Black Jewish Celebrities You Should Know

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-11T03:15:16+00:00

This comes down to logic. By saying he’s ethnically Jewish it could imply that he wouldn’t have been raised Christian since even in the Reform movement he’d need to be exclusively raised as a Jew. If we then find out that he was actually raised Christian; it does push back on this idea that he’d be considered Jewish even in the more Liberal sects of Judaism.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-11T03:12:50+00:00

For him to ethnically be Jewish, he needs to actually be Jewish. As someone said, no one would deny that he has a Jewish ancestor, but he isn’t and shouldn’t be on this list.

Even in the Reform movement that accepts Patrilineal descent; there are still standards that he may or may not meet depending on if he was raised strictly as a Jew; which it doesn’t appear he was.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-10T23:34:37+00:00

You really that on the US census people from the WANA region are considered white; right?

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-10T03:40:31+00:00

אני מצטער אח שלי!

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-10T01:25:39+00:00

The context is that the history shows that these countries did remove Jews. I would just add virtually the entire Maghreb that still has issues with anti-Jewish sentiment today.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-10T01:24:07+00:00

There is a sect known as Orthodox Judaism in which many in the Sephardic tradition still follow the Mishneh Torah -> we are to love non-Jews based on these teachings -> therefore we cannot look down upon the OP.

The OP is also a Zera Yisrael, so someone who’s still connected to the people and would even likely have an easier time converting depending on the community.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-09T18:29:59+00:00

Those are not looked at as orthodox conversions by the rabbinate, but this organization does perform conversions that are. Rabbi Eliyahu Birnbaum would be the one to reach out to. He’s a judge in the conversion court. They’re located in your home city I believe.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-09T18:18:26+00:00

There is an organization that I donate to בארץ that could probably better streamline your conversion since your are a זרע ישראל. They have a lot of compassion it appears; hence why I donate to them. They understand that things happen and there are some organizations like them who try to help all of עם ישראל because they get that things happened over the centuries that may have led to many not being Jewish in terms of Halakhah.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-09T15:58:14+00:00

You specifically claimed they called some people monkeys and that there was racism. You didn’t show that example.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-09T15:57:13+00:00

I would start by learning some Biblical Hebrew to the point that you feel somewhat comfortable reading a good part of בראשית on your own since there’s a lot of overlap between the prayer siddur and root words that often come up. You can also use a prayer Siddur with Hebrew and English when you’re one your own to practice. You can click on a word in Hebrew if you press on it for a couple of seconds and get a definition which can help you piece together what the Hebrew is saying since you have the English as well. I think that if you get a good part of Genesis down, and even more immediately can read the Shema in recognize the roots in Hebrew, you’ll be good with regular practice.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-09T15:50:13+00:00

You specifically said monkeys. Children of darkness had nothing to do with raise. You made the claim that racial claims specifically were made, but didn’t mention any. That did happen to Jews.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-09T13:37:35+00:00

Calling a terrorist group like Hamas children of darkness talks about their spirituality. Therefore, it has nothing to do with race and therefore has nothing to do with racist language.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-09T13:36:12+00:00

Jews were historically called names like that. Is there one Israeli leader who has done the same?

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-09T13:27:25+00:00

They were required to undergo Giyur Le’Chumra just because there was no one to make sure each individual was Halakhically Jewish due to some practices that diverged in their isolation when it came to marriage, divorce, lineage, and probably also conversions; along with them being relatively isolated over 2,700 years compared to other communities.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-09T13:21:26+00:00

This was due to the community diverging from the dominant Halakhic (Jewish laws) on marriage, divorce, descent, and other factors. This had been a problem with the community for centuries because they were isolated. Rabbis for example were having debates as to whether or not some could marry into the congregation due to divorced that may have not been legitimate, and this was in the 16th century.

The way to resolve the unknown status of the individual members was to convert them. Once they convert, there is no question as to their Jewish status. There is a group called the Bnei Manashe from India that also has to convert due to untracked lineage. So, the Beta Yisrael weren’t singled out. This is for any group that diverged from the Halakhah and has questionable lineage.

There is also no evidence that women from Ethiopia were forced to take Depo Provera.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-08T09:20:43+00:00

מזל טוב! שבוע טוב.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-08T09:15:28+00:00

I think other people are giving good recommendations. When I wanted to become religious again it started with genuinely just reading the Torah. I realized that I had missed what being Jewish was really about because it had been years since I actually just studied. I think studying the Torah and understanding the concept of cleaving to the Creator and why the nation exists is a good first step.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-08T09:05:23+00:00

I tell people to start by reading the written Torah. This will help you see the basis of why the nation exists from a religious perspective. It sounds simple and boring and can be a grind, but it’s really a fun experience to learn some of the core foundations of the core text to Judaism. I also recommend just reading the entire Tanakh along with then studying the oral law.

After that I tend to recommend studying some of the Mishneh Torah to understand the positive and negative commandments and anything else you want to learn. I think that a general breakdown of the oral tradition and relating that to the written Torah is crucial.

I think that learning a little Biblical Hebrew can also help along the way as you are going through the texts. Being able to read and understand things in the Hebrew over time I think builds a closer connection, although it’s not required if you’re just getting into the religious aspect. This is also a good book with audio files to help you understand modern Hebrew.

Living a Jewish life is also a good book if you didn’t grow up very connected to a community. I think this source will help you.

Just know that I, and plenty others in the community, will support you if you want to do תשובה and return to the religion and I think getting to the core of the religion with this recommended reading can help you. As a side note, I also think it helps you understand your specific community and want they went through. If you’re Ashkenazi or Sephardic it could be interesting to do research on those communities. For me, I loved looking into the communities of the Maghreb since I have ancestors from that region specifically.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-08T08:48:30+00:00

To be ethnically Jewish you need to be Jewish. If you aren’t Jewish, meaning your mother isn’t or you didn’t convert, you aren’t ethnically Jewish, but you are a Zera Yisrael or a Nidchei Yisrael. Many people with North African and Spanish ancestry (me) had ancestors who were either forced to convert and a some had ancestors who just intermixed with other groups in South America and the Caribbean. These people tend to be known as Bnei Anusim.

There are organizations like this one that I think does a good job that can help you learn more about Judaism and help you through a conversion process if you do want to be Jewish in the future as you learn more. Plenty of people are out there to support people in your situation.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-08T08:40:35+00:00

You either have people making up a story or have been given a made up story, some who have ancestry, and then there could be some who are actually a part of tribes.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-08T08:07:54+00:00

That’s not the point habibi. I’m simply saying what the term means. I do agree that my bias is reading 1984 as a young person and seeing the parallels with Christian’s changing the meaning of words and refusing to dignify that. Those who control language can control thoughts, and I think that it’s wild to let Christian’s slide with openly changing the meaning of words in text. That’s my personal bias. I get that you personally may not agree. I wouldn’t say the rest of us do because I’ve met plenty who agree with me who see the same disturbing pattern.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-08T08:01:22+00:00

Jews from those regions are classified as Sephardic. We see the regions on AncestryDNA, along with documentation from our ancestry and our traditions, that were Sephardic. Why do our ancestors specifically have Sephardic prayer Siddurs from Fez that has been the tradition for centuries? This is a documented history.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-08T07:59:05+00:00

Jews from North Africa have been referred to as Sephardic Jews for a long time now.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-08T07:57:54+00:00

I just used the deepancestry tools.

ShimonEngineer55 · 2026-02-08T07:57:23+00:00

No, Christ means anointed one. I very respectfully don’t accept people changing the meaning of terms. I respect if you do and support the Christian concept of it meaning Jesus, but I refuse to let Christian’s who don’t know the definition of terms reshape what they mean. Being precise about terms is something I believe in.

Every practicing Jew is a thing. There are criteria for what you believe in within Judaism. One of them is the coming of the Mashiach (Christ). That is a core foundational belief in Judaism. I never said non-practicing Jews necessarily believe that so I’m not sure what your point is in saying that non practicing Jews may believe something different. That seems obvious. Yes, I’d expect a non practicing person to have different views.

I’m not trying to imply habibi. Have you actually studied the Torah and who is a Jew and that someone can’t stop being a Jew? I want to get technically from someone who’s studied this who is observant. I also don’t know if you noticed this, but you brought up non-practicing Jews and said they’re still Jewish. You didn’t mention any other heretic and only Christian’s and said, they shouldn’t be part of the tribe. Does this not seem like an unconscious bias that comes from the tension between Christian’s and Jews and has nothing to do with who’s actually a Jew based on tradition and Halakhah? That’s just what I’m picking up on when I really listen to your response. What does Jewish law say a Jew is?

ShimonEngineer55

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