage, by no means monolithic, representing millions of people throughout the world. Jews in China look like other Chinese, while Jews in India resemble other Indians, as is the case with the Igbo Jews of Nigeria and the Lemba of Southern Africa, and so on. They differ in their religious and cultural expression. For example, some may not know about glatt kosher, but still observe traditional dietary laws. And in some places only women can become a mohel (the person who performs circumcisions on baby boys).

But like a faulty census that leaves out people and portrays an inaccurate picture of what is happening, the Jewish Diaspora is not counting all of its members. Part of the reason is that Jews of color are often held in suspicion, not viewed as real or authentic. The reality is that black and brown Jews always existed, and for thousands of years. Given the places where the stories in the ancient scriptures took place, what else could you expect? Yet, media images – including Charlton Heston’s portrayal of a blond-haired, blue-eyed Moses in The Ten Commandments – only serve to create confusion concerning race and Judaism.

“Jews of color have been like Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird, a bird trying to reintegrate itself into its flock, but looks so different that the flock would turn itself on the painted bird, pecking on the painted bird until it falls to the ground,” said Rabbi Capers Funnye, head rabbi of the predominantly African-American Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Chicago. The congregation was founded in 1918 by a rabbi from Bombay, India.

Rabbi Funnye converted to Judaism, but his introduction to Judaism was through the lens of Africa. His congregation combines the usual Jewish prayers with gospel music and the beat of the drum. But that is ok, because that is what culture is all about. “Jewish practices are based on cultural adaptations, where people found themselves,” the rabbi notes. Although he is a rabbi with extensive knowledge and undeniable passion, Rabbi Funnye is asked if he is really a Jew. “For a Jew who don’t look like you, that question is offensive,” he responds.

Rabbi Funnye – who is also a member of the Chicago Board of Rabbis, and the cousin of First Lady Michelle Obama – recently gave the keynote speech at a symposium on race and Judaism at Temple University. The symposium was convened by Professor Lewis Gordon of Temple’s Center for Afro-Jewish Studies, and had participation from the Institute for Jewish and Community Research and Be’chol Lashon, a San Francisco-based group which encourages ethnic, racial and cultural inclusion in the Jewish community.

The conference was refreshing in that it invited a discussion on subjects usually not covered in academia or the mainstream Jewish community. For example, there was a discussion on Rabbi Alysa Stanton, the first African-American woman ordained as a rabbi, and the first black rabbi to lead a majority white congregation. Stanton, whose congregation is in Greenville, NC, received death threats and required a police escort the day she was installed as rabbi.

Another topic of discussion was Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, that mythic symbol of black-Jewish cooperation who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King. Rabbi Heschel is a great source of pride for the Jewish community, yet he was marginalized during his life, and regarded as an oddball. Other rabbis advised him to stay away from the rabble-rouser King. And today, Heschel’s anti-racist, social justice message is defanged.

Further, there was an examination of black-Jewish relations and the civil rights coalition, and the manner in which Jews benefited from civil rights in ways blacks could not; the focus by organizations such as the ADL on issues of Jewish authenticity and Minister Louis Farrakhan, when there are genocides taking place around the world; concepts of whiteness and blackness, and the ways in which the Jewish communities have negotiated race. Participants also tackled such weighty issues as black power, and the attempts to equate it with anti-Semitism; the disproportionate representation of neoconservative Jewish voices in American political discourse, and the use of white Ashkenazi Jewish voices as the authoritative voice against affirmative action.

Included in the symposium was the inevitable discussion of Israel, and the ways in which some immigrants become “white” when they arrive in Israel, although they were not considered as such in their home countries. And of course, there is Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Rabbi Funnye, who works with the Palestinian-American community in Chicago, believes that Israel must do a better job of showing its own diversity. He also shed some light on African-American perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Black people don’t say anything because they see the Palestinians as David, and Israel as Goliath,” Funnye concluded. “They don’t want to be called anti-Semites.”

These are tough issues, to be sure, and the conversations must continue at Temple University and throughout the country and the world. A culture benefits when its diverse voices are allowed to express themselves. This is how a culture sustains itself and grows. Jews of color have much to contribute, and much to say. And they must be heard.

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member David A. Love, JD is a journalist and human rights advocate based in Philadelphia, and a contributor to the Huffington Post, theGrio, the Progressive Media Project and McClatchy-Tribune News Service, among others. He contributed to the book, States of Confinement: Policing, Detention, and Prisons (St. Martin’s Press, 2000). Love is a former Amnesty International UK spokesperson. His blog is davidalove.com.This article first appeared in The Black Commentator and is republished with permission.
span style=”color: #c0c0c0;”>

The song “Memories of Africa – Zichronot me Africa” performed by the Sheba Choir and composed by Shlomo Gronich

Amazon Reveiw by Michael Ophir: The Black Jews of Africa by Edith Bruder is an interesting, well written book. The author goes to great lengths to educate the reader as to the origins and whereabouts of various Jewish or Judaic communities across the African continent.

However, what should be noted in several instances, the author insinuates that many Jewish communities are not actually Jewish. For instance, she refers to the Jews of Ethiopia as the “so-called” Jews of Ethiopia. Why are they “so-called”?. Even if they are not descendants of the Hebrews, if they practice Judaism, they are Jews. Why do people not refer to Russian Jews as “so-called” Jews of Russia? After all, many Russian Jews today have much weaker links to Judaism than the Jews of Ethiopia.

Besides this disturbing point, the book is informative and a must read for any interested in this topic. The emergence and in some cases re-emergence of Judaism and Jewish communities in various parts of Africa is a movement that is gaining momentum as people on the continent discover the religion and their roots. A must-read for all interested in Jewish/African or African-Jewish topics.