Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 14:37     Subject: Black and Jewish
We go to an Orthodox synagogue and have seen children of many races and they do not appear to be treated any differently, nor do the parents (although they might say differently). We are white, but have Jewish friends who are Asian (mostly chinese), black, and latino.

I honestly dont think its a big deal to be black and Jewish - from a Jewish perspective. Its definitely more difficult to "fit it" when you are non-jewish, rather than being "non-white."
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 13:40     Subject: Black and Jewish
We go to a synagogue where there is 1 black child who has been adopted into a white Jewish family (maybe more, but I have personally seen him). He's always playing alone. The community and people are very warm and welcoming, I don't know if the kids are excluding him because he's "different" or if he just wants to play alone but it does bother me.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 11:00     Subject: Black and Jewish
In 1983, the Reform movement broke with Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, and with Jewish law, and declared that a child born of one Jewish parent, whether it is the mother or the father, is under the presumption of being Jewish, but that his/her Jewishness must be activated by "appropriate and timely" Jewish acts. It is not enough to simply be born to a Jewish parent. The Reform movement also notes that in the Bible the line always followed the father, including the cases of Joseph and Moses, who married into non-Israelite priestly families.

Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 10:58     Subject: Re:Black and Jewish
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I just don't think OP is dealing with the reality that the Jewish community is not going to be welcoming in any real sense to her biracial children. The fct that she herself is jewish helps, but try sending them to Hebrew School at Washington Hebrew or some other such temple--she will see that they will treat her as an outsider. I wish this were not the case--it was my experience--although I am not jewish but my husband is. Religious school became the deal breaker for us.


Your children may have been treated as outsiders not because they were black but because you were not Jewish and as a result, your children probably didn't feel comfortable in the setting. I've seen this a lot actually -- children with no real jewish identity or not living in culturally jewish home suddenly are thrown into hebrew school and don't know how to cope so they withdraw themselves from the environment. If I were thrown into Chinese school at a young age without any real connection to the language, culture or people apart from say maybe dad being Chinese (but not involved at all with the culture) I would have had the same reaction.

I've taught at several Hebrew schools around dc and have been a teacher at full time privates in other cities. Yes, I have also had black students. They were not treated any differently and were just as popular as any of the other kids. The full-time privates have their own issues - although I haven't heard about any racist incidents - just like all of the other privates in DC.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 10:55     Subject: Black and Jewish
Black and white spouses here from two different countries and this is a total non-issue for us. We just want someone who will love our kids and take good care of them. Lack of access to one culture will be the least of their problems if we die.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 10:50     Subject: Black and Jewish
Anonymous wrote:this thread is saddening. i am married to a biracial jew. i always wondered why he was not closer to that part of his background and now i understand better what he has been telling me. the sense of exclusion for non-white bi-racial jews is sad. i always wanted to give our children a respect and awareness of their jewish heritage but now i know what i am stacked against, esp as a non-jew. sad.


Often the children are told that it is not because of race, but because one parent is not Jewish...that is not true. The girls that get the most attention at Sunday school are often the ones who have one white European parent. Plus, it takes people longer to notice that they have "only" one Jewish parent.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 10:33     Subject: Black and Jewish
I've never seen nor could I imagine a child being unwelcomed in the DC Jewish community based on skin color. We've been involved in multiple synagogues.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 10:26     Subject: Re:Black and Jewish
Anonymous wrote:I just don't think OP is dealing with the reality that the Jewish community is not going to be welcoming in any real sense to her biracial children. The fct that she herself is jewish helps, but try sending them to Hebrew School at Washington Hebrew or some other such temple--she will see that they will treat her as an outsider. I wish this were not the case--it was my experience--although I am not jewish but my husband is. Religious school became the deal breaker for us.


Wouldn't it depend on the individual synagogue or temple? This seems incredibly generalized
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 09:38     Subject: Black and Jewish
this thread is saddening. i am married to a biracial jew. i always wondered why he was not closer to that part of his background and now i understand better what he has been telling me. the sense of exclusion for non-white bi-racial jews is sad. i always wanted to give our children a respect and awareness of their jewish heritage but now i know what i am stacked against, esp as a non-jew. sad.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 09:28     Subject: Re:Black and Jewish
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: Don't knock growing up black in america versus Europe. We have a biracial president and a black first lady even though blacks are only 12% of the population--this would NEVER happen anywhere else in the world.

There are black kings, royalty and presidents in Africa


well

Blacks do make up 75% of the population in Africa.

Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 09:24     Subject: Re:Black and Jewish
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I just don't think OP is dealing with the reality that the Jewish community is not going to be welcoming in any real sense to her biracial children. The fct that she herself is jewish helps, but try sending them to Hebrew School at Washington Hebrew or some other such temple--she will see that they will treat her as an outsider. I wish this were not the case--it was my experience--although I am not jewish but my husband is. Religious school became the deal breaker for us.


agree, the south is no great place for black kids either, but too many Jews are uncomfortable with non-whites, even if they themselves are not really white.


Are there any diverse or accepting schools or temples in this area? (not OP)


Temples are one thing; schools are another.

Jewish schools in our area (excluding preschools) are conservative, as the goal is to give each student a religious educator. Reform Jews send their kids to public or to liberal privates like Sandy Spring Friends.

My friend sends her son to a Jewish private in the area, and while there are a few students of color in the school doing well, she says they will never be fullly accpeted. And those who come from interracial marriages even have a more difficult time b/c one parent is either NOT Jewish or is a convert.

So it's not so easy.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 09:23     Subject: Re:Black and Jewish
Anonymous wrote: Don't knock growing up black in america versus Europe. We have a biracial president and a black first lady even though blacks are only 12% of the population--this would NEVER happen anywhere else in the world.

There are black kings, royalty and presidents in Africa
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 09:17     Subject: Re:Black and Jewish
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I just don't think OP is dealing with the reality that the Jewish community is not going to be welcoming in any real sense to her biracial children. The fct that she herself is jewish helps, but try sending them to Hebrew School at Washington Hebrew or some other such temple--she will see that they will treat her as an outsider. I wish this were not the case--it was my experience--although I am not jewish but my husband is. Religious school became the deal breaker for us.


agree, the south is no great place for black kids either, but too many Jews are uncomfortable with non-whites, even if they themselves are not really white.


Are there any diverse or accepting schools or temples in this area? (not OP)
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 09:10     Subject: Re:Black and Jewish
Anonymous wrote:It really is such a myth that there is less racism abroad. There is color discrimination on a massive scale. My relatives in Scandanavia have very little contact if any with blacks --but they are educated and middle class--and like most of their cohort are very discriminatory toward blacks and Muslims. The mass shooting in Denmark last summer was a typical example of the kind of race/muslim/african hatred that exists just beneath the surface throughout Europe. If you'll recall the I'm A Black African Ask Me Anything post--that sad poster was positively brimming with self hatred--sadly, throughout her posts she seemed breathtakingly unaware of her hatred of her own race and was completely un-self-actualized in her black identity. It is a trait I have often seen in blacks raised outside of america. Not only do biracials abroad not see themselves as Black--they deepy disparage and have disdain for other more black appearing blacks. That festers into a tragic sort of self-hatred over a lifetime--something I would never wish on my own biracial children. Don't knock growing up black in america versus Europe. We have a biracial president and a black first lady even though blacks are only 12% of the population--this would NEVER happen anywhere else in the world.


Post again when our next president is a woman.

Anonymous
Post 04/11/2012 08:57     Subject: Re:Black and Jewish
Anonymous wrote:I just don't think OP is dealing with the reality that the Jewish community is not going to be welcoming in any real sense to her biracial children. The fct that she herself is jewish helps, but try sending them to Hebrew School at Washington Hebrew or some other such temple--she will see that they will treat her as an outsider. I wish this were not the case--it was my experience--although I am not jewish but my husband is. Religious school became the deal breaker for us.


agree, the south is no great place for black kids either, but too many Jews are uncomfortable with non-whites, even if they themselves are not really white.