Mazel Tov to Rabbi Capers and Rabbinit Miriam Funnye
Celebrate the 22nd Anniversary of Rabbi Capers and Rabbinit Miriam Funnye
Friday, October 26th – October 28th
Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken, Ethipian Hebrew Congregation
6601 South Kedzie Avenue, Chicago Illinois 60629
Call Beth Shalom at (773) 476-2924 for more information.
2 comments:
I found this article interesting. As an african american who attends a jewish synagogue for shabbat ( I have not converted still studying)in seattle the racial stereotypes and perceptions are very deeply ingrained in this country. I visited Rabbi Funnye's Shul in chicago after hearing about him There service is a typical conservative service ( I have davened at all types of shuls) except the congregation is 90% black 8% Hispanic and about 2% white. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said seeing a man's skin color is an eye disease, so i guess we are all blind..
I have wondered why Funnye does not get more attention.
Did you know the girls attended a Hebrew preschool as well?
On one issue we disagree. I consider the term "white," esp. a applied to Jews, as racist.
Genetically Jews are actually different than Europeans .. reflecting the origin of semites in general 20k years ago vs the origin of most Europeans 8-10k years ago. Actually Jews, esp Yemeni, are closer to Ethiopeans than we are to Germans.
History, however, is a far more important nuance of terms like "hispanic," "black," or "white." These terms are loaded with the history of what each group has experienced at the hands of the others or itself done to others. To lump the Jews with the Franks, Saxons, and Slavs is to ignore the history of Jews in Europe and to blame Jewish culture for slavery and colonialism.
"Hispanic," as in Arizona politics, is an especially nutty term. 500 years ago my ancestors were called Negri, we lived in Spain and that term was an epithet. Does that make me Hispanic? African American? Esp weird is the equation of "Hispanic" with racial profiling. If "Hispanics" are a race, then so are Greeks, Portuguese, and especially Sicillians.
So, I insist on being identified as simply a Jew by the assorted efforts to classify folks. And, when I refer to "whites" is use the term "Euro."
Post a Comment